The Cirque du Soleil : an unconventional Canadian performance in the best theatres of the world
February 09, 2006
| The Cirque du Soleil is a band of colourful characters that, coming from the streets where they used to juggle, dance and breathe fire, succeeded to turn themselves in a widely recognised prestigious company, invited in the most celebrated theatres of the world. The Royal Albert Hall, temple of the lyric in London, is their prominent house in Europe, whereas in the United States they have six resident theatres, five of them in Las Vegas and one in Orlando. In 2006 the Cirque du Soleil will present six resident shows and seven touring shows: two of them, Dralion and Alegrìa, are performed in Europe; the latter soon to arrive in Milan and Rome between February and May. |
We have seen Alegrìa in London, in the stunning stage of the Royal Albert Hall. Alegrìa debuted in 1994 and since then it has been seen, so far, by 8 million people. Watching the show is literally entering a baroque world ruled by 65 artists with flamboyant costumes: eccentric clowns, brave acrobats, gifted musicians and impressive gymnasts. Its strength and speed are taken to the extreme, as are the incredible skills of these artists. The wonder is consistent, for two entire hours the spectator is completely abandoned in a vertigo of emotions, fears and stupor. The perfection of the coordination of the show is equal only to its general idea, not just a "normal" circus but instead a proper theatre representation in two acts, timed and organised by a little red-dressed hunchback director. We admit to have been a little bit frightened by some of the performances: the contortionists fold their arms, legs and backs in a way that lead people to think that something is suddenly going to crack, the fire-eaters rotate the flames perfectly following the rhythm of a tribal soundtrack. Some of the artists are clearly former classic gymnasts such is the beauty they can achieve with rings and trapezes. The last performance is dedicated to one of the most traditional circus' arts: the trapeze artists fly and grab each other fluctuating in the air for a moment that you would never want to end. |
Nothing is left to chance in this amazingly orchestrated union of genius and fun: all the costumes of the Cirque du Soleil are strictly custom-made and the majority of the production is entirely carried out in the Cirque du Soleil Costume Workshop. What's more, the numbers will help to give a clearer overview of the phenomenon: this in-house workshop employs over 300 full time people amongst designers, pattern cutters, shoemakers, wigmakers, milliners and tailors. Dominque Lemieux is the head of the workshop, being responsible for seven of the thirteen shows that will be presented in 2006. Names such as Thierry Mugler have participated in the past: the French fashion designer designed the costumes for the resident show Zumanity, currently on in Las Vegas.The history of the Cirque du Soleil brings us to the mid eighties. Back in 1984, Guy Laliberté, founder and today CEO of the Cirque du Soleil, was organizing a cultural event near Quebec City, the Fête foraine de Baie-Saint-Paul. The aim was giving the opportunity to street performers to meet, show their skills and exchange ideas. For a few days the tiny Canadian city lived the colored atmosphere of these roaming artists coming from all over the country. Guy Laliberté, accordion player, stiltwalker and fire-eater, realised that a cultural event was not enough to fully express the talent and potentialities of that crowd of young artists. This multi-skilled artist had an intuition, proof that he was able to see, in the future, the marriage of culture with artistic and acrobatic disciplines. His mission became to raise the status of these disciplines to artistic performances and ultimately to bring the prestige of street performers to the top level of actors and singers. His dream is today represented by impressive numbers: 3,000 employees worldwide, including close to 900 artists (1,600 employees at the Montreal International Headquarters alone), 100 cities visited around the world and 50 million spectators who have seen a Cirque du Soleil show. Numbers that can recall more an industrial conglomerate than a circus. Guy's great achievement is undoubtedly the elevation of circus to the Gotha of the most important theatres all over the world. |
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This is definitely a very unconventional circus show: no animals, no tent, and no sense of roaming street-artists -though they underline that have fun travelling! Cirque du Soleil performers are truly the crème of the artistic disciplines around the world. Waiting next to the exit it is possible to hear the comments of the spectators: nothing less than "sensational" is said. If you want to experience the emotions of this unusual Canadian based circus-theatre just check out the next dates on www.cirquedusoleil.com Nobody will be disappointed. |
