Cirque du Soleil’s touring show Dralion is coming to Charlottesville, VA—and just in time for homecoming at the University of Virginia!

If you’ve read The Roarbots for any length of time, you know that we’re fans of Cirque du Soleil. Check out the recap of our tour through International Headquarters in Montreal and our review of another touring show—Varekai.

Dralion premiered in 1999 and has been going strong (in front of some 11 million people) ever since. Similar to Varekai, the show began its life under the big top but is now performed in arenas. If our experience with Varekai is any judge, they haven’t sacrificed quality at all to make this transition.

Dralion is firmly rooted in Asian cultural influences—most notably Chinese. The acts clearly reflect this theme. There are Chinese acrobats, a traditional dragon and lion dance (with a Cirque du Soleil twist, of course), and Bamboo Poles (which involves a combination of balance and acrobatics).

Fusing the 3,000 year-old tradition of Chinese acrobatic arts with the multidisciplinary approach of Cirque du Soleil, Dralion draws its inspiration from Eastern philosophy and its never-ending quest for harmony between humans and nature.

The show’s name is derived from its two emblematic creatures: the dragon, symbolizing the East, and the lion, symbolizing the West. In Dralion, the four elements that govern the natural order take on a human form. Thus embodied, each element is represented
by its own evocative color: air is blue; water is green; fire is red;  earth is ochre.

Dralion is playing at the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, VA, from October 22 through October 26. Buy tickets here. The show then moves on to several other U.S. and Canadian cities through the end of the year. Check the full schedule here.