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A scene from Cirque du Soleil's production "Toruk — the First Flight (courtesy Cirque du Soleil)
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A scene from Cirque du Soleil's production "Toruk — the First Flight (courtesy Cirque du Soleil)
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The storyteller from the Anurai clan in "Toruk — the First Flight" (photo by Youssef Shoufan, courtesy Cirque du Soleil).
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A tribal headdress in "Toruk — the First Flight" (photo by Youssef Shoufan, courtesy Cirque du Soleil).
Inspired by James Cameron’s Avatar movie, the latest Cirque du Soleil production, Toruk — the First Flight, depicts a time thousands of years earlier, before humans entered the mythical world of Pandora.
Written and directed by Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon in partnership with Cameron, Toruk comes to the Richmond Coliseum from Nov. 27 to 29 after starting its tour with a “soft opening” earlier this month in Bossier City, Louisiana. The official premiere will be Dec. 21 in Montreal.
Cirque du Soleil publicist Laura Silverman describes Toruk as “a real coming of age show that everyone of all ages can relate to.”
Pandora, a distant moon, is populated by highly evolved creatures called Na’vi. In Avatar, Pandora came under threat when humans sought to extract a valuable mineral. In the earlier time depicted in Toruk, a Na’vi storyteller narrates while characters enact the story with Cirque du Soleil’s stunning acrobatics, puppetry and visual effects.
When a catastrophic event threatens to destroy their sacred Tree of Souls, Ralu and Entu, two boys from the Omaticaya forest clan who are on the cusp of manhood, decide to save the tree. Soon the boys discover they need the help of Toruk, a mighty red and orange predator that rules the Pandoran sky, and they set out with their new friend Tsyal on a quest to toward the Floating Mountains to find the creature. In order to save Pandora and the Na’vi from a terrible fate, a pure soul among the clans has to rise above to ride Toruk for the first time.
Toruk — the First Flight is the 37th production by Cirque du Soleil, which has performed for more than 160 million viewers around the world since 1984.
To enhance audience participation in Toruk, Cirque du Soleil is also launching an application that will allow viewers to engage and interact with the show. “Instead of going to see a movie during Thanksgiving break,” Silverman says, “come out and experience a show of lifetime.”
Tickets for Toruk range from $37 to $112. 780-4970 or richmondcoliseum.net.
