Cirque’s ‘Varekai’ a ‘happy, feel-good show’

“We’re dream makers. That’s what we do.”

If ever there was a more succinct description of a Cirque du Soleil show.

That’s Michael Smith, artistic director for “Varekai,” neatly encapsulating the Cirque mentality, but also using it as an explanation of expectations, especially for those who have never experienced the kaleidoscopic dreamscapes and impossibly elastic acrobatics of a Cirque performance.

“Your imagination will go into overdrive. You come to see a show and you see people doing feats you never imagined people would think to do, let alone do,” Smith said. “If you’re going through something difficult in your life, we help you escape for two hours and dream that you can achieve anything.”

“Varekai,” which pulls into the Gwinnett Arena from July 29-Aug. 2, is the French Canadian company’s second-oldest touring production, and will assume the title of senior show when “Quidam” retires next year.

Since 2002, the 50-person event has orbited the world (its Grand Chapiteau version played Atlanta in 2003 at the Cumberland Galleria) with its typically vague story, this one set within a forest at the summit of a volcano.

The plot is loosely based on Icarus, the Greek mythological figure who learned the hard way that flying too close to the sun with wax wings doesn’t result in a favorable outcome.

“Varekai,” which means “wherever” in the Romani language, was created by Cirque director Dominic Champagne and blends the Icarus story with one of Champagne’s personal experiences.

Smith recalled that a long-ago stage accident left Champagne with a pair of broken legs.

“When (Champagne) found that he couldn’t physically do what he had always done and accepted as normal — being able to walk — and how that affected him and how other people reacted to him when he was physically incapacitated, that was the inspiration for the show,” Smith said. “It’s his journey, but taken on a bigger universal theme. How do people react when you can’t do something you used to do?”

Despite the ruminative undercurrent, Smith praises “Varekai” for being a “happy, feel-good show,” stocked with brightly colored costumes designed by the late Eiko Ishioka that pull inspiration from nature.

The set from Stéphane Roy, who is also responsible for the visuals in “Dralion,” “Kooza” and one of the most tantalizing Cirque sets in Las Vegas, “Zumanity,” was last year reformatted for the arena version of “Varekai” and features a seven-piece band tucked amid the forest.

While a balancing act on canes, a pair of Russian swings on a revolving stage and an exploding volcano will surely dazzle viewers, Smith, who also served as artistic director for “Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour,” among other Cirque offerings, said music is one of the key elements in “Varekai.”

Described as world music with a contemporary feel, the soundtrack thrums with percussive elements. The band features an iron man drummer, Paul James Bannerman, who hasn’t missed a single one of the 4,000-plus performances of “Varekai.”

Also, said Smith, “We have a woodwind player who plays a huge array of the most bizarre things — animal horns, a homemade bagpipe. It gives a very unique color and texture to the music. Violin is also very important to the music of ‘Varekai.’”

The show is informed by a cast spanning 16 nationalities, and it’s that type of cultural diversity that defines Cirque as a brand.

The cast trains every day for five hours — not the most glamorous aspect of showbiz.

But, Smith said, living in Cirque world is a lifestyle, not a job.

“At the end of the day, you see how you inspire audiences,” he said. “It’s a big payoff.”