The Technology Behind Cirque du Soleil’s Mystère
Cirque du Soleil, known for its fantastic stage presentations, incorporates multiple technological systems in complex ways to bring magic to its audiences.
Terry Persun
Stage Events
Aug 24, 2026
This is Part 1 of our behind-the-scenes coverage of Cirque du Soleil's Mystère. Read Part 2 here.
In a recent conversation with the technical staff behind Cirque du Soleil’s Mystère — which is coming up on its 15,000th show — we at Entertainment Engineering learned a lot about the technologies used to literally keep things moving. It’s important to note that the team behind Mystère is continually upgrading and swapping out older technologies for newer ones as they become available. We’re going to talk about what systems are being used today and will fill you in on changes as they occur down the road.
In a show that is primarily made of acrobatics, both ground and aerials, it’s interesting to note that there are actually 45 axes of motion automation used in the show. Fourteen axes are incorporated as line sets or lighting trusses over the stage. Then there are four lifts, twelve performer flying axes, fourteen scenic axes, and one turntable.
In most theatres the line sets would be operated using a counterweight system where the counterweight is on the side and there is a batten over the stage. In this case, a motor would be used to assist the counterweight’s up and down movement. The Mystère theatre is unique in that the batten that goes across the top in the high gridiron — which is more than nine stories above the lifts below — is connected to a continuously operating hydraulic rotary piston motor.
If seven lift lines are being used, there are seven drums across the top. The direct drive hydraulic motor rotates all of the drums on a common shaft. The drums also move back and forth across the top of the stage as they wind and unwind so that the cables are always exactly vertical. The large backdrop in the show, called the sky, is a three-axis system that can tilt up and down, move up and down completely, and can rotate on its axis. All of this with precision positioning.
The overall hydraulic package incorporates four 100 horse motors, each with a sixty GPM Vickers variable displacement piston pump attached to it This configuration creates the 2,000 psi necessary to run all of the hydraulics systems for the show. Since the show only requires three units to operate, the fourth unit is basically redundant.
Presently, the main turntable in the show is driven using this hydraulic system connected to an endless steel cable. The turntable is one piece of the lift kit used to raise and lower stage components when needed. The lift systems are some of the few elements that use 50 hp AC induction motors running a mechanical lifting system created by Gala Systems. The company’s Spiralift is an ultra-compact system that can unspool and flatten back into compact storage coils when lowered. In the show, the lighting designers actually use the Spiralift units as part of the scenic elements.
The turntable itself sits on top of one of the lift kits. The crew has infinite speed, acceleration, and deceleration or AVD (acceleration, velocity, deceleration) control, all of which can be changed on demand even though most of the rotation is preprogrammed ahead of time to keep the show operations as consistent as possible.
Because there are a number of actors involved — the human aspect — things can change in how long it takes to do a particular maneuver or scene. That’s why the stage manager needs to be able to alter the timing of events on the fly. With live artists and different audiences for every show, deviations can happen quickly, making the show slightly different every evening.
The only exception to using the hydraulic system as the show stands now is in the opening act where the actors fly out and over the audience. This segment of the show uses Emerson servo motors.
Connecting the Pieces
Mystère incorporates TAIT Towers Navigator™ software as the central control system for the show. Navigator is the user interface that the automation crew integrate with to program show sequences ahead of time. From this information input, all of the motions are transferred through machine code to the hardware system that actually runs the 45 axes of motion. Literally all of the automation systems are programmed through Navigator, which unifies all of the complex elements of Mystère including lifts and line sets and turntables.
The overall automation is controlled using the TAIT Navigator system, which is specifically designed for machinery automation in the entertainment industry. The Navigator platform integrates with standard industrial grade Beckhoff Automation hardware and TwinSAFE technology to provide real-time, safety-critical control for Mystère. Some of the Beckhoff equipment is integrated with the moving stages, winches, lighting, and other elements. Beckhoff systems including all of the PCs and PLCs, the safety logic systems, and the I/O cards for various show elements.
Mystère was the original set show for Cirque du Soleil in Las Vagas and has kept many of the original people who have been with the show from that beginning, maintaining a consistency in shared knowledge that is important in such complex stage performances.
For information:
This is Part 1 of our behind-the-scenes coverage of Cirque du Soleil's Mystère. Read Part 2 here.