"Warrior's Path" - McLaren Racing

January 15, 2007 -- To celebrate the launch of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes’ F1 car and team, the big boss of the McLaren racing team, Ron Dennis, called on the services of the Cirque Special Events team to wow the audience.

As part of the launch of his new F1 car (that’s Formula 1 for those unfamiliar with racing parlance), Ron Dennis - the big boss of the McLaren racing team - called upon the services of the Cirque Special Events Team to wow the audience at the event, held on January 15th in Valencia, Spain (where the team's star driver, Fernando Alonso, was born). This 45-minute presentation, entitled The Warrior’s Path – Charmers of Utopia, took place at the L’Hemisfericin La Ciudad de Las Artes y Las Ciencias (the City of Science Museum and Planetarium). The show, inspired by Mr. Dennis’ vision, was an invitation to each of us to live our dream, embrace the uncertainty of life and rise and meet our own unique destiny..

The Venue

Along an axis of just under two kilometers that was formerly the bed of the River Turia(which was drained and rerouted after a catastrophic flood in 1957), is where you’ll find The City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, a unique entertainment-based cultural and architectural complex devoted to scientific and cultural dissemination. Designed by Santiago Calatrava and Félix Candela, the complex is an architectural marvel made up of five main elements: the Hemisfèric (IMAX cinema and digital projections), the Umbracle (a landscaped vantage point and car park), the Príncipe Felipe Science Museum (an innovative center of interactive science), the Oceanográfico (the largest aquarium in Europe with over 500 marine species), the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía (which takes care of the operatic program), and the Ágora (a covered plaza in which concerts and sporting events can take place), which gives the complex a multifunctional space. The project underwent the first stages of construction in July 1996 and the finished "city" was inaugurated April 16, 1998 with the opening of L'Hemisfèric. The last great component of the City of Arts and Sciences, El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, was presented on October 9, 2005, Valencian Community Day.

L'Hemisfèric, the planetarium, is the centerpiece of the City of Arts and Sciences, and its design resembles a giant eye, with an eyelid that opens to access a surrounding pool of water. Because of this it’s fondly known as “the eye of knowledge” (and with an approximate surface area of 13,000 square-meters, it’s huge!) The bottom of the pool is glass, creating the illusion of the eye as a whole. The planetarium itself is a half-sphere composed of concrete 110 meters long and 55.5 meters wide. The shutter is built of elongated aluminum awnings that fold upward collectively to form a brise soleil roof that opens along the curved axis of the eye to reveal the dome, the pupil of the eye, which is the Omnimax theater. It is here amongst this space that Cirque staged its event.

The Story

“The Warrior’s Path – Charmers of Utopia”, the story of a young boy striving to be the best he can be all the while never losing sight of the moment of now, is universal and has been told in different ways for thousands of years. The young boy here does not spend his days trying to play the role that others have chosen for him. He has a destiny to fulfill, he knows his own faults, but he also knows his own qualities. He always does his best and expects the best of others. The young hero knows that the farthest flung star in the universe reveals itself in the things around him, and that moment of now is a most precious gift to be cherished and savored to its fullest.

The Effects

Cirque du Soleil invited Moment Factory to bring their expertise in lighting design and video projection to Valencia, Spain. Cirque tasked us with maximizing the visual presence of the stunning yet distinct Planetarium structure, resembling an eye in its shape, with video content and lighting that would incorporate it into the world of the story. Working between the constraint of such an iconic architectural backdrop, Cirque du Soleil’s live performers, and a fantastical aesthetic, the goal was to support and reveal the connections between elements of the performance. The visual effects, including video, smoke, and light, were designed to weave each element into the other’s realm and beyond the limits of the Planetarium’s structure. One example of how they did this is by projecting onto a semi-spherical screen, they used reflections in the surrounding water to create the illusion of a sphere onstage. In the end, the iconic architectural design was brought to life through the story of the show. The result was a seamless experience that incorporated existing structures to enhance a live performance for an unforgettable celebration.

Event Photos

Technical Details

• More than 40 technicians and stagehands were used.
• Requried a production and artistic team from Montréal of more than 35 people, including designers.
• 80 artists
• More than 300 spotlights
• Over 10,000 watts of sound
• And, a stage area of more than 15,000 square feet, including water features

A performance that sure created a buzz!