Cirque Du Soleil and Deed3d Collaboration

The spectacular scenery of the stage art in China

July 2019, Cirque du Soleil raised the curtain on its most recent permanent show in China: X the Land of Fantasy. Produced in partnership with the Chinese Group Hangzhou Xintiandi (XTD) which is the only Cirque theater in Asia.

The article elaborates on how Deed 3D supports Cirque Du Soleil with props and functional parts.

Cirque du Soleil The Land of Fantasy offers an astonishing staging combining heart-pumping acrobatics, state-of-the-art visual and sound effects, and high-tech scenic and theatrical elements. Divided into two sets of intimate revolving bleachers, the theater offers an unprecedented immersive experience to 1,500 spectators who benefit from a unique perspective of 360 degrees on the massive 100-meters wide mainstage and the central structure consisted of nine panels of 121m2 each that shape-shift as the story unfolds.

420m² of ‘forest’ is the highlight of the stage, While in the performance, the acrobats will move back and forth in the scenery, request the forest and limbs model anti-fatigue and lightweight, which will be easy for the stage staff to switch the sceneries. Therefore 3D props have to be bear the impact and rub constantly, and high tensile and flexible properties are requested for the material which was the big challenge Canada team faced in the stage setting.

Deed3d partnering with Cirque Du Soleil to the solutions

At the first stage, the team took one of the longest tree limbs (3.7m) as the standard of the quality test. After comparing among SLA, SLS, and FDM 3d printing technology, Deed3d(Stratasys FDM) is proud to be chosen as the only 3d printed parts suppliers who delivery high-quality 3d printed parts in short lead-time.

(Marshall Spratt, the assistant technical director of Cirque Du Soleil is visiting Deed3d company)

The tree limbs were printed in FDM ABS-M30 plastic material which is strong and cost-effective. Deed3d chose PC-ABS plastic material to produce the middle connector parts which needs to hold much pressure. PC-ABS is combining the advantage of ABS and PC, strong and durable. Nylon 12 material was used for parts require flexibility. All 3d printed parts pass quality control.

In order to ensure that the shows can be staged on time, Deed3d mobilized 5 sets of Stratasys Fortus 900mc and more than 20 sets of 450mc and 380mc. Deed3d delivery hundreds of sets of tree limbs within 30 days not only the 3d printing process but also finish post-process.

Dragon and Phoenix token – East and West culture

(ABS material with glossy paint)

Crown

(Made of TPU material, good in flexibility and elongation)

Dragon and Phoenix wand

(ABS-M30 plastic material with golden paint)

(High light-transmitting parts, clear and strong)

(Nylon 12CF material, strong and lightweight)

After six months of rehearsal and performance, the 3d printed parts are still intact.

Mr. Hou the CEO of Deed3d Technology emphasizes, “as a leading 3D printing service, we equipped with over 50 sets of Stratasys printers, to realize the small batch production of rapid prototyping. And one of the biggest benefits of Stratasys printer is it can easily switch different materials.”