thePULSEBy Jennifer Russo
I stare in wonder at Salvador Dali’s paintings, ahead of their time and beautifully imaginative. Dali pushed the limits of what is real, magnified the perception of what exists and turned it into a work of art so phenomenal that the eyes cannot believe what they see. Take a Dali painting and make it dance. Put it to music. Turn it into a living, breathing, moving thing and you have a Cirque Du Soleil production. It will provoke and defy the senses and push the brain to the brink of impossibility. 
Dralion, the newest Cirque show to come to the area, combines western and eastern ideas and transports them ~ and the audience ~ into a futuristic world tied to the natural and magical elements of earth, fire, air, and water. According to Sean McKeown, the show’s Artistic Director, the Dralion itself is a creature that blends the oriental circus figures of dragon and lion (symbolic of the east and west). “Throughout history, the dragon and lion are often seen fighting each other. Here they are one playful beast, new and one with itself. It personifies both cultures coming together. What makes Dralion unique is that it brings the idealistic thought of how people across cultures can come together in peace and happiness. It shows the futuristic look of a world that deliberately shows the vision of eventual peace on Earth and how presently it is a real dream for now and tomorrow.”
Cirque du Soleil shows take about 2 years to create before they are cast and released onto the stage. Casting the right performers is essential to any show’s success. Teams of people search through hundreds of online applications looking for talent; sometimes they have a specific skill in mind, sometimes they are looking for performers with more general abilities.
The part of Oceane the Water Goddess was given to dancer Tara Pandeya. Born to a classical Bharatanatyam dancer mother, Tara spent much time around dance and later became interested in Central Asian dance performance. She has performed for royalty in the Middle East and for U.S politicians including Hillary Clinton, receiving grants for choreography. She says rehearsals for Dralion are rigorous, with two months of practice time in the studio followed by daily rehearsals onstage to get used to lighting, mist, props, and other performers’ acts. 
Tara describes her character Oceane as multi-faceted. “She reveals different sides of herself, opening different layers to the audience and other characters as the show progresses. She changes depending on who she shares a stage with, most apparent when dancing with Yao, the fire demon guide. She is fierce with him, and has little tolerance. With Azala (Air Goddess) and Gaya (Earth Goddess), she is more nurturing and soothing.” Tara conveys this in her movements as “fierce and powerful as she is capable of destruction, or sensual and soft with movements mimicking gentle water.”
Though there are resident shows in various locations, Cirque still holds strong to the idea of being world travelers. Sean tells me that it is important to “bring music and ideas and images to the people who can’t see them elsewhere and there will always be touring shows to reach those people.”
Dralion comes to the DCU Center in Worcester and gives you a chance to escape to a new world from December 16-19.
For tickets to see Dralion in Worcester, please visit
www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/dralion/tickets
or www.ticketmaster.com, or stop by any Ticketmaster location or the DCU box office.
