1. JOYÀ’s original inspiration is the migration of the Monarch butterfly, the only insect species that migrates annually to a warmer climate over 2,500 miles away.
2. JOYÀ strives to be a fully immersive experience for the senses. All the show’s sound, including instrumentation and vocals, is completely live, and one act goes so far as to incorporate a smell component to really get your synapses firing.
3. The succulent beef rib served as part of your dinner takes precisely 64 minutes to cook to perfection.
4. Each show consumes roughly 200 bottles of champagne. ¡Salud!
Every part of the JOYÀ meal is designed to delight, from the edible menu to the custom Champagne.
5. Still hungry after the courses have subsided? Your menu is edible.
6. The set’s trampolines are serviced with spring replacements every month, and inspected weekly. On any given night, there are a total of 70 fresh springs in play on stage.
7. Each performer’s intricate makeup is broken down into 30-some steps detailed in an instruction manual with step-by-step descriptions and photographs. Once trusted with these guides, the artists do their makeup themselves!
8. A single performer may rotate between up to seven disguises.
Each character’s make-up is part of an elaborate process, some taking as many as 30 steps to complete.
9. Most people think the set’s boat and trampoline are automated, but they’re actually moved the old-fashioned way—elbow grease, courtesy of a special team of people.
10. Each “Mask of the Masters” contains more than 10,000 stones applied painstakingly by hand. As a result, each mask takes about six months to construct.
11. The fine details don’t end there: all of JOYÀ’s wigs are handmade with natural hair, all shoes worn by performers are hand-painted daily to appear in perfect condition for the day’s show, and JOYÀ is the only Cirque de Soleil production that creates its own costumes.
The Cirque du Soleil Theater is an award-winning feat of architecture.
12. You’ve probably heard that Vidanta built the custom Cirque du Soleil Theater specifically to house this resident show. But did you know: in the course of construction, 80% of the land surrounding the theater was preserved as natural jungle, and all of its roads and parking areas were built exclusively with 100% permeable ecological concrete.
13. The theater’s scenery exhibits a range of design influences, from Mexico’s beloved artist Diego Rivera, to the iconic Central Library of the Autonomous University of Mexico.
14. The elaborate set took more than four months to build—in Montreal! It then traveled 65 hours to reach its forever home at Riviera Maya.
15. All of the Cirque du Soleil Theater’s intricate decorative elements, including its sculptures and spectacular candelabra, were made right here in Mexico.
To experience all the deliciousness and magic of this once-in-a-lifetime production firsthand, reserve with your concierge.
