In the new Cirque du Soleil show ECHO, the lead character, Future, is on a quest to solve the environmental problems facing our world today. The show conveys hope – hope that we can come to grips with what’s facing us, and together build a better tomorrow.
To deliver on this promise, the characters in the show have to learn to listen to the wisdom of the planet, in particular to creatures from the animal world who guide them on their quest.
The show’s creators chose to have those animals express themselves through music. Paul Barton’s experience with elephants in a Thai sanctuary provides a real-world example of how music can unite humans and other creatures. And, really, it should come as no surprise that living organisms of all kinds – not just animals, but plants, too – respond to the emotion and harmonies in music.
The power of music has long been a force uniting cultures and peoples in Cirque du Soleil productions around the world. Cirque artists, playing to universal audiences, communicate through powerful emotions, not relying on the words of a particular language.
Music is key to this communication. Some theorize that singing came before language. If that’s true, it reinforces the belief that music is common to all living things. Close your eyes in a forest, and you will hear all of nature’s voices raised in song.
Recent evidence suggests that the Big Bang itself echoes with a single note that unites the cosmos – a frequency that can be measured emanating from black holes. The note? B Flat Major!