Late December 2007 Ton van Dort was asked to temporarily fill in in for regular percussionist Rafik Samman, and - to his own surprise - he suddenly found himself playing in the Cirque du Soleil show Varekai.

Acceleration
In 1998 Ton van Dort saw his first Cirque du Soleil performance Alegria. Van Dort:

\"Immediately I thought: Oh, I wanna do this, making music that\'s entirely written and arranged for the act. In 2006 I auditioned during a show in Budapest. That went okay and they added my name to the music bank. I had not really expect to hear from the Cirque again.\"

Acceleration
In 1998 Ton van Dort saw his first Cirque du Soleil performance: Alegria. Van Dort:

\"I thought: Oh, this is what I want - making music that\'s entirely written and arranged for the act. In 2006 I auditioned during a show in Budapest. That went okay and they added my name to the music bank, as a back-up. I had not really expected to hear from the Cirque again though.\"

When regular percussionist Rafik Samman became ill, Ton van Dort got a phone call and all of a sudden everything accelerated:

\"On December 31, 2007 I flew to London. My first impression of Varekai and its music was on the plane where I watched a dvd. On January 2, 2008 I had my first rehearsal, try-outs were on January 4 and 5, and the premiere was on January 8! Some long and intensive days!\"

Varekai
The word varekai means \"wherever\" in the Romany language of the gypsies the universal wanderers. This production, written and directed Dominic Champagne, pays tribute to the nomadic soul, to the spirit and art of the circus tradition, and to the infinite passion of those whose quest takes them along the path that leads to Varekai.

Tickets
For more information about shows and tickets, visits www.cirquedusoleil.com.