Sunday, October 18, 2009
Quick, A+E, Theater, Q&A

Normand Latourelle

Latourelle, co-founder of Cirque du Soleil, created and produced the multimedia extravaganza “Cavalia,” which incorporates horses and acrobatics under what’s billed as the world's largest touring big ...

Where did you get the idea to create “Cavalia”?

 I created shows in Canada, and I wrote the script and created a show that was based on French-Canadian tales called "Légendes." Most of those tales happened over 100 years ago. When I put that on stage, I had to recreate a set with a village. There were no cars, so I thought, "Let's bring in a few animals." I needed a horse to just cross the stage. I used 120 performers, and every time the horse came to the stage, the audience was following the horse, not looking at the performers. So I started to add horses to the show. That show lasted 10 years. Once my kids grew up, I decided to go back on the road and explore the horse world, going to horse competitions, shows, circuses … all over the world. And I started to read. The history between men and horses is the history of humanity. I got very, very inspired by that.

How does the performance trace the relationship between man and horse?

It's the images. It starts at the Lascaux Cave; it is the first drawing in a cave [in which] we recognize a horse. We travel through the history of humanity to see that man has a connection with the horse. We bring the audience through Roman times, traveling through modern [day]. It's a show that's very poetic. If I had to write a poem about human history, that is what you see. It's a poem for the eyes and ears.

How do you keep the horses in such great shape while they're traveling?

They are the best-kept horses in the world. The word dominating around the horse is respect. It has to be there. To respect them is to give them a good life. We try to keep the ones who appreciate what they do [in the spotlight]. Since they are like athletes, we train them every day. They go outside every day, they get some sun at least one hour a day. In between cities, we take them to a pasture for 12 days. They are three hours away from here now, in a pasture.

Did you grow up with horses?

I didn't know anything about horses, no. Before I did that show with my one horse, I think the closest I had been to a horse was 500 feet in a field somewhere.—Meghan Kotowski