Circus of the Sun by Guy Laliberte or the Story of a Perfectly Special Circus.
The Circus of the Sun (Cirque du Soleil) is quite young. Its history dates back to 1984, when Guy Laliberte, at that time still a simple circus performer, decided to create a very special circus. What does "very special" mean? Oh, we can talk about this for a very long time! First, it is worth referring to the personality of Guy himself ...
His biography is very diverse and rich in all sorts of adventures. This man, who is just a storehouse of hilarious ideas, began his career as a circus performer at the age of 14. At first he earned money by playing the accordion, then he assisted in the preparation of numbers, by the age of seventeen he created his first fire-swallowing trick and became an independent artist.
Monsieur Laliberte had no special education. He comprehended circus art, so to speak, "in production" and therefore among his skills there is, with a few exceptions, the entire list of professions, one way or another related to the circus. For the sake of audience applause, Guy even dropped out of school so that boring lessons would not interfere with traveling around the world.
The older Guy got, the higher his skill in various circus specialties rose and the further he climbed from his native Quebec. By the age of 25, Laliberte had seen a lot and adopted a lot, becoming an excellent specialist in a wide circus profile. At this age, he already had the idea of starting his own circus, an idea he had been mulling over for the past few years.
Even such a fleeting acquaintance with the life of Guy Laliberte is enough to make it clear what a grand mixture of styles he means by the words Very Special Circus! For this restless circus performer, always ready to search for adventure, boundaries and frames were initially something superfluous - fettering and suffocating. Therefore, presenting his future circus, Guy put into it all the best of the performing arts.
But do not think that in the life of Monsieur Laliberte everything went so smoothly that he had nothing more to think about than "cloud castles." Not at all! He often fell, sometimes got injured, often sat without money, and sometimes did not disdain hard work in order to buy a ticket to another city or even country. Guy's almost ten-year career did not bring him wealth, so his dream of a Very Special Circus could remain just a dream. If not for one significant event ...
In 1984, Monsieur Laliberte was invited to the opening of a fair in the small town of Baie-Saint-Paul, where he performed with acrobatic numbers and pantomime. The fair was planned by the organizers for two weeks and all this time Guy had to entertain visitors with various circus numbers, whom by that time he knew a great many.
In the hostel where he settled upon arriving in the city, the circus performer met the local manager, to whom he told about his old dream - creating his own circus. A young man named Daniel Gauthier was immediately interested in the story of his talented peer about his plans and offered Guy help in organizational matters. Help, by the way, was not superfluous, since Laliberte, who did not have a legal education, had little idea of how to realize his dream.
After the end of the fair, Guy Laliberte, instead of moving to the neighboring town where they were waiting for him with numbers, canceled all scheduled performances, remained in Baie-Saint-Paul and, with the help of Daniel, filed a petition with the mayor's office for land and money. loan for organizing a circus. Probably, the artistry of Guy, in the faces of talking about his dream, and the legal abilities of Daniel, who took over all the "paper" work, touched the city officials, who provided the companions with a wasteland on the outskirts and loaned some money.
This was the beginning of the brilliant path of the largest Canadian circus Du Soleil. However, this bright name Guy Laliberte will come up with a little later, but for now he had the most ordinary traveling circus, which was a used big top, props purchased cheaply and about 70 street performers invited from all over the province of Quebec and personally selected by Guy. By the way, there were quite a lot of people who wanted to participate in the new project, but the leader (oh, how unusual it was for Guy to call himself that) selected only the most interesting and original, those who could surprise even him - highly experienced and worldly-wise.
Of course, there was excitement before the first performance. In addition, there was a whole sea of \u200b\u200bdoubts in which Guy initially sank like a cannonball. His creative nature was torn, he spent sleepless nights writing scripts and thinking through the numbers, tearing what was written and starting all over again. Guy wanted to give the viewer the best and tried to fit the imperfect reality to his idea of a Very Special Circus!
Did he succeed? Most likely not, because he dreamed of the unattainable at that time. But even what they did with Daniel was quite enough for the whole province of Quebec to start talking about a new amazing circus in a month, in which various and very interesting artists perform. The fame of the big top on the outskirts of Baie-Saint-Paul spread like an avalanche, so the circus performers did not have to sit idle for a single day.
But the real success came when the Guy Laliberte troupe received a grant to organize festivities dedicated to the 450th anniversary of the province of Quebec. The organizers intended to show performances in eleven cities of the province, in each of which the artists had to stay for a week and demonstrate the best numbers from the most diverse areas of circus art. In total, one and a half million dollars were allocated for the implementation of this project.
Yes, it was a chance and Guy Laliberte did not fail to take advantage of it. He, who had already perfectly studied the possibilities of his artists, came up with completely unthinkable numbers, ordered expressive music, purchased the best props and picked up amazing costumes - in other words, made the show Memorable. Naturally, the grandiose performances of the circus of Monsieur Laliberte became the best decoration celebrations and built Guy's enduring reputation as a dreammaker.
After completing the tour of the cities of the province, the circus returned to its usual working days, but Guy Laliberte, who felt what a real holiday meant, could no longer stop. He made even more grandiose plans, came up with numbers, drew sketches of costumes - the tireless circus performer realized that his Absolutely Special Circus should go beyond Canada! But again, there was no money for this. The fact is that Guy spent everything on the past Grand Tour. He created a mind-blowing extravaganza, gave thousands of Canadians an unforgettable circus show and announced himself to the whole country, but left no money at all for a rainy day...
Daniel found a way out of this situation. He offered to once again ask the officials for money, but this time with a higher rank - Gauthier wrote a letter to the Canadian government and each artist put his signature under it. In addition to the circus performers themselves, all those who liked the performances created by Guy signed the petition. And believe me, there are many!
And now, the request has been considered. A positive decision was made on it. Circus Guy Laliberte receives government assistance, and very impressive. The head of the circus, filled with new plans, begins to master the means, again and again giving out bold, hitherto unseen ideas. Daniel advises to start with the construction of a stationary building. After some thought, Guy agrees that they have already grown out of the "short pants" of traveling circus performers and should acquire their own building. Construction begins in the largest city in the province of Quebec - Montreal!
At the same time, Guy decides to radically rework the program of performances. From now on, all circus performances, no matter what genres and styles they belong to, are combined into a single performance, connected by one plot and without gaps between performances. Scattered miniatures are being eliminated, and a whole Spectacle comes in their place!
Monsieur Laliberte attaches great importance to musical accompaniment and hires an entire orchestra to create the show's sound design. The need for professional directing does not escape his attention - Guy invites talented masters from television and even from national theater! At the same time, a series of castings begins in Canada, which aim to select new interesting artists. The famous Laliberte has a lot of people who want to work in the circus, they even come from abroad!
However, this is no longer Guy's circus, this is the Circus of the Sun. This is the name given to it by its creator. In the nineties, Cirque du Soleil is already widely famous and tireless, constantly ready for adventure and adventure, the wanderer Guy Laliberte decides that the moment has come - it's time to conquer the world! He is preparing a new show, buying costumes, lighting equipment, pyrotechnic systems, orders unique music and goes to America.
The Arts Festival in Los Angeles has become a new stage in the development of the solar circus. To say that the Americans favorably reacted to the Le Cirque Reinvente show is to say nothing! Cirque du Soleil made quite a stir among its southern neighbors - many of those who visited the festival later admitted that the program of the Canadian circus turned out to be the best. After Los Angeles, there were a number of other American cities, visits to which stretched for as long as five months.
The solemn return home was overshadowed by unpleasant news: Daniel Gauthier said that the circus had run out of money received from the state. Unfortunately, Guy again did not calculate the finances and spent too much money on preparing for the American tour. What was left was barely enough to complete the construction and commissioning of the Montreal Circus of the Sun.
Again, Laliberte did not go for help. Daniel found another way out - he offered to corporatize the circus, which by the end of the nineties was already quite a significant value. Investors were found quickly, and the circus received the largest financial injections from American business, whose representatives, despite their innate stinginess, were also fascinated by the brainchild of Monsieur Laliberte.
Since 2000, Cirque du Soleil has grown steadily without financial difficulties. Guy was preparing new programs, attracting the best specialists from Canada and abroad as assistants and consultants, Daniel was engaged in financial side issue and didn't let Guy spend too much. By the way, it was Daniel who insisted on creating his own workshop for tailoring costumes and several training grounds for practicing circus acts and tricks, many of which are unique and are not repeated anywhere else in the world.
In addition, the circus soon had its own shoe workshop, warehouses for fabrics, pyrotechnics and scenery, as well as a workshop for making props. In addition to everything, Daniel Gautier decided to open branches of the solar circus in Las Vegas, New York, London, Amsterdam, Singapore and Hong Kong. This list is not completed to this day, because Cirque du Soleil continues to develop!
The number of employees of the circus, for more than twenty years of history, has increased from 70 to 4,000 people. And this is far from a chapel. The Circus of the Sun is constantly replenished with talented artists, preparing new shows and gaining popularity even more, gradually coming even to the most remote corners of the planet. In general, everything is as planned by Guy.
The Circus of the Sun has reached our days with significant achievements. He became one of the most famous entertainment corporations, making a lot of noise with his incendiary performances, full of sunshine even on the most cloudy days. Tours of Cirque du Soleil took place in almost all capitals (in some of them more than once), and Guy Laliberte's name gained worldwide fame.
By the way, a fair amount of fame was added to him by the fact that in 2009 the creator of the Circus of the Sun became a space tourist and visited the ISS. This step did not surprise those who know Guy at all - his thirst for travel and adventure is no secret to anyone. Returning to Earth, the indefatigable circus performer used his impressions to create two more shows: Ovo and Totem. They gained popularity immediately after the show at the Cirque du Soleil in Montreal.
Guy Laliberte soared to his current heights from the very bottom of the circus, and for this reason alone he can be called a man who made himself. But this is not the main thing, much more important is the fact that he managed to realize his vivid fantasies, which invariably amaze the imagination of millions of people around the world.
The modern Circus of the Sun is 101% the revived fantasies of a simple wandering circus performer, which he created to brighten up bad days. At first, Guy Laliberte did not believe that they would ever come true, but, nevertheless, carried them through hundreds of hotels and hostels, through many cities and countries, through a long line gray days. I carried it in my heart in order to surprise everyone around with them!
Canadian Guy Laliberte made a fortune of $1.9 billion by building the world-famous Cirque du Soleil. After 31 years, he sold 90% of the company for $1.5 billion, and he decided to focus on his children and philanthropy.
Canadian Guy Laliberte (Photo: REUTERS 2015)
In April, Cirque du Soleil is one of the world's most famous theater operators circus performances- announced the transition under the control of new owners: the American investment company TPG (it now owns 60%), the Chinese Fosun International (20%) and the Canadian pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (10%). According to media reports, the deal is worth about $1.5 billion (an amount not officially disclosed). The founder of the "Circus of the Sun" (as translated from the French Cirque du Soleil) - 55-year-old eccentric Canadian billionaire Guy Laliberte will remain 10% of the company.
Laliberte founded Cirque du Soleil when he was only 25 years old. Since then, he not only changed the idea of the circus around the world, but also became one of the richest people in Canada (21st in the Canadian Forbes list, the magazine estimates his fortune at $ 1.9 billion), flew into space as a tourist and created a fund that helps fight the problem of lack of drinking water around the world.
Seeker of adventures
Guy Laliberte was 18 years old when he went to travel around Europe, becoming a traveling artist. There he made a living by playing traditional Canadian music on the accordion on the streets, and one day, due to lack of money, he was forced to spend the night on a bench in London's Hyde Park. He also learned to juggle, swallow fire and walk on stilts during a year of his wanderings in Europe, after which he returned to Canada.
“It was just an adventure,” he said in an interview about his European experience. — I planned to continue my studies and lead ordinary life". But he failed to find a "normal" job, and he joined the circus troupe of acrobats on stilts Les Echassiers in Baie Saint-Paul (a suburb of Quebec), where he met its founder Gilles Sainte-Croix. In 1982, together they will start to make a carnival of circus arts La Fête Foraine.
The circus, the New York Times noted, is only Guy Laliberte's third passion. The second is travel, but in the first place is business: from the very beginning, Laliberte himself was involved in raising money for the development of the company. In 1984, he "knocked out" from the authorities of the province of Quebec funding in the amount of $ 1.3 million to carry out holiday events to the 450th anniversary of the discovery of Canada, wrote The New York Times. Thus was born Cirque du Soleil, despite the fact that the troupe itself at that time trained in a rented gym.
The first show brought a very small profit - $ 40 thousand, and after the second season the company was completely on the verge of bankruptcy. But the public liked the Laliberte circus, and it gradually began to be perceived as a national treasure, and the authorities once again supported the company.
In 1987, Cirque du Soleil was invited to the opening of the Los Angeles Arts Festival. “I bet everything we had for this evening,” the entrepreneur recalled that first American performance in an interview with the New York Times in 2011. The whole troupe "threw off" on a trip to Los Angeles. “If we had failed then, we would have had to return home on foot - we did not even have money for gasoline for way back“, he said. But the very next day after the opening of the festival, the city lined up for tickets to Cirque du Soleil.
Excitement is obviously in Laliberte's blood - in 2005 he will become interested in poker and two years later he will take fourth place in the Five Star World Poker Classic, winning a prize of almost $ 700 thousand.
Reinventing the circus
The real triumph for Cirque du Soleil came in Las Vegas. The first show in the casino city was Mystère in December 1993, it was also the first "stationary" show (which does not tour the world, but takes place in a theater specially built for it). “There are three capitals of entertainment in the world - Las Vegas, New York and London,” Laliberte told the NYT, and, according to him, only Las Vegas has truly conquered him so far. Now the entertainment capital of the world, where Cirque du Soleil has eight "stationary" performances, accounts for about half of the company's revenue. The business there is run by a specially created subsidiary.
One of the Cirque du Solei shows l in Las Vegas - Love - was born in 2006 and was inspired by friendship with George Harrison . For the sake of staging this show based on the album of the same name The Beatles the businessman managed to put the surviving Beatles at the negotiating table - Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, as well as Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison representing the deceased Lennon and Harrison . Especially for the show, the songs from the Love album were “reassembled” into a single organic composition, and in total V musical arrangement Was used samples of over 120 Beatles songs.
The success story of Cirque du Soleil is taught in business schools on the Blue Ocean strategy courses (“blue ocean” as a metaphor for a new, free niche in the market as opposed to a market with an already created competitive environment - the “red ocean”). As the Russian Forbes wrote, “every Skolkovo student knows it by heart.” Laliberte not only managed to re-energize interest in acrobatic theatrical performances, but essentially "reinvented the circus" by abandoning animal performances and traditional entertainers. Initially, Cirque du Soleil paid special attention to the dramaturgy of the performance: the creation of each show begins with the development of the concept (main idea) and script, and only then is the acrobatic "backbone" thought out. In the 1990s, Laliberte began to invite theater and film directors who did not have experience working with the circus, for example, the famous Canadian theater director Robert Lepage.
This approach helped to attract a more mature (compared to the traditional circus) and, accordingly, solvent audience. In less than 20 years, Cirque du Soleil has managed to achieve revenue levels that Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus [American circus founded in 1919; owned by Feld Entertainment] traveled for a hundred years, said Chan Kim and Rene Mauborn, professors at the French business school INSEAD, in their book Blue Ocean Strategy. In 2011, Cirque du Soleil's revenue exceeded $1 billion for the first time.
However, a year later the company will face financial difficulties: despite its billion-dollar revenue, it will remain without profit, and in 2013 the turnover will drop to $850 million. which slowly paid off. As part of the restructuring, Laliberte had to cut 400 employees. If at some point the circus staff reached 5 thousand people, now there are only 4 thousand left.
How much does a Cirque du Soleil show cost
Stationary show (performances that Cirque du Soleil does not carry around the world, but always shows only in certain cities) costs about $40-50 million. The cost of transport shows is usually lower, but Zarkana or a tribute to Mile Jackson cost more than $50 million and were shown in several countries around the world, including Russia. To date, Cirque du Soleil has shown its performances on all continents of the world (except Antarctica), in 48 countries. The repertoire of the circus in history has about 30 shows.
Partly with financial problems the search for investors and the subsequent sale of the circus in April 2015 were linked. Laliberte hopes China's Fosun Capital will help Cirque du Soleil exit and grow in China, where the company has not been very successful so far. He himself explains the sale also by the fact that, after talking with his five children (they are now from 7 to 18 years old), he realized that none of them wanted to continue his father's work.
Now Laliberte plans to focus on his charitable One Drop Foundation, which addresses the world's drinking water shortages. He created it in 2007, and in 2009, during his flight to the International Space Station as a tourist, he held a two-hour "poetry show" - a teleconference to draw attention to the problem of water resources. The Canadian allegedly paid $35 million for the space "attraction". Former US Vice President Al Gore, Shakira, Salma Hayek, the U2 group and others got in touch with Laliberte in space. And this event is the best illustration of the entrepreneur's ideology, which he was guided by when creating Cirque du Soleil - "together art and business can make the world a better place."
Cirque du Soleil in Russia
The famous Cirque du Soleil first came to Russia only in 2009. The organization and promotion of Russian (and Ukrainian) performances is not handled by the head office in Montreal, but by Cirque du Soleil Rus, founded in 2008 - it is 75% owned by Canadian Cirque du Soleil, the remaining 25% is owned by Canadians George and Craig Cohony (George opened McDonald's in Canada and Russia, and his son Craig in the early 1990s "brought" Russian market Coca Cola).
According to Natalia Romanova, CEO of Cirque du Soleil Rus, Cirque du Soleil has only two subsidiaries in the world who are managing a particular market: in Russia and a "daughter" in Las Vegas, which oversees "stationary" shows in the casino city. “In fact, we created a business in Russia from scratch,” Romanova notes in a conversation with RBC. Carried out before entering the Russian market marketing research showed that the level of brand recognition in Moscow and St. Petersburg with a hint was about 2%, this is the level of static error, she says.
“At first we felt treated [by the Montreal office] as promoters,” says Romanova, “but now Russian company hosts Cirque du Soleil in Russia on a turnkey basis: handles everything from ticket sales and marketing to show maintenance, logistics and artist accommodation... We have become part of big family Cirque du Soleil.
Guy Laliberte, whom she knows personally, characterizes Romanov as a person "from whom you light up like a light bulb." with Russia and Russian artists(immigrants from countries former USSR make up 30% of the Cirque du Soleil troupe), the entrepreneur met in the early 1990s and came to almost all the premiere shows of Cirque du Soleil shows in Russia. The screening of the very first - Varekai - coincided with the end of Laliberte's space journey: he underwent training in Russia for 9 months and flew into space on a Russian ship. He has always been very interested in Russia and considered the Russian market very promising, says Romanova.
When asked if Cirque du Soleil was embarrassed economic situation in Russia, Romanova replies that already with the onset of the recession, at the end of last year, the “sister” of Cirque du Soleil, Cirque Eloize, was brought to Russia, whose performances were shown in 12 cities. Again, Romanova recalls, the idea to bring Cirque du Soleil to Russia was born in the midst of the global economic crisis - she laughs, telling how at a press conference in 2008, journalists asked: “are you in your right mind” to bring such an expensive foreign product to the market during difficult times? But in Time has proved the correctness of this choice, she says (although she refuses to give the operating figures for Russian business).
Since 2009, almost two million Russian viewers have visited Cirque du Soleil performances - the company is waiting for the anniversary visitor at the Quidam show on Friday.
Cirque du Soleil in numbers
31 year There is a Cirque du Soleil
Over 160 million viewers have attended Cirque du Soleil performances since its inception
$40-50 million is the average cost of producing one Cirque du Soleil show
$850 million rescued the circus in 2013
More than 2.6 thousand spectators are accommodated by the traditional big top Cirque du Soleil
$1.5 billion is the estimated value of the transaction for the purchase of 90% of Cirque du Soleil (the exact amount was not disclosed)
Sources: Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Reuters, company data
Cirque du soleil. Circus of the sun. He owes his birth to the Canadian Guy Laliberte, a man with an amazing destiny. In his youth, he was a street performer: he swallowed fire, put on real shows on stilts, played the accordion; and at the age of 18 he dropped out of college and went on tour around the world with a troupe of traveling circus performers. Already back in Canada, Guy began to think about the concept of a completely different circus, and together with childhood friends brought it to life ...
Today the Cirque du Soleil is the most successful and most popular circus company in the world, it has long been calling card peaceful Canada. The performances employ 11 stationary troupes (in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Orlando and Macau) and 12 touring ones. All of them are completely autonomous, so there can be 23 Cirque du Soleil shows in the world at the same time. The circus employs about 4,000 artists from 50 countries.
The permanent process of creating magic, the constantly functioning forge of fresh ideas, the amazing synthesis of the achievements of different circus schools, the influence of dissimilar cultures, the gathering of professionals of all stripes and their social security - these are the whales on which the majestic and beautiful Cirque du Soleil relies.
this week famous circus begins his tour in Moscow. Canadian artists will present the Saltimbanco program to Russian viewers. In honor of this, the site invites you to take a trip to the fabulous country of the best shows of the solar circus.
Cirque du Soleil in Russia
For the Russian public, Cirque du Soleil performances are no longer a novelty. In 2009, the performance Varekai was shown in the capital for the first time, and in 2010 the troupe of the Corteo show went on tour in St. Petersburg, Kazan and Moscow. The autumn tour of the circus with the Saltimbanco program will be the third in a row, and the Russian premiere of Zarkana is scheduled for February 2012.
Varekai had its world premiere in 2002 in Montreal. Varekai is translated from the gypsy language as "anywhere", "anywhere". The creators themselves call the show "an acrobatic tribute to the nomads", its director was Dominique Champagne, who had previously staged theatrical plays.
The plot is based on the myth of Icarus, a boy who flew too high to the sun on makeshift wings. The story of Varekai tells what happened after the sun's rays melted Icarus' homemade wings. Unlike what the myth tells, he does not drown in the sea, but falls into a magical forest. fairy creatures who inhabit it help Icarus regain his wings.
the best shows of the solar circus
The performance is amazingly spectacular: acrobatics, clowning, directing, acting, costumes and scenery - everything is done at the highest level.
Here are just a few numbers from the Varekai show that captivated the audience:
Georgian Dance
The artists were inspired to create this number by the folk Georgian dance lezginka. This is the embodiment he received in the circus extravaganza Cirque du Soleil.
Corteo
The premiere of Corteo took place in Montreal on April 21, 2005, and exactly 5 years later the artists of the show came on tour in Russia. Corteo comes from the Italian "tuple", "funeral procession".
the best shows of the solar circus
According to the creators, the show is "a theatrical procession of poetic characters and graceful acrobats." The plot is based on the protagonist's fantasy about his own funeral, which takes place in a festive carnival atmosphere. More and more new, dissimilar characters constantly appear on the stage, the feeling of the duality of space and the ambiguity of what is happening does not leave for a second.
The performance did not leave our audience indifferent. Artistic talent and skill of performers, original plot idea, unity of action - one can talk endlessly about Corteo.
Among the highlights of the production of Corteo, the audience highlights:
Tightwire
At a height of six meters above the ground, surrounded by angels, a girl is dancing on a tightly stretched wire. She easily slides on the wire on pointe shoes, on a unicycle, and then barefoot. The artist enters into an argument with the laws of gravity, climbing a wire stretched at an angle of 40 degrees at a height of 12 meters above the stage.
Saltimbanco
Saltimbanco
Saltimbanco is Cirque du Soleil's oldest and still touring show. Its premiere took place on April 23, 1992, in 2007 the show was adapted to the needs of sports fields, and in the fall of 2011, having traveled almost the whole world, the Saltimbanco troupe finally reached Russia. Their journey began in Yekaterinburg and continued to Kazan, Moscow and St. Petersburg.
the best shows of the solar circus
What is Saltimbanco? The director of the production, Franco Dragone, defined his brainchild as "a celebration of cheerful and bright acrobatics in the middle of a metropolis." The name echoes the Italian "saltare in banco", which translates as "to jump on the bench". The plot of the show consists of scenes of city life, in each of which the spirit of the city is revealed in a new way, with the help of bright colors and new technical solutions. Everything is perfect in Saltimbanco: every detail of the scenery, colorful costumes, the skill of the artists.
Spectators who have already seen Saltimbanco in Yekaterinburg and Kazan were delighted with the production.
Concerning the best rooms, here you can highlight Hand to hand and Duo Trapeze.
hand to hand
The focus is on a pair of male acrobats. They perform stunningly beautiful and complex combinations. main feature such numbers - the highest technique of performance and a completely imperturbable facial expression.
Duo Trapeze
Gymnasts work on the circus trapeze without insurance. Coherence of movements and ease of execution speaks of long workouts.
Zarkana and Myster
Zarkana is the new show of Cirque du Soleil, which the audience in Russia will see in February 2012. The name of the show itself, formed from the fusion of the words bizarre ("bizarre") and arcana ("mystery"), indicates the mystery of the place and its inhabitants.
the best shows of the solar circus
According to the plot, the wizard Zark loses his beloved, and with her his magical power. He asks higher power return it and enters the world of mysterious creatures.
We present to your attention the promo video of the Zarkana show:
Of course, the scale of the show and the amazing professionalism is very difficult to assess from a small video. However, is this not a reason to quickly stock up on tickets for the February tour?
Cirque du Soleil in the world
If you are so in love with Cirque du Soleil that you want to visit all their shows, you need to go to America, where 9 out of 11 stationary shows are concentrated. Separate venues are specially built for stationary shows, which makes it possible to technically equip the stage for the needs of each individual performance , call scientific and technical progress to help art.
Mystere
Mystere was Cirque du Soleil's first ever stationary show. It was delivered in 1993 and is still running at Treasure Island, Las Vegas, Nevada. This show combines athleticism, complex acrobatics and amazing imagery. Many people call Mystere "the flower of the desert". The lack of a storyline is compensated by a combination of unimaginably vivid details embodied on the stage. For example, in the Imaginary Worlds issue, combinations of rich colors are breathtaking, making you follow the action with fascination.
O and KA
This show takes place in the middle of the desert. The name is not an abbreviation or a letter at all, but a transcription of the French eau (“water”), hence the figurativeness of both the performance itself and its individual elements. Bright distinguishing feature the show is a moving stage, the design of which allows spectacular metamorphoses to take place. For example, in the Terre Aride room, water fills the entire space, then disappears, as if by magic.
It is this Cirque du Soleil show that experts consider the most difficult in terms of performance technique. The plot frame - the heroic saga of love and conflict - gives the virtuoso action theatrical dynamism and drama.
Dramatic mix of circus art and street entertainment. The Cirque du Soleil has been delighting with its performances for over 30 years. The circus is known for its principled refusal to include animals in its shows. All numbers are a mixture of acrobatics, bizarre images, music and choreography. 
A Cirque Du Soleil actor during a rehearsal for the show "Corteo" in Valencia, Spain on June 15, 2011. 
Amaluna show in San Francisco. Amaluna is a fusion of the words mother and moon. Each show of the Cirque du Soleil is a real work of art. 
Corteo combines the passion of actors with the elegance and strength of acrobats. The viewer is immersed in theater world fun, comedy and mystery. 
The year of birth of the circus is considered to be 1980. The troupe of performers took to the streets of Baie Saint-Paul (Canada) and surprised the townspeople with their tricks. The program included performances by jugglers, dancers and fire tamers. Cirque du Soleil has grown into a truly great show. 
Today the circus employs actors from all over the world, including from Russia. Irina Naumenko rehearsing an acrobatic show Varekai. 
The tricks are very difficult. That is why only the best acrobats from all over the world work in the circus. 
The Cirque du Soleil does not use animals in principle in its numbers and is generally opposed to animals in the circus. 
In the US, the circus performed for the first time in 1987 in Los Angeles. 
In 1990 the Cirque du Soleil was already known in Paris and London. 
Special attention in the Cirque du Soleil is given to costumes. Their production is a complex and creative process. 
In the 90s, the circus conquered Asia, all of Europe and South America with its new shows. 
The Cirque du Soleil also reached Russia. 
It is believed that the Cirque du Soleil breathed new life in circus art. 
The circus employs more than 4,000 artists. This allows you to hold shows in different parts of the world at once. 
However, the main troupe is based and gives their shows in Las Vegas. 
Performances are held both in circus arenas, and in big tops and even theaters. 
By the way, the annual revenue of the circus is more than 600 million dollars.
Guy Laliberte was born on September 2, 1959 in Quebec, the French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec. He began his career at the age of 14, performing on the streets hometown- swallowed fire, walked on stilts, played the accordion.
Dropped out of college at 18 and went on tour with a traveling circus troupe. Traveled half the world. He kept his best impressions of the Hawaiian Islands and France.
Circus of the Sun - birth
Returning to Canada, instead of fabulous wealth, Guy Laliberte brought a bag of crazy ideas and experience as an organizer of circus performances.
Here he finds like-minded friends among childhood friends. This is the owner of a consulting company Daniel Gauthier and street circus performer Gilles Saint-Croix. Together they develop the concept of a new circus and draw up a plan for its implementation.
It is a pity that the legend of the birth of the Circus of the Sun does not mention the name of the municipal official, to whom the young "fire-eater" turned for help. With his impassioned speech, Laliberte convinced him that very little time would pass, and new circus will become a hallmark of Canada, along with maple leaf and hockey.
The authorities of Montreal (the capital of the province of Quebec) met the self-confident "fakir" and allocated the amount needed to stage a performance in honor of the 450th anniversary of the discovery of Canada. So in 1984 year the company was founded Cirque du Soleil.
Circus of the Sun - becoming
Not everything was cloudless in the fate of the young circus. Following successful performances in all major cities Canada was followed by the failure of the performance in a tent built near Niagara Falls. Tourists preferred to enjoy the beauties of nature, ignoring advertising unknown show. The Circus of the Sun nearly burned out.
The trip to circus festival in USA. In case of failure, the troupe had no money even for the return trip. Here, however, the Circus of the Sun awaited dizzying success and the attention of serious investors.
In the 90s, Laliberte traveled a lot, studying circus art. different countries and peoples. Over time, this experience has become the basis of most performances.
“- When did you come up with the idea to combine the art of the circus and business? In your building in Montreal, the training grounds are intertwined with offices.
Twenty five years ago. We almost immediately realized that we could live off our circus, and initially we intended to expand by regularly releasing new performances. And we, leaders, and artists must understand that this is not only entertainment, this is business. Of course, at first I had to sweat, it was not easy. But already three years after the founding, in 1987, we had big success in Los Angeles, and since then we have been quite successful - both as artists and as managers."
Circus of the Sun - special signs
About the brainchild of Guy Laliberte they say that this is the only circus where animals are not tortured. Indeed, all animals in the representation are depicted by people. In addition to moral satisfaction, this brings the company significant material and media support for the Green Party.
The stage of the Circus of the Sun is an arena turned inside out. The audience is below the main stage. Artists fall or descend from above, emerge from an intricate system of labyrinths and hatches. Having fulfilled their role, they imperceptibly dissolve in artificial fog or among numerous decorations.
The main difference between the Circus of the Sun is that any performance is an integral performance with a single dramatic basis. The numbers smoothly flow into one another without destroying the overall atmosphere of the spectacle.
Along with exciting and risky circus numbers, the leading role in organizing the action belongs to music, color and lighting design. You will not see such fantastically beautiful costumes and scenery anywhere else. Technical innovations are successfully used, many of which owe their appearance to the company's "creative office", where Guy Laliberte gathers 7-8 of his close friends for joint creativity.
So, the audience of Eurovision, held in Moscow, were amazed by the "flying pools".
Circus of the Sun in numbers
The main office of the company was built on the outskirts of Montreal. It is a yellow and blue building with an area of 18,600 square meters. The ceiling height of the large training hall is 23 meters.
The annual income from performances is 810 million dollars.
Equipment during the tour transports 71 trailers.
The performances of the Circus of the Sun were watched by 80,000,000 people.
The fabric for the main tent weighs over 5 tons.
The company spends $45 million annually on casting for new artists.
"…my brain. It is arranged in such a way that it is simultaneously imprisoned for both business and creativity. Usually, as it happens: either you are a good businessman, but as weak as creative unit, or you are a creator, but a very bad businessman. I found a balance between commerce and art. And secondly, I can find the right people who make a great team, and, therefore, projects of any complexity succeed.”
Ours are everywhere!
Guy Laliberte “spied” some of the scenographic and dramatic techniques from the famous “Lyceums”. With their founder and ideological inspirer, Vyacheslav Polunin, Guy became friends in St. Petersburg. For almost a year, the "Litsedei" participated in one of the performances of the Circus of the Sun.
In general, there are a lot of people from the former USSR in Cirque du Soleil. In addition to circus performers, these are famous athletes and musicians.
Ksenia Simonova received an invitation to take part in the performances of the 2011 season. Her "sand animation" won 1st place in the television show "Ukraine Got Talent" and gained numerous fans thanks to the Internet.
Guy Laliberte Personal Awards
1997 - Chevalier of the National Order of Quebec.
2001 - Honorary Citizen of the City of Montreal.
2004 - Order of Canada ( highest award countries).
2004 - Time magazine named Laliberte among the 100 most influential people in the world.
2008 - Honorary Doctorate from Laval University.
An even bigger reward is five kids who love their clown dad.
In addition, Guy Laliberte is one of the most famous poker players who regularly takes part in international competitions.
star clown
In 2009, Guy Laliberte made a unique gift for his 50th birthday and the 25th birthday of the Circus of the Sun.
On September 30, he became the 7th space tourist. From the ISS (International Space Station) Laliberte hosted a 2-hour world show "Move the stars and the Earth for water", dedicated to the drying up sources of water on Earth. The show was attended by U2, Shakira, Peter Gabriel, Salma Hayek, Al Gore.
“The theme of water - the source of life captured me, - said Guy Laliberte during a live broadcast from the ISS. — When I learned a few years ago that every eight seconds a child dies on the planet due to a lack of drinking water, I knew I had to act.”.
Everyone who was lucky enough to attend the performances of the Cirque du Soleil speaks of the feeling of celebration and complete happiness born from the fantasies of the great Guy Laliberte and his team.
