Sloane M. Perron

What is better than watching a performance from the world renowned, creative minds of Cirque du Soleil? Getting to see how all the magic happens behind the scenes!

Cirque du Soleil AXEL is now at the DCU Center in Worcester! AXEL is the second ice show to be created by Cirque du Soleil and breaks the traditional image of an ice-skating show in a new and dynamic way. Cirque du Soileil Touring Publicist Julie Desmarais described how creators imagined the concept for AXEL, “They got inspired by the energy and atmosphere that you feel when you get into an arena or sports space.” The rush of excitement you feel in a concert or area permeates the show. After the success of their first ice show Crystal, the creators wanted to experiment with creating a more masculine form of ice skating along with bold performances. “They wanted to explore more the capabilities of the ice,” Desmarais said.

AXEL follows the journey of a young man whose passion for music and graphic novels shapes the world around him. AXEL finds love while finding the hero that lies within himself. Live music, death defying performances and amazing acrobatics make this ice show unlike any figure skating performance on Earth. The show also debuts a new skill among AXEL performers known as “freestyle skating” which combines break dancing and figure skating.

Backstage is like its own world as performers from all over the world stretch, warm up and practice before their night of incredible stunts. AXEL features the talents of 41 performers including 18 acrobats and 17 professional skaters. For anyone who has ever seen a Cirque performance, the stunts are thrilling to watch. However, the adrenaline and excitement are increased with the addition of doing the stunts on ice with razor sharp skates. Because of the ice show component, the already talented team had to further diversify. According to Desmarais, the acrobats had to learn how to ice skate while the ice skaters had to learn how to perform acrobatics. Even the lead, AXEL, is multi-faceted as he skates while playing his electric guitar and singing live. According to Desmarais, the vibrant light shows, bold performances and upbeat live music will leave audiences spell bound.

Backstage, colorful props and larger than life sets are prepped for the show. AXEL has over 500 costumes which are custom created in Montreal. “In AXEL the costumes are really colorful,” Desmarais said. One new, high tech feature of the costumes are little light bulb shaped beacons that enable the spotlights to literally track each individual performer during laser shows and ice-skating stunts.

AXEL is like a city on wheels with their own catering team, technicians, performers, costume designers and make up team. Everything the show needs from high tech equipment to costumes and ice skate sharpeners travels place to place in a caravan of about 16 semi-tractor trailers full of equipment.

Worcester is the 8th stop on the Cirque du Soleil AXEL tour. While the group has performed about 40 tours so far, they will perform around 300 shows by the time the tour ends. This is all while 19 other Cirque du Soleil productions perform simultaneously all over the world!

Check out AXEL and discover a bombastic world of color, high energy music and adrenaline filled stunts on the ice. Cirque du Soleil AXEL will be in Worcester from Friday through Sunday. For showtimes and tickets check out www.dcucenter.com/event-calendar/cirque-du-soleil-axel/.