Cirque du Soleil Invades Atlanta With 'Echo'

Cirque du Soleil has been entertaining families for nearly 40 years and is the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Earlier this year, the company launched its new show Echo, which has made its way to Atlanta. PopCulture.com attended a behind-the-scenes media day of Cirque du Soleil's Echo in Atlanta before the show premiere this past weekend. PopCulture saw a couple of performers go through their training sessions on stage and watch others work out in a separate area. The show lasts a little over two and a half hours, which means the performers have to be in shape since they will be doing multiple shows per day until the run ends on Jan. 21, 2024. 

As the synopsis states, Echo is "a story of connection, intention, and the bond between humans and the animal kingdom. When FUTURE (the protagonist) and her best friend EWAI stumble upon an enigmatic CUBE, they set in motion a journey of life, discovery, hope, and empathy, quickly learning how their actions have the power to shape this world."

Mukhtar Omar Sharif Mukhtar is the author/director of Echo and previously spent eight years with Cirque du Soleil (2005-2013) as a performer in The Beatles Love in Las Vegas. "What really excites me most about this beautiful project is the ability to push the boundaries of what can be achieved in a Big Top setting and deliver a joyful experience, full of surprises, to millions of people around the world," he said in a statement. 

Chantal Tremblay is the Creation Director and was a Cirque du Soleil in the late 1980s. "The start of Cirque is the chapiteau–the Big Top… The smell, the canvas, the leather, the sound of the bleachers, you can feel you're on tour. You have a [close] proximity to the start of what the circus was. To do a project under the chapiteau, it's always great to get back and feel the connection," she said.

Echo is the 20th Big Tip creation for Cirque du Soleil and 51st overall. It's the first Cirque du Soleil show to feature six live vocalists, with most of the musicians singing at some part of the show. Echo was set to be released by the name Under the Sky but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.