Cirque du Soleil (French for "Circus of the Sun," in English ) (or Serk-doo-Solay), is a Canadian entertainment company, self-described as a "
dramaticDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a collective...
mix of
circus artsCircus arts refers to a body of performing arts featured in, derived from, or inspired by circus productions.There are two main genres of circus arts: traditional and contemporary . Below is a table comparing several aspects of traditional and contemporary circus arts....
and street entertainment." Based in
MontrealMontreal is the second-largest city in Canada and the largest city in the province of Quebec. Originally called Ville-Marie , the city takes its present name from Mont-Royal, the triple-peaked hill located in the heart of the city, whose name was also initially given to the island on which the...
,
QuebecQuebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada and located in the inner-city area of
Saint-MichelSaint-Michel is a neighborhood in the Montreal borough ofVilleray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension. Its boundaries corresponds to the former city of Ville Saint Michel, which was annexed to Montreal in 1968. This former independent city was known as Saint-Michel-de-Laval from its inception in 1912 to...
, it was founded in
Baie-Saint-PaulBaie-Saint-Paul is a city in the Province of Quebec, Canada on the northern shore of the Saint Lawrence River. Baie-Saint-Paul is the seat of Charlevoix Regional County Municipality. The name gained some prominence in the 1770s when Doctor Philippe-Louis-François Badelard named a disease he was...
in 1984 by two former street performers,
Guy LalibertéGuy Laliberté, OC, CQ is a French Canadian entrepreneur, philanthropist, poker player, space tourist and currently the CEO of Cirque du Soleil. Starting out as an accordion player, stiltwalker and fire-eater; Laliberté created his circus which is a synthesis of all circus styles around the world...
and Daniel Gauthier. The company is the winner of the 1991
Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical ExperienceThe Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience was created to honor those Broadway, off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway, and legitimate not-for-profit theater productions which, due to their unusual nature, cannot be categorized in the regular musical and play categories...
.
Initially named
Les Échassiers, they toured
QuebecQuebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
in 1980 as a performing troupe and encountered financial hardship that was relieved by a government grant in 1983 as part of the 450th anniversary celebrations of
Jacques CartierJacques Cartier was a French explorer who claimed what is now Canada for France. He was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, which he named "The Country of Canadas", after the Iroquois names for the two big settlements he saw...
's discovery of Canada.
Le Grand Tour du Cirque du Soleil was a success in 1984, and after securing a second year of funding, Laliberté hired Guy Caron from the
National Circus SchoolThe École Nationale de Cirque is a professional circus school located in Montréal, Québec, Canada.It is a school for higher education in arts, after the great schools of music, dance and theatre, the NCS also offers academic subjects at the secondary and college levels...
to re-create it as a "proper circus". No ring and no animals helped make Cirque du Soleil the
contemporary circusContemporary circus, or le nouveau cirque , is a genre of performing art developed in the later 20th century in which a story or a theme is conveyed through traditional circus skills. Animals are rarely used in this type of circus, and traditional circus skills are blended with a more...
("cirque nouveau") that it is today.
Each show is a synthesis of circus styles from around the world, with its own central theme and storyline. They draw the audience into the performance through continuous live music, with performers rather than stagehands changing the props. After critical and financial successes (
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
Arts Festival) and failures in the late 1980s,
Nouvelle Expérience was created – with the direction of
Franco DragoneFranco Dragone is a Belgian theatre director. He is known for his work with Cirque du Soleil.-Early life:Dragone was born in Cairano, Italy, and moved to Belgium at age seven. In the 1970s, he studied acting at the Belgian Royal Conservatory...
– which not only made Cirque profitable by 1990, but allowed it to create new shows.
Cirque expanded rapidly through the 1990s and 2000s, going from one show to approximately 4,000 employees from over 40 countries producing 19 shows in over 271 cities on every continent except Africa and Antarctica, with an estimated annual revenue exceeding
US$The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents .The U.S...
810 million.. The multiple permanent
Las VegasLas Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada, the seat of Clark County, and an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, fine dining, and entertainment. Las Vegas, which bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, is famous for the number of...
shows alone play to more than 9,000 people a night, 5% of the city's visitors, adding to the 90 million people who have experienced Cirque worldwide. In 2000, Laliberté bought out Gauthier, and with 95% ownership, has continued to expand the brand. In 2008, under a partnership with investment groups
Istithmar WorldIstithmar World is an investment firm based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates . This company is a state-run business owned by Dubai World, a Dubai government-owned company, and was established in 2003...
and Nakheel of
DubaiDubai is one of the seven emirates and the most populous state of the United Arab Emirates . It is located along the southern coast of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula. The Dubai Municipality is sometimes called Dubai state to distinguish it from the emirate...
, which Cirque plans to build a residency show in the
United Arab EmiratesThe United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven emirates situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman and Saudi Arabia. The UAE consists of seven states, termed emirates, which are Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Quwain, Ras...
country by 2012, Laliberté split 20% of his share equally between the two groups to further finance the company's goals. Several more shows are in development around the world, along with a television deal, women's clothing line and the possible venture into other mediums such as spas, restaurants and nightclubs.
Cirque's creations have been awarded numerous prizes and distinctions, including
BambiThe Bambi awards are presented annually by Hubert Burda Media to recognize excellence in international media and television "with vision and creativity who affected and inspired the German public that year", both domestic and foreign. First held in 1948 they are the oldest media awards in Germany...
,
Rose d'OrThe Rose d'Or is a television award. It has been given annually in spring since 1961 at the Festival Rose d'Or. Since 2004, the festival has been held in Lucerne, Switzerland...
, three Gemini Awards and four
Primetime Emmy AwardThe Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
s.
Company history
Seeking a career in the performing arts, Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté toured Europe as a
folk musicThe term folk music originated in the 19th century as a term for musical folklore. It has been defined in several ways; as music transmitted by word of mouth, music of the lower classes, music with no known composer...
ian and busker after quitting college. By the time he returned back home to Canada in 1979, he had learned the art of
fire breathingFire breathing is the act of creating a large flame by spraying, with one's mouth, a flammable liquid upon an open flame. The flame is usually held an arm's length away and the spray should be both powerful and misty. This art is said to have originated in India.A favourite among audiences, fire...
. Although he became "employed" at a
hydroelectric power plantHydroelectricity is electricity generated by hydropower, i.e., the production of power through use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
in
James BayJames Bay is a large body of water on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. Both bodies of water extend from the Arctic Ocean. James Bay borders the provinces of Quebec and Ontario; islands within the bay are part of Nunavut...
, his job ended after only three days due to a labour strike. He decided not to look for another job, instead supporting himself on his unemployment insurance. He helped organize a summer fair in Baie-Saint-Paul with the help of a pair of friends named Daniel Gauthier and Gilles Ste-Croix.
Gauthier and Ste-Croix were managing a youth hostel for performing artists named
Le Balcon Vert at that time. By the summer of 1979, Ste-Croix had been developing the idea of turning the Balcon Vert, and the talented performers who lived there, into an organized performing troupe. As part of a publicity stunt to convince the Quebec government to help fund his production, Ste-Croix walked the from Baie-Saint-Paul to
Quebec CityQuébec , is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in the province – after Montreal, about to the southwest...
on stilts. The ploy worked, giving the three men the money to create
Les Échassiers de Baie-Saint-Paul. Employing many of the people who would later make up Cirque,
Les Échassiers toured Quebec during the summer of 1980.
Although well-received by audiences and critics alike,
Les Échassiers was a financial failure. Laliberté spent that winter in
HawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states, and is the only state made up entirely of islands. It is located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia. The state was admitted to the Union on August...
plying his trade while Ste-Croix stayed in Quebec to set up a nonprofit holding company named "The High-Heeled Club" to mitigate the losses of the previous summer. In 1981, they met with better results. By that fall,
Les Échassiers de Baie-Saint-Paul had broken even. The success inspired Laliberté and Ste-Croix to organize a summer fair in their hometown of Baie-Saint-Paul.
This touring festival, called "
La Fête Foraine," first took place in July 1982.
La Fēte Foraine featured workshops to teach the circus arts to the public, after which those who participated could take part in a performance. Ironically, the festival was barred from its own hosting town after complaints from local citizens. Laliberté managed and produced the fair over the next couple years, nurturing it into a moderate financial success. But it was during 1983 that the government of Quebec gave him a $1.5 million grant to host a production the following year as part of Quebec's 450th anniversary celebration of the French explorer Jacques Cartier's discovery of Canada. Laliberté named his creation "
Le Grand Tour du Cirque du Soleil".
Le Grand Tour du Cirque du Soleil
Originally intended to only be a one-year project, Cirque du Soleil was scheduled to perform in 11 towns in Quebec over the course of 13 weeks running concurrent with the third
La Fête Foraine. The first shows were riddled with difficulty, starting with the collapse of the big top after the increased weight of rainwater cause the central mast to snap. Working with a borrowed tent, Laliberté then had to contend with difficulties with the European performers who were so unhappy with the Quebec circus's inexperience, that they had at one point sent a letter to the media complaining about how they were being treated.
The problems were only transient, however, and by the time 1984 had come to a close,
Le Grand Tour du Cirque Du Soleil was a success. Having only $60,000 left in the bank, Laliberté went back to the Canadian government to secure funding for a second year. Unfortunately, while the Canadian federal government was enthusiastic, the Quebec provincial government was resistant to the idea. It was not until Quebec's Premier,
René LévesqueRené Lévesque was a reporter, a minister of the government of Quebec, Canada , the founder of the Parti Québécois political party, and 23rd Premier of Quebec...
, intervened on their behalf that the provincial government relented.
The original big top tent that was used during the 1984
Le Grand Tour du Cirque Du Soleil tour can now be seen at
Carnivàle Lune BleueInspired by travelling carnivals of the 1930s, Carnivàle Lune Bleue is a live entertainment event created in Ottawa, Canada by Executive Producer and Founder Wayne Van De Graaff...
, a 1930s-style carnival that is home to the Cirque Maroc acrobats.
La Magie Continue
After securing funding from the Canadian government for a second year, Laliberté took steps to renovate Cirque from a group of street performers into a "proper circus". To accomplish this he hired the head of the
National Circus SchoolThe École Nationale de Cirque is a professional circus school located in Montréal, Québec, Canada.It is a school for higher education in arts, after the great schools of music, dance and theatre, the NCS also offers academic subjects at the secondary and college levels...
, Guy Caron, as Cirque Du Soleil's
artistic directorAn artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company, that handles the organization's artistic direction. He or she is generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the organization is generally a non-profit organization...
. The influences that Laliberté and Caron had in reshaping their circus were extensive. They wanted strong emotional music that was played from beginning to end by musicians. They wanted to emulate the
Moscow Circus'The Great Moscow State Circus is an auditorium in Moscow located at the Vernadsky Prospekt.It was opened 30 April 1971. It can seat up to 3,400 people and the height of the amphitheatre is 36 metres...
method of having the acts tell a story. Performers, rather than a technical crew, move equipment and props on and off stage so that it did not disrupt the momentum of the "storyline". Most importantly, their vision was to create a circus with neither a ring nor animals. The rationale was that the lack of both of these things draws the audience more into the performance.
To help design the next major show, Laliberté and Caron hired
Franco DragoneFranco Dragone is a Belgian theatre director. He is known for his work with Cirque du Soleil.-Early life:Dragone was born in Cairano, Italy, and moved to Belgium at age seven. In the 1970s, he studied acting at the Belgian Royal Conservatory...
, another instructor from the National Circus School who had been working in
BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
. When he joined the troupe in 1985, he brought with him his experience in
commedia dell'arteCommedia dell'arte is a form of improvisational theatre that began in Italy in the 16th century, maintained its popularity through the 17th century, and is still performed today. Performances were mostly unscripted, held outside and used few props...
techniques, which he imparted to the performers. Although his experience would be limited in the next show due to budget restraints, he would go on to direct every show up to, but not including
DralionDralion is a touring production of Cirque du Soleil meaning "Circus of the Sun" in English. Its setting is more Eastern in nature...
.
By 1986, the company was once again in serious financial trouble. During 1985 they had taken the show outside Quebec to a lukewarm response. In
TorontoToronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. With over 2.5 million residents, it is the fifth most populous municipality in North America...
they performed in front of a 25% capacity crowd after not having enough money to properly market the show. Gilles Ste-Croix, dressed in a monkey suit, walked through downtown Toronto as a desperate publicity stunt. A later stop in
Niagara FallsThe Niagara Falls are voluminous waterfalls on the Niagara River, straddling the international border between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of New York...
turned out to be equally problematic. Despite critical praise, both shows were a failure that put Cirque du Soleil $750,000 in debt.
Several factors prevented Cirque from going
bankruptBankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay its creditors. Creditors may file a bankruptcy petition against a debtor in an effort to recoup a portion of what they are owed or initiate a restructuring...
that year. The Desjardins Group, which was Cirque du Soleil's financial institution at the time, covered about $200,000 of bad checks. Also, a financier named
Daniel LamarreDaniel Lamarre is a Canadian businessman. He is the President and Chief Operating Officer of the world-renowned Cirque du Soleil. Born in Grand-Mère, Quebec, he graduated from the University of Ottawa with a Bachelor of Arts in communications in 1976.He served as president and CEO of TVA...
, who worked for one of the largest public relations firms in Quebec, represented the company for free, knowing that they didn't have the money to pay his fee. The Quebec government itself also came through again, granting Laliberté enough money to stay solvent for another year.
We Reinvent the Circus
In 1987, after Laliberté re-privatized Cirque du Soleil, it was invited to perform at the
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
Arts Festival. Although they continued to be plagued by financial difficulties, Normand Latourelle took the gamble and went to Los Angeles, despite only having enough money to make a one-way trip. Had the show been a failure, Cirque would not have had enough money to get their performers and equipment back to Montreal.
The festival turned out to be a huge success, both critically and financially. The show attracted the attention of entertainment executives, including
Columbia PicturesColumbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
, which met with Laliberté and Gauthier under the pretense of wanting to make a movie about Cirque du Soleil. Laliberté was unhappy with the deal, claiming that it gave too many rights to Columbia, which was only attempting to secure all rights to the production. Laliberté pulled out of the deal before it could be concluded, and that experience stands out as a key reason why Cirque du Soleil remains independent and privately owned today.
In 1988, Guy Caron left the company due to artistic differences over what to do with the money generated by Cirque du Soleil's first financially successful tour. Laliberté wanted to use it to expand and start a second show while Caron wanted the money to be saved, with a portion going back to the National Circus School. An agreement was never met and Caron, along with a large number of artists loyal to him, departed. This stalled plans that year to start a new touring show.
Laliberté sought out Gilles Ste-Croix as replacement for the artistic director position. Ste-Croix, who had been away from Cirque since 1985, agreed to return. The company went through more internal troubles, including a failed attempt to add Normand Latourelle as a third man to the partnership. This triumvirate lasted only six months before internal disagreements prompted Gauthier and Laliberté to buy out Latourelle. By the end of 1989, Cirque du Soleil was once again in a deficit.
Nouvelle Expérience
In that same year, Cirque attempted to revive one of its previous shows,
Le Cirque Réinventé. The attempt was abandoned after a weak critical reception. Laliberté and Ste-Croix instead created a new show based on the plans that had originally been drawn up by Caron before his departure. Originally intended to be called
Eclipse, they renamed the show
Nouvelle Expérience.
Franco DragoneFranco Dragone is a Belgian theatre director. He is known for his work with Cirque du Soleil.-Early life:Dragone was born in Cairano, Italy, and moved to Belgium at age seven. In the 1970s, he studied acting at the Belgian Royal Conservatory...
agreed to return—albeit reluctantly—but only if he had full creative control of the show's environment. One of the first things he did was to remove the curtain that separated the artist from the audience, so that they would both feel part of a larger show. Whereas in a traditional circus the artist could go past the curtain and drop his role, Dragone had created an environment where the artist had to remain in character for the full length of the production.
Although Dragone was given full control over the show, Laliberté oversaw the entire production. He was in favor of Dragone's new ideas. Inspired by
Jules Verne'sJules Gabriel Verne was a French author who helped pioneer the science-fiction genre. He is best known for his novels A Journey to the Center of the Earth , From the Earth to the Moon , Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea , Around the World in Eighty Days and The Mysterious Island...
"La Chasse au Météore", Dragone's concept for the show was that the performers were playing the parts of jewels spread around the
EarthEarth is the third planet from the Sun. It is the fifth largest of the eight planets in the solar system, and the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in terms of diameter, mass and density...
.
Nouvelle Expérience turned out to be Cirque du Soleil's most popular show up to that point and would continue running until 1993. It spent one of those years at
The Mirage Resort and HotelThe Mirage is a 3,044 room hotel and casino resort located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada .The Mirage is connected by a free tram to Treasure Island...
on the
Las Vegas StripThe Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada. A small portion of the Strip lies in Las Vegas, but most of it is in the unincorporated areas of Paradise and Winchester...
. By the end of 1990, Cirque was profitable again and was prepared to start a new show.
Saltimbanco (Big Top Version)
Created in 1992,
SaltimbancoSaltimbanco is the oldest major touring show of Cirque du Soleil at the time of its last performance, having run from 1992–2006. Saltimbanco's last performance in its original form was in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on December 10, 2006...
(big top version) was the first show in which Cirque du Soleil would narrow its focus to tell a very specific and themed story. Dragone was inspired by the way
multiculturalismMulticulturalism is the acceptance of multiple ethnic cultures, for practical reasons and/or for the sake of diversity and applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g. schools, businesses, neighborhoods, cities or nations...
shaped the nature and direction of Cirque du Soleil and wanted the theme of this new show to be one of "cosmopolitan
urbanismBroadly, Urbanism is a focus on cities and urban areas, their geography, economies, politics, social characteristics, as well as the effects on, and caused by, the built environment....
". Laliberté stated that, "For me,
Saltimbanco is a message of peace. In the 1990s, immigration was an issue, the mixing of cultures in cities, and
Saltimbanco reflects that mix, with all of its personalities and colours. It's the challenge we have in today's world: respecting each other, living and working together, despite our differences."
Idealistic or not,
Saltimbanco, which comes from the French "saltimbanque", meaning "acrobat - performer - entertainer", was well-received. Featuring 47 artists, the cast has been assembled from the citizens of 15 different countries. This is, to date, the longest-running show that Cirque du Soleil has ever produced. It has run for 15 years and has toured North and South America, Europe, Japan and the
Pacific RimThe Pacific Rim refers to the countries and cities located around the edge of the Pacific Ocean. There are many economic centers around the Pacific Rim, such as Auckland, Busan, Brisbane, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Lima, Los Angeles, Manila, Melbourne, Panama City, Portland, San Diego, San...
.
With
Saltimbanco finished and touring in the United States and Canada, Cirque du Soleil toured Japan in the summer of 1992 at the behest of the
Fuji Television Networkis a Japanese television station based in Daiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, also known as or CX, based on the station's callsign, JOCX-TV...
. Taking acts from
Nouvelle Expérience and
Cirque Réinventé they created a show for this tour entitled
"Fascination". Although
Fascination was never seen outside of Japan, it represented the first time that Cirque had produced a show that took place in an arena rather than a big top. It was also the first that Cirque du Soleil performed outside of North America.
On 1 February 1997,
Saltimbanco played its final show at
London's[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
Royal Albert HallThe Royal Albert Hall is an arts venue situated in the Knightsbridge area of the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
. However, the show was restaged and started the following year for a new three-year tour throughout Asia and the Pacific.
Delirium (Arena show)
Delirium was a Cirque du Soleil live music event created in conjunction with
Live NationLive Nation, Inc. is a live events company based in Beverly Hills, California. Live Nation formed in 2005 by a spin-off from Clear Channel Communications. The present CEO of the company is Michael Rapino....
. Instead of being a standard touring show, it was a multimedia/theatrical production that features remixes of existing Cirque music and reinterpretations of performances. This show was choreographed by So You Think You Can Dance's
Mia MichaelsMia Michaels is an American choreographer best known for her judging and contemporary choreography on the TV show So You Think You Can Dance...
. After an extensive North American tour, and a short European tour, the show retired on the 19th of April 2008, in the O2 Arena in London
Alegría
Alegría was a departure from the bright circus atmosphere seen previously in productions like
Saltimbanco. Created for Cirque du Soleil's tenth anniversary, the concept for the show came to life over a dinner conversation between
Franco DragoneFranco Dragone is a Belgian theatre director. He is known for his work with Cirque du Soleil.-Early life:Dragone was born in Cairano, Italy, and moved to Belgium at age seven. In the 1970s, he studied acting at the Belgian Royal Conservatory...
, show Choreographer and Project & Image Manager
Juan Isidro Matthew CasillaJuan Isidro Matthew Casilla into middle-class family in San Juan as an Puertorican artist and theatre actress featured in Cirque du Soleil's Alegría and Zumanity...
and
Guy LalibertéGuy Laliberté, OC, CQ is a French Canadian entrepreneur, philanthropist, poker player, space tourist and currently the CEO of Cirque du Soleil. Starting out as an accordion player, stiltwalker and fire-eater; Laliberté created his circus which is a synthesis of all circus styles around the world...
. Dragone wanted this show to be dark and heavy. "At one point," Dragone said "I was with Guy Laliberté at a restaurant in one of the Las Vegas casinos, and I told him the next show would be sad, heavy, really hard: '
Alegría!
Alegría!
Alegría!' It's Spanish for 'Joy! Joy! Joy!' Where I come from, it's what you say when you're in pain. It means life goes on."
Costing more than $3 million to produce, the show's main theme is about the abuse of power and the subsequent struggle for freedom.
Alegría makes use of darker lighting and music than previous Cirque productions. The stage and the props use
gothic archesGothic architecture is a style of architecture which flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
and harsh angular designs to attempt to invoke a feeling of oppressiveness.
Alegría has toured around the world, including a year in residence at the Beau Rivage resort in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Francesca GagnonFrancesca Gagnon is a Québécoise singer and theatre actress featured in Cirque du Soleil's Alegría and Midnight Sun...
, who played the most famous "The White Singer" character, has twice been invited to reprise the
Alegría title song at the Montreal Jazz Festival. The music of
Alegría has proven extremely popular and the show's soundtrack remains the best-selling Cirque du Soleil album to date.
After a 15 year long tour,
Alegría retired on 5 April 2009, after its month-long engagement in Dubai. The show was later restaged, following the arena format of
DeliriumDelirium is an acute and debilitating decline in attention-focus, perception, and cognition that produces an altered form of semi-consciousness. It is a systemic syndrome caused by a chemical or disease-process which is disrupting the neurons of the cerebral cortex...
and
SaltimbancoSaltimbanco is the oldest major touring show of Cirque du Soleil at the time of its last performance, having run from 1992–2006. Saltimbanco's last performance in its original form was in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on December 10, 2006...
. Premiering in Halifax on 27 May 2009,
Alegría started touring later that year for a new three-year North American tour.
Quidam
Premiering in 1996,
Quidam adhered to the trend of bringing darker shows to the big top, previously established by
Alegría the year before. Derived from the Latin word for "a nameless passerby,"
Quidam was Cirque du Soleil's ninth production and premiered in Montreal on 23 April 1996. Dragone's concept for this show is the imagination of a young, jaded girl named Zoe. Drawing heavily from
surrealisticSurrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
artwork, the performers in the show are the manifestations of her own magical daydreams.
Show designers Michel Crête and
Franco DragoneFranco Dragone is a Belgian theatre director. He is known for his work with Cirque du Soleil.-Early life:Dragone was born in Cairano, Italy, and moved to Belgium at age seven. In the 1970s, he studied acting at the Belgian Royal Conservatory...
wanted to find a new way to incorporate acrobatic equipment onstage. One of the ways they did this in
Quidam was to design an overhead rigging system that would allow the performers to enter and exit from above and across the stage. The system also allowed the ability to safely suspend cast members in the air using harnesses for extended periods of time.
The show premiered in Montreal as Cirque du Soleil's new head office and training center was being inaugurated. Initial reviews were critical of
Quidam, some suggesting that it "did not feel like Cirque du Soleil". Still, the production scheduled a three-year tour of North America. By the time the 1000-performance tour was finished, Denver, Houston and Dallas were added to the schedule and more than 2.5 million people watched
Quidam. After touring
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
for five months (November 2007 - March 2008),
Quidam went back to Europe, to start its second European tour in
LisbonLisbon is the capital and largest city of Portugal. It is also the seat of the district of Lisbon and the main city of the Lisbon region...
,
PortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east...
, with scheduled dates in Spain,
BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
, U.K. and Ireland. In 2009/2010 they will make presentations in nine Brazilian cities.
Dralion
The years of work had taken their toll on Cirque du Soleil's creative team. After
La Nouba,
Franco DragoneFranco Dragone is a Belgian theatre director. He is known for his work with Cirque du Soleil.-Early life:Dragone was born in Cairano, Italy, and moved to Belgium at age seven. In the 1970s, he studied acting at the Belgian Royal Conservatory...
and Michel Crête parted ways from the company. To fill the void they left for the creation of the next show, Guy Laliberté turned to his former artistic director, Guy Caron, who had remained friends with Laliberté after his departure in 1988. Caron was persuaded to leave the National Circus School to return to work with Cirque du Soleil on a new Eastern-themed show.
Rather than attempt to mimic Dragone's style, Caron decided to revisit the themes of
Le Cirque réinventé. "I like a show that's full of energy, without gaps, that's full of strong acts, funny, with a big punch at the end," Caron explained. One of his obstacles was working with a team of performers who were almost entirely new to Cirque du Soleil, including a new set designer named Stéphane Roy who had worked with Laliberté and Gauthier back in Baie-Saint-Paul at the
Balcon Vert youth hostel. Despite the new team, many within the company were unenthused about
Dralion, alarmed at how much the atmosphere and style differed from Dragone's productions.
Despite any misgivings,
Dralion went on to be Cirque du Soleil's top-grossing touring show. The television filming of the show received a
Primetime Emmy AwardThe Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
.
Varekai
In 2002, Cirque du Soleil premiered
Varekai, its first touring show in three years. Laliberté brought in fresh talent to direct this new show: a theater director named Dominic Champagne. Much like Caron directing
Dralion three years earlier, Champagne found himself working with a fresh group of performers who had never worked for him before. Unlike the intuitive approach to writing productions of Dragone and Caron, Champagne scripted
Varekai from start to finish.
VarekaiVarekai is a Cirque du Soleil touring production that premiered in Montreal in 2002. Its title means "wherever" in the Romani language, and the show is an "acrobatic tribute to the nomadic soul"....
, which is a word from the
Romany languageRomani or Romany, Gypsy or Gipsy is the language of the Romani people. It is an Indo-Aryan language, sometimes included in either the "Central" or the "Northwestern" group, sometimes treated as a branch of its own.Romani is a macrolanguage in the ISO 639 classification, taken to consist of...
which means "wherever," was conceptualized on the basis of mythology like many of the previous productions. The story is about the
Greek mythGreek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
of
IcarusIcarus is a character in Greek mythology.Icarus may also refer to:-Outer space:* Icarus * Icarus , a planetary science journal* 1566 Icarus, an asteroid-Fictional:* Icarus...
. The story picks up where the myth leaves off, telling the story of what happened to Icarus after he fell from the sky. He lands in the middle of a jungle at the base of a volcano where he must learn to fly again.
Corteo
Cortéo is a Cirque du Soleil touring production that premiered in North America in 2005.
Cortéo—"cortage" in Italian—is a show about a clown who watches his own
funeralA funeral is a ceremony marking a person's death. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from the funeral itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honour. These customs vary widely between cultures, and...
taking place in a
carnivalCarnival is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during January and February...
-like atmosphere. Inspired by "The Grand Parade: Portrait of the Artist as Clown" on display at the
National Gallery of CanadaThe National Gallery of Canada , located in the capital city Ottawa, Ontario, is one of Canada's premier art galleries.The Gallery is housed in a glass and granite building on Sussex Drive with a notable view of the Canadian Parliament buildings on Parliament Hill. The acclaimed structure was...
, in many ways
Cortéo is a throwback to the older and more lighthearted Cirque productions like Saltimbanco.
Directed by Daniele Finzi Pasca, the founder of the Swiss clown troupe
Teatro Sunil,
Cortéo takes place on a large circular stage, consisting of separate rotating rings set inside each other. This allows for one area of the stage to move around the stationary action occurring inside the ring. Occasionally during the performance, the stage is divided by a large curtain with a painting on it called the "Cortéo Procession". There are entrance/exits at either side of the circular stage.
KOOZÅ
Like Cortéo,
KOOZÅ (
SanskritSanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India. It is also declared as a classical language by the government of India....
for "treasure" or "box") is another show that goes back to Cirque du Soleil's older styles. Premiering in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on 19 April 2007, the show's music is often inspired by South Asian (Indian) sounds.
KOOZÅ makes use of a large traveling tower on the stage called a "
bataclan"Bataclan" is a digital single made available for sale on Prince's website on 29 March, 2004. The single consists of a live performance of 2 songs: "NPG in This Funky House", which segues into "All the Critics Love U In Paris", which was an update of "All the Critics Love U In New York", from the...
". The bataclan moves over the course of the show and reconfigures the performing space.
This show was directed by
David ShinerDavid Shiner is an American clown and actor.Shiner was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Francis Shiner, a computer programmer, and a homemaker mother. The lanky Shiner, usually donning a small dunce cap, started as a street mime, first in Colorado, and later in France and Germany...
, who had previously worked as a clown in Cirque's production of
Nouvelle Expérience. He was another example of Cirque's trend of using new directors for each new performance. His past experience being a clown and working with the Swiss National Circus ("
Circus KnieCircus Knie is the main circus of Switzerland. It is often called the National Circus though it receives no State funding. The circus is based in Rapperswil, as well as Knie's Kinderzoo....
") are an influence on the lighthearted and whimsical nature of the
KOOZÅ production.
OVO
OVO (Portuguese for "egg"), was created and directed by Brazilian dancer/choreograhper
Deborah ColkerDeborah Colker is a worldwide famous Brazilian writer dancer and choreographer. She received the Lawrence Oliver Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance in 2001 for her choreography work on the show 'Mix'. . In 2009, she directed the Cirque du Soleil production, OVO.-External links:* *...
-- the first woman to create a Cirque production -- that heavily relies on Brazilian music and some dance performances mixed in with the traditional circus arts; premiered in Montreal in 2009 and is currently touring North America. The show looks at the world of insects and its biodiversity where they go about their daily lives until a mysterious egg appears in their midst, as the insects become awestruck about this iconic object that represents the enigma and cycles of their lives.
Mystère
On 25 December 1993, as Cirque was approaching its 10th anniversary, they unveiled a new show at the then-new
Treasure Island Hotel and CasinoTreasure Island is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, USA with 2,665 rooms and 220 suites, and is connected by tram to adjacent The Mirage as well as pedestrian bridge to the Fashion Show Mall shopping center...
on the
Las Vegas StripThe Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada. A small portion of the Strip lies in Las Vegas, but most of it is in the unincorporated areas of Paradise and Winchester...
.
Mystère was a departure from their standard format much in the way that
Fascination was. A deal was made between Cirque du Soleil and
Steve WynnSteven Alan Wynn is an American casino resort/real-estate developer who has been credited with spearheading the dramatic resurgence and expansion of the Las Vegas Strip in the 1990s...
, Treasure Island's developer, to grant permanent residency to Cirque's new show. It posed certain difficulties for the company, such as the need to set up a permanent infrastructure to meet the needs of its employees working in the Las Vegas area.
Dragone's concept for
Mystère was an exploration of the origins of life in our universe. The themes for the show are a conglomerate of multiple mythologies from multiple cultures. The music was quite different from Cirque's previously traditional style as well, relying on more "ethnic" music of Spanish, African and east European inspiration.
The show represented Cirque's first attempt at moving from the big top into a theater setting. It was also the first time that Laliberté and Gauthier were forced to contend with a major business partner, Treasure Island. The partnership led to difficulties and
Steve Wynn was not initially optimistic about the show's chances for success, saying "You guys have made a German opera here."
Franco DragoneFranco Dragone is a Belgian theatre director. He is known for his work with Cirque du Soleil.-Early life:Dragone was born in Cairano, Italy, and moved to Belgium at age seven. In the 1970s, he studied acting at the Belgian Royal Conservatory...
took Wynn's sarcasm as a compliment. Wynn remained unhappy with the dark and moody feel of
Mystère and had even threatened to delay the opening of the show unless changes were made. Nevertheless,
Mystère was successful and has remained at the hotel ever since.
"O"
At the Bellagio Hotel and Casino on the
Las Vegas StripThe Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada. A small portion of the Strip lies in Las Vegas, but most of it is in the unincorporated areas of Paradise and Winchester...
, Cirque created its tenth production and second resident show. Once again working with hotel entrepreneur Steve Wynn, Cirque du Soleil and Wynn financed a $100 million theater within the hotel. As the company was getting more comfortable with theater productions, they wanted to create a show performed in the water, a concept not tried in a theater before.
"O", which is derived from the phonetic spelling of the French word
eau, meaning water, took more than 400,000 man-hours of production and pre-production work to assemble.
Many past practices could not be used in the production of
"O". The costumes used by the performers were nearly $10,000 each and needed to be made of material that resisted the effects of the
chlorineChlorine Chlorine Chlorine ( , from the Greek word 'χλωρóς' (khlôros, meaning 'pale green'), is the chemical element with atomic number 17 and symbol Cl. It is a halogen, found in the periodic table in group 17 (formerly VII, VIIa, or VIIb). As the chloride ion, which is part of common salt and...
and
bromideA bromide ion is a bromine atom with charge of −1.Compounds with bromine in formal oxidation state −1 are called bromides, and each individual chemical in this class can be called a bromide, as well...
in the water. The makeup that had been used in past shows was also unsuitable for the performers being submerged, requiring a new waterproof formulation before the show could be started.
The 1,800-seat theater itself was centered around a 1.5 million-gallon tank of water for the performers to work in and around. It was built using a water pumping system that is as noiseless as possible to prevent any mechanical noise from detracting from the quality of the show itself. Twelve underwater speakers allow the performers in the water to hear and react to audio cues even when they are submerged.
To support the needs of the performers who would be getting in and out of the water, a directed
HVACHVAC is an acronym that stands for the closely related functions of "Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning"-the technology of indoor environmental comfort...
system was created for this theater to control the heat and humidity generated by the approximately 84-degree water. Blowers were built into the stage to keep warm air circulating on the stage while a silent air movement system carried air at 55 degrees
FahrenheitFahrenheit is the temperature scale proposed in 1724 by, and named after, the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit . Today, the scale has been replaced by the Celsius scale in most countries; it is still in use for non-scientific purposes in the United States and a few other nations, such as...
underneath every seat in the theater. The combined systems keep both the performers and the audience at a comfortable temperature.
La Nouba
Later that same year in
Orlando, FloridaOrlando is a major city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan region...
, Cirque's third resident show was inaugurated at the
Downtown DisneyDowntown Disney is an outdoor shopping, dining, and entertainment complex located at the Walt Disney World Resort. Downtown Disney is open to the public, requires no admission fee and offers entirely free parking and transportation to all Disney resorts. The large outdoor complex is divided into...
section of the
Walt Disney World ResortWalt Disney World Resort is the largest and most visited recreational resort in the world, containing four theme parks; two water parks; 23 themed hotels; and numerous shopping, dining, entertainment and recreation venues. Owned and operated by the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts segment of The Walt...
. In a partnership with Disney's former CEO
Michael EisnerMichael Dammann Eisner is the former chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company. His tenure at Disney lasted from 1984 to 2005.-Early life:...
, Cirque created its first permanent freestanding theater to hold 1,671 attendees. high and designed to resemble a white tower with metal turrets on the outside, the interior is made to project the appearance and atmosphere of a travelling show's "Grand Chapiteau".
Conceptually, Dragone and Laliberté decided to portray
La Nouba as a
fairy taleA fairy tale is a fictional story that may feature folkloric characters such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, giants, gnomes, and talking animals, and usually enchantments, often involving a far-fetched sequence of events...
. Assistant designer Michel Crête noted "We were at Disney, so we were influenced by a world of fables." The set design is built to give the perception of an old attic where the performers tell the audience a story. "
La Nouba", which originates from the French phrase
"faire la nouba" which means "to party," contrasts stories through two groups of people: one colourful and the other monochromatic.
The creative design team of Cirque du Soleil admits that
La Nouba was rushed together. They had been working non-stop for years on the previous shows for the past several years and
La Nouba was created under near-exhaustion. They countered this by attempting to instill more youth into the show, in both the themes and the age of the performers.
Zumanity
In September 2003, Cirque du Soleil unveiled
Zumanity. This new production was a resident
cabaretCabaret is a form of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue—a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance being introduced by a master of ceremonies, or MC.Cabaret...
-style show at the
New York-New York Hotel & CasinoNew York-New York Hotel & Casino is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip at 3790 Las Vegas Boulevard South, in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by MGM Mirage.-Description:...
on the
Las Vegas StripThe Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada. A small portion of the Strip lies in Las Vegas, but most of it is in the unincorporated areas of Paradise and Winchester...
. It is the first "adult-themed" Cirque du Soleil show, billed as "The Sensual Side of Cirque du Soleil" or "Another side of Cirque du Soleil". Created by Dominic Champagne,
Zumanity is a departure from the standard Cirque format. Intended to be for mature adult audiences only, this show is centered around erotic song, dance, and acrobatics.
The inspiration to create
Zumanity came from multiple sources. Laliberté had been offered the chance to create two new shows in Las Vegas, and wanted something completely new and original rather than multiple similar shows that would cannibalize off of each other's sales and audiences. Another reason was that the
New York-New York Hotel and CasinoNew York-New York Hotel & Casino is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip at 3790 Las Vegas Boulevard South, in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by MGM Mirage.-Description:...
wanted to make their entertainment appear more "trendy". The hotel liked the concept of a more adult Cirque du Soleil performance.
Laliberté admits that the biggest reason to produce this show was the chance to create something with riskier subject matter. He was interested in the idea of creating a show that explored
human sexualityHuman sexuality is how people experience the erotic and express themselves as sexual beings. Frequently driven by the desire for sexual pleasure, human sexuality has biological, physical and emotional aspects...
, something that was at complete odds from the other more family-oriented Cirque shows. "Our previous shows have all been family-oriented and 'politically correct, which is great," Laliberté said, "But we're human beings, we won't hide it. We're a bunch of happy campers. We like to live new experiences.
Zumanity deals with some of those experiences."
KÀ
After
Steve WynnSteven Alan Wynn is an American casino resort/real-estate developer who has been credited with spearheading the dramatic resurgence and expansion of the Las Vegas Strip in the 1990s...
sold his
Mirage ResortsMirage Resorts was an American corporation that owned and operated hotel-casinos. It was created in 1989, having previously been called Golden Nugget Companies. The company was merged into the MGM Mirage when it was purchased for $6.4 billion, of which $2 billion was assumption of outstanding...
to MGM in 2000, Laliberté received a call from Terry Lanni, CEO of the MGM Mirage. Lanni had been eager to capitalize on the previous successes of Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas and offered to fund the production of two more shows,
Zumanity and
KÀ.
Directed by Canadian theater veteran
Robert LepageRobert Lepage, CC, OQ is a playwright, actor and film director from Québec City, Québec, and is one of Canada's most honoured theatre artists.- Life and work :...
,
KÀ drew heavily on martial arts for its inspiration. The story centers around the adventures of a pair of imperial twins. Unlike most Cirque productions, the story of
KÀ was more concrete and linear, more narrative and less abstract. First premiering in November 2004 at the
MGM GrandThe MGM Grand Las Vegas is a luxury hotel casino located on the Las Vegas Strip. The MGM Grand Las Vegas is the second largest hotel in the world and second largest hotel resort complex in the United States behind The Venetian...
,
KÀ became Cirque's fourth resident show in Las Vegas. It was also the largest and most expensive production the company had created to date. By the time it had been completed,
KÀ had cost more than $220 million, of which more than $30 million was in costumes and $135 million was the theater itself, the bill for which was paid entirely by the MGM Grand.
LOVE
The show is based at
The MirageThe Mirage is a 3,044 room hotel and casino resort located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada .The Mirage is connected by a free tram to Treasure Island...
,
Las VegasLas Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada, the seat of Clark County, and an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, fine dining, and entertainment. Las Vegas, which bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, is famous for the number of...
and consists of panoramic sound and visuals along with a cast of 60 international artists. Born from a personal friendship and mutual admiration between
George HarrisonGeorge Harrison MBE was an English rock guitarist, singer-songwriter and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist in The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian mysticism, and helped broaden the horizons of the other Beatles, as well as...
and Cirque founder Guy Laliberté,
LOVE brings Cirque du Soleil together with the musical legacy of
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960 who became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music...
through their original recordings. Using the master tapes at Abbey Road studios, Sir
George MartinSir George Henry Martin CBE is a British record producer, arranger and composer. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"—a title that he owes to his work as producer of all but one of The Beatles' original records, as well as playing piano on some of The Beatles tracks—and is...
and his son,
Giles MartinGiles Martin is an English record producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is the son of Sir George Martin, famed producer of almost all of The Beatles' records.- Biography :...
have created a
soundscapeA soundscape is a sound or combination of sounds that forms or arises from an immersive environment. The study of soundscape is the subject of acoustic ecology...
of The Beatles music for
LOVE.
ZAIA
Based at
The Venetian MacaoThe Venetian Macao is a luxury hotel and casino resort in Macau owned by the Las Vegas Sands corporation. The Venetian is a 40-story, $2.4 billion anchor for the 7 resort hotels which are under construction on the Cotai Strip in Macau...
,
Cotai StripThe Cotai Strip is the name of the casino and tourism project at the Cotai District, Macau, inspired by the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA....
, the 90-minute production that opened in August 2008 brings together 75 high-calibre artists from all four corners of the globe. The show is directed by Neilson Vignola and Gilles Maheu.
ZAIA presents a young girl's perception of the stars and planets, space and infinity, all populated by a panoply of fantastic, out-of-this-world creatures. The title,
ZAIA, comes from a Greek name meaning "life" and is also reminiscent of
GaiaGaia philosophy is a broadly inclusive term for related concepts that living organisms on a planet will affect the nature of their environment in order to make the environment more suitable for life. This set of theories holds that all organisms on an extraterrestrial life giving planet regulate...
, the living, self-aware spirit of Earth.
ZED
A residency show at the
Tokyo Disney Resortis a theme park and vacation resort located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, just east of Tokyo . It is owned and operated by the Oriental Land Company with a license from The Walt Disney Company. The resort opened on April 15, 1983, as a single theme park , but developed into a resort with two theme...
that opened on October 1, 2008. Film director
François GirardFrançois Girard is a Canadian director and screenwriter particularly noted for his innovative film Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould. Born in Quebec, Girard's career began on the Montreal art video circuit...
creates a show surrounded by the titular character, drawn on the
TarotThe tarot , , is a pack of cards , used from the mid fifteenth century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Italian Tarocchini and French Tarot. The tarot has four suits corresponding to the suits of conventional playing cards...
and its arcana that holds up a mirror to ourselves and the human condition through a variety of other characters as he unites the divisions between the people of the sky and Earth..
Criss Angel Believe
In late 2008 Cirque du Soleil collaborated with MGM to create a resident show at the Luxor hotel in Las Vegas, featuring
Criss AngelChristopher Nicholas Sarantakos , better known by his stage name Criss Angel, is an American magician, illusionist, musician, escapologist, and stunt performer. He is best known for starring in his own television show, Criss Angel Mindfreak...
, fusing his signature illusions and artistry with acrobatics, dance, puppetry, music and poetry to attempt to tell a story of the exploration of his mind. Originally scheduled to open on September 26, 2008, preview performances were delayed due to "technical difficulties", and the show eventually hosted its Gala Opening on October 31, 2008.
Despite enthusiastic promotions from Cirque du Soleil and Criss Angel, including a guest performance on American reality TV show 'So You Think You Can Dance", which resulted in sales of more than $5 million in advance tickets,
Believe received an uneasy reception from fans and critics alike. Audience members were quoted saying the production was a "waste of time" and "dead end", while the show received harsh reviews from critics for lack of magic and overall cohesion of the production.
Saltimbanco (Arena Version)
An arena version of the retired big-top show which traveled the world from April 1992-December 2006. It is currently touring in different arenas across North America, traveling to regions that have never had a Cirque du Soleil show visit, such as
IdahoIdaho is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States of America. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans." Idaho was admitted to the Union on 3 July 1890 as the 43rd state....
and
Newfoundland and LabradorNewfoundland and Labrador is a province of Canada on the country's Atlantic coast in northeastern North America. This easternmost Canadian province comprises two main parts: the island of Newfoundland off the country's eastern coast, and Labrador on the mainland to the northwest of the island.A...
.
Alegría (Arena Version)
Alegría is a re-staged version of the retired big-top show of the same name which toured around the world until concluding in April 2009. Currently touring across North America, Alegría has made a transition into an arena format, which follows the similar design of past big-top productions including Saltimbanco.
Wintuk
Performed at the WaMu Theater in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
's Madison Square Gardens and scheduled to run for 10 weeks each winter from 2007-2011.
Wintuk is a family-based and specifically themed semi-permanent residency show about a young boy living in a large, snowless city waiting for the first snowfall that never comes. With the help of four other companions in search of their place in the world, they journey to an imaginary
Nordic countryThe Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories which include the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
, where they experience the rich culture of the Northern peoples and bring back snow to the city in a snowstorm.
Les chemins invisibles
In 2009, the Cirque signed a contract with Quebec City for 5 years of free presentations of a show named
Les chemins invisibles (
Invisible Paths) during the summer. The show is about three tribes from separate cultures that meet to share one another's experiences. Each year, 25% of the show will be renewed. This engagement follows the success of the special show
400e anniversaire de Quebec, which was presented in 2008 for the 400-year anniversary of the city.
Les chemins invisibles begins in three different streets of the downtown area and mixes under the highways. It has been well received by the public and media.
2009
- November 2009: Cirque has announced a limited-run vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
-based seasonal residency show called Banana Spheel to come to the Chicago Theater in ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...
for November 2009-January 2010. After its tryout run in Chicago, the show will be installed at the Beacon TheaterThe Beacon Theatre, also known as the Beacon Theater and Hotel, is an historic New York City theater on upper Broadway in Manhattan. A 2,894-seat, three-tiered movie palace, it was designed by Chicago architect Walter W. Ahlschlager for motion pictures and vaudeville...
in New York for additional performances for February to April 2010. One of the show's collaborators is the Allman Brothers.
- December 2009: The Elvis Presley Projects. CKX, Inc.
CKX, Inc. is a company founded on February 7 2005 that owns and develops entertainment content and intellectual property.CKx, Inc. is engaged in the ownership, development and commercial utilization of entertainment content...
, the company that owns the rights to Elvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was an American singer and actor. A cultural icon, he is commonly known simply as Elvis and is also sometimes referred to as The King of Rock 'n' Roll or The King....
's name, likeness, and music publishing has signed an agreement to have Cirque create Elvis-themed permanent shows and multimedia presentations. This production is slated for Las Vegas' Project CityCenter's ARIA Resort & CasinoARIA Resort & Casino will be CityCenter's central feature. Designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, the 61-story two curvilinear glass towers will house 4,004 rooms totaling . At its base will be a casino and a three-story lobby that will use natural materials including lush foliage, wood,...
currently under construction for the projected gala premiere date of December 16, 2009. The Elvis Presley Projects will include additional touring and permanent shows, along with "Elvis Experiences" (interactive multimedia exhibits). One touring Elvis show is planned for Europe/Asia in 2010, with one "Elvis Experience" outside the United States. One new Elvis Presley Project will open each year from 2009-2015.
2010
- A new touring production, Cirque 2010 (working title) will be created and directed by past collaborator Robert Lepage (KÀ) as confirmed by Cirque CEO Daniel Lamarre.
- Cirque has announced an annual seasonal show to be installed at Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
during the summer months, a reinvention of the variety show as created and directed by René SimardRené Claude Simard is a pop singer from Quebec, chiefly popular in the 1970s. He was discovered and managed by Guy Cloutier...
. This US$20 million show is expected to spend half its time in New York, with the other half spent in either London or Paris.
- Cirque will co-create the Canada Pavilion in association with the Government of Canada
The government of Canada is established as a constitutional monarchy, with the powers and structure of the federal government established by the Constitution of Canada, which includes the written part, the decisions of courts, and unwritten conventions developed over time.-Usage:In Canadian...
for Expo 2010Expo 2010 will be held in Shanghai, China and is a scheduled World Expo in the grand tradition of international fairs and expositions. The theme of the exposition will be "Better City – Better Life" and signifies Shanghai's new status in the 21st century as a major economic and cultural center...
to be held in ShanghaiShanghai is the largest city in China, and one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world, with over 20 million people. Located on China's central eastern coast at the mouth of the Yangtze River, the city is administered as a municipality of the People's Republic of China with province-level...
, China.
2011
- A new Cirque show will debut at the Kodak Theatre
The Kodak Theatre is a live theatre in the Hollywood and Highland retail, dining, and entertainment complex on Hollywood Boulevard and North Highland Avenue in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles...
in Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
, CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
with a movie-themed show for the millions of tourist who flock to Hollywood BoulevardHollywood Boulevard is a boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States, beginning at Sunset Boulevard in the east and running northwest to Vermont Avenue, where it straightens out and runs due west to Laurel Canyon Boulevard. West of Laurel Canyon it continues as a small...
each year. The show will run for 10 years and will take a six-week break during the city's Academy Award season.
2012
- Cirque has signed a major partnership with United Arab Emirates key real estate developer Nakheel to create a residency show at the Atlantis, The Palm
Atlantis, the Palm is a resort at Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is a joint venture between Kerzner International Limited and Istithmar PSJC and was opened on 24 September 2008. The resort is modelled after the Atlantis, Paradise Island resort in Nassau, Bahamas.-Development:The...
Resort on The Palm, Jumeirah in Dubai, with an initial 15-year deal for an original show scheduled to debut in 2012, directed by Guy Caron (Dralion) and Michael Curry.
Other projects
Current Projects
- Cirque du Monde, a social action project designed to reach marginalized youth.
- Revolution, a lounge concept designed for The Mirage resort in Las Vegas in which the Cirque cast members perform to the music of The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960 who became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music...
.
- Cirque du Soleil Collection, a ready-to-wear women's clothing line.
Past Projects
- 74th Academy Awards
The 74th Academy Awards honored the best films of 2001 and were held on March 24 2002, for the first time at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California. They were hosted by Whoopi Goldberg. The ceremony was historically notable for honoring two African American actors for their Leading Roles...
(24 March 2002): Cirque du Soleil created a five-minute performance for the category of special effects at the 74th Academy AwardsThe 74th Academy Awards honored the best films of 2001 and were held on March 24 2002, for the first time at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California. They were hosted by Whoopi Goldberg. The ceremony was historically notable for honoring two African American actors for their Leading Roles...
. They spent four months creating the show, which featured 11 acts from a variety of Cirque shows. Each of the acts were choreographed and themed to their equivalent movie by re-creating the special effect scene featured in the film on stage while playing clips on a large screen behind the performances.
- Soleil de Minuit/Midnight Sun (11 July 2004), a special one-night event in Montreal celebrating the 20th anniversary of Cirque du Soleil and the 25th anniversary of the Montreal International Jazz Festival.
- A Taste of Cirque du Soleil(2004-2005), a special 30-minute performance on the Constellation and Summit Celebrity Cruises
Celebrity Cruises is a cruise line founded in 1988 by the Greek Chandris Group. In 1997, Celebrity Cruises Ltd. merged with Royal Caribbean International to become Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., which operates Celebrity, Royal Caribbean International, Azamara Cruises, Pullmantur Cruises and CDF...
cruise ships. Included on these ships was The Bar of the Edge of the Earth, a dream-like bar/lounge/disco.
- Reflections in Blue (16 July 2005), a unique one-night water show in Montreal on as part of the opening ceremonies for the 2005 World Aquatics Championships
The 2005 World Aquatics Championships or the XI FINA World Championships were held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from July 16 to July 31, 2005...
.
- Pre-Game Show (4 February 2007), at Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League, the premier association of professional American football. In most years, the Super Bowl is the most-watched American television broadcast. Many popular singers and musicians have performed during the event’s pre-game and...
XLISuper Bowl XLI was an American football game that featured the American Football Conference champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference champion Chicago Bears to decide the National Football League champion for the 2006 season...
. Produced by David Saltz.
- The Awakening of the Serpent (June-September 2008): Cirque du Soleil will have a daily parade spectacle called The Awakening of the Serpent to be performed for the duration of Expo 2008
Expo 2008 was an international exposition held from 14 June to 14 September 2008 coordinated by the Bureau of International Expositions, the organization that is responsible for sanctioning World's Fairs, held in Zaragoza, Spain, with the topic of "Water and sustainable development"...
in ZaragozaZaragoza, also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza province and of the autonomous community and former Kingdom of Aragon, Spain...
, Spain.
Filmography
Cirque du Soleil Images creates original and innovative products for television, video and DVD and distributes its productions worldwide. In each of its projects, Cirque du Soleil Images aims to reflect the image and spirit of Cirque du Soleil's shows.
Its creations have been awarded numerous prizes and distinctions, including two Gemini Awards and a
Primetime Emmy AwardThe Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
for
Cirque du Soleil Fire Within (in 2003) and three Primetime Emmy Awards for Cirque du Soleil Presents
Dralion (in 2001).
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|
| 1991 |
Quel Cirque |
A look into the creation of Nouvelle Experiénce. Out of print. |
| 1992 |
Saltimbanco's Diary |
A behind-the-scenes featurette on the making of Saltimbanco. Out of print. |
| 1994 |
A Baroque Odyssey |
A 10-year anniversary retrospective. |
| 1994 |
The Truth of Illusion |
Documentary about the production Alegria. Out of print. |
| 1996 |
Full Circle: The Making of Quidam |
A behind-the-scenes look at the making of Quidam |
| 1998 |
Alegría |
Film adaptation directed by Franco Dragone Franco Dragone is a Belgian theatre director. He is known for his work with Cirque du Soleil.-Early life:Dragone was born in Cairano, Italy, and moved to Belgium at age seven. In the 1970s, he studied acting at the Belgian Royal Conservatory...
. This film was based loosely on the touring show. |
| 2000 |
Journey of Man |
A compilation of acts from various Cirque shows including Mystère and Quidam. This movie was shot in wide format and released at IMAXIMAX is a motion picture film format and projection standard created by Canada's IMAX Corporation. The traditional version of IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
theaters. |
| 2000 |
Inside La Nouba: From Conception to Perception |
Highlights of the show and interviews with creators. |
| 2003 |
Fire Within |
A 13-episode inside look into the creation and production of Varekai shown on Bravo Bravo is an American cable television channel owned by NBC Universal. It is currently seen in more than 80 million homes and was the first service dedicated to film, drama, and the performing arts when it launched by Cablevision as an advertisement-free channel in December 1980...
. |
| 2003 |
Whatever 'Stie |
A Parody of Varekai show acted by the technical crew only for the actual artists (actors) DVDDVD, also known as Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc,is an optical disc storage media format, and was founded in 1995. Its main uses are video and data storage...
. |
| 2004 |
Midnight Sun |
Festival International de Jazz de Montrèal on 11 July 2004, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Festival International de Jazz de Montrèal and Cirque du Soleil's 20th birthday. |
| 2004 |
Solstrom Solstrom is a Cirque du Soleil television show production in thirteen 45-minute episodes from 2003. It was initially broadcast on the U.S. Bravo cable network and is currently aired on bold in Canada and SBS Television in Australia...
|
A 13-episode series using various acts from Cirque du Soleil and other productions shown on Bravo Bravo is an American cable television channel owned by NBC Universal. It is currently seen in more than 80 million homes and was the first service dedicated to film, drama, and the performing arts when it launched by Cablevision as an advertisement-free channel in December 1980...
. Each episode has a different theme. |
| 2005 |
KÀ Extreme |
A documentary which explores the production of KÀ by following the show’s evolution from early rehearsals through to the first public performance. |
| 2006 |
Lovesick |
Filmed over two years and set in Las Vegas during the creation of the cabaret-style production, Zumanity. |
| 2007 |
FLOW |
A homage to the artists of "O" that provides an in-depth documentary of the Las Vegas aquatic extravaganza. |
| 2007 |
The Mystery of Mystère |
A documentary about Mystère, the critically acclaimed theatrical production playing at the permanent location at the Treasure Island Resort. |
| 2007 |
A Thrilling Ride through KOOZA |
A short documentary filmed during the creation period of Kooza. |
| 2007 |
KÀ |
|
| 2008 |
Delirium |
The last performance of Delirium was filmed in London. This film was released in movie theaters starting on 20 August 2008. Encore performances on October 15, 2008. |
| 2008 |
All Together Now All Together Now is a feature-length documentary that chronicles the making of The Beatles and Cirque du Soleil collaboration project Love. The film details the story behind the unique partnership between The Beatles and Cirque du Soleil that resulted in the creation and launch of the Love stage...
|
A documentary about the making of LOVE. |
Legal issues
In November 2003, a US federal discrimination complaint was filed against Cirque du Soleil by Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund on behalf of gymnast Matthew Cusick. The allegation was that in April 2002, they fired Cusick because he tested
HIVHuman immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections. Infection with HIV occurs by the transfer of blood, semen, vaginal fluid,...
positive. Cusick had not yet performed, but had completed his training and was scheduled to begin working at
Mystère just a few days after he was terminated. Even though company doctors had already cleared him as healthy enough to perform, Cirque alleged that due to the nature of Cusick's disease coupled with his job's high risk of injury, there was a significant risk of him infecting other performers, crew or audience members. Cirque du Soleil said that they had several HIV-positive employees, but in the case of Cusick, the risk of him spreading his infection while performing was too high to take the risk. A
boycottA boycott is a form of consumer activism involving the act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons.-Etymology:...
ensued and
Just OutJust Out is a biweekly LGBT newspaper published in Portland, Oregon, United States, founded in 1983 by Jay Brown and Renee LaChance. Former contributors to Just Out include novelist Marc Acito, Pink Martini pianist Thomas Lauderdale, and prize-winning reporter Peter Zuckerman...
ran a story on it with the headline "Flipping off the Cirque".
An additional complaint was filed on Cusick's behalf by the San Francisco
Human Rights CommissionA Human Rights Commission is a body set up to investigate and protect human rights.It may refer to international, national or subnational bodies set up for this purpose, or truth and reconciliation commissions....
. Their complaint stemmed from the issue that the City of San Francisco bans contracts (or in this case land leases) to discriminatory employers.
Although Cirque du Soleil's position remains that this is a safety issue, not a discrimination issue, they settled with Cusick on 22 April 2004. The terms of the settlement include that the company would initiate a companywide anti-discrimination training program and alter its employment practices pertaining to HIV-positive applicants. In addition, Matthew Cusick received $60,000 in lost wages, $200,000 in front pay, $300,000 in compensatory damages and Lambda Legal received $40,000 in attorney fees.
External links