Zumanity

"Zumanity" is a cabaret-style show from Cirque du Soleil that is resident at the New York-New York Hotel and Casino. It is the first "adult-themed" Cirque du Soleil show, billed as "The Sensual Side of Cirque du Soleil."

"Zumanity" is the third show of five shows from the group that is resident in Las Vegas (alongside ""O"", "Mystère", "LOVE", and "Kà").

The title is a play on the words "zoo" and "humanity", reflecting the show's theme of "the human zoo."

Creators

*René-Richard Cyr - Writer and Director
*Dominic Champange - Writer and Director
*Andrew Watson - Director of Creation
*Thierry Mugler - Creator and Costume Designer
*Stéphane Roy - Set Designer
*Simon Carpentier - Composer and Musical Director
*Luc Lafortune - Lighting Designer
*Jonathon Deans - Sound Designer
*Cahal McCrystal - Comedic Director
*Natacha Merritt - Photographer and Projection Image Designer
*Nathalie Gagné - Make-up Designer
*Jaque Paquin - Acrobatic Equipment and Rigging Designer
*Normand Blais - Props Designer
*Marguerite Derricks - Choreographer
*Debra Brown - Choreographer
*Patrick King - Guest Choreographer

Characters

*Mistress of Sensuality: The former Mistress of Seduction, drag performer Joey Arias, left the show at the end of 2007. Replacing Joey is Edie: "with legs up to her neck, this gorgeous glamazon is heating up the human zoo nightly with her trademark brand of sensuality and sass."

*The Botero Sisters: Sexy, sweet and a little bit naughty, The Boteros greet the audience as two very voluptuous, very flirtatious French maids in a foreshadowing of the shock, awe and fun that lies in wait behind the curtain.

*AlmuKataB: AlmuKataB is ZUMANITY’s genderless character. An enigmatic force of male and female energy, Jacobo’s character lithely floats through the performance as an androgynous phantom.

*Wind: All at once, a storm sweeps over the stage as Marcela, Queen of the Wind, summons the spirits in a fevered flamenco dance. With smouldering intensity, her hypnotic dance stirs the soul, arouses the imagination and prepares the senses for an uninhibited transformation

*Wassa: Marcela awakens an unbridled passion in Wassa. Exploding into a vigorous African dance, her arms, legs and torso take on a primal energy of their own, moving in time to an erotic and intoxicating tribal rhythm.

Acts

*Opening

*Waterbowl: Abandoning their innocence, contortionists Gyula and Bolormaa wash away their inhibitions and taste love for the first time. Fluidly they glide through the water, striking an amazing array of sensual poses and exploring their physical, sexual and creative limits all at once.

*Aerial Hoops: Julia brings schoolgirl fantasies to life. She gyrates and swivels as she guides her hoops up and down her lithe frame. Dreams take flight as she soars through the air, performing daring feats of aerial choreography.

*Rose Boy: Willie peels away his tough exterior to expose his weakness... for the ladies. He tantalizes and teases the audience by revealing his chiselled body bit by bit in a sinfully seductive striptease.

*Hand to Hand:Joanie and Nicolas entwine in a Tantric handbalancing duet that underscores the beauty of intimacy. With breathtaking Kama Sutra-inspired manoeuvres, their act portrays the discovery of a lover’s body in a dramatic display of strength, flexibility and trust.

*Dislocation : A limber Lothario, Arslan performs on command for his sadistic sirens, who take pleasure in watching him squirm. Redefining flexibility, his elastic body bends, twists, and contorts into nature-defying positions.

*Dance on TV: Gorgeous and sweet, Elena breaks out of her shell to grab her lover’s attention. Turning up the heat on love gone flat, she ignites the stage with her feminine wiles, performing a sultry dance and alluring gymnastics to rekindle the flame and make her lover see her again as if for the very first time.

*2Men: Lovers Arthur and Pepe dance a tumultuous tango. Through their fierce choreography, a passionate story of love and anger unfolds. Again and again they attract and repel in intense conflict until the magnetic energy between them becomes more than they can bear.

*Market: ZUMANITY’s resident gigolo, Antonio, feels the wrath of the women he has scorned. Captured by vixens, he suffers their rough-and-tumble romantic revenge.

*Aerial Straps: Robyn, alone on stage in fragile silence, is bound by her straps. In an exercise of self-inflicted pleasure and pain, she uses the leather to tease and torture herself, and slips seamlessly from one auto-erotic aerial figure to the next, trapped in her bonds all the while. To the sounds of heavy breathing, gentle moans of ecstasy and the friction of her straps, Robyn’s self-pleasuring bondage flight draws to a climactic finale.

*Tissus: Though he desperately tries to catch her attention, Alan remains unnoticed by the glamorous goddess Abigail. Finally, the once-unattainable object of his affection is within arms’ reach, and their two worlds come together mid-flight in a mesmerizing aerial dance.

*Midnight Bath: You can’t keep love locked up in a bedroom... so Vanessa and Ugo give their imaginations free rein and let fantasy take them to unexpected places. Using milk as their medium, they caress each other’s flesh in a luscious sexual experiment.

*Orgy: The cast emerges from every orifice of the theatre, drawing the audience into their hedonistic play. In duos and trios, and some flying solo, they assume a smorgasbord of sexual positions on a lazily revolving stage, where they touch, stroke, moan and embrace until the tension builds to an orgasmic conclusion.

oundtrack

Zumanity's music is an eclectic mix of rock, classical, urban, tango, and world music influences. It has lush, sensual rhythms, seductive melodies, and provocative lyrics.

Below are the tracks, in order as they appear on the CD.
#Mio Bello Bello Amore
#Entrée
#En Zum
#Wind
#Another Man
#First Taste
#Do It Again
#Water Bowl (Awakening)
#The Good Thing
#Tickle Tango
#Into Me
#Fugare
#Meditation
#Piece of Heaven
#Zum Astra
#Mangora En Zuma
#Per Sempre
#Bello Amore

It should be noted that of all the songs on the CD only two are actually from the performance - all others are merely inspired by Zumanity. When the production changed musical directors five years ago, it changed the music also, although not on the soundtrack.

External links

* [http://www.zumanity.com/ Official site]
* [http://www.rawvegas.tv/rawreality/zumanity/ Behind-the-scenes reality TV show]