Cirque du Soleil Experience Unveils Kinect for Xbox 360

Published June 13, 2010

On the eve of the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, Xbox made entertainment history through a stunning Cirque du Soleil production that brought controller-free gaming and entertainment to life and gave “Project Natal” its real name: Kinect for Xbox 360.

The future arrives with Kinect.

Thousands of Hollywood stars, VIPs, and media from around the world gathered at LA’s Galen Center to witness the future of entertainment on Sunday, June 13, 2010. This exclusive 45-minute experience, which Cirque du Soleil spent four months developing and producing, was presented Sunday night, with an encore performance set for Monday. Along with a 76-person strong cast of dancers, musicians, acrobats, and clowns, show goers were treated to a dazzling setup featuring 25-foot-high projection screens totaling more than a football field in length, a gigantic 9-foot-tall elephant puppet housing projection screens and two artists, and a 40-foot-diameter steel structure that rotates on its axis and weighs as much as 25 VW Beetles.

“Creating and producing this customized experience for
Microsoft took four months of preparation work for the
creation team and required 76 artists and no less than
200 technicians. The magnitude of the event is greater
than any other taken on by Cirque du Soleil Events.”
-- Martin Dignard, Production Director

A steady drumbeat emanated from a lush forest built inside Galen Center, featuring meteorite touch-downs, rotating living rooms, pulsating music, amazing puppetry, and stunning physical dexterity—all inspired by Kinect for Xbox 360. “The World Premiere Kinect for Xbox 360 Experience” surprised and delighted a global audience, featuring extraordinary entertainment experiences—no controller required.

Cirque du Soleil knows how to put on an event.

The Project Natal experience is designed to generate
emotional responses that echo the feelings Project Natal
itself evokes. Experiencing a sense of connection and
togetherness, members of the audience will be whisked
away on a journey that is intense, engrossing, human-
centered, interactive, imaginative and socially inclusive.”
-- Michel Laprise, Creative Director

If all this seems hard to picture, you can experience the event yourself in a 30-minute, commercial-free special broadcast on MTV on Tuesday, June 15, 2010 at 3:30 pm ET, and on Nick at Nite, mtvU, MTV Hits, and Logo at 9 pm ET.

Or, experience the exhilaration of Kinect for Xbox 360 yourself when roaring rapids, wild tigers, mountainous obstacle courses, and zooming racecars come to living rooms around the world this holiday.

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