Dralion Cirque Du Soleil Japan Tour

Dralion New Big Top

2006-12-23T17:36:00.000+09:00

Here is the New Big Top of Dralion japan Tour.

And the training gym is half covered.

Dralion Tokyo Flyer 2

2006-12-16T10:12:00.000+09:00

Dralion Japan New Big Top

2006-11-14T21:05:00.000+09:00

Japan tour will get a new tent for Dralion!
Since Saltimbanco 1994, CDS have got different tent from other CDS tour, especially CDS has been shown at the white round tent since Quidam.

And next Dralion will be at the new tent. The shape looks similar and it will be white and blue, here is the image and the real one will appear next January.

Here is the description:
In Japan we have much rain and typhoons, the tent was designed with consideration to avoid any natural disasters. The standard CDS tent needs only one week to build up and Japan tour tend needs twice of time.

I will see the new tent next February, can't wait!

Dralion Cafe

2006-10-09T10:58:00.000+09:00

Dralion Cafe is open at Shibuya Station. It is Dralion sponsor Fuji TV's promotion booth, the train car-like booth is decorated with Dralion posters, the inside is a small cafe corner and Fuji event posters and fliers, also you can watch Fuji channel.

This cafe sells the sour drinks which is now popular in Japan for its healthy taste. I had a sour with soymilk for 250 yen, good taste.

Saltimbanco in Sao Paulo

2006-09-30T10:54:00.000+09:00

A friend of mine emailed that there Saltimbanco was in town of Sao Paulo.
He must be on business so no time to see the show though I wish if I could see the show in the Latin enthusiastic audience it could be nice. Also Saltimbanco is heading to the end of their journey, I might miss the show.

Alegria in Brussels -2-

2006-09-27T21:13:00.000+09:00

I saw Alegria after 10 months.
My seat was at the first row, some Old Birds found me from the stage and waved their hands, I was really happy with the warm welcome.

When Marcos and Anton were on Bike & Plane comedy, someone touched my shoulder, I looked up and there was Tamir, both of us were surprised at each other and we shook hands.

Fire Knife Dance
In Europe tour, Moui Sumeo and Karl perform duo.
Now I can say that Sumeo has improved his skill, he acted very good without any mistakes. Back in Tokyo, he dropped his knife many times but I believe now he is in good condition, maybe Karl trained him a lot.
However the 3rd time of my visit, Sumeo seemed uneasy performed the first part and Sumeo joined him the remains though, I could see something wrong in SumeoÂs face. It was like even he had a fever but had to work in the show, I didn't have a chance to ask him about this so this is just my imagination though.

(to be continued)

Alegria in Brussels - 1 -

2006-09-26T20:43:00.000+09:00

On my first day, I took a cab to the Big Top. Of course I would make iteven I went by metro and bus though, I was afraid to take a wrong line.It was about 10 minutes drive, the white Big Top was seen in the exhibitioncenter, a lot of cars and people were heading to the show.

I love that white tent much more than a blue/yellow one. I took somepictures of the entrance and the fluttering flags nobody was doing that though.
As entered the shopping tent, I went to straight to buy a hotdog with cokeand a program. The coke was pored in a souvenir cup which has Maria(manipulation), the Old Birds and High Bar printed. I didn't remember eachprice though expensive anyway. (But fans buy such items).

It was already 7:30 but the curtain to the seating tent was still closed, Iwonder if they don't have animation in this tour. Finally we were allowedto go in, I found my seat at the top row in section 103.

And almost the same time a clown started animation, but ...Who is that ?Is he a new clown ? But here they have Marcos and Anton and Yuri, if anotherone joined just recently?
Then I noticed the clown has a big suitcase of Yuri !Gosh ! Now I understand that yellow clown is Evgueni, and it means Yuri is out.

(to be continued)

Alegria in Brussels -2-

2006-09-03T14:09:00.000+09:00

I am packing my suitcase, am I sure to take everything needed? Money ? Yes. Credit cards ? Yes.

Don't forget Alegria tickets !!

Well, here the tickets, I plan to see three times.
How big is this ticket! Comparing to Euro bill you can ismagine the size.

I usually put the ticket in my purse but this is too big, I don't want to bend the ticket.

Oh well, it could put in my wallet as bent the tab.

Alegria in Brussels -1 -

2006-09-03T00:13:00.000+09:00

I will go to Alegria in Brussels at last! When Alegria ended their Japan Tour, many artists asked me if I would go to London, their next city from January. I said, "No I can't get my holidays from work, but to somewhere in Europe".

Summer was going to end and I could make my holiday plan, then I decided to go to Brussels in September.
I headed to a travel agency after work, it was only one month before departure it was only one flight had a vacancy to Brussels, I booked it.

I can see Alegria again!

I wonder how the show has changed since last November, how Belgium audience give their expression to the show, the atmosphere, and how I will feel to see them again? I can't imagine anything yet!

Ticket Selling Started !

2006-08-26T16:53:00.000+09:00

After some pre-sale happiness and disappointments, today was the official ticket sale day.
You can buy tickets through the internet from anywhere, but I prefer to buy at the ticket shop counter as the internet sometimes in rush and cannot connect smoothly, the ticket shop has a direct line with quick service.

It was not only Dralion but other concerts and theaters sold as well, I headed to a shop early in the morning, I arrived at the front door at 7am. There were already some people making a queue, each had book or walkman to kill time, I was reading a newspaper "Sankei" published by Fuji-group, there I found two Dralion ads.

The silence was ended at 8:45, a shop clerk handed the ticket buying form to us, we got the number tab and should come back to the counter by 10am.

I was the 9th customer, when I was called at last, I asked for the last day tickets but the seat number was not good, rather bad, I changed the date and could buy good seats.
Dralion will play for 3 months in Tokyo, I plan to go several times.
After I finished my shopping, I emailed to my friend if someone can go with me, some gave me YES shortly afterwards and some others replied NO, the NO answers don't know their schedule about 6 months later (of course ) , I will ask them again when we know better about the next year.

Today I spent a lot on my credit card, I need to sell those tickets to get my money back !

Dralion Ad on a Receipt

2006-08-25T21:49:00.000+09:00

When I went shopping at a Seven Eleven, I realized there was a small ad on the receipt.

Heaven to Hell

2006-08-20T11:07:00.000+09:00

Rakuten presale tickets arrived.
The best seats were D-5 row, D is the front of the stage, and you can see the whole stage perfectly from the 5th row.
However the bad seat numbers came as well, it is almost the end of the tent. Here you need binoculars to see the artists in person, too far. I want to sell those to someone and get a better seat for myself. Sighhhhhh

To My Alegria Girl, Thank YOU always!

Lost in the lot

2006-08-12T13:10:00.000+09:00

Damn ........! E+ ticket presale was not successful for me!

I ordered for the 1st opening night but I couldn't get , I have to dash to the ticket counter on the 26th sale day.

In Japan, we like to see "The First Show" and "The Last Show" very much, it is not only Cirque fans but many theater goers too. Perhaps "to see how the show will go" on the 1st show, and "to see the very last moment of the successful show" on the last show. And both days often have special events.

As Cirque Du Soleil Opening Nights, a lot TV actors/singers come to make a big appearance to the show, rather to Fuji TV, the Japanese top sponsor. The front seats are occupied by them. Limousines, TV cameras and flashes ....

It is also a rare chance to see the artists who acted in Japan for the first time. Japanese audience's are sort of calm, just applause, no whistling, no one gives a standing ovation. But it doesn't mean any disrespect to the show. And the special event in Japan is, we audience members give flower bouquets to the artists. It must be so surprising for them,

About the last day, I will tell it later.

1st Row !

2006-08-09T23:01:00.000+09:00

Today I received a delivery from Fuji ticketing service.
Fuji Group, which conducts the tour Dralion instead of Cirque Du Soleil, has a ticketing service and it offered a discount ticket sale as for some limited days.

I doubted that presale, would I get back row or good seats? I opened the envelope and found

B-1 row !!!

B-1 is the second block from the left and row-1 is of course the top position. It is too close to the stage to see the entire stage but you can see the artists' sweat on their faces and recognize each artist.
And
easy access to give a bouquet to the artist!
I will bring flowers to whoever stands in front of me to express how much I love the stage. Oh, I wanna see Dralion soon!

Daihatsu

2006-08-08T22:55:00.000+09:00

Daihatsu sponsors the Dralion Japan tour.
Daihatsu is an automobile maker, their main products are compact cars.

I can guess many car buyers would get Dralion tickets, so if you are thinking buying a car, you should choose Daihatsu!
Me? No, I can't, I don't have a driver's license.

When Saltimbanco (1994) and Alegria (1996) were sponsored by Nissan (Datsun in US?) , each original designed car was made and one lucky person won the car from each show. I wonder if the car still exists(maybe not) and I want to know the car's life after that.

e+ Presale

2006-08-03T21:44:00.000+09:00

Today was the ticket distributor "e+ (e plus)" presale day. I ordered for the first show (Feb 7).
This system also requires us to pay in advance without notice of the seat number, this is lot and we are not sure if this reservation was succeesful, the result will come in 10 days, and the seat number will be shown on the ticket delivered.

Now I looked behind at my tickets from Alegria 2 , I saw 56 shows (!) and e+ tickets were only a few, when I got the wrong seats I sold them to others.

Here is my ticket breakdown;
Pia : 46
e+ : 3
Box Office : 2
From Artist : 2
Won Lot : 1
Rakuten : 2

Dralion Tokyo PreSale

2006-07-28T20:59:00.000+09:00

Today was the presale day for Dralion Tokyo.
In Japan, several ticket providers sell for one show, for instance, 10 or more choices for Dralion, it is a headache for us to buy a good seat.

Todays provider, Rakuten does not have a good reputation with us, it starts presale earlier than other providers though they do not promise a good seat, Rakuten says "to be fair the seat is by lot" , so you don't need to connect to the internet urgently but even if you paid the money 6 months before you might get the very last row. We fans have been disappointed many times but we click to keep our seats.

The price of the ticket is,
11,500 yen -- easily calculate as USD 115.

The show starts much earlier than US tour.
Mon - Fri 15:00 19:00
Sat & Sun 12:30 16:30