Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Luzia’ returns to Atlantic Station after 8-year gap

The sounds of a mariachi band and sweet aroma of fried cinnamon churros greeted Atlantans on Thursday night as they strolled under a full moon toward Cirque du Soleil’s blue-and-white-striped, big-top tent for the opening night of “Luzia,” touring at Atlantic Station through Jan. 25.

The name “Luzia” — a portmanteau of the Spanish words luz (light) and lluvia (rain) — hints at the mystical and natural forces that awe audiences in Cirque du Soleil’s 38th production, which is inspired by Mexican culture, mythology and Mother Nature.

The show, co-written and directed by Daniele Finzi Pasca, is back in Atlanta for the second time after an eight-year gap.

In the heart of the big top tent, surrounded by 2,600 spectator seats, a circular stage with revolving rings burst with color, decorated with 5,000 Mexican marigolds in bloom. The golden flowers, often used as spiritual offerings on Dia de los Muertos, are a symbol for “ritual rooted in emotion,” noted set designer Eugenio Caballero in a press release.

At the back of the stage is an enormous Aztec-style disk weighing more than 4,000 pounds. Its towering presence transforms throughout the evening into the sun, the moon and the Aztec calendar as it rotates and is illuminated by colorful light.

A blanket of rain programmed to fall in graphic shapes cascades down periodically throughout the show, showering performers in water.

These whimsical elements transport the audience to a waking dream where performers (in costumes designed by Giovanna Buzzi) appear as colorful quetzals, hummingbirds, beetles, iguanas, crocodiles and an armadillo. The audience is visually swept from a traditional Mexican village, to an arid desert, tropical jungle and seaside escape. Music by composer Simon Carpentier aids each environmental transformation.

Creating immersive, fantastical worlds is what Cirque du Soleil is known for — that and the company’s superhuman performers who tumble, balance, spin and defy gravity in every act as they complete tricks with precision and grace.

From aerial dancers, to flying trapeze artists, a contortionist to a hand-balancing gymnast, each choreographed act drops jaws.

A Cirque du Soleil performer in “Luzia” balances high atop poles, demonstrating awe-inspiring strength and agility. (Courtesy of Matt Beard and Anne Colliard)

A custom-engineered rain machine creates a curtain of water that showers over performers in “Luzia.” The water droplets are programmed to reveal whimsical shapes and patterns that glisten in the light. (Courtesy of Matt Beard and Anne Colliard)

What sets “Luzia” apart from other Cirque shows, however, is both its beautiful Mexican mysticism and two pieces of technology unique to the show: the custom-engineered graphic rain machine (used only in “Luzia”) and a pair of giant treadmills that move both backward and forward to propel several acts.

The two most notable treadmill-aided acts include a running woman who takes flight as a migrating Monarch butterfly with soaring orange wings, and a hoop-diving performance showcasing eight soaring tumblers dressed as hummingbirds.

A giant treadmill used only in Cirque du Soleil's production of “Luzia” propels a dancer costumed as a Monarch butterfly. (Courtesy of Matt Beard and Anne Colliard)

Hoop divers dressed as hummingbirds are propelled by a giant treadmill in Cirque du Soleil's production of “Luzia.” (Courtesy of Matt Beard and Anne Colliard)

One of them, Mikaël Bruyère-L’Abbé, has been part of “Luzia’s” cast since it debuted in 2016. He is the artistic coach for all eight hoop diving hummingbirds.