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Fascination Issue 136
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T h e U n o f f i c i a l
C i r q u e d u S o l e i l N e w s l e t t e r
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http://www.CirqueFascination.com
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VOLUME 15, NUMBER 5 May 2015 ISSUE #136
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Welcome to the latest edition of Fascination, the Unofficial Cirque
du Soleil Newsletter.
There's no mistaking what's on everyone's mind this month - and what
the hot topic is in this month's news section - the sale of Cirque du
Soleil to TPG Capital, a Texas-based private equity fund; Fosun Capital
Group, a privately owned fund manager based in Shanghai; and La Caisse
de dépôt et placement du Québec, a long-term institutional investor
that manages funds primarily for public and para-public pension and
insurance plans. What would the sale mean for the future of Cirque du
Soleil? Would shows close? Would the Headquarters move? Would the
company lose its artistic credibility? What about the Theme Park?
Would anything be the same? While it's too soon to tell (the deal is
fresh and doesn't close until the third quarter), for now the Head-
quarters will remain in Montreal, Daniel Lamarre will remain CEO, Guy
Laliberte will remain as a creative consultant, so for the moment it
is business as usual. At this juncture we have no idea how the sale may
affect Cirque's current or future shows. So, in the immortal words of
Deeda (Amaluna): NO PANIC! However, we know from the press releases
that the Cirque is once again going to focus expansion efforts in
China, so we'll likely hear about their plans for that region of the
world very, very soon.
We here at Fascination remain cautiously optimistic about the whole
affair to be honest. Change can be a good thing, and we do feel that
Cirque du Soleil could benefit greatly from new partners/owners as
they could offer fresh insights - depending on how involved they'll
want to be in the day-to-day at the company's HQ (which we're betting
they won't be.) Still, perhaps they can nudge the Cirque back into
plussing the shows they have running currently, rather than taking
away from them. Amaluna comes to mind with some of its recent changes
(the addition of Static Trapeze and now Dralion's Hoop Diving act
seems interesting) could help re-make that show, which I think was
hurt greatly by its recent cuts, and yet changes to Varekai and the
retirement of its Icarian Games act are getting the exact opposite
response. Although we have heard great things about the show's new
Synchronized Tumbling act (and can't wait to see it in action), it's
the loss of yet another "signature" act from the show (both Water
Meteors and Triple Trapeze were retired during the show's conversion
from Big top to Arena.) And with the shortening of segues and other
character moments to outright deletions and reductions in skill sets
of the remaining acts, it's hard not to have certain reservations
about where Varekai is headed.
But getting back to Cirque du Soleil as a whole: the big challenge
is going to be the company's planned second push into China. Part of
the problem with their first appearance (ZAIA) was that Cirque really
resisted catering to local Chinese tastes, as an article in Bloomberg
pointed out (which you can read inside). And it's certainly a sentiment
we here at Fascination shared as well: ZAIA didn't work because it was
too much Cirque and too little Chinese. Dragone's House of Dancing
Waters works because in addition to being acrobatic (which China is
known for), it's also big and bold. It took chances that have paid
off handsomely for Dragone and his company. His "Han Show"? Bolder yet!
Have you seen the trailers and teasers? Impressive! It is my belief
that Cirque du Soleil's next China efforts are going to have to be
as big and bold as "O" was to Las Vegas in 1998. You certainly can't
replicate that now, but, the vision and the drive? That they're
going to need. Whatever they do in China now will have to be bold,
and it's going to have to be unique. Perhaps "TORUK - The First
Flight", Cirque du Soleil's AVATAR-themed show will be their bold
statement, as the show is rumored to tour China following its North
American Tour due to start on November 20th.
All the news associated with the sale of Cirque du Soleil has been
specially collected for ease of perusal. You'll find it in the area
marked "Special Engagement -- Cirque Cashes In / Sells Out".
But while the sale of Cirque du Soleil to investors is big news, there
are other things to consider too. Amidst the mêlée "TORUK: The First
Flight", Cirque du Soleil's trip into the world of AVATAR, was also
announced, due to debut (for previews) this coming November in the
state of Louisiana before holding its gala premiere in Cirque's home-
town of Montreal. TORUK The First Flight, inspired by James Cameron's
AVATAR, a live experience by Cirque du Soleil, envisions a world beyond
imagination set thousands of years before the events depicted in the
film. The word Toruk, in the Na'vi language, refers to the great
leonopteryx, the mighty red and orange predator that rules the Pandoran
sky. Central in Na'vi lore and culture, this fascinating creature is
crucial to the Na'vi clans' sense of destiny and interconnectedness
and is about to be ridden for the very first time by a Na'vi. It sounds
intriguing! Learn more about it in our FEATURES section this month. I
was skeptical at first but the more I see of this show, how the stage
might be setup, and everything else, makes me re-think everything I
ever thought about this venture. My mind remains open!
Also in our FEATURES this month is a quick peek at LE GRAND CONCERT's
DVD/Blu-Ray release. How does it compare to the broadcast versions we
were able to see? It blows it away! But not without a couple caveats.
Check the review within for more. Additionally, the Wall Street Journal
had a fantastic article about safety at Cirque du Soleil, which we
included this month as a special. While it focuses a lot on the Sarah
Guillot-Guyard incident, there's much more to be learned not only about
the accident but about safety as well. It's a fantastic read! Keith
Johnson gets a little audience participation with TOTEM.
As always we also have the posts made to Cirque's Facebook pages,
and updates to Cirque's touring schedule. Oh, and don't forget to
pick up Issue #5 of "The Chapiteau-Fascination! Magazine" here:
< http://issuu.com/thechapiteau/docs/tcfmag_issue_5 >.
So, let's get started!
/----------------------------------------------------\
| |
| Join us on the web at: |
| < www.cirquefascination.com > |
| |
| Realy Simple Syndication (RSS) Feed (News Only): |
| < http://www.cirquefascination.com/?feed=rss2 > |
| |
| The Chapiteau-Fascination! Magazine: |
| < http://www.cirquefanzine.com/ > |
| |
\----------------------------------------------------/
- Ricky "Richasi" Russo
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CONTENTS
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o) Cirque Buzz -- News, Rumours & Sightings
* La Presse -- General News for the Month
* Special Engagement - Cirque Cashes In / Sells Out
o) Itinéraire -- Tour/Show Information
* BigTop Shows -- Under the Grand Chapiteau
* Arena Shows -- In Stadium-like venues
* Resident Shows -- Performed en Le Théâtre
o) Outreach -- Updates from Cirque's Social Widgets
* Didyaknow? -- Facts About Cirque
* Networking -- Posts on Facebook, YouTube & Twitter
o) Fascination! Features
*) "Cirque AVATAR is: 'TORUK - The First Flight'"
Edited By: Ricky Russo - Atlanta, Georgia (USA)
*) "Le Grand Concert on DVD - A Quick Peek"
By: Ricky Russo - Atlanta, Georgia (USA)
*) "Injuries Put Safety in Spotlight at Cirque du Soleil"
Special By: Alexandra Berzon & Mark Maremont
From: The Wall Street Journal
*) "Call Me!" Audience Participation at TOTEM
By: Keith Johnson - Seattle, Washington (USA)
o) Subscription Information
o) Copyright & Disclaimer
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CIRQUE BUZZ -- NEWS, RUMOURS & SIGHTINGS
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LA PRESSE General News for the Month
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Rock in Rio USA Organizers Highlights Site/Offerings
{Apr.01.2015}
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Rock in Rio USA organizers say their Las Vegas music festival
set for May 8-9 and May 15-16 will come with premium experiences
unseen at other festivals, along with some Sin-City-style
indulgences.
Officials from MGM Resorts and Brazil-based Rock in Rio offered
a sneak peek Wednesday of the 37-acre site on the Las Vegas
Strip, including VIP cabanas flanking the main stage and a
balcony with club-like bottle service available for a price.
Rock in Rio CEO Luis Justo seemed particularly pleased with the
festival's opulent restroom offerings including full plumbing
and, in some cases, television screens broadcasting the
performances.
"There will be no problem with lines," he said, noting the 500
available restroom stalls.
Officials said $75 million has been spent to ready the empty Las
Vegas Strip lot into a festival site complete with underground
utilities.
When MGM Resorts along with financial partners Cirque du Soleil
and Ron Burkle's Yucaipa Cos. began contemplating building a
more permanent outdoor entertainment space a couple years ago,
"it had to be of this scale. It had to be of this quality," said
Scott Voeller, MGM Resorts senior vice president of partnership
and event marketing.
"So often, people think of festivals being in big, dusty lots in
the middle of nowhere," Voeller said. Rock in Rio USA promises
no mud, no dirt. Instead, fields of fake turf, a few trees and
asphalt paths crisscross the acreage, leading people from the
facades of three international street scenes with different
music and performers to two main stages. There's also an
electronic dance area and a large two-level VIP tent expected to
feature hanging chandeliers and palm trees along with all-
inclusive food and drinks.
Dotting the landscape will be a zip line sending riders over the
heads of concert-goers gathered at the main stage and a 332-
foot-tall Ferris wheel that's a couple hundred feet shorter than
the world's tallest observation wheel a little ways down the
Strip.
Unlike the big, dusty festivals in the middle of nowhere such as
the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival east of Palm
Springs, California, that sell out in minutes, Rock in Rio has
sold a reported 56,000 weekend passes even though there's room
for some 85,000 people a day.
"We never anticipated we would hit full capacity in its first
year," Voeller said, adding that Vegas tends to be a last-minute
market and more tickets are expected to be sold.
He noted that Coachella and others are wildly successful, but
only after years of building awareness and experience.
Rock in Rio USA has committed to return to the site in 2017 and
2019.
General admission two-day tickets cost $298 and single-day VIP
passes cost $498.
{ SOURCE: FOX Business News | http://goo.gl/3uXzlb }
CREACTIVE: Cirque du Soleil swings into Club Med
{Apr.03.2015}
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A fear of heights is terribly inconvenient when stepping into a
harness and getting attached to a bungee cord. But fear is
something you check at the reception desk when entering Cirque
du Soleil headquarters here in Canada.
"Push yourself to see what you can achieve," says Rob Bollinger,
acrobatic performance designer at the 30-year-old entertainment
troupe. His words of encouragement come right before I am to be
lifted nearly 30 feet into the air. I manage to maintain my
composure.
Cirque du Soleil is known worldwide for performers accomplishing
acrobatic feats at vertigo-inducing heights while wearing enough
sequins to make Liberace proud. Now this icon in circus
entertainment is teaming up with another iconthis one in the
hospitality industry.
Club Med CREACTIVE by Cirque du Soleil will debut at Club Med
Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic in June. Adults and
children will be able to try activitiesat no extra chargeunder
the supervision of instructors trained by Cirque du Soleil. Some
instructors will even be former Cirque performers. If all goes
well, Club Med will dispatch Cirque-approved instructors to its
other resorts across the USA, Caribbean, South America, Europe,
Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
"Who hasn't said they would like to run away and join the
circus? Here's their chance," Bollinger says.
USA TODAY and a small group of journalists got a preview of the
program at Cirque's training facility here. With CREACTIVE, Club
Med is introducing a new, more immersive concept in the
experiential travel industry. Hotels and resorts are
increasingly curating traveler's visits by offering activities
that go beyond rounds of golf and swimming pool activities.
"All elements of experiential travel are expanding," says Chris
Vasiliou, a professor at the masters of hospitality management
program at Georgetown University and former chief operating
officer of Travelocity. "Most hotels, destinations and
attraction brands are continuing to explore ways to reach their
customer segments through as many channels as possible."
"Major hotel companies are expanding their brand portfolios to
attract customer segments that they traditionally did not
serve," he says. "The growth and influence of the Millennial
guest segment is having a significant impact on all travel-
related products and marketing offerings. As such, experiential
travel is at the core of most of the emerging strategies."
Marie-Josee Lamy, executive director of Cirque du Soleil
Hospitality, says providing memories is the best way to attract
new fans. "More and more consumers are savvy and looking for new
experiences," Lamy says. "They want something to talk about."
Club Med, a pioneer of the all-inclusive resort concept when it
debuted 65 years ago, has provided circus instruction for more
than 25 years. Involving an entertainment behemoth like Cirque
will kick the classes into a higher gear. In its 30 years,
Cirque has delivered over-the-top performances in more than 300
cities around the world.
"This new concept will leverage, for the benefit of Club Med
guests, the expertise and knowledge of Cirque du Soleil, who are
unrivaled innovators in the realm of circus artistry," says
Henri Giscard d'Estaing, Club Med's CEO. "It will also
capitalize on the heritage and talent of Club Med in creating
extraordinary memories in beautiful vacation destinations."
Other activities that guests will be able to try include high
bungee jumping, unicycle, tumbling and juggling. They can also
participate in artistic activities such as percussion and dance
and mask painting.
How will the average Club Med guest fare at flying trapeze?
Bollinger acknowledges that it's not for everyone, but he urges
them to give it a try.
"The fear of trying new things prevents people from doing it,"
Bollinger says. "Kids are more apt and more willing to try new
things. Adults are tentative."
I am certainly tentative as Emmanuel Jacquinot, a Cirque coach,
instructs me to clutch the trapeze bar firmly with both hands. I
grab the bar and bend my knees. All I have to do is let go, and
I'll swing across the gym. Below me is a pit of foam for a soft
landing if my arms give out.
The goal is to land on a mat on the other side. But Jacquinot
says it's okay if I just want to swing across and return to the
starting point. He promises to catch me when I swing back.
"Let go," he says.
I hesitate for a few minutes, and then I obey his gently
delivered order. The wind in my face feels refreshing. I don't
manage to land on the other side. But I do manage to keep
holding on to the bar despite my sweaty palms. As promised,
Jacquinot catches me upon my return.
My coach for the German wheel is equally reassuring. A German
wheel is an apparatus made up of two rings joined together by a
set of parallel bars.
Coach Serguei Volodine straps my feet into one of the bars, but
I'm still not convinced that I won't crash on my head when the
wheel spins.
"I will spin you so don't be afraid," he says. "Both feet will
be in straps and you can never get out."
I feel like a hamster in a wheel, but I enjoy the sense of
accomplishment after a few turns.
Juggling proves to be an easier task, at least on the arms. Or
so, I think, when I first meet coach Samuel Roy.
It turns out that juggling is one of the most difficult
activities.
"In juggling, we like to mess with the mind," Roy says as he has
us throw balls with our forearms in directions I never would
have thought of.
My mind is definitely messed up.
More mind-bending activities happen in Pierrette Venne's studio.
Let's not forget that Cirque du Soleil performers are doing just
thatperforming. So part of their training is learning how to
act. Venne is one of their acting coaches.
In an hour, she has us play Simon Says and Red Light, Green
Light. There's a method to her madness.
"You have everything you need in the game," she says. "Impulse."
In other words, those games we played as children make us react
in ways that get us to let down our guards.
"The straightest way to go is not always the most interesting,"
she tells us. "Forget that people are looking at you, judging
you."
At Club Med CREACTIVE, you don't judge.
You join.
{ USA Today Travel | http://goo.gl/l7sT7t }
Staff sues Cirque du Soleil for Stiffing them on Tips
{Apr.06.2015}
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Around 40 waiters are suing Cirque du Soleil, claiming the
performance company has stiffed them on tips at catered events.
The lead plaintiff in the proposed class-action suit, Marshall
Maor, says Cirque has relied on a "policy of unlawfully
retaining employees gratuities" since 2009.
In papers filed Friday in Manhattan Supreme Court, a Bronx man,
Marshall Maor, 33, says Cirque du Soleil has routinely added a
"service charge" of 7% to 20% to "catered events" and under
state law, these are interpreted as tips that should be paid to
the wait staff.
However, he says, they never were. Instead, Cirque du Soleil's
owners pocketed them.
But it doesn't use a disclaimer notifying customers that the
service charge is not a gratuity for staff, according to the
legal filing.
"A reasonable customer would believe that the service charge was
in fact a gratuity for [Maor] and [other] employees," according
to the new Manhattan Supreme Court suit.
Maor, who worked at Cirque's Randall's Island location in 2009,
only made $11 an hour and didn't see a dime of gratuity, the
suit says. The 33-year-old Bronx man primarily served food for
the entertainment company for only one month, according to court
papers.
The case is for unspecified damages. The lawyers in the class
action say they are still trying to find other servers, bussers,
bartenders, food runners and hosts to join the case. A
spokeswoman for Cirque du Soleil did not immediately comment.
Cirque is also fending off a federal lawsuit filed last year in
California by billionaire Alki David, who claims the company
ripped off his hologram patent for the show "Michael Jackson:
One."
In 2004, Cirque paid an HIV-positive acrobat $600,000 after he
filed a case claiming he was booted from the circus for fear the
disease would spread to other performers. The gymnast, Matthew
Cusick, said he had notified his employer he was HIV positive
and rehearsed for months before getting canned.
{ SOURCE: New York Post | http://goo.gl/sIDZNl }
Synchro Tumbling Varekai Premieres New Act
{Apr.15.2015}
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A few days ago we were given a sneak peek, in the form of a
rehearsal photo via the official Facebook page, of a new act
that would be integrated into Cirque du Soleil's Varekai.
Veteran Cirque du Soleil shows, and even newer ones, are no
stranger to new acts, as changes are always taking place. But
what was surprising about this act was not the act itself, but
the fact that it was replacing what many consider an iconic
Varekai act, Icarian Games.
NEW, FRESH & DYNAMIC
As mentioned, many consider Icarian Games to be an iconic
Varekai act. So why the change? For starters, let's remember
Varekai premiered 13 years ago this month, one of which has been
in arena format. The transition from Grand Chapiteau to arena
comes with many changes, including removing and adding acts for
a more fresh, updated look and feel. Some will be surprised to
know that Dominic Champagne (Varekai's Director), is in close
contact with Fabrice Lemire (Varekai's Artistic Director) and he
very much has a say in major changes that occur within the show.
In fact, Dominic wanted something new, fresh and dynamic for the
show, and in collaboration with Fabrice, they both chose to
feature a Synchro Tumbling act.
SYNCHRO TUMBLING
The new 5-artist act, which has since been integrated into the
show, is called Synchro Tumbling. Fans of Michael Jackson
Immortal might remember this act, but the Varekai version has
been completely re-choreographed to embody lizard-type creatures
that are more animalistic in nature. 3 of the 5 artists were
performers in MJ Immortal. No surprise there as Cirque du Soleil
is known to be loyal to their artists and staff and they try to
employ artists who have previously worked with the company.
Although the Synchro Tumbling costumes are different from the
Icarian Games costumes (but in the same tones), the music will
remain the same.
We're excited to see how Synchro Tumbling integrates and evolves
in the show.
Check out a video here:
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/LNJtY3AVWOg >
{ SOURCE: TheChapiteau | http://goo.gl/d4amTY }
On World Circus Day, a peek backstage at Cirque
{Apr.18.2015}
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Australian Photographer Tim Georgeson has always been fascinated
by the circus.
"I've just been always interested in that way of life. Not that
I want to live that way of life, but I've just been fascinated
by the characters and the people that are drawn to that
lifestyle," Georgeson told msnbc.
On assignment for National Geographic France in 2002, Georgeson
traveled Europe, Canada, and Africa, photographing circus
performers in an attempt to show the "evolution of circus."
"I was shooting all traditional circus and showing how sort of
sad that is," Georgeson remarked. "Not many people are going to
those circuses anymore." His project for the magazine also
covered "contemporary cirque," a more recently developed form
where shows are character-driven, convey a story or theme, and
rarely use animals. Georgeson even attended and covered an
"underground circus" in Africa.
Ultimately, the assignment brought him to what he called "big
bang circus," like the highly popular Cirque de Soleil, a modern
theatrical company that was founded in Montreal in 1984 by two
street performers. Today, Cirque de Soleil brings in revenues of
hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
During his travels in 2002, Georgeson shot the black and white
photos seen here as part of a personal series. The Cirque de
Soleil performers backstage in Brussels "love being
photographed," he said. "Performance still continues backstage,
they're always still performing and carrying on and trying
things."
Georgeson's goal? "Just trying to get a little bit of a
voyeuristic view into their life."
Check out these fantastic pictures:
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/c5D0l3 >
{ SOURCE: MSNBC }
Cirque/Fathom Bringing One Night for
One Drop' to Cinemas
{Apr.21.2015}
-----------------------------------------------------
Cirque du Soleil and Fathom Events are partnering to bring One
Night for One Drop to select theaters across the U.S. on the
evening of June 10.
One Night for One Drop, taped in Las Vegas on March 15, was
staged in honor of One Drop, the nonprofit organization
established by Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte. The show,
which raised funds and awareness for global water issues, was a
completely original, one-night-only performance featuring
artists from each of the eight Cirque du Soleil productions in
Las Vegas, alongside guest performers.
"Fathom Events is consistently adding new and unique events such
as One Night for One Drop to our cinema offerings. We're excited
to bring this exclusive performance to the big screen while also
helping raise awareness for World Water Day," said Fathom's VP
Programming Kymberli Frueh-Owens.
One Night for One Drop creator-director Mukhtar O.S. Mukhtar
added: "To be able to share this once-in-a-lifetime performance
with a larger audience is a dream come true, not just for me,
but for the hundreds of Cirque volunteers that offered their
talents and support to raise awareness for critical water issues
around the world during this special night."
One Night for One Drop took place inside the Beatles LOVE
Theatre at The Mirage Hotel and Casino.
Fathom announced the news on the eve of CinemaCon, the annual
gathering of theater owners in Las Vegas that runs April 20-23.
During the show, the Metropolitan Opera will receive the first-
ever Excellence in Alternative Content award for its
groundbreaking The Met: Live in HD series, now in its 10th
season.
Fathom is a partner on the Saturday live broadcasts; Fathom CEO
John Rubey is scheduled to present the award to soprano Deborah
Voigt on April 21. She's accepting the tribute on behalf of the
Metropolitan Opera.
EVENT PARTICULARS
o) Date: Wednesday, June 10
o) Time: 7:30 p.m. (local time)
o) Run Time: 1 hours 30 minutes (approximate)
o) Ticketing: Tickets go on sale Friday, May 8.
Get More Information: http://goo.gl/cZ5hBZ
{ SOURCE: Hollywood Reporter | http://goo.gl/ex00NB }
WSJ: The Perils of Workers' Comp for Injured Performers
{Apr.24.2015}
--------------------------------------------------------
Natasha Hallett was a longtime performer at Cirque du Soleil,
playing a key role in the circus giant's La Nouba show in
Orlando, Fla. Then she made a mistake.
Ms. Hallett says she forgot to put a double loop through her
harness for a flying trick, and a colleague didn't notice the
oversight during a safety check. She tumbled about 40 feet to
the stage during a Cirque performance, shattering 19 bones from
the waist down. "Like a horse that broke its leg, once you are
injured you are pretty much no good for them anymore," Ms.
Hallett said.
Artists at Cirque du Soleil put their unusually adept bodies at
risk to entertain audiences, just as many professional athletes
do. But unlike many pro athletes, Cirque performers don't get
special treatment, such as continuing to receive regular pay, if
they suffer severe injuries.
Instead, most of them are treated like ordinary workers, thrust
into a complex workers' compensation system that provides
limited recompense for lost wages and permanent disabilities.
A small number of injured workers whose contracts provide for it
do receive extra compensation after an injury, executives said.
But relying primarily on workers' compensation payments "is the
best solution in terms of management," Cirque spokeswoman Renée-
Claude Ménard said. The company declined to comment on specific
cases of injury.
For a Cirque worker injured in a major accident, the aftermath
is a rarely publicized aspect of the stunning stunts that Cirque
has turned into an $850-million-a-year business.
"Pain is everything for your life," Artur Dashkevich, a former
Cirque performer from Belarus, said a doctor once told him. He
became permanently disabled after injuring his neck in a 2007
training accident in Montreal. He returned to Belarus, but said
he can't work and lives on about $21,000 a year from the Quebec
workers' compensation system. Others have taken jobs such as
driving taxis or cutting hair while their bodies remain in pain.
Cirque executives said 80% to 90% of its performers' injuries
involve soft-tissue damage such as muscle or joint strains that
accumulate over time and aren't linked to a major accident or a
single career-ending event.
But Cirque stands out for the number of injuries to its
performers, many of which become workers' compensation claims. A
Wall Street Journal analysis showed that in 2011, the most
recent year for which data is available, Cirque's Kà show in Las
Vegas had a higher rate of injury than all but 78 workplaces on
a list of nearly 52,000 of the most dangerous compiled by the
U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Nicolas Panet-Raymond, Cirque's head of safety, said that some
circuses classify their performers as contractors, which means
they don't have to provide any injury insurance coverage for
them. By contrast, Cirque considers its performers employees.
That means, he said, that in most places where it operates, the
state or country requires the company to pay for workers'
compensation insurance so that workers can get money and health
care if they are injured.
Workers' compensation laws vary widely, but they generally
prevent workers from suing their employer for negligence.
What that formula didn't take into account was that Ms. Hallett
needed far more than normal use of her ankle to do a job in her
field. "What we're doing is a little bit more advanced than just
trying to get back to walking," she said.
She was offered $45,000, she said. After disputing the decision
she settled for $170,000, a large amount in Florida, according
to workers' compensation attorneys there.
Mr. Panet-Raymond agreed the system is problematic. "Workers'
comp has not been established for high performers," he said. "We
cannot ask workers' comp to build scales to represent our
specific nature."
Most top professional sports teams, including Major League
Baseball, which are among the only workplaces to come close to
Cirque in likelihood of injuries, give workers their full salary
until their multiyear contracts expire. In the National Football
League, injured players receive only a portion of their salary
for a few years if they can't play, but they generally receive
large upfront bonus payments to make up for the risk, according
to sports agents and lawyers.
Ms. Muller criticized Cirque for not providing more generous
financial settlements. "These are not flukes, these are
accidents," she said. "You can't send people home broken and
broke."
{ SOURCE: Wall Street Journal | http://goo.gl/mcg96o }
Get the KURIOS App Today!
{Apr.25.2015}
-----------------------------------------------------
The DHL Cabinet of Curiosities is the latest in a range of
innovative Augmented Reality apps by DHL, Official Logistics
Partner of Cirque du Soleil!
Download the Augmented Reality marker from www.dhl.com/kurios
and use this app to see Microcosmos, one of the extraordinary
characters from the newest Cirque du Soleil show KURIOS
Cabinet of Curiosities, come to life before your eyes, with 4
action buttons to make him perform different routines.
Find out more about Microcosmos, and the world of KURIOS
Cabinet of Curiosities with behind the scenes films and other
content, test your knowledge in the Competition section (see
Terms & Conditions for entry deadlines) and take your photo with
a member of the cast to share with your friends.
Created by Bright Partnerships
Powered by Kudan Augmented Reality
The App is available for Apple and Android users only.
Get them here!
o) APPLE: http://goo.gl/Y529Qa
o) ANDROID: http://goo.gl/dspGjz
See some photos of the app here:
LINK /// < http://www.cirquefascination.com/?p=5819 >
{ SOURCE: Cirque du Soleil }
---------------------------------------------------
SPECIAL ENGAGEMENT Cirque Cashes In / Sells Out
---------------------------------------------------
Cirque preparing to announce sale on Monday
{Apr.16.2015}
-----------------------------------------------------
Emotions are running high at Cirque du Soleil as the company is
preparing to announce the sale of the famed Quebec circus troupe
on Monday even though co-founder Guy Laliberte has yet to fully
sign off on the transaction.
Employees are sad because an era in one of Quebec's creative
success stories seems to be on the verge of change, said a
former senior official who remains close to old colleagues.
"I'm very emotional because it's the end of something
extraordinary," said the source, who didn't want to be
identified by name.
Laliberte told workers on Wednesday that he had not yet
concluded a sale agreement, which reports say would be for
something under $2 billion.
"To be perfectly honest, there are a lot of discussions taking
place at the moment," Laliberte wrote in a short email.
"However, and as I usually do, be sure that you will be the
first informed if I conclude an agreement with new partners."
Sources close to the deal say U.S. private equity firm TPG
Capital is close to completing a deal that involves Quebec
pension fund manager the Caisse de depot and a large Chinese
investment fund.
Laliberte would reportedly continue to hold 10 per cent of the
company after the sale and the Caisse another 10 per cent, with
TPG holding 60 per cent and China's Fosun Capital the remaining
20 per cent.
The new owners plan to maintain the Cirque's headquarters in
Montreal and would expand its global operations by opening a
support office in Shanghai, where Fosun is based.
"Any transaction would involve both the management and creative
soul of the company remaining in Montreal," said a source close
to the deal. "TPG very much appreciates the unique cultural
heritage of the Cirque and will be very much committed to the
Montreal and Quebec creative communities."
While the Cirque has expanded in China, there's room for a
greater presence in Asia because of demand for more live
entertainment productions, he added.
"There will obviously be increased operations there, but by no
means is this meant to be a headquarters in Shanghai. It would
simply be a base of support for the Cirque's continued
operations in China."
TPG is the world's largest casino owner with a stake in Caesar's
Entertainment, while Fosun owns Club Med resorts.
While the Quebec government has said it wants the Cirque's head
office to remain in the province in the event of a sale, Premier
Philippe Couillard said Thursday in the legislature that it
won't intervene in "a private transaction."
Former Caisse executive Michel Nadeau said the pension fund
manager wouldn't heed any political pressure and would only make
an investment if it make financial sense.
He said TPG, with $80 billion of assets under management in some
300 companies, is a very good manager.
"When you have these type of guys in the driver's seat, it's
good for the Caisse," he said in an interview.
The purchase price is reportedly less than what Laliberte was
seeking. But after a 30-year run, it's natural for a billionaire
entrepreneur to sell his company as the product matures,
competition increases and the public reacts more slowly to the
offering, said Nadeau, who now heads Quebec's Institute for
Governance of Private and Public Organizations.
He said Laliberte missed out on a bigger deal by not properly
preparing his succession and keeping the company so closely tied
to one person. That left him forced to sell to a majority owner,
rather than take the company public.
{ SOURCE: The Canadian Press }
Cirque du Soleil sold to U.S., Chinese Investors
{Apr.20.2015}
-----------------------------------------------------
Guy Laliberté, the audacious street performer who transformed
his fire-breathing act into a global circus empire, has agreed
to sell control of Cirque du Soleil to two of the world's
largest financial investors for about $1.5-billion. Sources
close to negotiations said Mr. Laliberté has agreed to sell
majority control of the Cirque to TPG Capital, a Texas-based
private equity fund, and Fosun Capital Group, a privately owned
fund manager based in Shanghai.
{ SOURCE: The Globe and Mail }
"China is Ready for Us" Laliberté
{Apr.20.2015}
-----------------------------------------------------
Cirque du Soleil co-founder Guy Laliberté says selling the
company to an investor group that includes China's Fosun Capital
Group could lead to a doubling of its market in Asia.
"We have a Chinese partner who knows the market well, and who
has a lot of international connections," Laliberté said Monday
during a news conference at the company's headquarters in
Montreal.
"It's certain that having a local [Chinese] partner will help
develop our chances of success in a big way. We've done a lot of
research in the past years and the market is ready for us."
Confirming reports last week, Laliberté announced he had
completed a deal to sell 60 per cent of Cirque du Soleil to
U.S.-based TPG Capital, 20 per cent to Fosun, 10 per cent by the
the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, while retaining 10
per cent himself.
Laliberté said he has wanted to expand to the Chinese market for
the past 10 of Cirque's 31-year history, though he was not ready
to outline any concrete plans for the expansion. At the moment
former Cirque director Franco Dragone is running an acrobatic
circus show in Macau that could potentially mean competition.
"We have a precise plan that we will be announcing soon," said
Laliberté. "China is a complex market and we are doing our
homework, doing our research, having many consultations and will
soon have a more organized plan."
Last month, Fosun won a US$1.3 billion bidding war for Club Med,
the French resort chain in which Cirque already has a
partnership. "We have an objective to become one of the global
leaders in businesses driven by lifestyle needs, which are
quickly taking root in China," Guo Guangchang, chairman of
Fosun, said in a statement Monday. "The performances of Cirque
are very attractive and are a standard bearer for the quality
content expected by global citizens. We have known Cirque and
TPG's team for quite some time so we respect their cultural
heritage."
None of the stakeholders would disclose the financial terms of
the transaction. However, reports have valued the sale at $1.5
billion.
Laliberté said he decided to sell the majority stake in the
company to TPG for personal reasons and to ensure the success of
the Montreal-based organization.
"In all consciousness and with a rigorous personal reflection
and corporate reflection, I believe I am making the best
decision for Cirque du Soleil and its future, and the best
decision for myself and my family," he said.
Majority stakeholder Fort Worth, Texas-based TPG is a private
equity firm with experience building brands such as J. Crew and
Neiman Marcus.
Laliberté said its strong media and entertainment relationships
including Hollywood talent agency CAA will provide Cirque
with new revenue opportunities. "They have an amazing network,
they have money, they have a full team of people who can
reinforce Cirque's growth. They seem to show quite good passion
and they're full of energy," he said.
At the moment, Laliberté has 90 per cent ownership in the
company.
He said the transaction was finalized last Friday morning and he
chose to sell in order to expand the company, not because Cirque
is experiencing financial difficulties. "I had all the choice. I
was holding all the cards in the deck," he said. "I made this
business decision for the support of Cirque."
Laliberté said he will maintain some creative control at the
organization, particularly during the transition period he says
will take several months.
The 55-year-old former street performer said part of the reason
he is taking a smaller role is to spend more time with his
family and pursue personal interests. "I gave myself, at the
starting point, 10-years. I went on for 31 years. It's more that
I could even imagine," said Laliberté.
Part of the deal is that Cirque's headquarters will remain in
Montreal, as long as TPG are the majority shareholders, in spite
of fears it would be relocated by the U.S.- and China-based
companies.
Quebec businessman Mitch Garber will become chairman of the
company. "The DNA of the company is in its Quebec-based
creativity," said Garber. "There is nowhere else you can have
the creativity that has nurtured all of the shows and all of the
revenue that comes from here, other than Montreal, Quebec."
Cirque du Soleil employees about 1,400 people at the company
headquarters.
{ SOURCE: Financial Post | http://goo.gl/C8dkfU }
"Cirque Sale: The Official Press Release"
{Apr.22.2015}
-----------------------------------------------------
Cirque du Soleil ("Cirque"), the world's leading producer of
high-quality live artistic entertainment, today announced an
agreement under which TPG, a global private investment firm,
will acquire a majority stake in Cirque du Soleil to fuel growth
and take Cirque's iconic blue and yellow big top to exciting new
markets.
o) Guy Laliberté to continue creative advisor status and
maintain ownership stake;
o) Strong commitments to Québec and Canada: Montréal
international headquarters of Cirque du Soleil and management
team to remain in place;
o) Transaction provides financial strength to support global
growth of Cirque du Soleil's unique artistic vision;
o) Fosun and TPG to target Cirque du Soleil's expansion in
China;
o) Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec to assume minority
stake in Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil's Founder, Guy Laliberté, will maintain a stake
in the business and will continue to provide strategic and
creative input to the company. Fosun, one of China's leading
privately-owned investment groups, will acquire a minority stake
in Cirque du Soleil via a fund under its management, and
together the firms will work with the company to launch and
expand in China. In addition, Caisse de dépôt et placement du
Québec (the "Caisse") will also acquire a minority interest in
the company. Québec businessman Mitch Garber, who has strong
business ties to TPG, will also be part of the investor group.
Mr. Garber will become Chairman of Cirque du Soleil, adding
valuable expertise and a strong Montréal-community presence to
the board of directors. No financial terms of the transaction
were disclosed.
"After 30 years building the Cirque du Soleil brand, we have now
found the right partners in TPG, Fosun and the Caisse to take
Cirque du Soleil forward to the next stage in its evolution as a
company founded on the conviction that the arts and business,
together, can contribute to making a better world," said Guy
Laliberté. "Just as importantly, I am thrilled that the
investors have demonstrated such a strong commitment to Cirque's
unique Québec cultural heritage and the creativity and
imagination of our people."
"We are excited about the opportunity to bring our global
platform of resources and know-how to propel the growth of
Cirque's unique brand, content and capabilities around the
world," said David Trujillo, partner at TPG. "We are inspired by
Guy Laliberté's imagination and vision, and look forward to
working with him and his talented team, as well as the vibrant
Montréal creative community."
Mitch Garber added, "Guy has built one of the most extraordinary
companies in the world. I have worked with TPG for many years
and know they are the perfect partners to take this business
forward. Cirque is a great source of pride for all Québecers and
we intend to continue to make them proud."
Guo Guangchang, Chairman of Fosun said, "To date, Fosun has
established a global prototype for platforms that capture
lifestyle trends in China. Building on top of this model, we
have an objective to become one of the global leaders in
businesses driven by lifestyle needs, which are quickly taking
root in China. The performances of Cirque are very attractive
and are a standard bearer for the quality content expected by
global citizens. We have known Cirque and TPG's team for quite
some time so we respect their cultural heritage. We envisage
deeper cooperation with Cirque and are excited to have Cirque as
a major new growth platform within our lifestyle services and
content portfolio."
Guy Laliberté and his team have grown Québec-based Cirque du
Soleil into one of the world's largest and most well-recognized
entertainment brands, touching 150 million spectators worldwide.
As part of the agreement, Cirque du Soleil's talented team will
remain in place and TPG has made binding commitments to ensure
that the headquarters and the creative activities of Cirque du
Soleil will remain in Montréal, a community that has always been
at the heart of Cirque's success. Daniel Lamarre will remain as
Cirque's President and CEO.
Michael Sabia, President and CEO of the Caisse, added: "This is
an important moment in the history of the Cirque. Today, we are
partnering with the company as it seeks to conquer new markets.
We are confident that TPG, alongside Fosun, has all the
expertise to expand the Cirque's global presence. We are pleased
that this new era of growth will be directed from Montreal, the
Cirque's decision-making and creative center, under the
direction of Daniel Lamarre, CEO."
"Our partners believe in Cirque du Soleil's extraordinary
artistic vision, and together, we will nurture that vision and
take it to new heights," said Daniel Lamarre, President and CEO
of Cirque du Soleil. "TPG's track record of helping legendary
brands deliver powerful experiences, Fosun's expertise in China
and the Caisse's homegrown financial strength are a powerful
combination that will fuel new growth in our business."
TPG is one of the world's leading private investment firms, with
its largest office in San Francisco. The firm has a successful
track record of growing legendary brands that deliver unique
consumer experiences, such as Beringer, Chobani, Ducati, Fender,
J.Crew and Neiman Marcus. The firm's focus on Internet and media
investments, including Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Lynda.com,
RentPath, STX Entertainment and Univision, amongst others, also
enables TPG to leverage its digital ecosystem for the benefit of
portfolio companies such as Cirque.
The combined expertise and resources of the TPG-led investor
group offer compelling opportunities to broaden the creative
reach of Cirque for the benefit of all stakeholders, including:
o) New revenue opportunities through TPG's deep experience
building iconic consumer brands and strong media and
entertainment relationships;
o) Greater reach and access to large new audiences in China and
other Asian markets for Cirque du Soleil's shows; and
o) Expanded offerings with third-party intellectual property
deals, increased licensing, digital media and ticket sales.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, and
is expected to close in the third quarter 2015.
Commitments to Québec and Canada.
As part of the transaction, the investors are committing to a
comprehensive package of binding undertakings that will ensure
that Montréal remains the creative and management international
headquarters for Cirque du Soleil, including:
o) Ensure that Cirque's headquarters in Montréal, Québec remain
the centre for creative and artistic services for the
business and locus of strategic decision-making;
o) Continuing to support the growth of Cirque du Soleil's core
business, while expanding job and training opportunities for
employees based in Québec and across Canada;
o) Significant Québec and Canadian presence on the leadership
team of Cirque du Soleil and its Board of Directors; and
o) Active support of the continued growth and vitality of
Québec's flourishing creative arts community through funding
to cultural and community organizations, continued support of
Cirque du Monde, and maintaining funding for the research
activities of C:LAB, the creative laboratory of Cirque du
Soleil.
Advisors
Goldman, Sachs & Co. acted as exclusive financial advisor to
Cirque du Soleil. Norton Rose Fulbright acted as legal advisor
to Cirque du Soleil. Ropes & Gray LLP and Osler, Hoskin &
Harcourt LLP acted as legal advisors to TPG. McCarthy Tétrault
acted as legal advisor to Caisse de dépôt et placement du
Québec.
About TPG
TPG is a leading global private investment firm founded in 1992
with over $67 billion of assets under management and offices in
San Francisco, Fort Worth, Austin, Dallas, Houston, New York,
Beijing, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Melbourne, Moscow,
Mumbai, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo. TPG has
extensive experience with global public and private investments
executed through leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, spinouts,
growth investments, joint ventures and restructurings. The firm
has helped build many well-known consumer brands including
J.Crew, Ducati, Neiman Marcus, Chobani, Fender, Petco and e.l.f.
Cosmetics, and invested in premier media and entertainment
companies including CAA, STX Entertainment and Univision. The
firm also has a long track record of investing in Asia, with
investments that include Chindex International, China Grand
Auto, Masan Group, Shenzhen Development Bank, and Shriram
Transport. For more information visit www.tpg.com.
About Fosun
Fosun was founded in 1992 in Shanghai. Fosun International
Limited (00656.HK) was listed on the Main Board of The Stock
Exchange of Hong Kong Limited on 16 July 2007. Fosun has been
persistently taking roots in China and investing in China's
growth fundamentals. It has been actively implementing its
investment model of "Combining China's Growth Momentum with
Global Resources". Fosun is dedicated to making a major stride
towards becoming a world-class investment group underpinned by
the twin drivers of "insurance-oriented comprehensive financial
capability" and "global industrial integration capability taking
roots in China". Today, Fosun's businesses include two major
parts, integrated finance and industrial operations. In 2014,
Fosun focused more on investments in the healthcare and happy
and fashionable lifestyle industries around the world, including
cases like the privatization of Chindex, the acquisition of the
entire Luz Saúde healthcare group of Portugal, the establishment
of Studio 8 as a controlling shareholder, the privatization of
Club Med and investment in Thomas Cook which have just been
concluded in March of this year. For more information, please
visit www.fosun.com.
About La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec
La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is a long-term
institutional investor that manages funds primarily for public
and parapublic pension and insurance plans. As at December 31,
2014, it held $226 billion in net assets. As one of Canada's
leading institutional fund managers, la Caisse invests globally
in major financial markets, private equity, infrastructure and
real estate. For more information: www.lacaisse.com.
{ SOURCE: Cirque du Soleil | http://goo.gl/MJI8f0 }
Guy Laliberté explains the sale of Cirque du Soleil
{Apr.22.2015}
-----------------------------------------------------
Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté explains why his company
will not stay in his family and why selling to the group led by
TPG Capital is a positive move from the Montreal-based
international circus company. Video shot at the Cirque du Soleil
headquarters on Monday, April 20, 2015. (Dario Ayala / Montreal
Gazette)
[Editor's Note: This is the Long Version of the video]
See the Video Here:
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/MWcXtQW3zns >
{ SOURCE: The Montreal Gazette, YouTube }
Meet Mitch Garber: Chairman of the Board
{Apr.25.2015}
-----------------------------------------------------
Mitch Garber first met Guy Laliberté in Las Vegas in 2010.
That's where Garber spends part of his time running Caesars
Interactive Entertainment and Laliberté, a former street
performer who went on to co-found Cirque du Soleil, plays high-
stakes poker. The kind where hundreds of thousands of dollars
can ride on one hand. He once finished fourth in the World Poker
tournament.
The following year, Laliberté invited Garber, a fellow Quebecer,
to his box at a Montreal Canadiens game and pitched the idea of
joining his charity, the One Drop Foundation, promoting global
access to safe drinking water. He wanted Garber's help to
arrange a tournament with the biggest buy-in poker history
US$1 million per player.
"Even though it seemed far-fetched to me, because of how he was
presenting it, it almost seemed like he could do anything, I
believed in it, and I went with it," Garber recalls. "I
remember being very persuaded by his optimism and the fieriness
he had in these ideas."
Garber would be encouraged by Laliberté again this time to
become chairman of Cirque du Soleil, after the co-founder
announced this week that he will be selling the entertainment
empire to a consortium made up of U.S.-based TPG Capital,
Shanghai-based Fosun Capital Group, and a small stake for the
Caisse de dépôt and Laliberté. Garber is buying in for several
million dollars as well, though he says he's still working out
the final number.
"He's a friend, but also an incredible businessman," said
Laliberté of Garber, in announcing the sale on April 20. Garber
says he jumped on the opportunity to lead the Cirque board. "The
fact that it's a local Quebec company founded by someone who I
like and respect very much, it really has all the elements in
it," said Garber.
While both Laliberté and Garber came from Quebec to eventually
become entrepreneurs managing large piles of money in the flashy
casinos of Las Vegas, they come from quite different
backgrounds. "We don't have a lot in common, and maybe that's
why we're friends," said Garber.
Laliberté, a francophone from Quebec City, famously got his
start busking on the street with a harmonica and accordion
before building what would become the world's largest acrobatic
circus.
Garber is an anglophone from Montreal who began his professional
career as a radio sportscaster and lawyer before getting into
the gaming industry. His mother was a schoolteacher, his father
a restaurateur and art dealer.
"I had a good family life, but not a very healthy financial
early life," Garber said. "My dad had severe bouts of ups and
downs. He was very wealthy at a very young age in his 20s. He
was bankrupt in his early 30s. He took his life over a financial
crisis in his early 40s."
Las Vegas is where the fate of the two men intersect. Between
there and Montreal, Garber runs the online version of famed
Caesars casino network. Caesars Interactive is one of the
largest and most profitable social and mobile game companies in
the world.
Meanwhile, 55 per cent of Cirque ticket sales are in Las Vegas,
though the company is now looking to expand to new markets,
particularly in Asia. That, Garber has said, is his next big
focus.
"People might find [Garber] shrewd sometimes, and passionate
other times, but at the end of the day, I tend to look more at
the fundamentals of his character selflessness, having the
vision and wanting to inspire people around him," said David
Baazov, CEO of Montreal-based Amaya Inc., the world's largest
publicly traded online gambling company.
"What he's doing is on an international basis and he's going to
help [Cirque du Soleil] think a little out of the box. I think
that he's got a lot of strong relationships to propel that."
Garber is also a co-star on the Quebec TV show Dans l'oeil du
dragon, the French language version of Dragon's Den.
"I'm sure whatever he's going todo in this [Cirque] position
will be probably well-thought out and analyzed for the benefit
of the owners and the partners, but also on the vision of this
province and Montreal," said co-star Danièle Henkel. "He wants
to bring the anglophone community together with the francophone
community to try to speak together and try to do things
together."
TPG, which also has shares in Caesars, sought approval from MGM
Grand Hotel and Casino to make Garber chairman of Cirque since
Cirque shows compete at MGM facilities.
"What amazes me is that I think he thinks nothing is
impossible," said fellow dragon Martin-Luc Archambault.
Garber is also known for speaking his mind about both business
and politics in Quebec.
Last month on Radio-Canada's popular panel show Tout le Monde en
parle, Garber questioned Parti Québécois leadership hopeful
Pierre Karl Péladeau's record as the head of Quebecor, noting
other media companies had better share performance.
That sparked outrage from Péladeau's spouse, Julie Snyder, who
rose to her husband's defense.
"These are not opinions, they are false, sad comments,
undignified of a dragon," Snyder tweeted.
Now Garber says it's time to keep political opinions to himself.
"I had some very strong comments that I stand behind, but today
my status in Quebec has changed," he said.
"As a spokesperson representing the Cirque du Soleil, I
represent all Quebecers in their love for the Cirque and I think
that now that I am the chairman of Cirque du Soleil, my
political views should remain my own and I don't think that it's
appropriate that I express them."
Both Snyder and Péladeau declined to comment on Garber's new
position on the Cirque board.
From his office overlooking the crowds on Montreal's busy Ste-
Catherine Street, Garber says to this day he sometimes has a
hard time believing he's done as well as he had.
"When I have the chance to think about Cirque du Soleil and
being the chairman of the board, there will be times when I ask
myself how did you end up here?' I think that's healthy and it
shows that I really do appreciate it," he said.
"I know there was a lot of hard work, a lot of luck, and a lot
of circumstance that led me to be here, but I am very grateful
for it and I want to make sure that I really dedicate myself to
doing a really great job for the people who put faith in me."
{ SOURCE: Financial Post | http://goo.gl/aKvHfD }
Bloomberg: Cirque du Soleil Has No Chance in China
{Apr.25.2015}
-----------------------------------------------------
It's no secret that Cirque du Soleil has been in need of a
savior. After spreading to 271 cities around the world in the
1990s and 2000s, the producer of elaborate circus events has
more recently hit hard times. In 2013, the company laid off 400
employees, mostly at its Montreal headquarters, citing rising
expenses and the global economic downturn. It looked like Cirque
had finally slipped off its high wire.
Just in the nick of time, a Chinese company seems to have
swooped down to stop its plummet. Last weekend, Fosun
International, China's largest private conglomerate, announced
that it had acquired a minority stake in Cirque du Soleil in
order to add a "unique element" to what the company calls its
"happy lifestyle area" (which includes hotels and resorts,
including Club Med) that target China's growing middle class. It
seems like a clear win-win: Cirque gets a massive new market for
its kitsch, and Fosun gets to shift its business model away from
China's slowing real estate sector.
But Cirque du Soleil's saga isn't over quite yet. There's plenty
of reason to doubt the Chinese public will have much interest in
what Cirque is selling. Fosun's challenge will be to convince
the company's creative staff that Canada's idea of "happy
lifestyle" entertainment doesn't overlap with China's.
Cirque du Soleil has been active in China for the past decade,
but it hasn't ever shown much talent for entertaining Chinese
audiences. In 2007, it staged its first-ever China shows in
Shanghai. They were well received, though not particularly well
attended. And why would they be? In China, at least, Cirque du
Soleil offers very little in acrobatic spectacle (rope tricks,
spinning plates, death defying heights) that the Chinese haven't
been doing on stage, in their own circus performances, for
centuries. In fact, in most large Chinese cities there are
several expertly staged choreographed acrobatic shows that cater
to Chinese audiences and for cheaper ticket prices than what
Cirque du Soleil charges.
Part of the problem is that Cirque du Soleil has resisted
catering to local Chinese tastes. The best example of this
misguided approach was the Canadian national pavilion that the
company was commissioned to design for Expo 2010, better known
as the Shanghai World's Fair. Prior to its opening in April
2010, I interviewed Johnny Boivin, Cirque's Director of
Creation, who explained to me the company's approach to the
building:
"So I said why don't we go really honestly about who we are
and talk to the Chinese without using the language. In this
project we don't speak but rather we show people images so they
know what we are talking about."
Boivin was true to his vision to a fault. Visitors to the
pavilion were ushered through two rooms. The first provided an
opportunity to peddle a bike on a virtual tour of Canada; the
second was a darkened room where visitors were asked to sit on
the floor and watch atmospheric images of Montreal bleed into
each other on a screen.
Whatever its aesthetic merits, this showed a complete
misunderstanding of what Chinese audiences expect in exchange
for buying tickets (and standing in line, as they sometimes did
for hours at Expo 2010). The first thing is that no paying
Chinese audience would ever volunteer to sit on the floor; in
the West, this might resonate with theatergoers eager for a
shift in perspective, but from the Chinese perspective it comes
across as cheap and uninviting.
More importantly, Cirque du Soleil's sedate aesthetic bears
little relation to the spectacle and bling that middle class
Chinese tend to associate with paid entertainment. No surprise,
most visitors walked quickly through Cirque's exhibition with
little more than a glance at the images, and then wandered off
in search of national pavilions that offered more excitement.
Sometimes the company seemed to neglect even more basic sorts of
market research. In 2012, it pulled out of a 10-year contract at
The Venetian resort in the Chinese casino mecca of Macau after
disappointing ticket sales. Cirque had somehow failed to
understand that Macau wasn't a typical tourist destination, but
a city associated in the Chinese imagination with gambling and
other unsavory financial dealings. Needless to say, the city's
traditional clientele rarely brings family along.
None of this is to suggest that Fosun is wrong for buying Cirque
du Soleil. At the very least, its newly developed expertise at
designing theaters will prove useful to Fosun's real estate and
hotel developers. Moreover, given the rapidly growing demand by
China's middle class for "happy lifestyle" products, it would be
hard for Cirque's shows to prove a total failure. Chinese
tourism is booming, and if a Cirque du Soleil production is the
only entertainment available at a Fosun-owned hotel or resort,
the guests who won't necessarily be Chinese might just be
convinced to go and see it.
But for now, Cirque du Soleil is just another Chinese-owned
circus. Unlike the others, though, this one still needs a
Chinese audience.
{ SOURCE: Bloomberg View | http://goo.gl/HLxQpu }
Cirque president says jobs will increase after sale
{Apr.26.2015}
-----------------------------------------------------
Cirque du Soleil president Daniel Lamarre says as new owners TPG
continue to grow the circus, more jobs will be created. Founder
Guy Laliberte says he sold the Cirque to the U.S. private equity
firm to spend more time with his kids.
Check out the video from the Globe and Mail here:
LINK /// < http://fw.to/GNLh1gY >
{ SOURCE: The Globe and Mail }
=======================================================================
ITINÉRAIRE -- TOUR/SHOW INFORMATION
=======================================================================
o) BIGTOP - Under the Grand Chapiteau
{Amaluna, Corteo, Koozå, OVO, Totem & Kurios}
o) ARENA - In Stadium-like venues
{Quidam, Varekai & TORUK (Avatar)}
o) RESIDENT - Performed en Le Théâtre
{Mystère, "O", La Nouba, Zumanity, KÀ, LOVE,
Believe, ZarKÀna, MJ ONE & JOYÀ}
NOTE:
.) While we make every effort to provide complete and accurate
touring dates and locations available, the information in
this section is subject to change without notice. As such,
the Fascination! Newsletter does not accept responsibility
for the accuracy of these listings.
For current, up-to-the-moment information on Cirque's whereabouts,
please visit Cirque's website: < http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/ >.
------------------------------------
BIGTOP - Under the Grand Chapiteau
------------------------------------
Amaluna:
Madrid, ES -- May 6, 2015 to Jun 21, 2015
PortAventura, ES -- July 3, 2015 to Aug 23, 2015
Brussels, BE -- Sep 11, 2015 to Oct 11, 2015
Paris, FR -- Nov 5, 2015 to Dec 13, 2015
Corteo:
Mérida, MX -- Jun 18, 2015 to Jul 12, 2015
Guadalajara, MX -- Jul 30, 2015 to Aug 16, 2015
Mexico City, MX -- Sep 25, 2015 to Nov 22, 2015
** CORTEO TO CLOSE IN MEXICO CITY **
Koozå:
Columbus, OH -- Jun 4, 2015 to Jun 28, 2015
Virginia Beach, VA -- Jul 16, 2015 to Aug 16, 2015
Austin, TX -- Oct 15, 2015 to Nov 8, 2015
Kurios:
Calgary, AB -- Apr 9, 2015 to May 24, 2015
Denver, CO -- Jun 11, 2015 to Jul 26, 2015
Chicago, IL -- Aug 6, 2015 to Sep 20, 2015
Costa Mesa, CA -- Oct 15, 2015 to Nov 29, 2015
Los Angeles, CA -- Dec 10, 2015 to Feb 7, 2016
Ovo:
Sendai, JP -- Apr 23, 2015 to Jun 7, 2015
Totem:
Brisbane, AU -- Apr 10, 2015 to May 24, 2015
Adelaide, AU -- Jun 11, 2015 to Jul 5, 2015
Perth, AU -- Jul 31, 2015 to Aug 30, 2015
------------------------------------
ARENA - In Stadium-Like Venues
------------------------------------
Quidam:
St. Petersburg, RU -- Apr 29, 2015 to May 4, 2015
Linkoping, SE -- May 8, 2015 to May 10, 2015
Gothenburg, SE -- May 13, 2015 to May 16, 2015
Turku, FI -- May 22, 2015 to May 25, 2015
Tallinn, EE -- May 27, 2015 to May 30, 2015
Stockholm, SE -- Jun 3, 2015 to Jun 6, 2015
Krakow, PL -- Jun 12, 2015 to Jun 14, 2015
Gdansk, PL -- Jun 18, 2015 to Jun 21, 2015
Tel Aviv, IL -- Jul 2, 2015 to Jul 16, 2015
Varekai:
Spokane, WA -- Apr 29, 2015 to May 3, 2015
Portland, OR -- May 6, 2015 to May 10, 2015
Penticon, BC -- May 13, 2015 to May 17, 2015
Vancouver, BC -- May 20, 2015 to May 24, 2015
Victoria, BC -- May 27, 2015 to May 31, 2015
Edmonton, AB -- Jun 18, 2015 to Jun 21, 2015
Winnipeg, MB -- Jun 24, 2015 to Jun 28, 2015
Ottawa, ON -- Jul 2, 2015 to Jul 5, 2015
Baltimore, MD -- Jul 8, 2015 to Jul 12, 2015
Boston, MA -- Jul 15, 2015 to Jul 19, 2015
Fairfax, VA -- Jul 22, 2015 to Jul 26, 2015
Duluth, GA -- Jul 29, 2015 to Aug 2, 2015
Tampa, FL -- Aug 5, 2015 to Aug 9, 2015
Sunrise, FL -- Aug 12, 2015 to Aug 23, 2015
Nashville, FL -- Aug 26, 2015 to Aug 30, 2015
Toronto, ON -- Sep 2, 2015 to Sep 6, 2015
Berlin, DE -- Oct 8, 2015 to Oct 11, 2015
Leipzig, DE -- Oct 14, 2015 to Oct 18, 2015
Stuttgart, DE -- Oct 21, 2015 to Oct 25, 2015
Mannheim, DE -- Oct 28, 2015 to Nov 1, 2015
Vienna, AT -- Nov 4, 2015 to Nov 8, 2015
Dortmund, DE -- Nov 11, 2015 to Nov 15, 2015
Cologne, DE -- Nov 19, 2015 to Nov 22, 2015
Innsbruck, AT -- Nov 25, 2015 to Nov 29, 2015
Munich, DE -- Dec 2, 2015 to Dec 6, 2015
Lyon, FR -- Feb 3, 2016 to Feb 7, 2016
Hamburg, DE -- Feb 10, 2016 to Feb 14, 2016
Luxembourg, LU -- Feb 17, 2016 to Feb 21, 2016
Hanover, DE -- Feb 24, 2016 to Feb 28, 2016
Nice, FR -- Mar 23, 2016 to Mar 27, 2016
Nantes, FR -- Nov 16, 2016 to Nov 20, 2016
Toulouse, FR -- Nov 23, 2016 to Nov 27, 2016
Strasbourg, FR -- Nov 30, 2016 to Dec 4, 2016
TORUK - The First Flight:
Lafayette, LA -- Nov 20, 2015 to Nov 22, 2015
Montreal, QC -- Dec 26, 2015 to Jan 3, 2016
Auburn Hills, MI -- Jan 22, 2016 to Jan 24, 2016
North Little Rock, AR -- Feb 19, 2016 to Feb 21, 2016
North Charleston, SC -- Feb 26, 2016 to Feb 28, 2016
Tulsa, OK -- Mar 25, 2016 to Mar 27, 2016
Kansas City, MO -- Apr 1, 2016 to Apr 4, 2016
Louisville, KY -- Apr 29, 2016 to May 1, 2016
Cincinnati, OH -- May 5, 2016 to May 8, 2016
Hamilton, ON -- May 20, 2016 to May 22, 2016
London, ON -- May 27, 2016 to May 29, 2016
Providence, RI -- Jun 3, 2016 to Jun 5, 2016
Raleigh, NC -- Jun 24, 2016 to Jun 26, 2016
---------------------------------
RESIDENT - en Le Théâtre
---------------------------------
Mystère:
Location: Treasure Island, Las Vegas (USA)
Performs: Saturday through Wednesday, Dark: Thursday/Friday
Two shows Nightly - 7:00pm & 9:30pm
2015 Dark Dates:
o May 14 - 22
o July 15
o September 10 - 18
o November 11
Added performances in 2015:
o April 2
o December 31 (only 7 pm performance)
"O":
Location: Bellagio, Las Vegas (USA)
Performs: Wednesday through Sunday, Dark: Monday/Tuesday
Two shows Nightly - 7:30pm and 10:00pm
2015 Dark Dates:
o June 14
o August 3 - 11
o October 11
o November 30 - December 15
Added performances in 2015:
o March 17 and 31
o December 29
La Nouba:
Location: Walt Disney World, Orlando (USA)
Performs: Tuesday through Saturday, Dark: Sunday/Monday
Two shows Nightly - 6:00pm and 9:00pm
2014 Dark Dates:
o November 2 - 5
o December 7 - 9
Zumanity:
Location: New York-New York, Las Vegas (USA)
Performs: Tuesday through Saturday, Dark Sunday/Monday
Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm
(Only 7:00pm on the following days in 2015: January 20,
May 8, May 15, May 19, May 20, and December 31)
2015 Dark Dates:
o June 16
o August 16 - 31
o October 31
o December 6 - 14
Added performance in 2015:
o December 27
KÀ:
Location: MGM Grand, Las Vegas (USA)
Performs: Saturday through Wednesday, Dark Thursday/Friday
Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm
(Only 7 pm performances on May 9, 16 and June 21)
2015 Dark Dates:
o May 30 - June 5
o August 5
o September17 - 25
o November 18
Added performances in 2015:
o January 1 - 2
o April 3
LOVE:
Location: Mirage, Las Vegas (USA)
Performs: Thursday through Monday, Dark: Tuesday/Wednesday
Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm
(Only 7:00p.m. performances on May 15-16, June 19-21, December 31)
(Only 4:30p.m. & 7:00p.m. performances on July 4)
2015 Dark Dates:
o May 28
o July 28 August 5
o September 15 17
o October 20 22
o December 1 16
Added performances in 2014:
o June 9
o December 30
CRISS ANGEL BELIEVE:
Location: Luxor, Las Vegas (USA)
Performs: Wednesday through Sunday, Dark: Monday/Tuesday
Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm
2015 Show Schedule:
o Wednesday: 7:00pm & 9:30pm (only 7:00pm on January 7,
February 4 - 25, September 30)
o Thursday: 7:00pm & 9:30pm (only 7:00pm on January 8-29,
December 31)
o Friday: 7:00pm & 9:30pm (only 7:00pm on January 930,
February 6, February 20 27, March 6 13,
May 1 22, June 5, June 19, September 1125,
October 29, October 2330, December 4 11,
December 25)
o Saturday: 7:00pm & 9:30pm (only 7:00pm on May 216,
June 20, July 4, October 31)
o Sunday: 7:00pm & 9:30pm (only 7:00pm on February 822,
March 115, April 26, May 24, June 7, June 21,
September 1327, October 425, November 18,
November 2229, December 613)
2015 Dark Dates:
o May 25 June 2
o June 22 30
o August 31 September 8
o November 9 17
o December 14 22
Added Performances in 2015:
o December 29
ZARKÀNA:
Location: Aria, Las Vegas (USA)
Performs: Friday through Tuesday, Dark: Wednesday/Thursday
Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm
2015 Dark Dates:
o May 10 -18
o July 14
o September 6 - 14
o November 10
Added Performances in 2015:
o December 28
MICHAEL JACKSON ONE:
Location: Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas (USA)
Performs: Two Shows Nightly - Dark: Wednesday/Thursday
Schedule: 7:00pm & 9:30pm on Friday, Saturday, Monday & Tuesday
4:30pm & 7:00pm on Sunday
(Only 7:00pm on January 12, 19, & 26, February 9, 16, & 23)
(Only 4:30pm & 7:00pm performances on July 4)
2015 Dark Dates:
o June 3 18
o August 11
o October 14 22
o December 15
Added performances in 2015:
o August 19
o November 25
o December 30
JOYÀ:
Location: Riviera Maya, Mexico
Performs: Tuesday through Saturday, Dark: Sunday/Monday
One/Two Shows Nightly:
9:00pm (Weekdays)
7:00pm & 10:15pm (Fri, Sat & Holidays)
Prices:
o) VIP Show Dinner & Champagne [RED] $MXN 2,970.00
o) Show Dinner and Champagne [BLUE] $MXN 2,178.00
o) Show and Champagne [GREEN] $MXN 1,452.00
o) Show Only [ORANGE] $MXN $1,056
o) High Stools (Show Only) [PURPLE] $MXN 858.000
=======================================================================
OUTREACH - UPDATES FROM CIRQUE's SOCIAL WIDGETS
=======================================================================
o) Didyaknow? - Facts About Cirque
o) Networking -- Posts on Facebook, YouTube & Twitter
---------------------------------------
DIDYAKNOW?: Facts About Cirque
---------------------------------------
o) Did you know: The Counselor's Son in KA has the most complex make
up application? It involves 33 steps and eight different brushes,
four sponges and one powder puff.
o) Did you know: For the Wash-up scene in KA, the beach is created
using granular cork? We use one ton of it and it comes from
Portugal.
o) Did you know: There are 1,150 costume pieces used in Michael
Jackson ONE? Some are equipped with hundreds of LED lights!
o) Did you know: the artists in MJ ONE represent 18 different
countries? Some of them include Italy, Japan, Kenya, and
New Zealand.
o) Did you know: TOTEM's Flutes specialist Annette Bauer plays 10
wind instruments? The audience can hear 5 recorders (Soprano,
Alto, Tenor, Bass, Ganassi), a Rauschpfeife (Capped Double Reed),
a Offerdalspipa (Swedish Traditional), a Native American Flute, an
Irish Whistle and a musical instrument created specifically for
the Scientist scene: a pan flute made out of scientific tubes!
o) Did you know: The Traditional Native American Hoop Dance in TOTEM
is a form of storytelling dance which uses small hoops to create
both static and dynamic shapes representing different animals and
symbols. The dancers, such as our male Hoop Dancer Eric Hernandez,
learn the basics of the dance from their family and then personalize
it and add their own style to it. In TOTEM, a maximum of 6 hoops
are used, but it could be performed with up to 30 hoops.
---------------------------------------------------
NETWORKING: Cirque on Facebook, YouTube & Twitter
---------------------------------------------------
{Compiled by Keith Johnson}
---[ AMALUNA ]---
{Apr.02}
This is how Amaluna celebrates Father's Day!
LINK /// < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz5hyLJSXQA >
{Apr.09}
When an ordinary day transforms into an unforgettable
experience!
LINK /// < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHIALFdT854 >
---[ CIRQUE DU SOLEIL ]---
{Apr.02}
Join us this summer in Andorra to experience our new
presentation of SCALADA: STORIA, a unique and free open-
air event.
LINK /// < http://cirk.me/1anrp8Z >
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/zMCzhA >
{Apr.02}
Cirque du Soleil is looking for INSTRUMENTALISTS to be
part of our new Big Top touring show to be presented in
2016. To apply click on one of the links below: (NOTE:
The Guitarist and Trumpet/Tuba listings have a reference
to an audition kit with song demos from the new show!)
GUITARIST/VOCALIST: < http://cirk.me/1IVrRqc >
TRUMPET PLAYER: < http://cirk.me/1IVsFLU >
TUBA PLAYER: < http://cirk.me/1IVsYGm >
FEMALE HARP PLAYER: < http://cirk.me/1IVxc0T >
{Apr.14}
Spring is here! We will celebrate with our friends at
Glade watch our custom performance tomorrow on Access
Hollywood Live. Here is a sneak peak from rehearsal!
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/oiDJiX
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/nEY0PW
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/dBIhe1
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/8Jq9M0
{Apr.24}
Have you ever dreamed of flying high on a trapeze?
Riding a unicycle? What about acrobatic bungee? Take
center-stage with Club Med and Cirque du Soleil, and
be among the first to experience Creactive. You and
your family could win the experience of a lifetime!
LINK /// < http://cirk.me/1Ez8S6T >
---[ CORTEO ]---
{Apr.05}
Happy Easter!
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/7tLVPU >
{Apr.09}
Due to the Bogata altitude of 2,640 meters, we had to add
another balloon to Valentynas flight!
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/8fQqCh >
{Apr.14}
What do we do on our day off? We discover the town!
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/xgXC12 >
{Apr.16}
Our amazing chef can cook anything, today we were delighted
with an incredible Russian lunch!
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/GSAEj8 >
{Apr.21}
A message from Director Daniele Finzi Pasca for Corteos
10th birthday: It's been a long time ago, since I have
started to build the images inside of me which have become
alive in this show. It's been a creation full of joy where
I have met working partners that became friends for a life
time. We built a boat which left for an incredibly long
journey. I would like to thank you for keeping alive the
spirit which has characterized the first shows after the
premiere and for helping this show to become more mature
and more beautiful. I followed you from far away, sharing
messages with a few of you, and with infinite gratitude I
hug you knowing that a thin string holds us together, like
if we were a family. In different ways we all permitted
Corteo to reach this magnificent birthday. Together we
made millions of people dream and we all have to be proud
of it. With all my love. Daniele.
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/PDKrCh >
{Apr.22}
Over 10 years, 380 people have been part of the cast and
staff who have given life to Corteo. Here is a photo of
current cast and crew that were part of the world premiere
in 2005!
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/MqXeHk >
{Apr.23}
The press conference in Merida was a success. This is
the first time Cirque du Soleil presents a show in Yucatan.
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/LXHi87 >
---[ JOYA ]---
{Apr.01}
Delight yourself with our newest delicious discovery. Enjoy
a fine selection of gourmet appetizers paired with champagne
in our Show+Champagne Package experience.
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/TtrnCA >
{Apr.18}
The fabulous cast and crew is excited to welcome you into
a mysterious and fantastical world - join us for this
extraordinary adventure!
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/FTk1pM >
---[ KOOZA ]---
{Apr.05}
We wish a fond farewell to Hand to Hand artists, Philippe
Bélanger and Marie-Lee Guilbert, who performed their last
shows with KOOZA! Best wishes on all your future endeavors!
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/wXAYaX >
{Apr.07}
2.5 years, 18,500 kilometers, 14 cities in 11 countries,
and about 1 million spectators - it's been an unforgettable
European tour! A giant thank you to all the fans who came
out to support the show and got lost in our zany world!
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/CGKP8t >
{Apr.09}
Combining fluidity of movement, physical contortion,
exceptional balance and impressive dexterity, KOOZA Hoop
Artist Irina Akimova, delivers a performance that is out
of this world!
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/5XqggU >
{Apr.13}
Ever thought about auditioning for Cirque du Soleil KOOZA
Singer, Mary-Pier Guilbalt, shares some of her dos and
donts from her experience!
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/JOkqUA >
{Apr.16}
KOOZA is coming back to North America!
Which cities should we visit?
LINK /// < http://cirk.me/1PTUUiI >
---[ KURIOS ]---
{Apr.09}
Check out our Premiere festivities! Thank you Calgary.
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/U6z4zy >
{Apr.16}
Great game yesterday night Official Calgary Flames Hockey
Club! KURIOS is cheering for you!
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/v49v1b >
{Apr.24}
Already performed 390 times, experienced by over 850,000
guests, KURIOS is celebrating its first year anniversary
today! Thank you for a wonderful year!
LINK /// < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5WOGYx53qA >
{Apr.25}
We are all trying to believe this reality and how one year
has flown by so quickly. KURIOS is just getting started!
Thank you for sharing our world of imagination and wonder.
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/eG8IDY >
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/VkAZdQ >
---[ LA NOUBA ]---
{Apr.07}
Heres a rare look at what happens behind-the-scenes!
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/l7zL8L >
{Apr.23}
What's that in Pierrot's hand? Some exciting new La Nouba
footage coming soon!
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/lbw44N >
{Apr.29}
Practice makes perfect. We make practicing for the show
so much fun! Watch and learn.
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/0FxKr8 >
---[ OVO ]---
{Apr.02}
What a Grand Entrance for OVO in Fukuoka! This is probably
the most impressive front of site we've ever had!
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/3akYl2 >
{Apr.16}
Sendai!!!! OVO has arrived!!! We are setting up the Big Top
and getting ready for the Premiere on April 23rd. Will you
be there?
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/Jp7YLY >
{Apr.20}
Hello Sendai! 2 days before the Premiere and the artists
are working hard to get ready! Are you ready?
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/uiePbS >
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/1fhJ1y >
{Apr.27}
Watching the world... Upside down...
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/W0gJoU >
---[ QUIDAM ]---
{Apr.15}
Cross your fingers for good Moscow weather tomorrow for
our performance in Muzeon Park!
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/AQ24R7 >
{Apr.25}
Quidam is the 10th Cirque show to visit Russia and was
pleased to host the 2,000,000th spectator in the country!
LINK /// < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uud3yAu0t4 >
---[ TOTEM ]---
{Apr.03}
Our characters are the cover models for this week's edition
of QWeekend distributed in today's Courier Mail in Brisbane!
See beautiful photos shot around the BRISBANE POWERHOUSE and
read an interview with our lovely local costume designer
Kym Barrett!
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/DzUkA0 >
{Apr.06}
Training has started in the Artistic Tent in Brisbane! We
are getting closer to Opening Night this Friday!
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/shduHG >
{Apr.10}
So much excitement backstage for the Brisbane premiere!
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/Yn6ZUk >
{Apr.14}
TOTEM was featured in the Fashion Report of the March 2015
edition of The Australian Way - Qantas in-flight magazine.
Photos: Simon Upton. Stylist: Virginia van Heythuysen.
Make-Up: Rae Morris. Hair: Kimberley Forbes. Models: Eva
Downey & James Gatenby. TOTEM Costumes: Kym Barrett.
TOTEM Make-Up: Nathalie J. Simard.
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/QVtXN1 >
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/JRAIZs >
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/eDjSGj >
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/4ZG4NN >
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/ORoVZC >
{Apr.14}
We all love the weather in Queensland, especially our Green
Frog Umihiko Miya who moved his make-up station outside for
the day!
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/tibo62
{Apr.16}
Join our Head of Wardrobe Amanda Balius for a High Tea at
the Room with Roses at Brisbane Arcade on Thursday, May 7!
Come learn all the secrets behind the TOTEM costumes and
see some characters from up-close! For more information,
contact info@roomwithroses.com.au.
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/QPdDAS >
{Apr.17}
We are about to go live from Brisbane on The Project
on Channel 10!
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/5igarD >
{Apr.21}
TOTEM is celebrating today its 5th Anniversary! Five
years, 30 tour stops, 28 cities, 6 countries, more than
1,700 performances! Congrats to everyone who has been part
of this incredible adventure!
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/klKKdr >
{Apr.29}
Brisbane artist Matt Stewart Creative is working on a 290
square meter street art piece inspired by TOTEM along
Coronation Drive, next to GoBetween Bridge! Here are
drawings of what the piece will look like!
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/gP6vDR >
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/vZCnVe >
---[ VAREKAI ]---
{Apr.04}
Wondering what's new with Varekai We have a sneak peek
for you guys! We are working to integrate a brand new act
into the show. Can you guess what it will be?
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/tDurGq >
{Apr.05}
Today we bid adieu to our Icarian Games artists! We wish
you much success for your future endeavors and thank you
for your spectacular performances on the Varekai stage!
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/IZfhYR >
{Apr.07}
Ever wonder how Varekai gets put together every single
week? Check out this time-lapse video that shows our
technicians hard at work! Fun Facts about our technical
load-in: 1 Arena, 18 Semi Trucks, 13 Hours, 24 Technicians,
80 Local Stagehands and 410,000 lbs of Equipment.
LINK /// < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kjhmd_wqfdA >
{Apr.15}
Varekai is THRILLED to welcome our newest act in the show
called Synchronized Tumbling! Check out this short teaser
video of what you can expect to see if you come see the
show in your market! Be sure to get your tickets to see
this AND another amazing 45 performers in Varekai!
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/FBLM0h >
{Apr.18}
Arigatou, Ayaka Higuchi, for your beautiful drawing. We
hope to continue to inspire you and many others for several
years to come!
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/uwslF3 >
{Apr.21}
Hello Portland!! We are at Oregon Ballet Theatre where
former dancer and now artistic director of Varekai has
come back to his Portland roots to talk about his career
and give a quick workshop! We'll be around your city with
the The Art Institute of Portland filming a fun video
project. Maybe you'll see us at Pittock Mansion or at the
Crystal ballroom or perhaps at Capax Infiniti mural! If
not, you can catch us in full performance at Veterans
Memorial Coliseum from May 6-10!
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/jEFKno >
{Apr.22}
Hi Again Portland! Did you come out to see us yesterday?
If not, here is a sneak peak in photos taken by The
Oregonian of our special video project in collaboration
with The Art Institute of Portland coming out soon!
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/4kMXyV >
=======================================================================
FASCINATION! FEATURES
=======================================================================
o) Cirque AVATAR is: "TORUK The First Flight"
Edited By: Ricky Russo - Atlanta, Georgia (USA)
o) "Le Grand Concert on DVD - A Quick Peek"
By: Ricky Russo - Atlanta, Georgia (USA)
o) "Injuries Put Safety in Spotlight at Cirque du Soleil"
Special By: Alexandra Berzon & Mark Maremont
From: The Wall Street Journal
o) "Call Me!"
By: Keith Johnson - Seattle, Washington (USA)
------------------------------------------------------------
CIRQUE AVATAR IS: "TORUK - THE FIRST FLIGHT"
Edited By: Ricky Russo - Atlanta, Georgia (USA)
------------------------------------------------------------
Cirque du Soleil is very happy to unveil the name of its next touring
show inspired by James Cameron's record-breaking movie AVATAR: TORUK
The First Flight. Presented by Visa Signature, this brand new creation
will tour in arenas around the world starting November 2015. The show
will premiere in Montreal on December 21.
THE NAME
--------
TORUK The First Flight, inspired by James Cameron's AVATAR, a live
experience by Cirque du Soleil, envisions a world beyond imagination
set thousands of years before the events depicted in the film. The
word Toruk, in the Na'vi language, refers to the great leonopteryx,
the mighty red and orange predator that rules the Pandoran sky.
Central in Na'vi lore and culture, this fascinating creature is
crucial to the Na'vi clans' sense of destiny and interconnectedness
and is about to be ridden for the very first time by a Na'vi.
CREATIVE TEAM
-------------
TORUK The First Flight comprises 13 creators under the artistic
guidance of Guy Laliberté (Guide) and Jean-François Bouchard (Creative
Guide) for Cirque du Soleil, and James Cameron, Jon Landau, Kathy
Franklin and Richie Baneham for Lightstorm Entertainment :
Michel Lemieux Writer and Director
Victor Pilon Writer and Director
Neilson Vignola Director of Creation
Carl Fillion Set and Props Designer
Kym Barrett Costume and Makeup Designer
Tuan Le and Tan Loc Choreographers
Bob & Bill Composers and Musical Directors
Jacques Boucher Sound Designer
Alain Lortie Lighting Designer
Patrick Martel Puppet Designer
Germain Guillemot Acrobatic Performance Designer
Pierre Masse Rigging and Acrobatic Equipment Designer
MICHEL LEMIEUX AND VICTOR PILON
SHOW WRITERS AND DIRECTORS, MULTIMEDIA DIRECTORS
The duo formed by Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon masterfully
integrates theatre, film, dance, poetry, visual arts, music and sound
to create unique theatrical worlds. On the heels of his initial
experiments with music and multimedia that have earned him
international recognition, designer and performer Michel Lemieux
teamed up with visual artist Victor Pilon during the early 1980s.
Together, they formed Lemieux Pilon 4D Art, a creative company that
designs unique shows in which the senses and emotions are heightened
through the use of new technologies. La Belle et la Bête, NORMAN (a
tribute to Canadian film-maker Norman McLaren), Shakespeare's The
Tempest, Anima (inspired by the words of anthropologist Desmond
Morris), Orfeo (based on the myth of Orpheus), Pôle, Grand Hôtel des
Étrangers, and Voix de passage are some of the works on which Lemieux
and Pilon have built their stellar reputation. In collaboration with
Montreal and Quebec opera companies, they created the opera Starmania.
The duo also collaborates regularly on exhibitions, special events and
permanent multimedia productions. They created Continuum, a production
based on the music of Philip Glass, the first multimedia show
presented at the Rio Tinto planetarium in Montreal. The creations of
Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon have been acclaimed in Canada, the
United States, Europe, Latin America, Australia, and Asia. TORUK The
First Flight marks their fourth collaboration on a Cirque du Soleil
show, after DELIRIUM, Midnight Sun, which commemorated respectively
the 20th and 25th anniversaries of Cirque du Soleil and the Montreal
International Jazz Festival and Michael Jackson ONE.
CARL FILLION
SET AND PROPS DESIGNER
Carl Fillion has a degree in set design from the Conservatoire d'art
dramatique de Québec (1991), where he taught technical drawing from
1992 to 2002. Carl has worked with many prominent companies and
directors around the world and has a long list of theatre, multimedia
and opera credits to his name, including sets for La Celestina by
Fernando de Rojas presented at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm
in 1998, The Damnation of Faust at the Saito Kinan Festival in Japan
(1999), The Burial at Thebes at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin (2004) and
the opera Simon Boccanegra at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona
(2008). Carl's long association with director Robert Lepage began in
1994 with the groundbreaking shows Les 7 branches de la rivière Ota
and Elsenor, and he has continued on the collaboration to create set
designs for some 20 theatre, circus and opera productions including
the last opera Der Ring Des Nibelungen presented at the Metropolitan
Opera in New York. TORUK The First Flight is Carl Fillion's second
set design for a Cirque du Soleil production after TOTEM.
NEILSON VIGNOLA
DIRECTOR OF CREATION
Neilson Vignola has carved out an impressive career as a stage and
production manager as well as an assistant stage director in theatre,
opera and circus arts. He graduated from the National Theatre School
of Canada in 1980 and began his professional career working in various
capacities at many leading Quebec theatre companies, including the
Théâtre du Nouveau Monde and the Compagnie Jean Duceppe. As the
trusted collaborator of Robert Lepage, he assisted the stage director
on several operas including The Damnation of Faust, (Japan 1999, Paris
2001, New York 2008 and 2009 and Quebec City 2012). This was followed
by a production of 1984 (London 2005), The Rake's Progress, (Brussels
and Lyon 2007) and Wagner's The Ring Cycle (New York 2010, 2011 and
2012). Throughout his career, Neilson has also worked on festivals,
musicals, dance productions and tours. Between 1987 and 1997, La La La
Human Step, Quebec singer Diane Dufresne, Le Théâtre Populaire du
Québec, Le Festival International de Nouvelle Danse and other
companies, engaged him as stage manager, production director,
technical director or assistant stage director. Neilson joined Cirque
du Soleil in 1998 first as technical director and then interim tour
director of Saltimbanco. He later joined KÀ as director Robert
Lepage's assistant and production stage manager, and in 2005 he filled
the same positions on DELIRIUM with Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon
which led to appointments as director of creation on ZAIA in 2007,
followed by TOTEM and now TORUK The First Flight.
KYM BARRETT
COSTUME AND MAKEUP DESIGNER
Award-winning costume designer Kym Barrett grew up in a nomadic
environment on Christmas Island off the coast of Australia before
moving to Sydney where she would eventually study design at the
National Institute of Dramatic Art. Her creations on Romeo & Juliet
(1996) garnered great attention. This lead to a collaboration with
sibling directors Lana and Andy Wachowski, starting with The Matrix
(1999). Barrett's original and now iconic designs catapulted her to
fame, with the sleek and sexy costumes from The Matrix Trilogy (2003)
being imitated and absorbed into the global fashion trends of the day.
Barrett has mastered a vast array of theater, TV and film genres
including action, adventure, animation, circus, comedy, crime,
fantasy, horror, mystery, opera, period (1800s-1980s), romance,
science fiction, and thriller. She debuted at the Metropolitan Opera
in New York in 2012 having designed the costumes for The Tempest
directed by Robert Lepage. Her other film work includes Three Kings,
Gothika, Monster-in-Law, Rumor Has It, Green Hornet, The Amazing
Spiderman and The Nice Guys (2016). The movies Speed Racer, Cloud
Atlas and Jupiter Ascending highlight Barrett's enduring association
with the Wachowski siblings. TORUK The First Flight is her second
collaboration with Cirque du Soleil after TOTEM.
TUAN LE AND TAN LOC NGUYEN
CHOREOGRAPHERS
The professional paths of long-time collaborators Tuan Le and Tan Loc
crossed for the first time in 2005 when they created a production
called LANGTOI (My Village), which they presented in Vietnam. Tuan Le
directed the show while Tan Loc served as choreographer. After a
successful initial run, they took the production on tour all over
Europe in 2009. In 2012, they collaborated again on another successful
production, AO Show, in Vietnam. Tuan Le grew up in a family of
artists and became a juggler at a very young age. He learned the trade
from his brother who had studied juggling in Russia. Tuan Le quickly
won fame as a juggler in Vietnam. At 14, he moved to Germany and
performed the art of juggling around the globe working for several
cabaret shows (in Europe and the US) as well as for Cirque du Soleil.
In 2010, he received the Award of Excellence at the International
Jugglers' Association recognizing the best the art form has to offer
through a career of professional performance. Tan Loc graduated from
the Fujisato Ballet School in Tokyo in 2002. Six years later he
founded Arabesque, one of the most famous dance companies in Vietnam.
Currently the show director and choreographer at Arabesque, Tan Loc is
considered a big brother to many young dancers. He has been a
choreographer, dancer and actor at the Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) Puppet
Theater in Vietnam, HCMC Symphony and Orchestra Theater, and 5B Drama
Theater in HCMC. His credits as choreographer and director also
include the show The Mist (Vietnam, 2011). Tan Loc founded the HCMC
Dance Festival in 2013. TORUK The First Flight marks the first
participation of Tuan Le and Tan Loc as the choreographers of a Cirque
du Soleil show.
BOB & BILL
COMPOSERS AND MUSICAL DIRECTORS
Composers and arrangers Guy Dubuc and Marc Lessard (aka Bob & Bill)
are well known for their ability to blur the lines between genres and
styles. In 2003, they composed the music for Splinter Cell (Pandora
Tomorrow), a best-selling Ubisoft video game. They have also produced
several albums, including Monica Freire's Bahiatronica and Pink Floyd
Redux, a collection of remixed songs from the British cult band, as
well as the soundtrack album for the Cirque du Soleil show KOOZA. In
2004, Bob & Bill supplied the musical direction and arrangements for
the Cirque du Soleil show Midnight Sun, as part of the 25th
anniversary celebrations of the Montreal International Jazz Festival
and the 20th anniversary of Cirque du Soleil. Three-time nominees for
a Quebec music industry ADISQ award, the two sidekicks also created
the music for several films and television series, and composed the
music for director Robert Lepage's production Pageant de Canotgraphie.
In 2008, the duo launched their first album, Crime Report, a work
combining electronic and organic sounds. Bob & Bill worked many times
with Cirque du Soleil to create the musical arrangements for several
special events. Since 2009, they also act as composers for Cirque du
Soleil. They composed the music for TOTEM (2010), directed by Robert
Lepage, Amaluna (2012), directed by Diane Paulus, KURIOS Cabinet of
Curiosities (2014), directed by Michel Laprise, JOYÀ (2014), directed
by Martin Genest and Allavita! (2015), directed by Krista Monson. Bob
& Bill also wrote the music for the third and fifth chapters of Les
Chemins Invisibles (2011 and 2013), a free outdoor show presented
during the summer in Quebec City. TORUK The First Flight is their
eighth show as composers for Cirque du Soleil.
ALAIN LORTIE
LIGHTING DESIGNER
Self-taught, and in a state of constant evolution on both the
technical and the artistic fronts, Alain Lortie has worked in almost
every field of show business, from artist manager to technical
director, through operations, touring, and production management. In
1992, he decided to focus his work exclusively on lighting design.
More than 30 years ago, he began working with multi-talented Quebec
artists such as Michel Lemieux, Marie Chouinard and Édouard Lock, and
has since collaborated on many shows in Quebec, Europe and Asia.
Alain's unique, distinctive approach to color and his sensitivity led
to an assignment as Artistic Director for the Fête de la Lumière at
the Festival Montréal en Lumière (2001-2003). He has designed the
lighting for several productions in Asia including Han Show in Whuan,
China (2014) and Shanghai Circus World's Era (2005) as well as many
musicals including Mama Love Me Once Again (2011). He has worked with
many of Quebec's leading theatre directors, including Robert Lepage,
François Girard and Dominic Champagne, as well as Quebec choreographer
Louise Lecavalier (So Blue 2013). His credits also include the
musicals Starmania directed by Lewis Furey (1993-1999), the hit
musical Notre-Dame de Paris directed by Gilles Maheu (1998), Cavalia
(2003), Odysseo (2012), as well as The Tempest (2005) and Beauty and
the Beast (2011), both directed by Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon.
Prior to TORUK The First Flight, Alain created the lighting design
for Midnight Sun, DELIRIUM and Zarkana.
JACQUES BOUCHER
SOUND DESIGNER
For over 25 years, Jacques Boucher has been creating sound
environments for a number of productions from Quebec and beyond.
Jacques also worked as a sound technician for various Quebec artists,
including Richard Séguin, Laurence Jalbert, Diane Dufresne and Bruno
Pelletier. He went on to develop an expertise in sound design for
musicals such as Dracula (2006) and large-scale events, including the
mega-show 2000 voix chantent le monde, presented in Quebec City in
2000, with over 2,300 singers on stage. In 2008, Jacques was asked to
handle the sound for almost every event presented as part of the
celebrations for the 400th anniversary of Quebec City. As Sound
Designer and Head of Sound, he designed sound for the Quebec Symphony
Orchestra's performance of the Symphony of a Thousand by Gustav
Mahler, The Image Mill by Robert Lepage, for which he designed the
impressive sound system spanning 1.2 km, and the special show
presented by Cirque du Soleil. Jacques also works as Sound Designer
and Head of Sound for some Cirque du Soleil special events. After
TOTEM, Amaluna, KURIOS Cabinet of Curiosities and JOYÀ, he is taking
part in his fifth Cirque du Soleil show with TORUK The First Flight.
PATRIC MARTEL
PUPPET DESIGNER
Set Designer, puppeteer and stage director Patrick Martel graduated in
theatre at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) in 1993. A few years
later, he completed his training alongside a Bunraku master at École
supérieure des arts de la marionnette at Charleville Mézières in
France. Since his degree at UQAM, Patrick has designed sets, costumes
and puppets for several Quebec theatre companies including Théâtre
Incliné, Moulin à Musique and company Vis Motrix. He collaborates as
well with the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta. Patrick also works
as puppeteer on the international tours of Montreal Théâtre Sans Fil.
For over 20 years, Patrick Martel has worked as designer, workshop
director, puppeteer and stage director on a dozen productions for
Théâtre de l'Avant-Pays (Montréal) including Mémoire de Lou and
L'Armoire and À nous deux!. The latter earned him a special award from
the Arlyn Award Society (Canada) at an international contest
recognizing excellence in puppet design. He was both puppet technical
designer and designer for the Nufonia Must Fall show, featuring Kid
Koala, presented at Festival Luminato in Toronto in 2014. Patrick is
involved in the puppet design of the Montreal project Cité mémoire,
scheduled for 2016, imagined by Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon. In
television, Patrick Martel's puppets can be seen in various Quebec ads
and TV shows. Since 2000, he teaches at École supérieure de théâtre at
UQAM and has contributed to the creation of its graduate diploma in
contemporary puppet theatre. Patrick also received a grant from
Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec for a research project on
object, video and stage writing. TORUK The First Flight marks his
first collaboration as puppet designer for Cirque du Soleil.
GERMAIN GUILLEMOT
ACROBATIC PERFORMANCE DESIGNER
A graduate from Centre national des arts du cirque in Châlon, France,
Germain Guillemot started his career with the French troupe Cirque
Archaos and toured with the company for two years. With other circus
fellows he created the French circus company Les Arts Sauts where he
worked both as a creator and performer for 15 years. Germain joined
Cirque du Soleil in 2007 as a coach for the flying trapeze act on ZED
and then became Acrobatic Training Manager for Viva ELVIS. TORUK The
First Flight is Germain Guillemot's fourth collaboration with Cirque
du Soleil as Acrobatic Designer after Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL
World Tour, Michael Jackson ONE and KURIOS Cabinet of Curiosities.
PIERRE MASSE
RIGGING AND ACROBATIC EQUIPMENT DESIGNER
Pierre Masse's career spans just about every genre of the performing
arts. He was involved in major productions with the Opéra de Montréal,
the Grands Ballets Canadiens and Céline Dion as well as a production
of Les Misérables. He has collaborated with Cirque du Soleil since
1996, and took part in the creation of Quidam, Varekai, Zumanity, KÀ
and CRISS ANGEL Believe. TORUK The First Flight is Pierre Masse's
fifth Cirque du Soleil show as Acrobatic Rigging and Equipment
Designer following TOTEM, IRIS A Journey Through the World of
Cinema, Michael Jackson ONE and JOYÀ.
TEASER VIDEO & PHOTOS
---------------------
TORUK The First Flight, inspired by James Camerons AVATAR, a live
experience by Cirque du Soleil, envisions a world beyond imagination
set thousands of years before the events depicted in the film. The
word Toruk, in the Navi language, refers to the great leonopteryx,
the mighty red and orange predator that rules the Pandoran sky. Central
in Navi lore and culture, this fascinating creature is crucial to the
Navi clans sense of destiny and interconnectedness and is about to
be ridden for the very first time by a Navi.
Can you translate Na'vi? Here is your chance to make use of your
talent! Vous pouvez traduire le Na'vi? Voici une occasion de mettre
votre talent à l'oeuvre!
VIDEO /// < https://youtu.be/rwjRNDCLbOw >
NAVI (according to commenter):
oe lu anuraiyä syena hapxi a rey.
tsahel si hu eywa a krr, stawm oel aymokrit fizayuä a lim.
kraa kxap larmu srefey niwot.
ayngaru tsavurit.
TRANSLATION (according to Google):
I am the last living member of the Anurai clan.
When I connect with Eywa,
I hear the voices of our distant ancestors.
I hear the time when their lives were threatened.
This is that story.
FOTOS ///
o) http://goo.gl/MPWUHV
o) http://goo.gl/QYAyY0
o) http://goo.gl/Pftwes
o) http://goo.gl/hFfl0q
o) http://goo.gl/KEUyhY
o) http://goo.gl/AWHJ8h
o) http://goo.gl/Wdfdf6
o) http://goo.gl/ZE4DIU
TICKET INFORMATION
------------------
TORUK The First Flight will tour in arenas starting November 2015.
Tickets for performances in cities listed below will be on exclusive
pre-sale online for Cirque Club members as of April 30 at
https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/toruk:
Lafayette, LA -- Nov 20, 2015 to Nov 22, 2015
Montreal, QC -- Dec 26, 2015 to Jan 3, 2016
Auburn Hills, MI -- Jan 22, 2016 to Jan 24, 2016
North Little Rock, AR -- Feb 19, 2016 to Feb 21, 2016
North Charleston, SC -- Feb 26, 2016 to Feb 28, 2016
Tulsa, OK -- Mar 25, 2016 to Mar 27, 2016
Kansas City, MO -- Apr 1, 2016 to Apr 4, 2016
Louisville, KY -- Apr 29, 2016 to May 1, 2016
Cincinnati, OH -- May 5, 2016 to May 8, 2016
Hamilton, ON -- May 20, 2016 to May 22, 2016
London, ON -- May 27, 2016 to May 29, 2016
Providence, RI -- Jun 3, 2016 to Jun 5, 2016
Raleigh, NC -- Jun 24, 2016 to Jun 26, 2016
SPONSORS AND PARTNERS
---------------------
TORUK The First Flight is presented by Visa Signature, the sponsor
of the 2015-2016 US tour of the show. Xerox and DHL are the official
sponsors. The show is being created through a licensing arrangement
with 20th Century Fox.
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/torukthefirstflight
Find us on Twitter with #TORUK
------------------------------------------------------------
"LE GRAND CONCERT ON DVD A QUICK PEEK"
By: Ricky Russo - Atlanta, Georgia (USA)
------------------------------------------------------------
DISCS - 2-Disc Combo (1 DVD / 1 Blu-Ray)
UPC - 6-22406-24189-6
Catalog -- SRCDVD22418
Video -- 1.78:1 Wide screen
Audio -- English 2.0/5.1/DTS
Run Time - 84 minutes
Region - All
For two weeks in December Cirque du Soleil presented a monumental
celebratory event to the public CIRQUE DU SOLEIL: LE GRAND CONCERT,
a musical experience live at the stunning Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church
in Montreal. The idea for a concert celebrating the vibrant music of
Cirque du Soleil found its creative spark during a musical summit held
at the same church in 2009. When the Cirque cultivated ideas to
celebrate its 30th Anniversary, the team reflected upon the strong
emotions provided during that summit (and the exceptional acoustic
sound the Church is known for), and CIRQUE DU SOLEIL: LE GRAND CONCERT
was born. The unique performance went on to sold-out crowds and rave
reviews, but its legacy should have ended at the final performance. So
I have to admit it is truly fascinating to have this product in my
hands... it shouldnt exist!
Dont you remember when LE GRAND CONCERT was originally being
promoted? For two weeks and only in Montreal the musical event
would be performed, and then it would disappear into the halls of
history; unrecorded for posterity thereby preserving the uniqueness
and specialness of the ticketed event. And though Cirque du Soleil
suggested the concert would never be filmed and/or released to the
public since songs used in this show have already been release on
their respective show soundtrack CDs (more or less) we hoped beyond
hope something of this performance would be saved for future
generations. We were undeniably pleased to learn that the concert was
indeed filmed captured at the heart of the splendid Saint-Jean-
Baptiste church on the evening of December 23rd for television
broadcast on Saturday, January 3rd.
And two days after the broadcast fans were delighted again when that
television broadcast became available for streaming via TOU.TV, a
French-Canadian video-on-demand website. The only catch: the video
stream was restricted only to Canadian residents (and the quality was
not the best). Thankfully, there were ways around that, and we here at
Fascination were able to watch the concert as broadcast (and, of
course, gave our comments about it therein.) In the end, the broadcast
of LE GRAND CONCERT exceeded our expectations in just about every way.
It gave us an opportunity to see / hear the performance when there
would have been no other way for us to do so. I was thankful for that,
but I ended my brief review of the broadcast with a wish - that an
official full-length recording (in HD) would be made available to fans
in some official form?
And as of April 21st, it has! I have it in my hot little hands!
PACKAGING
---------
The packaging for this two-disc DVD/Blu-Ray release is a bit
disappointing, but Im not quite sure what I expected, or really
wanted in the first place. The design is similar to the packaging of
many other recent Cirque du Soleil DVD releases (the recycled
cardboard), but thats where the comparison stops: this is not a
Cirque du Soleil release (its a Radio Canada release). The package is
not the product weve come to expect from Cirque releases; however,
its not clasped closed like most DVD and Blu-Ray boxes, so opening it
is a breeze. Once you open the package (like you would a book) youre
presented with the two discs on your right and a booklet on your left.
Unfortunately, looks can be deceiving; the booklet is affixed to the
packaging at its back page so it is not removable, nor is it a
booklet. Opening it reveals a table of contents for the disc an
overview of the musical numbers presented within and thats it.
One item that deserves kudos is that the discs have not been region
restricted they are region-free. That means that anyone in the world
with a player that can play NTSC-based discs can enjoy this program.
Getting the discs out proved to be harder than I initially thought,
too. Having seen many duel-disc releases in my time one expects the
packaging to be of similar design. Here, however, the discs are not
affixed to acenter wheel, but rather theyre sitting in grooved
pockets one on top of the other. Releasing the discs from their snug
home took more than a moment for me; you have to push down on the top
disc which displaces a clip on the bottom of the discs well (for a
lack of a better word), which then allows you to pull the disc forward
and out. My friend and colleague Keith Johnson prefers this
arrangement (as hes experienced more broken teeth from those center-
hole grabbers than he can count, he says) I would have preferred the
more traditional approach. (You know youre getting old when...)
CONTENTS
--------
For the purpose of reviewing the actual concert I selected the Blu-Ray
disc (which was BEHIND the DVD, so I had to take it out first...);
having already seen the broadcast in DVD Quality (or less) I wanted
to experience it in full HD. The quality of the video and audio on the
recording is superb, and I have no complaints to speak of. However, I
only have a small sound bar, but for those who have a complete sound
system in which to revel in the music of Cirque du Soleil, take heart:
Keith Johnson is one of these individuals and he found the DTS Master
Audio to be pretty good too! His only criticism was that the audio was
too front-focused for his liking, with only hall ambience in the
surround speakers. It creates a nice you are there effect, but
doesnt take full advantage of the surround to present parts of the
show as it was heard by the audience, such as when Atmadja from
Quidam crescendos, with the band in the front and the organ and chorus
rocking the rear of the church. Imagine that on a surround sound
system! But he figures a more conservative standard prevailed in the
mixing room.
Most of the missing audio pieces from the television broadcast and
subsequent web-streaming are available and fully restored here, such
as: Brisa do Mar from OVO, Love Me Tender from VIVA ELVIS,
Whisper from AMALUNA, and Kumbalawé from SALTIMBANCO my
favorite of the missing numbers.
You might recall in my previous review that LE GRAND CONCERTs
broadcast ended with what arguably is Cirques most famous song
Alegría from ALEGRIA. While the song is a fitting way to end a
performance of this type (Soleil de Minuit and Delirium ended this
way), this song was not quite the end of the concert. An encore
featuring the entire ensemble singing Kumbalawé from Saltimbanco
actually followed, as the singers and musicians exited the stage,
truly ending the performance. Thankfully, this piece has been fully
resorted on the DVD/Blu-Ray... and it is marvelous!
The discs also include the interviews originally broadcast with the
show, intercut with the video as seen on the Broadcast, but with
English subtitles! There are no special features here, which are a
shame, and quite a missed opportunity. What fun a subtitled commentary
track with the creative team and singers discussing how the show came
to be could have been (even if it was in French). Or even expanded
interviews with the singers themselves! Alas, nothing, and thats a
disappointment to be sure.
My only real gripe with the recording lies with the table of contents:
there are two musical numbers listed here that really only get about
15-20 seconds of any actual play-time - Overture from Cirque du
Soleil (which you can possibly hear briefly at the beginning of the
recording, just before Atmadja takes over) and Taruka from
ALEGRIA, whos infamous snare drum beats are easily recognizable in
any venue (theyre used as an intro and segue into Alegria rather
than a piece of its own,) which was a little disappointing. Otherwise,
the Blu-Ray release is a vast improvement over the television
broadcast and subsequent webcast, and is a must-have in your Cirque du
Soleil video library. But note, it isnt for the casual fan; this is
best for those with more than a passing interest in Cirque, and those
with more than a few CDS tracks in their MP3 files.
At the moment you can only get it from Amazon.ca, but they do ship
internationally, so feel free to place your order today!
Get it here:
LINK /// < http://goo.gl/0dDrCO >
------------------------------------------------------------
"INJURIES PUT SAFETY IN SPOTLIGHT AT CIRQUE DU SOLEIL"
Special By: Alexandra Berzon & Mark Maremont
From: The Wall Street Journal
------------------------------------------------------------
LAS VEGAS Sarah Guillot-Guyard lay dying on the floor of a basement
inside a darkened Cirque du Soleil theater here, one leg broken and
blood pooling under her head.
It was June 2013, and the 31-year-old mother of two had fallen 94 feet
in front of hundreds of horrified spectators after the wire attached
to her safety harness shredded while she performed in the dramatic
aerial climax of the company's most technically challenging
production, "Kà."
It was the first fatality during a Cirque show, and it capped an
increase in injuries at Cirque with the "Kà" production. The show had
one of the highest rates of serious injuries of any workplace in the
country, according to safety records kept by Cirque that were compared
with federal records by The Wall Street Journal.
Montreal-based Cirque, which said Monday that its founder had agreed
to sell a controlling stake to an investor group, has evolved from a
fringe troupe of avant-garde stilt walkers and clowns into a nearly
$1-billion-a-year business. Its 18 shows around the world, including
eight resident shows in Las Vegas, combine music, dance and dramatic
spectacle with high-wire and acrobatic feats of daring, to dazzle
audiences who typically pay $100 or more for tickets.
Cirque is "always trying to push the envelope," driven in part by
Cirque's own artistic drive, but also by the public "asking for bigger
and flashier," said Bill Sapsis, a theatrical rigging expert in
Philadelphia who has worked with it.
The death of Ms. Guillot-Guyard, along with hundreds of injuries among
Cirque du Soleil performers, puts in stark relief the question of how
much risk is acceptable for the modern, corporate circus, and whether
Ms. Guillot-Guyard's death or some injuries could have been prevented.
Cirque said the incident launched a broad re-evaluation of safety
practices at the 30-year-old company, which marketed "Kà" as
"extreme," "terrifying" and "dangerous."
"It forced us to review the way we work," said Cirque's safety
director, Nicolas Panet-Raymond.
Multiple efforts to reach Ms. Guillot-Guyard's family for comment were
unsuccessful.
Circuses have long marketed "death-defying" stunts to sell tickets,
but experts said that in the modern era the risk-taking is largely an
illusion to thrill spectators. Interviews with more than three dozen
former and current Cirque employees, along with outside experts,
reveal an organization that greatly emphasized safety but also
embraced crowd-pleasing feats that stretched the limits of the human
body and of theater-rigging technology.
To walk this line, the company provided employees with training and
assigned technicians to repeatedly check equipment, trusting that
under those conditions the elite acrobats could avoid major accidents,
or at least avoid a death when an accident did occur.
SEEMED NERVOUS
--------------
But state safety investigators and engineers hired by Cirque found
that in the case of Ms. Guillot-Guyard's death, relying so much on the
"human element" of keeping the performers safethe part that depended
on every person doing their job perfectly every single nightcould be
fatal.
Ms. Guillot-Guyard died during what was only her second live
performance of one of the more challenging roles in "Kà," safety
records show. She flubbed her part during the earlier performance that
night and seemed nervous to fellow workers. Some questioned her
readiness, Nevada state records show.
There had been earlier signs indicating that the safety equation might
have gotten out of balance, especially at "Kà," performed at the MGM
Grand casino in Las Vegas since 2004.
The drama features a dizzying array of bodies suspended in the air,
sometimes appearing to hurl themselves against a stage that moves
between horizontal and vertical planes throughout the show.
That complexity played into the show's high number of injuries. In
2012, the most recent year for which government data are available,
"Kà" had an injury rate of 56.2 per 100 workersfour times that of
professional sports teams. "Kà" had 101 full-time-equivalent workers
that year. Because industry safety data for circuses are included with
other amusement and recreation companies and impossible to break out
on their own, safety experts at Cirque said that sports-team records
are the most apt comparison.
The show's workplace injury rates also were more than five times the
2012 rate of some other injury-prone professionsincluding police
work, firefighting, construction and workers at steel foundries. The
data come from federal records and internal Cirque documents that
became part of a Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration
report on Ms. Guillot-Guyard's death that the Journal reviewed in a
public records request.
The statistics measure injuries diagnosed by a medical professional,
including problems like strains, which make up the majority of Cirque
injuries. Cirque records also indicate serious previous accidents at
"Kà," including five falls by aerial performers in the three years
leading up to Ms. Guillot-Guyard's death.
Cirque, which had previously experienced one other performer death in
its history, during training in 2009, acknowledges the worrisome
comparisons between injury rates on its shows and some other jobs. "We
were looking at mining and other professions and saw, wow, our rates
are quite high," said Boris Verkhovsky, director of acrobatics and
coaching for Cirque.
But the company commissioned studies using different metrics that
showed its performers' rates in line with some athletes. That gave
Cirque more assurance, Mr. Verkhovsky said.
After Ms. Guillot-Guyard's death, Cirque officials said they realized
they needed to do more to engineer safety into the shows. Now, for the
first time, Cirque said its managers must incorporate a safety review
into every step of designing or modifying any of its shows.
/-------------------------------------------------\
| |
| PORTRAIT OF A TRAGEDY: How Sarah Guillot-Guyard |
| Fell to her death during KA |
| |
| Slide 01: http://goo.gl/vHrov1h |
| Slide 02: http://goo.gl/KN9qb9 |
| Slide 03: http://goo.gl/207szz |
| Slide 04: http://goo.gl/dZPpU0 |
| Slide 05: http://goo.gl/TDvy1C |
| Slide 06: http://goo.gl/MBHGaC |
| Slide 07: http://goo.gl/AhYqG5 |
| Slide 08: http://goo.gl/42jh0s |
| Slide 09: http://goo.gl/XZ1JK0 |
| Slide 10: http://goo.gl/ofcfSP |
| |
\-------------------------------------------------/
Executives also said they set up a process requiring shows to report
accidents that nearly resulted in injuries or fatalities, which
triggers an internal investigation into the cause. Previously, the
root cause of a serious injury had been investigated but not close
calls, executives said. Cirque said there have been no such reports at
"Kà" since the change in policy.
Tension over the trade-off between spectacle and safety in circuses
has been inherent since trapeze performers began flying 30 feet in the
air about 150 years ago. "A circus tent is not an ancient Roman arena
or a modern prize ring," wrote the journal Circus Scrap Book in 1931.
Experts said serious injuries and fatalities can, and should, be
prevented with safety harnesses, nets and other protocols, so that,
despite the stagecraft, the workplace is safe. "Most of the accidents
that have happened in recent times have been preventable," said Jerry
Gorrell, a theater safety consultant in Phoenix.
In the past 15 years, separate from the Cirque death, at least three
circus performersincluding one at major Cirque competitor Feld
Entertainment Inc.'s Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Baileyhave fallen to
their deaths during shows in the U.S., according to federal records
and company reports.
Cirque, which had its first shows in the 1980s, initially didn't
emphasize aerial acts. The circus's hits made its owner, Guy
Laliberté, a billionaire, thanks in large part to a favorable deal
beginning in the 1990s with Las Vegas casinos, which gave Cirque half
the revenue of the shows there despite not having to incur costs for
the theater, equipment and non-artistic personnel.
The company last year had about $850 million in annual revenue and a
staff of about 4,0001,300 of whom are artists.
On Monday, Mr. Laliberté said he would sell a controlling stake to a
group led by U.S. private-equity firm TPG, which declined to comment
for this article. Another investor, Fosun Capital Group, is expected
to help drive the company's expansion in China. Terms weren't
disclosed.
"WE'RE A FAMILY"
----------------
Mr. Laliberté said in an interview last year that he considered the
company "pioneers" in the use of safety harnesses. Cirque requires
multiple checks a day on rigging systems and has conservative weight
limits for each harness.
"We're a family," said Mr. Laliberté. "We don't want to put our kids
in danger. We don't sell tickets that way."
Even with safety equipment, there are expected injury risks for Cirque
artists, in part because of the punishing demands of a schedule that
usually involves performing 10 shows a week.
"Who cannot make a mistake?" said Olena Shaparna, a onetime Ukrainian
Olympic gymnast who left Cirque a decade ago after a severe neck
injury sustained during a practice session. "If you do those tricks
every day, all the time, one day something will happen."
Some performers said Cirque has failed to take opportunities to
improve safety, saying revisions such as mats or nets could make acts
safer.
When Cirque's touring show Kooza was making its debut in Montreal in
2007, safety regulators told the company it needed a net under the
Wheel of Death, a long-popular act used in many circuses that involves
performers jumping and flipping on top of a giant spinning apparatus.
Cirque officials commissioned a net that would be invisible to the
audience.
Yet for the same act in the Zarkana show in Las Vegas, Cirque
continued to perform the Wheel of Death with no nets. When a performer
fell from the wheel in 2013, he missed a mat underneath and slammed
into the ground, suffering significant injuries. Cirque safety
officials told Nevada OSHA that it didn't use a net in Zarkana because
there isn't sufficient room due to the way the stage is configured.
Nevada safety regulators found it would be "infeasible" to require
more safety systems in the act and cleared Cirque of any
responsibility for the accident.
"It is evident that there is a hazardous condition for this line of
work and the employee accepts that risk," a Nevada OSHA inspector
wrote.
Cirque declined to comment on all questions about specific performers'
injuries.
The company said this year it hasn't made significant changes to the
Zarkana Wheel of Death and doesn't plan to. "It's an apparatus that by
definitioneven by its very nameis a high-risk apparatus," said
Renée-Claude Ménard, Cirque's director of communications. The
performers "have to be on the ball," Ms. Ménard said.
Meaghan Muller, a former Cirque performer, said she shattered both
wrists, one hand and her jaw in a 2005 fall onto a concrete floor
while training in Montreal. "It turned into quite a sour experience,"
she said. "I had 13 surgeries, and I walked away with no show and
bankrupt."
Ms. Muller, who believes her injuries would have been less severe had
Cirque provided a safety mat during her training, said she remains in
pain and can't do some daily tasks such as cook.
Cirque performers, who aren't unionized, sign one-year contracts after
an initial testing period, with starting salaries around $50,000. Some
doing particularly specialized stunts or who play key characters can
negotiate higher salaries.
/-------------------------------------------------\
| |
| WORK PLACE DANGER GRAPHIC |
| < http://goo.gl/phsfR7 > |
| |
\-------------------------------------------------/
When performers are injured, they file for workers' compensation,
which is standard for most American workers but can result in
relatively small payments for injuries that sometimes leave performers
with chronic pain or disabilities. Mr. Panet-Raymond, Cirque's safety
director, said, in contrast, some other circus companies treat
performers as freelance workers who are offered nothing if injured.
Full data about injuries at Cirque productions aren't available, but a
snapshot of the toll on performers can be seen in Florida, which makes
workers' compensation records public.
Of 61 Cirque acrobats listed in the cast for a 2004 video of La Nouba,
a resident Cirque show in Orlando, Fla., 42 were injured seriously
enough between 1999 and 2014 to require more than seven lost work days
for a single injury, state records show. Of those, 15 performers had
five or more such serious injuries, and nine later settled disputes
with Cirque and its workers' compensation insurer, sometimes over
career-ending injuries.
In total during those years, 170 Cirque workers in Florida suffered
injuries involving more than seven days of lost work, and a few
reported a dozen or more such injuries.
"The body is the tool [in the circus], and sometimes the tool gets
broken," said Vladislav Dunaev, a former Cirque performer in Florida.
Mr. Dunaev said Cirque had "very good safety measures," but even so,
he suffered seven significant injuries over roughly a decade, state
records show, the last a 2011 shoulder injury requiring surgery. In
2012 he reached a $90,000 settlement with Cirque and its insurer after
disputing his benefits through an administrative process.
In 2009, Cirque suffered its first fatality when Oleksandr Zhurov, a
24-year-old from Ukraine, died three months into his initial training
in Montreal while learning an act on the Russian Swing, a giant two-
person contraption that can catapult a performer up to 30 feet in the
air.
Mr. Zhurov, who Cirque officials said had previously performed on the
swing in other shows, fell backward off the apparatus while performing
the less-risky role of the swing's pusher, hitting his head on the
ground with enough force to be fatal, according to a report from
Quebec safety regulators.
The Quebec investigators concluded he made a mistake with his foot
placement and ruled it an accident. His mother, Larisa, said Cirque
treated the family well. "It's a game of chance," she said. "One can
start crossing a street and never make it."
Cirque's "Kà" show was to be an aerial spectacle on a scale never
before attempted, and its marketing highlighted its daredevil stunts.
There would be no fixed stage, just a deep pit where the stage would
be. A series of platforms would move back and forth and flip to become
fully vertical. Performers would do much of their work as high as 75
feet in the air, with one jumping from 65 feet into an inflated air
bag.
"Stuntmen in Hollywood may do a fall like that eight or nine times a
year, but our guy does it 465 times," said Calum Pearson, Cirque's
vice president of resident shows, who was a technical director for
"Kà."
"Kà" is the only Cirque show with a plot. Young twins are separated
when one is captured by an evil group. The showdown between the good
Forest People and evil Spearmen is the show's apex. In the battle
scene, the two groups perform martial arts and flip against a vertical
stage before the Spearmen, defeated, rise out of sight.
A Cirque production coordinator said in a 2005 Cirque marketing video
called "Kà Extreme" that the company ordinarily would have backup
safety systems, but not in some of the scenes in "Kà." "If the rigger
makes a mistake or the ropes get ripped, there's no net," he said.
During pre-production in Montreal, technicians discussed using safety
nets as a backup but decided it was unnecessary because the artists
are wearing harnesses attached to ropes, a technician later told
Nevada OSHA.
Mr. Panet-Raymond, Cirque's safety director, said safety experts were
concerned that having nets underneath might encourage performers and
technicians to be less vigilant in using the safety harnesses and
could divert resources to staff the nets that would be better used
watching the performers.
"The last thing we want to do is create a false sense of security,"
Mr. Panet-Raymond said.
Ms. Guillot-Guyard had been trained at a French circus school from a
young age, focusing on aerial arts. She joined the show in 2006, and
told others to call her "Sasoun" because there was already a Sarah in
the cast.
"Sasoun was a tank," said Marc-Antoine Picard, a Cirque artist who was
performing near Ms. Guillot-Guyard just before she died. "She was
going somewhere and you better not get in her way."
CATWALK DANGER
--------------
Ms. Guillot-Guyard played several roles in "Kà," but after her part in
the battle scene was eliminated due to company-wide budget cuts, she
begged to learn the role of a Spearman, a technically challenging role
normally played by men, according to Mr. Pearson. She began training
in April 2013.
Well before then, Cirque had experienced trouble with the role. As
they flew up and out of the scene after being defeated, some of the
Spearmen would hit the bottom of the catwalk they were supposed to
exit from, sometimes getting injured. They controlled their own speeds
with a joystick, going as fast as 11 feet a second.
Cirque officials added technicians watching the lines down below who
were supposed to hit an emergency switch if they spotted trouble.
Technicians called riggers stationed above were instructed to lean
over a railing on the catwalk and push the performers' lines away as
they rose to help them avoid colliding with the structure.
There were two shows scheduled on Ms. Guillot-Guyard's inaugural night
in her new role. Riggers, coaches and other performers later told
Nevada OSHA that she had said she was nervous and had expressed
insecurity. During the first show of the night, she had trouble
initially clipping her harness, which delayed the scene by a few
seconds, and at the end of the scene rose slowly and jerkily, and
needed help from her rigger to climb onto the catwalk, they said.
In between shows, as staffers relaxed playing table tennis, her rigger
told others she "needed more work on the fly-outs," according to his
statement to OSHA investigators. "I didn't think she was ready," he
said.
Disaster struck at the end of the second show. When the Spearmen lined
up to fly out backward, Ms. Guillot-Guyard was already 8 feet above
the others when she should have been even with them, witnesses said.
Using her joystick, she seemed to rise faster than normal, according
to the OSHA report.
Her rigger was still working on clipping his own harness into his
safety line, so he didn't push out her line as he was supposed to do,
according to the OSHA report and Cirque officials.
Ms. Guillot-Guyard slammed against the catwalk, causing the safety
wire to come out of its pulley and scrape against a sharp edge,
ripping apart. The aerialist plummeted the equivalent of about nine
stories to a lower basement and landed on her back.
"I wasn't there," her sobbing rigger later told a fellow employee,
according to OSHA records. "I felt the rope go through my hand."
The company, in its own investigation, concluded that its safety
protocols had relied too much on performers' and technicians' actions
rather than on engineering systems, officials said.
Cirque stopped performing the battle scene after the accident but
recently restored it after revising choreography and installing new
safety systems that it said cost $500,000.
The company now uses technology to prevent performers from approaching
the catwalk too quickly, has reduced the number of characters to give
them more space and has performers face upward on the final exit. It
replaced the pulley system that failed with one clamped to the ceiling
and added a backup software system to monitor the winch's primary
software.
After investigating Ms. Guillot-Guyard's death, OSHA issued three
serious citations to Cirque, saying among other things that the
performer wasn't properly trained, and fined the company $21,000.
Cirque protested, and two of the citations were removed and the fine
was reduced to $7,000.
Nevada court records show Cirque settled a legal complaint by paying
Ms. Guillot-Guyard's children, now 7 and 10 years old, a total of $1
million.
Lisa Schwartz contributed to this article.
{ SOURCE: http://goo.gl/7ArXkY }
------------------------------------------------------------
"CALL ME!" - AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION AT TOTEM
By: Keith Johnson - Seattle, Washington (USA)
------------------------------------------------------------
"Coulrophobia" is the term for fear of clowns. For those with this
malady, the possibility of interacting with one while in a Cirque du
Soleil tent (or any tent) sends shivers down the spine.
Mostly during pre-show animation, yet sometimes during a show, Cirque
clowns select audience members to participate in a bit of light-
hearted fun (prey upon, harass, and stalk are other terms that come to
mind). Reactions range from good-natured participation, to full
commitment, to abject embarrassment and everything in between. After
the show the person has a life-long memory (or a mental scar).
But with a few interactions the "volunteer" comes away with a
permanent physical record of the interaction that, like a small piece
of confetti retrieved from the floor of a tent, can trigger a memory
of that brief moment. It was one of those my wife received during one
of our viewings of Totem when it camped in Portland, Oregon.
Totem's most bombastic clown is Valentino, an uber-macho, ever-on-the-
make blowhard out to distinguish himself as coolest of the cool to
no avail. During a Sunday matinee where we had seats in the front row
of Section 103 (on the left side of the stage) Valentino, proceeding
through his bufoonery in the early part of the show, made eye contact
with my wife. Sighing rapturously he slithered off the end of the
stage, taking my wife's hand in his and giving it a gentle kiss.
(Though truth be told, he does this to a women in these seats at every
show.)
It was what came next that made the evening special. He reached into
his pocket and quickly pulled out his "card," gently placing it in the
palm of her hand with a request and hand gesture to "Call Me!" Then
he bolted away to carry on with his bluster (keeping up with the
relationship during the second act by calling out to her as he
approached our section of seats).
The card is a cute bit of CDS ephemera that shows Valentino looking
perfectly cool on the front, standing in front of a fireplace with a
picture of who we assume to be his "mother" on the mantle, a single
capped tooth gleaming. And on the reverse the words, "Call Me! 1
(800) 678-2119."
Wait, an actual phone number?
This seems ripe for a "Magical Moment," the term Disneyphiles use when
they experience a special time on their Disney park visit. They could
do something fun with the card, like have a special phone message for
callers. What a way to create a Cirque "Magical Moment!"
But no. The phone number is merely the toll-free number for Cirque's
International Headquarters in Montréal.
Alas, the jokes on us. And on the Cirque IHQ receptionists.
=======================================================================
COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMER
=======================================================================
Fascination! Newsletter
Volume 15, Number 5 (Issue #136) - May 2015
"Fascination! Newsletter" is a concept by Ricky Russo. Copyright (c)
2001-2015 Ricky Russo, published by Vortex/RGR Productions, a
subsidiary of Communicore Enterprises. No portion of this newsletter
can be reproduced, published in any form or forum, quoted or
translated without the consent of the "Fascination! Newsletter." By
sending us correspondence, you give us permission (unless otherwise
noted) to use the submission as we see fit, without remuneration. All
submissions become the property of the "Fascination! Newsletter."
"Fascination! Newsletter" is not affiliated in any way with Cirque du
Soleil. Cirque du Soleil and all its creations are Copyright (c) and
are registered trademarks (TM) of Cirque du Soleil, Inc., and
Créations Méandres, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No copyright
infringement intended.
{ May.05.2015 }
=======================================================================
