Exclusive Photos of Cavalia Singapore Horses

 

Cavalia brings together the world of equestrian, performing arts, multimedia and special effects under one roof, or in this case, tent. All the excitement within the big white top is brought together by the team work of some 40 talented humans and 50 graceful horses that take turns to perform to an audience fit for family and friends, young and old.

Spectacular costumes with some scenes reminding me of Xena the Warrior Princess, haunting fusion of pop, classical, jazz and world music by a small band and one powerful female singer, beautiful choreography and heart stopping precision will keep you engrossed in the show that time passes too quickly.  The band is made up of a cellist, guitarist, percussionist, keyboardist and they come together to perform Michel Cusson’s compositions accompanied by a vocalist in a 117 square metre musician’s platform 4 metres above the stage behind the wide screen.

 

 

 

Cavalia was conceived by Normand Latourelle in 2003 with the very first show in Shawinigan, Quebec. Normand was one of the four original co-founders as well as Managing Director and Executive Vice-President of Cirque du Soleil.  The name Cavalia was inspired by the Spanish and French words for horse (caballo and cheval) and the English word cavalry. Cavalia has travelled the world and some 4 million people have watched the show.

 

Cavalia’s Horses

The horses steal the limelight from their human counterparts at Cavalia. How can anyone resist these beautiful creatures. In fact, the live music follows the movements of these unpredictable horses giving the occasional free reign to these four legged creatures more time with the audience than planned for.

 

 

There are more than 50 horses from 11 different breeds with eight year old Merlin, a Percheron, being the tallest at 18 hands tall and 14 year old miniature stallion Troubadour, the smallest of the lot. The breeds include Arabian, Comtois, Australian Stock Horse, Criollo, Lusitano, Miniature Horse, Paint Horse, Percheron, Quarter Horse, Spanish Purebred (P.R.E.) and Warmblood.

The horses perform for around 12 minutes. They spend the rest of the day warming up, recouping, grooming which includes shower, massage and free time with outings to the paddocks. These horses love their granny smith apples and with one chomp, they can cut the apple into a symmetrical half while enjoying half the treat.

These horses live in a 1,530 square metre stable that is spacious and clean. Each stall is large enough for the horse to stretch, lie down, sprawl out and roll and relax. They always have the same neighbour so that there is a sense of familiarity in whichever city they are in. We understand that this is also the case when they are air flown. I have personally seen a horse return from his walk enter his stall, get a sip of water and then go over to look at its neighbour who came over to greet its buddy. Now this is a side of the horse, I’ve never seen before.

 

The horses have arrived today at Marina Bay with a red carpet welcome.

 

Cavalia’s White Big Top

 

Every time, we see a huge big top tent, we think of the circus, the fun and the animals. You feel the same joy, curiosity and excitement when you see Cavalia’s White Big Top which has been set up on 23 July at the empty plot of land beside Marina Bay Sands.

The White Big Top may look small from the outside, but it can accommodate 2,004 spectators. It is also the world’s largest touring tent! Yes, it is air conditioned.

The four towers extend 35 metres which is equivalent to a ten-story building.  Inside the Big Top,there is a 50m wide stage  with a constantly changing digital background projected on a 70 metre wide screen.

Seven trucks were required to transport the tent as compared to 100 trucks required to transport everything needed to set up the Cavalia Village. It took 50 people to set up the White Theatre Tent in Singapore.

 

Check out our album of highlights we took at Cavalia in Brussels during a specially arranged media call.

 

 

Do keep a look out for the Guineans as they perform the acrobatic stunts during the show. Another person to look out for is American artist Fairland Ferguson. She was the inspiration behind the animation Brave’s Princes Merida.

 

Cavalia in Singapore is presented by Fuji Xerox. Tickets for Cavalia in Singapore are available at www.cavalia.sg and are priced from S$58 to S$188. Cavalia season is from 12 August 2014 to 14 September 2014.