Cirque Éloize completely designed the opening ceremony of the GCC Games, a major sporting event bringing together the countries of the Persian Gulf. More than forty Quebecers will fly to Kuwait in a few days for the event scheduled for May 22.
The invitation had first been launched in the spring of 2020. Pandemic obliges, the event had to be postponed four times before being finally scheduled for this month. Nervousness had given way to excitement, palpable in the Cirque Éloize rehearsal studio, where The newspaper passed a few days ago.
“We’ve been wanting to show them what we’ve prepared for them for two years. We’re ready, we’re fired up,” says Claudia Couture, creative director.
“And this time, after three postponements, we know it’s the right one. Knock on wood,” she adds, reaching out one arm to rest her hand on a table, laughing.
In all, 70 people from around the world will converge on Kuwait to work on this 32-minute ceremony, which will bring together on stage 22 artists in addition to local athletes. The event will be presented in front of some 5,000 spectators on site, in addition to being televised throughout the Middle East.
Kept in secret
And what exactly will this opening ceremony consist of? Hard to say, the Cirque Éloize team preferring to keep the details quiet until its outfit. However, we are promised a significant integration of technology, in addition to the possibility of breaking a Guinness record, according to Jeannot Painchaud.
“It’s really good visibility, so we’re going all out. It is certain that it will have a significant impact for us, ”says the president and founder of Cirque Éloize.
For him, this is a great opportunity to introduce the international Éloize Entertainment, a division of the company which also created the opening ceremony of the Men’s World Handball Championship in Egypt, the year latest.
“We want to establish ourselves as an organizer of major events, outside of the circus. We do events with dancers, technology and acrobatics, but where the focus was not the circus. So for us, it’s a big step in that direction,” he explains.