Cirque du Soleil has redefined how the world views the circus; from small town talent to a household name. Laurent River near Quebec City. This crew had an eclectic show, highlighting jugglers, dancers, fire breathers, and musicians who pleased local fans with their act. Little did these early fans and performers know that these embryonic beginnings would lead to something magical, exciting, and revolutionary on a global scale.
At the time tours lasted an average of three years. The Cirque du Soleil embarked on film and television production in , the year Dralion was created. The musical Delirium , performed in an arena, was also created. Increasing its projects and its partnerships, the company pursued its development with its 20th new show, Kooza , in , then with Wintuk , a seasonal show in New York.
In , the Cirque du Soleil concurrently presented nearly 20 separate productions. The Cirque du Soleil, which stopped receiving government or private operational subsidies in , has itself become a support to numerous artistic organizations.
The workers, who represent some 50 nationalities, express themselves in more than 25 different languages. The Cirque du Soleil is a global citizen who takes social engagement seriously, and its mission includes helping youth-at-risk and fighting poverty through their Cirque du Monde program.
In this spirit, since , the company has given 1 per cent of its gross revenue to social action programmes in more than 80 communities throughout the world and to its One Drop Foundation, a charity devoted to community development and accessible water on three continents see Canadian Foundations. The Cirque also gives young artists the opportunity to exhibit their work at its head office.
In , the Cirque du Soleil took part in the televised Oscar gala. Choreographers use new techniques to surprise audiences - like this bed that doubles as a trampoline. Cirque du Soleil acrobats are taught how to apply their own make-up, which can take hours each night. Wrestling shoes are favoured by acrobats, although there are several cobblers on hand to make bespoke shoes. Mr Ste-Croix walked 56 miles in stilts to raise money.
Polishing the jewel. But with success has also come some hard lessons. Cirque du Soleil had a recent hit with its show dedicated to the music of Michael Jackson in Las Vegas.
Related Topics. Entrepreneurship Canada. Franco introduced a new approach to character. He worked with performers to better understand their impact on stage apart from their acrobatic expertise. His high-quality artistic vision not only made Cirque profitable by , but also allowed it to create new shows.
As I mentioned in the introduction to this brief history, in , Circus Knie and Cirque du Soleil collaborated for a touring show performing in over sixty major Swiss cities, called Knie presents Cirque du Soleil. While the tour in Switzerland was an instant success, Cirque also had its first adventure in Asia. With Fascination , a collage of past shows, they made a name for themselves in Japan and opened the doors to the Asian market. In , Saltimbanco premiered in Montreal.
Saltimbanco was a milestone and instant classic in Cirque history. The show retired in , after 20 years of successfully touring around the world. Another even more ambitious project was the permanent show O , at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. With this show, Cirque was now known internationally. O has so far broken all ticket sales records. The show has performed to a full house ever since its premiere in October With O , Cirque reached a whole new level of technological challenges.
A water-based theater needed an immense amount of maintenance and safety features. But by listening you come to realize that water wants you to work at its rhythm. That realization helped us come up with something wholly original — it was a creative stimulus of the first order. From to now, many of the older shows retired. But many new shows followed. Plus, coming soon, Axel and Messi The tours in bold are still travelling around the world, the others have retired. In good Cirque du Soleil tradition, each touring show always celebrates its world premiere in Montreal.
Again, shows that are still active are shown in bold print. In , with Guy Laliberte leaving Cirque, an era came to its end. Thankfully, its shows are still running strong. However, with the original founders and creatives gone, Cirque — now a proud 35 years young — is, like everything around and inside of us, gradually and unavoidably changing… and exploring new directions…. What made Cirque du Soleil so attractive to its audiences? Each show was a combination of circus styles from around the world with a storyline, a central theme, live music, a theatrical, character-driven approach, the absence of performing animals, theater elements like light, sound and special effects, top of the line acrobats, and artists from around the globe.
Artistic Director Guy Caron tried to explain the attraction:. Cirque is like cinema: you edit it together to create drama, and to allow people to enter completely into the experience, like you do into a film screen.
You enter into the experience, and forget everything else. Pierre Parisien points out the timelessness and power of the human emotions each show explores. Perhaps Alegria has lasted so long because with its mix of old and new, power and freedom, darkness and light — it is timeless.
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