LUZIA by Cirque du Soleil is opening in Marymoor Park this Thursday and I couldn’t be more excited! Here are ten fun facts and things to know about the show before you head out to the Big Top:

1. The name LUZIA fuses the sound of “luz” (light in Spanish) and “lluvia” (rain), two elements at the core of the show’s creation.

2. Freely inspired by Mexico, LUZIA is a poetic and acrobatic ode to the rich, vibrant culture of a country whose wealth stems from an extraordinary mix of influences and creative collisions - a land that inspires awe with its breathtaking landscapes and architectural wonders, buoyed by the indomitable spirit of its people. 

3. Co-writer and director Daniele Finzi Pasca directed the Closing Ceremony of both the Torino (2006) and Sochi (2014) Olympic Games, as well as the Sochi Paralympic Games. This is his second Cirque du Soleil collaboration after Corteo.

4. This is the first Big Top show to integrate water elements. There’s a water basin under the stage floor and a rain curtain incorporated throughout the acrobatic acts. All 1,585 gallons of water used during the performance are recycled for the entire duration of a stay in a city!

5. LUZIA also explores the combination of hoop diving - a traditional circus discipline from China - and two giant treadmills to generate speed. I’m especially excited to see these acts!

6. Artist Kelly McDonald, who appears in the Adagio act, is a Seattle native! After graduating from Roosevelt High School, she joined the gymnastics team at the University of Washington (GO DAWGS!) In 2002, she won the title of Junior National Olympic Champion in 2002 in All-Around, Floor Exercise, and Balance Beam.

7. Through its set design, costumes, acrobatic performance, and music, LUZIA explores various themes linked to the culture, history, and mythology of Mexico - some of which may not seem connected at first glance. The show is based on themes of speed, monumentality, rain in all its manifestations, surreal animal life, and a poetic vision of reality.

8. There’s a great disk towering above the LUZIA stage, which represents the sun, the moon, and the Aztec calendar - paying tribute to some of the most colossal man-made structures in the world. 

9. There’s a dress that magically turns from white to red! The “magic” comes from the people at C:LAB (the creative laboratory of Cirque du Soleil), who adorned the dress with 98 white, individually programmed flowers, each equipped with a small motor. When the flowers open their petals, they reveal their red interior, thus triggering the “metamorphosis.” The dress weighs almost 20 lbs.!

10. LUZIA marks the first time Cirque du Soleil presents a production under a Big Top featuring printed patterns directly related to the theme of the show. The patterns evoke the association between Cirque du Soleil (the sun) and Mexico (the word originates from Mtztli, meaning ‘moon,” and Xuctli, which means ‘middle’) and symbolize the meeting of two celestial bodies: the sun and the moon. A bird’s eye view reveals the path of the stars that spiral out from the center of the Big Top – the symbolic meeting point between earth and sky, sacred and human.

You can get in the mood for the show with this LUZIA playlist on Cirque du Soleil's official Spotify:

Get your tickets at CirqueDuSoleil.com. See you under the Big Top!

Disclosure: I received tickets in exchange for press coverage. All opinions are mine!