A mystical forest, inhabited by magical creatures, Cirque du Soleil's aerial-themed show Varekai: Tales of the Forest opened in Tampa on Wednesday and we were there for a special behind the scenes look at this spectacular show.  

Cirque du Soleil is the brainchild of Canadian Guy Laliberté.  Guy's passion for the performing arts started as a child when his parents took him to see a performance of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus. At 18, he left home to see the world and follow his dreams. He arrived in London with $50 in his pocket and spent his first night sleeping under a park bench. While in London, he earned money playing the accordian and met street performers who taught him the art of fire breathing and stilt walking. Guy returned home with an even bigger dream: to create his own circus. Eventually this dream came true.

Much like Guy and his early dreams, Varekei is a tribute to the nomadic soul.  It is the story of Icarus, a shy young man who falls from the sky into a strange new world.  Deep within a forest, at the summit of a volcano, at first Icarus struggles adapting in this land of exotic, kaleidoscopic and whimsical creatures.  Eventually he settles into this extraordinary world, where something else is possible in this enchanted place called Varekai.

Behind the scenes, we learned the 19 semi trucks carrying the magical world of Varekai rolled into Tampa on Tuesday to prepare for the eight show run. It took the crew 13 hours to set up the stage and upon arrival they promptly did 60 loads of laundry to prepare for the first show!  

Here's a photo of the 330 poles that make up the mythical forest:

Varekai features an international cast of 50 performers and musicians from 19 different countries.  The concept of the show is a mix of eastern and western acrobatics and the strength, balance and flexibility of these performers is nothing short of amazing!   We got to see some of the performers rehearsing on the Russian Swing which was truly incredible: 

The costumes are an exciting part of every Cirque show and the Varekai costumes are especially vibrant.  The costumes were originally designed by the late Eiko Ishioka, an Oscar-winning costumer whose designed the costumes for the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.  It took the designers 33,000 hours to create the original 2,000 costume pieces.  All together there are 80 looks with 3-4 costumes per female and 2-3 costumes per male character.  Each costume takes three month to make and the designers spend 250 hours a week making sure they look impeccable on tour:

Here's a few more photos of the costumes:

As much as I enjoyed our behind the scenes tour, it was nothing compared to the real live show!  The trapeze, aerial straps, acrobats, tumbling and Russian Swings combined with the live music and amazing costumes make this a show that you don't want to miss!

Varekai is showing at Amalie Arena through Sunday August 9th.
For complete show schedule and information click here.