Cirque's 'Dralion' merges East and West in Hoffman Estates

If you have wondered how the Quebec-based Cirque du Soleil became an international entertainment powerhouse, you need only look at the long shelf life of their shows to find the answer. “Saltimbanco,” for example, was created in 1992 and continues to tour arenas around the world.

But within each show, a major component of its success lies in a strong ensemble packed with performers happy to stay with a show for the duration.

Among those performers is Agnes Sohier, heading to Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates for the short run of “Dralion” beginning Wednesday, Jan. 26. Sohier has been singing with “Dralion” since 2000.

“We traveled with that show for eleven years,” Sohier explains.

The show combines Chinese-style acrobats with European elements. Even its name is derived from two creatures who represent East and West: the dragon and the lion.

“Dralion” was originally designed for a tent, but reinvented for the current arena version.

This is something the folks in Montreal have been doing to extend the life of a number of the most popular Cirque shows.

“We had a break while we transformed the show,” Sohier says, adding that as soon as the show was up and running, she jumped back in.

Trampoline artist Alex Cuenca has not been with the show as long as Sohier, but his devotion is no less strong. He joined “Dralion” near the end of its life as a tent-style show.

At the time, Cuenca was at a crossroads in his career. “I had stopped competing on the trampoline,” Cuenca says. Instead, he was a year and a half into a training program in his hometown Barcelona to become firefighter.

Then he got a call from Cirque du Soleil inviting him to Montreal to audition. A few weeks earlier Cuenca had sent them a DVD of his work on the trampoline.

“I was under the big top for one year,” he explains. When the show was temporarily closed for retooling, there was no question Cuenca would join the arena version. “I have now been touring with this show for one year and I have so much fun. I love it.”

Sohier is not surprised Cuenca turned his back on a career as a firefighter to become a Cirque performer. “He has a lot of the fire,” she laughs.