Cirque and Sting in Star Game of the NBA

Cirque du Soleil will stage the opening match of the show stars of the National Basketball Association (NBA) on February 14 at the amphitheater Air Canada Toronto, announced this morning the NBA. The match broadcast in more than 200 countries will be relayed to 20h on channels One SportsNet, TSN and TNT.


This is the first time in 65 years that the best players associations of the East and West in the NBA square off in the country, before the Raptors fans, the only Canadian team in the league. The Toronto rapper Drake, who is the ambassador of the team since 2013, has also been appointed coach of Team Canada for the celebrity game played against the United States on February 12.

At halftime, the former leader of The Police, Sting, singing some of his most popular songs, also announced the NBA quoting Every Breath You Take, Roxanne and Fields of Gold. For this first stop in the Queen City, the NBA finally will not opted for programming "all-Canadian" as some had predicted.

Last year, it's Christina Aguilera who opened the All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden in New York. The dance troupe The Rockettes and rapper Nas had joined her for her medley of songs "New York". At halftime, Ariana Grande followed. Niki Minaj had also made an appearance at halftime.

Steve Bolton staging

45 Degrees The division, which organizes events, Cirque du Soleil, has entrusted the staging of the opening segment (without narration) to the Montreal choreographer Steve Bolton. No less than 37 dancers and circus performers were recruited for five minutes number, which will be presented just before the start of the match.

In an interview with La Presse, Montreal director has set out to provide an overview of the history of basketball (invented by Canadian James Naismith!), To focus on the multicultural dimension of sport and to recall the highlights of the league, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year. "This is a spectacular sport, so the show will be too," he said.

Steve Bolton, who is also a basketball fan, says he was seized by a dizzy when he embarked on the project. Precisely because he felt that despite the short number, "everything was possible."

"This is a show where there is a large amount of experimentation," says Steve Bolton, who has worked for six months on this project with the creative director of Cirque, Daniel Fortin. We try to go further in the integration of several scenic elements. Dance, circus, parkour, projections: we tried to tie everything together. "

The pursuit of a dream

Imaging of basketball will be represented in all sorts of ways, said Steve Bolton, who was careful not to reveal too much of his game. "Basically, it's the story of the pursuit of a dream. It starts when we are young, we are appreciative of some icons of the sport, then there is the realization of this dream and all the steps that follow to the summit is reached. "

Large icons basketball as Kareem Abdul-Janbar, Michael Jordan and Dr. J (Julius Erving) will be well represented. The creative team also includes showing highlights of NBA games and magic. "We do not want to go only to basketball connoisseurs," says the director, who choreographed segments of the opening show of Cirque Pan American Games.

Steve Bolton appealed to the Quebec composer Christian Lagueux (YUL) to create the soundtrack number while crescendo. "It starts with the typical traditional music of Cirque, then it becomes a bit more tribal and connects with urban beats mixed with metal. In the end, it's a kick in the teeth, where one key at a time to rock and hip-hop. It ends the music in the carpet! "

With this new show-event, the president of 45 Degrees, Yasmine Khalil, we hoped that Cirque will be noted in China, which has many viewers for the All-Star Game. "It's definitely a way of helping us to create synergies in China, she said. Although all the Cirque shows are taking advantage of the visibility of an event like this. "

This is not the first time Cirque runs a sporting event of this magnitude. In February 2012, 45 Degrees had staged the spectacle of the halftime of the Super Bowl with Madonna. Moment Factory has signed the visual background of the show, which was seen by over 100 million people.