As you watch, awed by the spectacular technique of the 35 Chinese acrobats and other performing members of Cirque du Soleil, you may not be aware of the music, which intensifies every move, every gesture. Violaine Corradi, the composer of the music for Dralion, Cirque's most recent touring production, is familiar with every beat, every moment in every number. She knows too, that each moment is unpredictable, subject to change. This is what makes Cirque Du Soleil, says Corradi, "like a live beast...creating a sort of emotional wave into the public."

The music must be created with flexibility in mind. "If the person has to redo the trick, if an acrobat misses--his goal is to get it. It's rare that it happens, but the audience really wants it to happen. It's not perfect, but it's always human and alive."

As with all Cirque du Soleil creations, Dralion (the name is derived from the combination of the Chinese dragon and lion dances), is a multi-layered collaboration of artists, designers, performers, and director. This time, using Eastern and Western cultures and aesthetics, Dralion artists built the production around the four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. The choreography, costumes, set, lights, and music reflect this. Using a storyboard, the team of artists labored over many long months and the vision grew into one harmonious whole. The score, by Corradi, is "an exploration of music from all different parts of the world, trying to find the place where they can merge."

"I've always been interested in world beat music and into mixed textures," Corradi says. With a strong background in classical music, the Italian-born Canadian has also forayed into more contemporary sounds--her pieces are included in compilations with work by Philip Glass and Kitaro, for example. She says this was helpful when working on the score for Dralion, "The idea was to have a counter tenor, so I created music with an operatic flavor and a back beat."

This perfectly illustrates Cirque du Soleil's singular approach to presenting acrobatics and other fantastic physical feats. "As creators and designers [at Cirque], we have this wonderful license...the art is what makes it different from other circuses...I have nothing against musicals; Les Miserables, for example--it's wonderful--I saw it ten times, but it's static. They always look for the same Cosette, Jean Valjean--you think it's the same performers! Cirque du Soleil is the opposite, things move all the time." Such an atmosphere is stimulating, says Corradi, for the artists and for the public alike.

At this circus, while a wave of anticipation and wonder washes over you as you watch the lithe aerialists dance above--take a listen, too. Hear the drums, Corradi's "heart beat of the earth." It's a trip around the world--from taiko-powered rhythms, to the delicate strains of east India, to the indefinable waver of the counter tenor, all the elements conspire to make Dralion a living, breathing beast.

Quickie review of Dralion CD

You'd expect music written to accompany stupendous, near-magical physical feats to be dramatic--Dralion, the CD soundtrack of Cirque Du Soleil, delivers. The opening cut, "Stella Errans," explodes with taiko-patterned beats and takes off into French counter tenor Erik Koral's lilting tones. It's a curious mix of the lyrical and the rhythmic, typical of the rest of the cuts, which follow the composer's notion of East meets West.

Blending both traditional Western (cello, violin, guitars) and Eastern (oud, log drums) instruments with contemporary electronic sounds, Corradi manages to create a hybrid that is fresh and accessible. Though there is an unmistakable Euro-pop flavor, the sound never descends into the mundane because of the persistence of unexpected instrumentation and rhythms. The Dralion CD allows you to imagine the circus without even being there.