MANILA – Five years since they last performed in the country, Cirque du Soleil has decided to return to Manila for the grand Asian premiere of its new show, “Toruk: The First Flight.”

The show is inspired by James Cameron’s movie “Avatar,” which broke box-office records when it was shown in the Philippines in 2009.

In an interview with ABS-CBN News, Cirque du Soleil head coach Michael Ocampo said this was one of the reasons why they thought of bringing “Toruk: The First Flight” to Manila.

“We know that here in Manila, there’s this great culture of arts. It was one of the places that we’ve visited in the past. We wanted to come back,” said Ocampo.

As to how they decided to adapt the James Cameron film into a live show, Filipino-American puppeteer Rob Laqui said they found the collaboration between Cirque du Soleil and the world of Pandora to be a “perfect fit.”

Cirque du Soleil promises to treat viewers of “Toruk: The First Flight” with cutting-edge visuals, puppetry and stagecraft.

“There’s the acrobatics that we know from Cirque du Soleil. There’s also all the storyline that we’ve seen in 'Avatar' and the Na’vi and the world of Pandora as well as all the projections. It’s very visually stunning and we can expect you to be on your seat and your eyes are wide open for two hours for sure,” said Janie Mallet, publicist for the show.

However, this is not to say that their team hasn’t encountered challenges in staging the show. For one, there’s the physical challenge of setting up and tearing down the set-up of the show.

“Generally, every week we are changing. Here, we are staying two weeks in Manila so that’s nice for us because it’s going to be an extended stay for us. But after we finish, the technicians and everybody pack up the show into those 27 trucks. We move to the next city where they set it back up again,” explained Ocampo.

Before coming to Manila, “Toruk: The First Flight” has traveled through Canada, the United States and Mexico to bring the world of Pandora to life every week.

Narrated by a Na’vi storyteller and starring unforgettable characters, “Toruk: The First Flight” is a mythical tale set thousands of years before the events depicted in the film “Avatar” and before any humans ever set foot in Pandora.

When a natural catastrophe threatens to destroy the sacred Tree of Souls, Ralu and Entu, two Omaticaya boys on the brink of adulthood, fearlessly decide to take matters into their own hands.

Upon learning that Toruk can help them save the Tree of Souls, they set out, together with their newfound friend Tsyal, on a quest high up in the floating mountains to find the mighty red and orange predator that rules the Pandoran sky.

Prophecy is fulfilled when a pure soul rises among the clans to ride Toruk for the first time and save the Na’vi from a terrible fate.

Cirque du Soleil will present the show at the Mall of Asia Arena from June 23 to July 2. Tickets start at P1,500 and are now on sale at www.cirquedusoleil.com/toruk and smtickets.com.