EXPERIENCE THE THRILL OF IL·LU
Come and discover the world of IL·LU, the new Cirque du Soleil show created exclusively for Andorra. Immerse yourself in the world of an endearing and mysterious grandfather, accompanied by his grandchildren as they cross into a vibrant world, full of colour and emotions. Explore the extraordinary scenery through a fauna of eccentric inhabitants, virtuoso acrobats and other peculiar creatures.
Show
Concept
Stage
Music
Makeup
Characters
AcrobaticsSYNOPSIS
With his 4 grandchildren at his side, a colorful and lovable Papi visits the long-awaited Palace of Illusions, as he does every year. As they go from one room to the next—each one as surprising as the other—, it becomes apparent that Papi knows absolutely everybody. He decides to lift the veil on his mysterious past, which was up until then unknown to his young heirs.
As this marginal and poetic journey through the palace unfolds, the trio will get to know each other in unexpected ways. This funny, heat-warming adventure is proof that distant generations aren’t so far apart after all.
NO ONE COMES BACK UNCHANGED from the Palace of Illusions.
CONCEPT
THE GOAL IS STRAIGHTFORWARD: thrills and chills!
An unlikely fauna and ecosystem spring to life among a group of summer visitors and entertainers from near and far.
For a fleeting moment, hand in hand, children and grandchildren, parents and young party-goers burst through the gates of a dreamlike realm that, for the rest of the year, is unreachable.
Mystery and folly, laughter and fright—it all comes together in the Palace of Illusions.
Set Design
The scenography approach changes throughout the show, opening up a gateway from one realm to the next, and provoking unexpected discoveries along the way. Each scene unfolds a surprising world, like a mysterious palace of illusions. While the overall signature is resolutely modern, it is inspired by the aesthetic of the fairs of yesteryear and their bewitching charm.
IL·LU – A skilful balance between memories and the future
Music
Drawing from Cirque du Soleil’s rich repertoire, the musical pieces sustain the show’s performances and transitions in an electrifying rush of energy. The frenzied, gospel-tinged vocals are lifted by a powerful brass section. The musical score navigates deftly between familiar sounds and aural fantasies.
MAKEUP
Inspired by the vintage look of animated puppets, the makeup is highly graphic in style, with splashes of color, strong lines, and stylized hairstyles—flattened and slicked back hair. Eyelashes grow longer and moustaches come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, with a good dose of humor. The result is characters that are sure to surprise.
Characters
Papi – A character as mysterious as he is endearing, Papi is the living memory of the Palace of Illusions. Beneath his prankster granddad persona lies a surprising past.
Les Jumelles (The Twins) – Curious, fearless and always ready to follow Grandpa on his adventures, the Twins discover with amazement a world where appearances are often deceptive.
La Diseuse (The Fortune Teller) – An extravagant and enigmatic mentalist, at once comic and mysterious, La Diseuse seems to know everything about the palace’s visitors—including the spectators—and has plenty of surprises up her sleeve.
And an unlikely fauna of zany inhabitants, virtuoso acrobats and eccentric creatures that bring this enchanted place to life!
A unique acrobatic adventure
Every scene in IL·LU reveals an exceptional number, designed to surprise and amaze:
- The Twins [Hand to Hand & Dance] – In a comic-acrobatic intro, the Twins take to the stage. This hand-to-hand act, mixed with a fusion dance duet, immediately sets the tone: joyful, warm-hearted, and unstoppable. Somewhere between lightness and complicity, this high-octane and heart-warming quartet marks the first encounter.
- Mechanical Dolls [Japanese Unicycle & Danse] – An acrobatic ballet of a thousand colors in a festive atmosphere, combining aerial silk sequences, dance pieces, and a twirling quartet of unicycles.
- Divination [Aerial Silk] – The Fortune Teller captivates the audience in a moment of suspension between heaven and earth. At once impressive and comical, the Fortune Teller makes her way inside our hearts and minds as if they were her playground.
- The Beard [Pole] – This mysterious bearded lady with really long hair fascinates Papi and the audience alike. In a spectacular pole balancing act, she soars gracefully, teetering between the delightfully strange and the glamorously radiant.
- The Ice Palace [Highwire] – A great classic revisited, this Ice Palace brims with surprises—with a tamed polar bear as Papi’s companion, and a lynx-man performing a buoyant, dynamic balancing act.
- The Cuddly Toy Machine [Robopole & Hip-Hop Dance] – Reminiscent of the stuffed animal claw machines found in funfairs, this playful and bold number is a unique take on the Man-Versus-Machine challenge.
- Fright Room [Icarian Games, Spanish Web & Bouncing Ball Manipulation] – High-energy acrobatics meld with chills and thrills in a nod to the haunted houses found in amusement parks.
- Carrousel [Flying Trapeze] – A breathtaking final act in which a carousel comes to life—on the fringe between poetry and sheer thrill. An epic, exhilarating, emotionally-charged finale that leaves everyone holding their breath in awe in the face of such beauty.
And plenty more surprises to discover...
DISCOVER IL·LU’S CREATIVE TEAM
A special thank you to the creative team, the production team and to the artists that have put all of their passion, creativity and talent into this new exclusive event of the Cirque du Soleil in Andorra, that surely won't go out of style!
MARIE-HÉLÈNE DELAGE
Creative Director
LYDIA BOUCHARD
Show Director
PHILIPPE AUBERTIN
Performance Designer
GINGER ANA GRIEP-RUIZ
Performance Designer
GENEVIÈVE VINCENT
Makeup Designer
ÉRIC CHAMPOUX
Lighting Designer
ALEXIS LAURENCE
Set Designer
KATERINE LEBLANC
Choreographer
NICOLAS VAUDELET
Costume Designer
ANTOINE SEYCHAL
Musical Director
VÉRONIQUE GIASSON
Assistant Show Director
VÉRONIQUE GIASSON
Véronique Giasson is a graduate of the École supérieure de ballet du Québec. Since 2008, she has danced for such renowned cultural organizations as Cirque du Soleil (Stone, Rebel and Vive nos divas), Ballet Preljocaj (France), Andrea Peña & Artists, Ezdanza, Sinha Danse, Donlon Dance Company (Germany), Compagnie Marie Chouinard, Compañia Tania Pérez Salas (Mexico), the 7 Fingers, Cas Public, and Les Ballets jazz de Montréal.
Véronique has a deep interest in teaching dance at the semi-professional and professional levels. She teaches ballet and contemporary classes with Danse à la carte, among other organizations. She has been a faculty member at the École de danse contemporaine de Montréal since 2021.
As a choreographer, she created the short film Engrenage, the Sculpter le dehors quintet and the RESET duet, which earned her the jury prize for best indoor choreographic work at the 2021 Festival Quartiers Danses. In 2022, she was co-choreographer on the Cirque du Soleil show Vive nos divas, and in 2023 and 2024, was one of the choreographers on Révolution en tournée.
The RESET quartet, her first full-length creation, premiered on June 9, 2023, as part of the DANSEncore Festival in Trois-Rivières. In 2024, Véronique worked as assistant director and artistic director for Cirque du Soleil’s Rock et Belles Oreilles tribute show, The Cirque, presented at the Trois-Rivières Cogeco amphitheatre.
ANTOINE SEYCHAL
Antoine Seychal is a composer and creator of soundscapes for the performing arts, live shows, cinema and video games, among other fields.
Originally from Paris and now living in Montreal, he composes and produces music that blends electronic and orchestral sounds and explores various musical styles from around the world.
A percussionist since childhood, Antoine’s musical approach is immersive, creative and vibrant. He has collaborated on numerous productions with the 7 Fingers, Ubisoft, Virgin Group, Moment Factory, Hallucination Collective and Cirque du Soleil. IL-LU will be his third collaboration as musical director for the series of shows in Andorra—after Sublim and Fiesta.
Antoine also collaborates with contemporary American choreographer Andrew Skeels. In 2024, he composed the music for Chasm, an international creation at the Munich Opera (Bayerische Staatsoper, Germany). He is also working on a new musical composition for One Love—an upcoming work to be presented at the Mannheim National Theater in Germany.
His collaborations have taken him abroad, notably to North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Antoine has also worked and recorded with the Prague Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal.
Today, he continues to develop his musical approach through a variety of projects, intent on composing and producing the sounds of tomorrow.
PHILIPPE AUBERTIN
Following in his older brother’s footsteps, Philippe Aubertin took up gymnastics when he was 5. He then became a coach at the Montreal Gymnastics Center, a position he kept until 1999. During this period, he obtained professional certification from the Canadian Coaching Association. While pursuing his coaching career, Philippe studied sports training at the Université du Québec à Montreal, but the call of Cirque du Soleil opened up new horizons.
Philippe was first a coach for the show La Nouba in 2000, then head coach on tour in Japan for the show Saltimbanco. In 2004, he became head coach at the international headquarters of Cirque du Soleil in Montreal, and then held the same position on tour for two years for the show Corteo.
Philippe designed the acrobatic performance of the fourth and fifth chapters of Les Chemins invisibles (2012 and 2013), free open-air shows presented in the summer in Quebec City, as well as a number of Cirque du Soleil special events and touring shows Including OVO, Joyà, ALLAVITA!, Luzia, Volta, SPIRIT Macallan and Auana.
GINGER ANA GRIEP-RUIZ
A second-generation circus artist, Ginger began as a street performer with her family at the age of two. As an aerialist and creator, she performed her signature aerial silks act in four Cirque du Soleil productions: La Nouba, Delirium, ZED, and Mystère. Her deep knowledge of traditional circus, combined with innate curiosity and a talent for reimagining things, naturally led her into acrobatic creation.
Her innovative work has garnered numerous accolades, including the Talon Haut Acrobatic Innovation Award (2012) and the Cirque du Soleil C:LAB Innovation Grant (2018). Most notably, she won the bronze medal at the 2024 Festival Cirque du Demain for her original act, The Ginger Rope. Her work has been featured in Spiegel World’s The Hook (2024), Karera by Baldyga Productions (2023) and Cirque du Soleil’s Excentrix (2019), Cosmos (2019), Sublime (2023), and OVO (2024).
In addition to her work in circus arts, Ginger is also a dance and portrait photographer with a degree in fine art, showcasing her deep connection to movement, expression, and design.
GENEVIÈVE VINCENT
Geneviève Vincent, who grew up in the Bas-St-Laurent region of Quebec, began her artistic journey while studying display design at Cégep de Rivière-du-Loup. Her passion for designing and building props and sets immediately drew her to the world of television.
With a history in the field spanning two decades, she has accumulated experience that is as varied as it has been enriching. Her concepts as props manager and designer have contributed to the success of many projects, including Chanteurs masqués, Révolution IV, Cochon dingue, LOL Québec, and the Just for Laughs galas.
Geneviève has acted as set designer and art director for Bull’s Eye (Kasko Production), Star Académie – La Quotidienne, Rire sans tabous, Les Francs-tireurs, La Guerre des clans, Messmer fascine les stars and Karv, l'anti-gala, among other projects.
Geneviève has honed her skills in the design and production of complex decorative elements, structures and mechanisms. Through her commitment to ecological practices, she develops modular solutions to facilitate transport and assembly, as well as the recovery of materials and objects.
ÉRIC CHAMPOUX
During his studies at the National Theatre School of Canada, Éric Champoux met theatre-maker Wajdi Mouawad. He went on to design the lighting for almost all of Mouawad’s productions.
Éric was soon invited to work in the worlds of circus and opera. He has collaborated on several occasions with Opéra de Montréal on Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking and Samson et Dalila, both directed by Alain Gauthier, David Gately’s Falstaff, Aida, by François Racine, Romeo et Juliette, by Tom Diamond, Martin Crimp’s contemporary opera Written On Skin, Il Trovatore, and more recently, La Reine-Garçon, directed by Angela Konrad.
He collaborates regularly with the 7 Fingers collective, notably on Pub Royal, a musical by Les Cowboys Fringants. He also designed the lighting for 3 Giants: Summerlove by Cirque Éloize.
For Cirque du Soleil, Éric designed the lighting for the big top (2009) and arena (2016) versions of OVO, as well as for Allavita! at the Milan World Expo (2015). He also lends his talents to Cirque du Soleil’s first two ice shows, Crystal (2017) and Axel (2019). Also for Cirque du Soleil, he designed the lighting for Juste une p'tite nuite and Joyeux Calvaire, Amora, in LaValette, Malta, Vizion, in Saudi Arabia, Festa, in Andorra, and most recently for The Cirque, a tribute to the group Rock et Belles Oreilles, at the Cogeco Amphitheatre in Trois-Rivières.
A highly versatile creator, Éric Champoux is also a painter and photographer. In his work, mediums intersect, overlap and blend together.
ALEXIS LAURENCE
Blending art and technology, Alexis Laurence designs, builds, animates and imagines set designs, videos and engaging visual environments.
Specializing in new media and experiential design, Alexis has been proposing innovative and creative solutions for nearly 25 years. In Mexico City and Montreal, he has created more than a dozen set designs for MUTEK—the international festival of digital creativity.
Alexis produced the video design for the shows ID and CIRKOPOLIS by Cirque Éloize. For Cirque du Soleil, he created the set design and video concept of VISION (Andorra), the set design of Diva (Andorra), the set for RBO and the video content for two shows aboard MSC cruise ships.
He is responsible for the art direction, set and video design of several television productions, including the 2025Star Académie Gala, the 2024, 2023 and 2022 Galas des Olivier, the 2024 Gala des Gémeaux, La belle Tournée, Les Incroyables and Chaque seconde compte. He also contributed to the set and lighting design of Pierre Lapointe’s touring show, which won the ADISQ trophy for best lighting and multimedia design, and to the set design and art direction of several comedy shows, including those of Martin Matte and Anne-Élisabeth Bossé, as well as to the Montreal pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo (GSM), in addition to world tours by DJ Sasha and the Mexican group ZOE.
KATERINE LEBLANC
In their early thirties and just a year apart, Katerine and Alexandre Leblanc are a brother-sister duo—aka Team White—whose talent shines throughout Quebec.
The two siblings’ career took off after they took the top spot during the first season of the TV show Révolution. They have choreographed several large-scale shows (including Cirque du Soleil shows, Révolution en tournée and The Addams Family), as well as a number of productions for the big and small screens (Nos Belles-sœurs, Star Académie, Chanteurs masqués, the Danse! series) as well as numerous ads for Nissan, Toyota, Coca-Cola, Desjardins and Gosselin Photo, among other projects.
Katerine and Alexandre have the wind in their sails and never cease to dazzle with their bold ideas. The duo brings a breath of fresh air to every project they take on.
NICOLAS VAUDELET
Nicolas Vaudelet trained with some of the biggest names in fashion and haute couture, including Christian Lacroix, Christian Dior (John Galliano), Louis Vuitton (Marc Jacobs), Givenchy, Alexander McQueen (Julian MacDonald), Sonia Rykiel and Jean Paul Gaultier. He helped the latter in designing and creating costumes for flamenco dancer Joaquin Cortes and for Madonna’s Confession tour.
After a rewarding experience in Seville as artistic director at the century-old El Caballo house, where he won the 2009 L’Oréal Award for Best Collection, he went on to design costumes for the Spanish National Ballet. This work earned him the prize for Best Costume Designer at the 2014 Max Awards in Spain.
That same year, Nicolas met stage director Franco Dragone for whom he designed the 600 costumes that make up the wardrobe for the Parisian cabaret Lido, the Russian singer Philipp Kirkorov at the Moscow Kremlin, the Dai Show in Xishuangbanna, China, and the Rixos World park and hotel in Turkey.
This period leading up to the end of 2016 clearly marked Nicolas’ predilection for creating stage costumes. From January 2017, he pursued this activity in Canada with ScénoPlus for MGM Macau. He also worked with Cirque du Soleil, where he designed costumes for numerous productions, including the show ECHO.
Simultaneously, Nicolas collaborated with numerous international companies such as Balich (FIFA World Cup ceremonies), the 7 Fingers, Cirque Éloize, LarMak, People Creative, 59Productions, Royal Caribbean and Live Nation.
In 2025, he was nominated for a Prix Molière in France for La Haine, a live musical comedy directed by Serge Denoncourt and Mathieu Kassovitz.
LYDIA BOUCHARD
Lydia Bouchard’s artistic career stands out for its diversity and creativity. Hailing from the world of classical dance, she has been working as a dancer for over 20 years. This prolific artist has worked with such renowned creators as Jean Grand-Maître (Roméo et Juliette), Renaud Doucet and Robert Lepage (La Damnation de Faust). She then forayed into musical theater with renowned Canadian companies such as Mirvish Productions, Jacobson Entertainment, Just for Laughs, and Drayton Entertainment.
In 2009, Lydia joined Cirque du Soleil’s special events division, where she discovered the exciting world of circus arts. There, she worked on several projects as an artist and creator, which have brought her to Vienna, New York, Monaco, Geneva and Moscow, among other major cities. From 2015 to 2017, she joined Jean-Guy Legault’s team for three Cirque du Soleil Tribute Series shows in the choreographer role (Le monde est fou, Tout écartillé and Stone).
Lydia staged major events in Andorra (Diva in 2018 and Rebel the following year). In 2021, she returned to Trois-Rivières to direct and choreograph a tribute to Quebec divas.
Alongside her activities as a dancer, choreographer and stage director, she has held, since 2018, the role of master for the dance program Révolution, which airs on TVA.
MARIE-HÉLÈNE DELAGE
As Creative Director for Events and Experiences at Cirque du Soleil, Marie-Hélène identifies and supports the creative teams while maintaining artistic integrity throughout the development, design, and production phases of each project.
After completing her studies in cinema and art history, Marie-Hélène joined Cirque du Soleil, where she contributed to various shows and special events as Assistant Director, Project Manager, Stage Manager, Assistant Creative Director and Creative Director for projects such as Cirque du Soleil at Sea and Bazzar. In 2012, she collaborated with Moment Factory and later joined their team as lead Creative Director for the Lumina Night Walk and Aura series. Among her recent accomplishments as Creative Director for Events and Experiences are the 2023 Helene Fischer Tour and the Cirque du Soleil SPIRIT experience in collaboration with The Macallan.
Her extensive expertise in the fields of arts, live performance and multimedia entertainment enables her to conceptualize and develop large-scale experiences while ensuring that each project is built on a solid technical foundation. With over fifteen years of experience in production, Marie-Hélène embodies a rigorous and proactive attitude, relying on her artistic intuition to direct impactful projects in a spirit of collaboration.