Epson Projectors Help Cirque du Soleil ECHO Bring an Immersive World to Life on Tour

When Cirque du Soleil ECHO travels from city to city, virtually every element of the production goes with it, including a projection system designed to transform the performance environment and respond dynamically to the action onstage. As the official projector partner of Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group, Epson's gear is part of the show.

ECHO's visual system features a giant cube tracked by ten projectors positioned around the audience. As it moves, projected imagery moves with it. The system combines structured lighting and cameras to track the cube in real time.

"ECHO is a very complex show," says Alexis Rivest, technical director, VYV, the show's gear supplier. "The system uses structured lights and cameras so the cube can be tracked in real time; that allows us to re-project from the various projectors' point of view."

The equipment must also withstand the realities of life on the road. "We tend to say a Big Top show is a little like being on a camping site; it's raining, snowing, it's a dust storm. You never know what you're going to get," says Stefanus Roos, assistant head of video, Cirque du Soleil ECHO. "All of these elements have an impact on the equipment, and our old projectors were aging."

The upgrade presented an opportunity to rethink the projection system around the realities of ECHO's production environment. With equipment mounted overhead and limited physical space available within the touring infrastructure, size and weight were critical considerations. "The physical space of the actual projector is a challenge for us; we need to keep a clearance," says Christian Blais, project manager, lighting and projections, Cirque du Soleil. "Fortunately, the new projectors are much smaller than what we had previously. Having a smaller projector that is lighter and packs a bigger punch is very important for any environment. And we can fit more into a truck and reduce our trucks on the road."

Once ECHO arrives at a new location, the technical team has a limited window to rebuild the projection system and prepare it for performance. "No one tours around the globe like we do; we're pretty unique in the way we operate our systems," says Michael Fortin, technical director, touring shows, Cirque du Soleil. "From my perspective, the main challenge for this changeover is our timeframe. You have that window of about eight hours to change the components. The clock starts ticking, and there's no coming back."

The process begins with the installation of the structures that support the projectors, followed by mounting the projectors and running the necessary cabling throughout the system. "Our first step is to bolt our own structures that we hang the projectors on. Then we get the projectors up in the air and cable the whole system," Roos says. "Our next step is to calibrate the system, which means to get all ten projectors to talk together to get one single seamless visual, instead of 10 individual images."

"With the new projectors installed, we definitely see a reduction in setup time and there's less maintenance needed," Fortin says.

"Consistency and giving an audience member the same experience whether they are in Montreal or Mexico is very important for Cirque du Soleil," Roos says. "Because of Epson's global support system, we don't have to compromise on any of that."

Epson's large-venue laser projectors feature three-chip 3LCD technology with advanced image processing. Built with installation flexibility in mind, the projectors can adapt to a variety of environments and placement requirements, making them well suited for large-scale entertainment applications.

The ECHO upgrade is also part of a broader strategy for Cirque du Soleil, creating a more unified technology fleet across its productions.

Cirque du Soleil ECHO continues its international tour in Mexico through the end of 2026, before traveling to Miami, Florida, and Italy in 2027.

A video about the project can be seen here.

For additional information about Epson's large venue projectors, visit www.epson.com/largevenue.