After two months in SM, the circus-like horse show rides off into the sunset
SM BEACH — Two months and more than 100,000 sold tickets later, the circus-meets-horse show Cavalia will pack up and leave Santa Monica after its final show tonight.
Since opening night on Nov. 10, performances of the show have kept the white tent in the parking lot north of Santa Monica Pier an average of 80-percent to 90-percent full, said Normand Latourelle, artistic director and producer of Cavalia. The tent holds up to 1,962 people.
Latourelle, 49, will next take the show to Phoenix, Ariz. He called the Santa Monica beach parking lot the best venue locale in the world.
“I first brought Cirque Du Soleil here to Santa Monica back in ’87-’88 and I had a great memory of bringing Cirque to Santa Monica,” Latourelle said. “I came to the pier and I said, ‘This is the most beautiful site, a beautiful site — this is where Cirque Du Soleil should set up.’
“At the time, I thought it was the best site in Los Angeles,” he added. “When I came back with Cavalia, I knew this was the best site in the world.”
Specifically, Latourelle pointed to the ocean setting and the central location of the pier, which has access to the largest population center in North America. Latourelle also joked the horses enjoyed being near the ocean.
“Since this time we have horses, we have created a paddock in the back of the parking lot and the horses have the feeling they are on the beach daily,” he said.
Only two bumps have cropped up during the show’s Santa Monica run. The first was when a cable snapped on opening night, dropping a performer about 15 feet. She was bruised, but walked away from the incident. The second bump was when foul weather rolled in, forcing workers to scramble to get the show’s equipment to higher ground.
“I told my people, ‘Well, I’ve been there many times and Los Angeles is a desert,’ so everybody looks at me and tells me I’m a liar,” Latourelle said.
Cavalia mixes the acrobatic athleticism of skilled riders with professionally groomed and trained horses from around the world, set to a soundtrack of modern music that’s played differently each night by live musicians.
Before coming to Santa Monica, where the show’s run was twice extended because of its popularity, Cavalia played at several other west coast cities. It started in San Francisco, then went to Glendale, up to Seattle, back to San Francisco and down to Del Mar before settling in Santa Monica, according to Latourelle. The show’s end is nowhere in sight, he added during a Friday interview.
“At first, we talked three years, but now we see a much greater future,” Latourelle said. “We don’t see the end of it. We have such great demand all across the United States.”
In addition to selling more than 100,000 tickets to 56 shows, at an average cost of $79, Latourelle said Cavalia employed more than 200 area residents, who did everything from groom the horses to sell concessions, drive the parking shuttles and set up the tent. The tent is scheduled to come down Monday, weather permitting.
City Hall also profited from the show’s run. The beach parking lot often is rented out to large movie shoots and for other events at a daily rate of about $10,000 to $12,000, officials said. With Cavalia, a lower total rate likely was negotiated because of the duration of the show, though show managers declined to say how much they paid. City officials also couldn’t peg an exact figure on Friday, because they were away from their desks.
Most city departments are closed every other Friday in an effort to reduce automobile trips and thereby help the environment.
“The arrangement made with Cavalia certainly had a positive impact on city revenues, and it’s a good thing for the community to utilize those parking lots in a season when they’re not fully utilized,” said finance director Steve Stark, reached Friday afternoon on his mobile phone.
City Councilman Richard Bloom, who said he saw the show twice, added Cavalia also paid for security and inspection services during their Santa Monica run. Bloom said he would miss the white “big top” that’s become part of the recent horizon.
“It’s been a good run, and I think it does add a kind of festive feel there to the beach area, to see the tent,” Bloom said. “It’s very beautiful when it glows at night and compliments the pier quite nicely.”
For Latourelle, Phoenix beckons. His first show is scheduled for Jan. 25, giving him just enough time to set up in yet another city. A co-founder of Cirque Du Soleil who worked with the outfit for five years until 1990, Latourelle said he never was bitten by the acting bug.
“I’ve never been on a trapeze, never performed,” he added. “I’m a grounded guy. I always, you know, have my two feet very solid on the ground, but my head is very high in the sky.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 8, 2005. Read the original PDF.