Cirque du soleil company from. The famous Circus of the Sun (Cirque du Soleil)

If Hollywood is the dream factory of cinema, the Canadian Cirque du Soleil is the dream factory of the circus world. This troupe is famous for its fantastic performances, which are an incredible combination of music, light and, of course, the skill of the artists, which is on the verge of human capabilities.

The current circus empire arose in the early 80s. On initial stage The company employed only 73 employees, but now 3.5 thousand people from more than 40 countries are involved in organizing the show. The troupe has repeatedly won at international festivals. The number of spectators who have watched Cirque du Soleil performances is in the tens of millions. All projects of “Circus of the Sun” are a synthesis of Eastern and Western styles of circus art, unimaginable plasticity of gymnasts, dizzying stunts, enchanting special effects and live music. Currently, Cirque du Soleil presents 6 “tour shows” (Alegria, Corteo, Dralion, KOOZA, Quidam, Varekai), 2 “arena shows” (DELIRIUM, Saltimbanco). 7 other "permanent" shows are in New York (Wintuk), Orlando (La Nouba), Las Vegas (LOVE, KA, Mystere, "O", ZUMANITY). Each show is built around a central theme, be it romantic story or a philosophical fairy tale.

The story begins in 1982, in the Quebec town of Baie-Saint-Paul (Canada). This marvelous picturesque village, a real creative paradise, attracts many artists, painters, and tourists. A group of young street performers entertain the crowd by juggling, dancing on stilts and breathing fire. Inspired by the apparent success, they come up with the idea of ​​​​organizing a spectacular festival, which was then the forerunner of the emergence of Cirque du Soleil.

The Cirque du Soleil Soleil is founded with the help of the government of the Canadian province of Quebec, as part of a festive ceremony dedicated to the 450th anniversary of the arrival of Jacques Cartier in Canada.
The circus had a completely innovative concept: an extraordinary fusion of dramatic art and street performance, bold experimentation, extraordinary costumes, magical lighting and original music. Despite the fact that there is not a single animal on stage, distinctive features of this circus are noticeable from the very beginning. The debut takes place in the small Quebec town of Gaspé and then in 10 more cities in the province. The first yellow and blue tent seats 800 spectators.

After performing in Montreal, Sherbrooke and Quebec City, Cirque du Soleil is leaving its home province and bringing its show to its neighbors in Ontario for the first time. Performances take place in Ottawa, Toronto and Niagara Falls.

Cirque du Soleil is bringing its new production of "The Magic Continues" to eight cities across Canada, including Vancouver, where it is doing several screenings as part of Children's festival and Expo'86. The circus also creates for itself international name, as his performance receives top awards at festivals and competitions around the world. To accommodate future growth, a new 1,500-seat tent is being purchased.

This is the first time Cirque du Soleil is visiting America. The show “We're Remaking the Circus,” which was a triumphant success in Canada, is shown at a festival in Los Angeles, then travels to San Diego and Santa Monica. Encouraged by the warm reception of the California public, Cirque du Soleil is celebrating its success.

The show “We're Remaking the Circus” continues to tour North America, visiting for a short time in Calgary, where the Winter Olympics are taking place. Stops in San Francisco, New York and Washington. A few weeks in Toronto. In any place, the result is the same: all tickets are sold and the press goes wild with delight.

Miami, Chicago, Phoenix are added to the route as we go.

In Montreal, the premiere of the performance “New Experience”, staged by the new division of the Circus, is taking place in a tent with already 2,500 seats. Then the play sets off on the roads of California. With this show, Cirque du Soleil broke all previous records for ticket sales. The decision is made to go on the first European tour with a showing of the play “We are remaking the Circus” in London and Paris. The beginning of the first overseas foray.

New Experience continues to travel across North America, making its first appearance in Atlanta. By the end of the tour across Canada and America, which lasted 19 months, the number of viewers reached 1.3 million.

Cirque du Soleil crosses the Pacific Ocean and gains success in the Land of the Rising Sun with Enchantment, which features the best numbers from its early productions. Screenings begin in Tokyo, then the show travels to other cities. Over four months, a total of 118 performances. At this time in Europe, Cirque du Soleil joins forces with the Swiss Knie Circus and performs in more than 60 cities throughout the country. “New Experience” receives a one-year contract to work in Las Vegas under the hospitable roof of the Mirage Hotel. Cirque du Soleil also adds the monumental “Saltimbanco” to its list of productions. After its premiere in Montreal, the show goes on a long tour of North America.

Following the success of the New Experience in Las Vegas, Cirque du Soleil is moving to a new custom-built theater at the Treasure Island Hotel. A 10-year contract is being concluded with Mirage Resorts for a gigantic production of “Mystery”, worthy of the capital of show business. "Saltimbanco" continues its tour, increasing the number of viewers to 1.4 million.

"Saltimbanco" goes to Tokyo for 6 months. This same year, Cirque du Soleil celebrates its tenth anniversary with a new production, Alegria. According to tradition, she goes on a two-summer tour after the premiere in Montreal. Meanwhile, Mysteria continues to make waves in Las Vegas, and Saltimbanco heads to Montreal for a short run of shows.

While "Alegria" is touring in triumph in the United States, Cirque du Soleil, responding to a request from the Canadian government, is staging a show specifically for the G7 Heads of Government meeting in Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada). "Saltimbanco" is going to conquer Europe. The circus is getting an impressive white tent with 2,500 seats. The first stop is Amsterdam, then Munich, Berlin, Dusseldorf and Vienna. The European headquarters of Cirque du Soleil is established in Amsterdam.

In April, the Circus launches a new show “Quidam”. After Montreal - a three-year tour of the USA.
Saltimbanco continues its European tour with stops in London, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Antwerp, Zurich and Frankfurt, while Alegria extends its Asian tour for a few more months.

"Quidam" is winning the hearts of American viewers in two more cities - Denver and Houston. On the other side of the Atlantic, the Saltimbanco European tour ends at London's Royal Albert Hall. Two weeks later, Alegria begins its journey through Europe. In the same year, the Main International Office in Montreal, called “Studio,” was commissioned, where all new Circus performances will be created in the future.

Quidam ends its US tour with a stop in Dallas. During this three-year journey, almost 1,000 performances were shown under the arches of the yellow and blue tent, which were seen by more than 2.5 million spectators. Further, in October 1998, the next permanent Cirque du Soleil show was launched on the Belagio stage in Las Vegas: “Oh!” This is the first water performance for the Circus. In December, the third permanent show “La Nouba” is presented to the public at Disneyland in Orlando (Florida, USA).
Saltimbanco is coming to Ottawa for a few weeks before embarking on a summer tour of Asia and Australia.

"Saltimbanco" begins a three-year tour of Australia-Asia from Sydney, and "Quidam" - a three-year tour of Europe - from Amsterdam. In addition to this, new project"Dralion" after Montreal goes on a tour of America. "Alegria" is based on permanent place in Beau Rivage, Billoxi, Texas (USA). Finally, Cirque du Soleil releases its first feature film based on the play "Alegria", as well as TV movie"Cirque du Soleil Presents Quidam".

Audiences on three continents continue to enjoy Cirque du Soleil's four permanent shows (La Nouba, Mystère, O and Alegria) and three mobile shows (Quidam, Saltimbanco and Dralion). About 6 million spectators around the world watch these productions. Moreover, a stereo film (in IMAX format) “The Journey of Man” was released. The main premiere was in Berlin, in January 2000, then: simultaneous release in Montreal, New York and Los Angeles, then everywhere.

Cirque du Soleil

Cirque Du Soleil - Alegria clip

Aerial High Bar Act - ALEGRIA (Cirque du Soleil)

Cyr Wheel Act - CORTEO (Cirque du Soleil)

Let Me Fall Cirque Du Soleil

Aerial Straps - VAREKAI (Cirque du Soleil)

Cirque du Soleil DRALION - Aerial Pas de Deux (high res.)

Cirque du Soleil - La Nouba - Acrobacia

Cirque du Soleil_Dralion (gangorra)

TALENT IN A SUN FRAME

Cirque du Soleil and its Russian artists

"It's better than the thrill of the wheels." "Visual orgasm" "I laughed so hard I almost peed myself." "I will never be able to go to other circuses again." Spectators leave such entries in the Cirque du Soleil guest book.

Seven of his different shows are on at the same time. different points peace. It is curious that in one of the performances, "Alegria", among the 50 artists performing on stage, 30 are from the countries of the former Union. In other troupes the percentage is smaller, but still impressive. I wonder why there are so many Russians there and how our fellow countrymen influence the development of modern circus?

Circus organism

The culmination of the multi-step clownery is the number “Storm” he invented (copyright reserved), in which main character(Spanish: Yuri Medvedev), getting ready for the trip, climbs with one hand into a raincoat hanging on a hanger under his hat and cleans his floors with a brush. Suddenly, like in a thriller, the cloak comes to life, alienating the clown's hand, and does not let go, taking away the brush. The poor clown dies in quiet horror, and the coat suddenly strokes him, removes specks of dust from his shoulder, kisses him like a woman and quietly slips a note into his jacket. But the departure whistle sounds, the clown breaks free, runs to the suitcase, puts on a black hat that smokes like a chimney, and circles the stage like a train. Out of breath, he sits down on the suitcase, takes out a handkerchief, sees a note that has fallen out, reads it eagerly... Then he slowly tears it up and sadly throws the pieces up. They swirl like snowflakes, and after them light paper snow falls from above, turning into a thick continuous shaft. After a minute of increasing howling wind, an apocalyptic storm begins. A dazzling spotlight and a wind turbine shine into the eyes of the audience, blowing paper snowdrifts all the way to the top tier of the tent. Thunderous music cuts to the bone. Complete spectator catharsis. Hysterical ovation. Intermission.

After the end of the show, people need at least 15 minutes to yell and whistle enough. In the finale there is a special number when the artists run out to bow and tear off their masks.

I'm sorry that I was carried away into tearful delight, but I can't do anything about it. Tears flowed without asking. From happiness.

Epilogue to fanfare

It seems that such a global success of the circus, achieved in just 15 years, is due to excellent leadership, a powerful artistic concept and extraordinary aesthetics, the absolute skill of all show creators and artists, the latest technical equipment, and, as a consequence of all of the above, basic monetary wealth. The influence of this example on the rest of the circus world cannot be overestimated, and we have the right to be proud of our compatriots who, with their art, amaze so many spectators in all parts of the world.

Not for nothing different languages they write in the guest book: “Give your girls my phone number, let everyone call whenever they want, I love you forever.” “My grandfather’s jaw dropped out of joy, but we found it and picked it up.” “I could watch this 10 more times in a row...” “I smacked my hands and lost my voice. Today is the happiest day of my life.”

Canadian Guy Laliberte made a fortune of $1.9 billion by building the world-famous Cirque du Soleil. After 31 years, he sold 90% of the company for $1.5 billion, and he decided to focus on his children and charity

Canadian Guy Laliberte (Photo: REUTERS 2015)

In April, Cirque du Soleil - one of the world's most famous theatrical operators circus performances- announced the transition to the control of new owners: the American investment company TPG (it now owns 60%), the Chinese Fosun International (20%) and the Canadian pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (10%). According to media reports, the deal is worth about $1.5 billion (the amount is not officially disclosed). The founder of the Circus of the Sun (as translated from the French Cirque du Soleil), 55-year-old eccentric Canadian billionaire Guy Laliberte, will retain 10% of the company.

Laliberte founded Cirque du Soleil when he was just 25 years old. Since then, he has not only changed the image of the circus around the world, but also became one of the richest people in Canada (21st on the Canadian Forbes list, the magazine estimates his fortune at $1.9 billion), flew into space as a tourist and created a foundation which helps combat the problem of drinking water shortages around the world.

Seeker of adventures

Guy Laliberte was 18 years old when he went to travel around Europe, becoming a traveling artist. There he made money by playing traditional Canadian music on the accordion in the streets, and one day, due to lack of money, he was forced to spend the night on a bench in London's Hyde Park. During his year of wandering around Europe, he also learned to juggle, swallow fire and walk on stilts, after which he returned to Canada.

“It was just an adventure,” he said in an interview about his European experience. — I planned to continue my studies and lead ordinary life" But he failed to find a “normal” job, and he joined the circus troupe of stilt acrobats Les Echassiers in Baie-Saint-Paul (a suburb of Quebec), where he met its founder Gilles Sainte-Croix. In 1982, they together began to create the circus art carnival La Fête Foraine.

The circus, the New York Times noted, is only Guy Laliberte's third passion. The second is travel, but in the first place is business: from the very beginning, Laliberte himself was involved in raising money for the development of the company. In 1984, he “wrested” funding from the authorities of the province of Quebec in the amount of $1.3 million to carry out festive events to the 450th anniversary of the discovery of Canada, wrote The New York Times. This is how Cirque du Soleil was born, despite the fact that the troupe itself at that time was training in a rented gym.

The first show brought in a very small profit - $40 thousand, and after the second season the company was on the verge of bankruptcy. But the public liked the Laliberte circus, and it gradually began to be perceived as National treasure, and the authorities once again supported the company.

In 1987, Cirque du Soleil was invited to open the Los Angeles Arts Festival. “I bet everything we had on this evening,” the entrepreneur recalled that first American performance in an interview with the New York Times in 2011. The whole troupe chipped in for the trip to Los Angeles. “If we had failed then, we would have had to return home on foot - we didn’t even have money for gas for the trip back,” he said. But the very next day after the opening of the festival, the city lined up for tickets to Cirque du Soleil.

Gambling is obviously in Laliberte's blood - in 2005 he became interested in poker and two years later he took fourth place in the Five Star World Poker Classic, winning a prize of almost $700 thousand.

Reinventing the circus

The real triumph for Cirque du Soleil came in Las Vegas. The first show in the casino city was Mystère in December 1993, it was also the first "stationary" show (one that does not tour the world, but takes place in a theater specially built for it). “There are three entertainment capitals in the world - Las Vegas, New York and London,” Laliberte told the NYT, and, according to him, so far he has only managed to truly conquer Las Vegas. Now the entertainment capital of the world, where Cirque du Soleil has eight “stationary” shows, accounts for about half of the company's revenue. The business there is managed by a specially created subsidiary.

One of the Cirque du Solei shows l in Las Vegas - Love - was born in 2006 and was inspired by friendship with by GeorgeHarrison . For the sake of staging this show based on the album of the same name The Beatles the businessman managed to bring the surviving Beatles to the negotiating table - Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, as well as Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison , representing the deceased Lennon and Harrison . Especially for the show, songs from the Love album were “reassembled” into a single organic composition, and in total musical arrangement Was used samples from more than 120 songs by The Beatles.​

The success story of Cirque du Soleil is studied in business schools in courses on Blue Ocean strategy (“blue ocean” as a metaphor for a new, free niche in the market as opposed to a market with an already created competitive environment - “red ocean”). As Russian Forbes wrote, “every Skolkovo student knows it by heart.” Laliberte not only managed to renew interest in acrobatic theatrical performances, but essentially “reinvented the circus”, abandoning acts with animals and traditional entertainers. Initially, Cirque du Soleil paid special attention to the dramaturgy of the performance: the creation of each show begins with the development of the concept (main idea) and script, and only then the acrobatic “backbone” is thought through. In the 1990s, Laliberte began to invite theater and film directors who had no experience working with the circus, for example, the famous Canadian theater director Robert Lepage.

This approach helped to attract a more mature (compared to the traditional circus) and therefore solvent audience. In less than 20 years, Cirque du Soleil has achieved revenue levels that Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus [American circus founded in 1919; owned by Feld Entertainment] took a hundred years to get there, noted Chan Kim and Rene Mauborgne, professors at the French business school INSEAD, in their book “Blue Ocean Strategy.” In 2011, Cirque du Soleil's revenue exceeded $1 billion for the first time.

However, a year later, the company will face financial difficulties: despite billions in revenue, it will remain without profit, and in 2013, turnover will decrease to $850 million. Laliberte himself will name one of the reasons for the reduction in income: excessive expansion: Cirque du Soleil began to stage too expensive shows, which were slowly paying off. As part of the restructuring, Laliberte had to lay off 400 employees. If at some point the circus staff reached 5 thousand people, now there are only 4 thousand left.

How much does a Cirque du Soleil show cost?

A stationary show (performances that Cirque du Soleil does not transport around the world, but always shows only in certain cities) costs about $40-50 million. The cost of transported shows is usually lower, but Zarkana or a tribute to Mile Jackson cost more than $50 million and were shown in several countries around the world, including Russia. To date, Cirque du Soleil has shown its performances on all continents of the world (except Antarctica), in 48 countries. The circus's repertoire throughout its history includes about 30 shows.

The search for investors and the subsequent sale of the circus in April 2015 were partly due to financial problems. Laliberte hopes that China's Fosun Capital will help Cirque du Soleil enter and develop in China, where the company has so far not been very successful. He himself explains the sale by the fact that, after talking with his five children (they are now between 7 and 18 years old), he realized that none of them wanted to continue their father’s business.

Now Laliberte plans to focus on his charitable foundation, One Drop Foundation, which addresses the problems of drinking water shortages in the world. He created it in 2007, and in 2009 during his flight to the International space station as a tourist, he held a two-hour “poetry show” - a teleconference to draw attention to the problem of water resources. The Canadian allegedly paid $35 million for the space “attraction.” Former US Vice President Al Gore, Shakira, Salma Hayek, the group U2 and others got in touch with Laliberte in space. And this event perfectly illustrates the entrepreneur’s ideology, which guided him when creating Cirque du Soleil - “together art and business can make the world a better place.”

Cirque du Soleil in Russia

The famous Cirque du Soleil first came to Russia only in 2009. The organization and promotion of Russian (and Ukrainian) performances is carried out not by the head office in Montreal, but by the company Cirque du Soleil Rus, created in 2008 - it is 75% owned by the Canadian Cirque du Soleil, the remaining 25% is owned by Canadians George and Craig Cohon (George opened McDonald's in Canada and Russia, and his son Craig “brought” Coca-Cola to the Russian market in the early 1990s).

According to Cirque du Soleil Rus CEO Natalya Romanova, Cirque du Soleil has only two subsidiaries in the world that manage a specific market: in Russia and a “subsidiary” in Las Vegas, which oversees “stationary” shows in the casino city. “In fact, we created a business in Russia from scratch,” Romanova notes in a conversation with RBC. Marketing research conducted before entering the Russian market showed that the level of brand recognition in Moscow and St. Petersburg with a hint was about 2%, this is the level of static error, she says.

“At first we felt treated [by the Montreal office] as promoters,” says Romanova, “but now the Russian company takes over Cirque du Soleil in Russia on a turnkey basis: it handles everything from ticket sales and marketing to technical support.” show, logistics and artist placement... We have become part of the big Cirque du Soleil family."

Romanov characterizes Guy Laliberte, whom she knows personally, as a person “who makes you light up like a light bulb.” The entrepreneur became acquainted with Russia and Russian artists (immigrants from the countries of the former USSR make up 30% of the Cirque du Soleil troupe) in the early 1990s and came to almost all the premiere shows of Cirque du Soleil shows in Russia. The show of the very first one, Varekai, coincided with the end of Laliberte’s space journey: he trained in Russia for 9 months and flew into space on a Russian ship. He's always with great interest belonged to Russia and considered the Russian market very promising, says Romanova.

When asked whether Cirque du Soleil is embarrassed by the economic situation in Russia, Romanova replies that already with the beginning of the recession, at the end of last year, Cirque du Soleil’s “sister” Cirque Eloize was brought to Russia, whose performances were shown in 12 cities. Again, Romanova reminds, the idea to bring Cirque du Soleil to Russia was born in the midst of the global economic crisis - she laughs, telling how at a press conference in 2008, journalists asked: “Are you in your right mind” to bring such an expensive foreign product to the market? in difficult times? But in Time has proven the correctness of this choice, she says (although she refuses to name the operating indicators of the Russian business). ​

Since 2009, Cirque du Soleil's performances have been attended by almost two million Russian spectators - the company is expecting its anniversary visitor at Friday's showing of the Quidam show.

Cirque du Soleil in numbers

31 year there is a Cirque du Soleil

More than 160 million spectators have attended Cirque du Soleil performances since its inception

$40-50 million is the average production cost of one Cirque du Soleil show

$850 million rescued the circus in 2013

More than 2.6 thousand spectators are accommodated in a traditional Cirque du Soleil tent

$1.5 billion is the estimated cost of the transaction to purchase 90% of Cirque du Soleil (the exact amount was not disclosed)

Sources: Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Reuters, company data

An entertainment company that defines its activities as "the artistic combination of circus arts and street performances." It was founded in 1984 by Guy Laliberte and Gilles Sainte-Croix and is based in Montreal (Canada). The circus is known for its principled refusal to use animals in performances and for its synthetic performances that combine circus skills with music, whimsical design and choreography. He is believed to have inhaled new life into circus art.

The company has a staff of more than 4,000 people working in different groups, which allows it to give performances in different cities at the same time. The main part of the troupe gives performances in Las Vegas, the touring part travels with various shows around the world, performing both in the arena under a temporary tent (tent) or in a permanent circus arena, and in theater stages and in concert halls. The circus's annual revenue exceeds $600 million.

Composer Rene Dupere, director Robert Lepage, and fashion designer Thierry Mugler collaborated with the circus. The circus director for many years has been Pavel Brun. Pavel Brun), choreographer - Debra Lynn Brown (eng. Debra Lynne Brown).

Productions

The titles of many performances are proper names and do not need translation.

Saltimbanco

Alegria

Alegria(Spanish - “rejoicing, joy”), 1994 is an ode to the energy, grace and strength of youth. The show reveals whole line topics: power that weakens over time, evolution from ancient monarchy to modern democracy, old age and youth. The atmosphere is created by kings, fools, traveling artists, beggars, old aristocrats and children, as well as clowns - the only ones who have the strength to survive the passage of time and the changes it imposes.

Quidam

Ovo

Other appearances

Circus performers have performed at the 74th Academy Awards (2002), the 50th Grammy Awards and Super Bowl XLI. In 2009, circus performers opened the final of the Eurovision music competition in Moscow; in 2010, part of the performance was shown at the Scarlet Sails festival in St. Petersburg. Circus performers performed at the EC conference (2010) and at the opening ceremony of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Azerbaijan (2012).

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An excerpt characterizing Cirque du Soleil

Pierre in Lately I rarely saw my wife face to face. Both in St. Petersburg and Moscow, their house was constantly full of guests. The next night after the duel, he, as he often did, did not go to the bedroom, but remained in his huge, father’s office, the same one in which Count Bezukhy died.
He lay down on the sofa and wanted to fall asleep in order to forget everything that happened to him, but he could not do it. Such a storm of feelings, thoughts, memories suddenly arose in his soul that he not only could not sleep, but could not sit still and had to jump up from the sofa and walk quickly around the room. Then he imagined her in the first time after marriage, with bare shoulders and with a tired, passionate look, and immediately next to her the beautiful, insolent and firmly mocking face of Dolokhov was imagined, as it was at dinner, and the same face of Dolokhov, pale, trembling and suffering, as it was when he turned and fell on snow.
“What happened? – he asked himself. “I killed my lover, yes, I killed my wife’s lover.” Yes, it was. From what? How did I get to this point? “Because you married her,” answered an inner voice.
“But what am I to blame for? - he asked. “The fact is that you married without loving her, that you deceived both yourself and her,” and he vividly imagined that minute after dinner at Prince Vasily’s when he said these words that never escaped him: “Je vous aime.” [I love you.] Everything from this! I felt then, he thought, I felt then that it was not that I had no right to it. And so it happened.” He remembered the honeymoon, and blushed at the memory. Particularly vivid, offensive and shameful for him was the memory of how one day, soon after his marriage, at 12 noon, in a silk robe, he came from the bedroom to the office, and in the office he found the chief manager, who bowed respectfully and looked at Pierre's face, on his robe, and smiled slightly, as if expressing with this smile respectful sympathy for the happiness of his principal.
“And how many times have I been proud of her, proud of her majestic beauty, her social tact,” he thought; he was proud of his home, in which she welcomed all of St. Petersburg, he was proud of her inaccessibility and beauty. So this is what I was proud of?! I thought then that I didn’t understand her. How often, pondering her character, I told myself that it was my fault that I didn’t understand her, that I didn’t understand this constant calm, contentment and absence of any attachments and desires, and the whole solution was in that terrible word that she was a depraved woman: said this terrible word to myself, and everything became clear!
“Anatole went to her to borrow money from her and kissed her bare shoulders. She didn't give him money, but she allowed him to kiss her. Her father, jokingly, aroused her jealousy; she said with a calm smile that she was not so stupid as to be jealous: let her do what she wants, she said about me. I asked her one day if she felt any signs of pregnancy. She laughed contemptuously and said that she was not a fool to want to have children, and that she would not have children from me.”

Almost a quarter of a century ago, in the distant province of Quebec, a circus was born, as a poet would say: “stars called the Sun,” which was destined to become a factory of new circus dreams. The Canadian Cirque du Soleil (translated as Circus of the Sun) is called “the tomorrow of the global entertainment industry”, “the maternity hospital of ideas”, “the brilliant invention of Guy Laliberte”.

In the guest book, viewers leave the following notes in different languages: “What I saw blew my mind like a fan.” "Visual orgasm" "I laughed so hard I almost peed myself." "I beat my hands and lost my voice. Today is the happiest day of my life." “Give your girls my phone number, let them all call whenever they want, I love you forever.” "You helped me understand who I really am. I want to thank you for the deep shock I experienced - for drawing me into delight, love, laughter, freedom and dreams."

The brainchild of Guy Laliberte is today a colossal enterprise in the world of show business, attracting more than ten million viewers a year. It can perhaps be compared to the Chelsea football club, but in the circus area, that is, the richest place where all the talents gather.

An interesting paradox: he brought fame to the Canadian circus through an international creative team that includes representatives from more than forty different countries.

At the moment, almost 4,000 people work there, among whom are over a thousand artists, the rest are the directors and administration, creative workshops (directors, choreographers, artists, musicians), trainers, technical staff, personnel department, teachers, cooks, security and etc.

The main headquarters, which is located in Montreal, is where most of the listed non-cast members work - 1,800 employees. This huge laboratory with the most modern equipment brings together the best creative forces planet, to create new circus projects. The result of this work: today there are seventeen different shows operating under the Cirque du Soleil brand: ten stationary halls (in Las Vegas, New York, Orlando, Tokyo and Macau), the rest have been touring all over the world for years. The average capacity of the tent is two and a half thousand people. Tickets for any Cirque du Soleil performance range from 50 to 180 US dollars.

Almost without exception, all the shows of this circus employ Russian-speaking artists. In some productions, for example, in “Alegria”, among the fifty artists performing on stage, almost thirty are from the countries of the former Soviet Union. In others, the percentage is smaller, but still impressive.

To answer the question - why are there so many Russians there and what ways do they get there, we need to turn to the history of our country: over a hundred and fifty years we have developed an excellent circus school based on ancient circus traditions, then the freedom to work under contracts opened up where you are in demand and valued most. Plus, globalization has begun. Well, each artist of Cirque du Soleil has his own isolated case, specific destiny.

Very “typical,” so to speak, in its non-standard nature, is the story of the Ivanov family from the city of Yaroslavl. Since 1995, Evgeny and Natalya Ivanov have been touring with the Alegria tour. Now they are both in their early forties, they got married in their youth, as soon as Zhenya returned from service in Soviet army. Natasha and Zhenya are themselves graduates of the Soviet sports system. Their youthful romance was associated with trips to sports camps and performances. After Zhenya performed extensively and successfully at international competitions, his friends invited him to join a circus troupe touring Mexico. He signed a contract with a Mexican impresario, and the whole family began a nomadic life. Daughter Christina is now 23 years old, she is a circus acrobat, already working in another Cirque du Soleil show, “La Nouba” in Orlando. Their eight-year-old son Timofey, who was born during a tour of America, travels with his parents and has been traveling all his life.

The head of the family, Evgeny Ivanov, the current performer of the role of the Red Hunchback in “Alegria”, an acrobat in the “Fast Truck” act, recalls:

“I got into Cirque du Soleil quite by accident thirteen years ago, when this circus was not yet so big and rich, and there were so many artists, and so few programs that it was easier to fly into space as a tourist than to get into its troupe. It was 1995, and Alegria's show was still in its early days. The first time I saw Cirque du Soleil was on videotape, the production of "Nouvelle experience". I liked it so much that I said to myself: this is the circus where I want to work.”

By that time, Zhenya was twice world champion in individual disciplines in acrobatics, won European championships five times, nine in Russia. He worked for several years in a professional circus in Mexico. He came to the Montreal studio, but at first he was turned down, saying that they didn’t need acrobats with such qualifications there. Apparently, his track record seemed too impressive. He was given a ticket home, but Zhenya stayed behind just to stay in Montreal and watch the training. Somehow, by chance, he was asked to meet at the airport some Gilles Saint-Croix, a gray-haired man with whom Zhenya had a good conversation in Spanish. And he told him to come to the studio and show him what he could do. It turned out that Gilles was the Vice President of the circus creative issues. Zhenya jumped on the trampoline for him, but did not hear any comments.

And now, with a flight ticket, he was sitting, waiting for a taxi, suddenly a girl comes up and says: “Please hand over your ticket. Here are the keys to the hotel, check in.” Zhenya was so happy that at first he didn’t even ask what the room number was. Those apartments seemed simply luxurious to him, because for the last two weeks he had been living with a friend almost on a rug.

The working and living conditions there are really very good. On tour - accommodation in four to five star hotels or condo apartments with kitchens, full health insurance, and partial insurance for the family. The contract provides a guaranteed capital annual income (what exactly is strictly prohibited from being disclosed by the contract itself, but it is clear that in a provincial circus they would not have earned that kind of money even in ten years). Cirque Du Soleil helps artists change careers when they can no longer perform.

Each tour has its own schools with teachers for the children of artists so that they can receive a full school education. In the main Montreal studio there are huge training rooms, equipped with new equipment, and the assistance of highly qualified trainers. All those invited to perform at Cirque du Soleil must undergo special training courses, stage movement, singing, and dancing. Sometimes these are individual rehearsals, as was the case with Kristina Ivanova, and sometimes they are collective trainings, the so-called “formation”, which usually last 4 months. Directors work to ensure that each newcomer achieves full efficiency, reveals the maximum of their capabilities, and becomes an actor and circus performer at the same time. At the end of the training, the best ones receive work contracts.

The company's founder, Guy Laliberte, who was born in Quebec City, Canada 49 years ago, was a street performer, fire-eater, accordion player and stilt dancer. In the early eighties, he united two dozen artist friends around him. They took part in various street festivals, with a particularly successful performance in 1984 at a large celebration of the 450th anniversary of the discovery of Canada by Jacques Cartier. They turned to the Government of the Province of Quebec, which supported the initiative (which cannot be overestimated), and the new company, having received its dose of success and failure in the first years of its existence, set a course to conquer unprecedented heights.

Canadians, having studied and mastered the methods of training circus performers in different countries, communicated with masters of the most famous circuses and circus schools, outstanding artists and directors, have created a structure with very strong management. In addition to circus performances, the company is actively realizing its potential in other genres - television projects, cinema, in the entertainment part of ceremonies and corporate events; it widely promotes its CDs, DVDs, souvenirs, as well as other designer products under the brand name.

It takes from a year to 3 years to create each circus program, but they operate it for 12-15, or even more, years. Moreover, in last years the scale of production has increased, for example, in 2008 three new shows were launched at once: in Tokyo, Macau and Las Vegas. The contract with each artist is concluded for at least a year. Some stay on the show for many years.

When Guy Laliberte gets an idea new program, he assembles a creative team that develops this idea from all sides: main topic, script, music, lighting, characters, costumes. The trump card is the invitation to work of original and talented directors, the best artists, composers and directors, such as, for example, the Belgian Franco Dragone. At one time he was given unlimited creative freedom and as a result he created a number of masterpiece productions for Cirque du Soleil: Cirque du Soleil (1985), We Reinvent the Circus (1987), Nouvelle experience (1990), Saltimbanco (1992), Mystere ( 1993) Alegria (1994), Quidam (1996), La Nouba and "O" (1998).

Their scheme works on a completely different principle than all the world's circuses. Highlight -

in a special creative style: a fusion of theatrical aesthetics with the spectacular atmosphere of the circus plus a fundamental refusal to use trained animals. Also, a new musical score is specially written for each show, and there are always live singers on stage as characters. Any of the characters - unique image with its own history and purpose. The set design is multi-layered; at the same time, many characters in extraordinary costumes live in different layers of space. The action flows in a single stream, in which there are rapids and quiet backwaters. Light is a living, full-fledged participant in the action. Non-standard and very strong choreographic solutions, for example, when the jumps of several acrobats on a trampoline cross track to the music form amazingly beautiful patterned trajectories. The professionalism of the performers is of the highest class.

It turns out that this level was set from the very beginning, including the participation of the Russians.

Pavel Brun, who collaborated with Cirque du Soleil for more than ten years, talks about the first “swallows” from Russia in this circus:

“It all started small and a long time ago, in 1990, when I integrated the very first Russian artists, Vladimir Kekhayal and Vasily Demenchukov, into the “Nouvelle Experience” show. It was an amazing performance that raised the bar of Cirque du Soleil very high for Cirque du Soleil itself, as well as for all fans of this company, which has now become a super-brand of show business on a global scale.”

In 1992, Pavel Brun was invited to stage the play "Saltimbanco", where he assisted choreographer Debbie Brown. Then, 1992-93, in collaboration with the Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, he prepared a large aerial act for the first Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas, “Mystere”. This number was fully staffed by Russian artists, which was the first major “infusion” of ours into the Cirque du Soleil. In 1994, Pavel became the Artistic Director of the play "Alegria", where he invited Slava Polunin, which began the ongoing collaboration of Cirque du Soleil with the Litsedey. Also, for this show Pavel prepared an aerial performance under the direction of Andrei Lev. The presence of Russians in Alegria at that moment was already very significant and tangible.

At the beginning of 1995, Pavel Brun was “transferred” to Las Vegas, where he headed the work with the above-mentioned show “Mystere”. In 1996, when work had already begun on the water show “O” for the new Bellagio casino in Las Vegas, he was invited to this project as Artistic Director, and a little later, in 1997, he was made Artistic Director and Artistic Director of the Las Vegas Division Cirque du Soleil, where he led the work on two shows, “Mystere” and “O”, simultaneously. It was amazing and very difficult. He worked with these two shows until the fall of 2001, after which he decided to take a "break" and left Cirque du Soleil.

The infusion of our talents into this circus goes in several directions. Firstly, the infrastructure: the list of local Russian-speaking coaches, stage directors, artistic directors and recruiters includes: Pavel Bryun, whom we have already talked about, clown Slava Polunin, coaches and stage directors Boris Verkhovsky, Andrey Lev, Alexander Moiseev, recruitment specialist Pavel Kotov and many others. Secondly, there are many circus performers, among whom were the acrobats Arnautov brothers, Oleg Kantemirov, Alexey Tvelenev, juggler from Ukraine Victor Ki (Kiktev), and others. Thirdly, talented athletes, such as, for example, winners of the World and European Championships in sports acrobatics Alexey Lyubezny and Anatoly Borovikov from Belarus, or our hero from Yaroslavl, two-time world champion in acrobatics, Evgeniy Ivanov. I would especially like to mention Konstantin Beschetny, the director and creator of the “Voltige” act from the show “Quidam”. This act, by the way, received the Grand Prix in Monte Carlo, having been sent there on behalf of Cirque du Soleil.

Just as Russian ballet at one time demonstrated the level to which troupes in many countries aspired, so our circuses set a high standard for technique in the performance of numbers.

A little history:

IN late XIX century, the circus was popular in Moscow, where several seasonal circuses operated, and in St. Petersburg, where the local nobility helped the Italian Ciniselli obtain the right to build a stationary circus (now the St. Petersburg Circus is located there state circus), which was discovered in 1877 and achieved incredible power and popularity. Its scale can be judged by one of the pantomime extravaganzas called “The French Army in Algeria” with the participation of foot and horse troops and two choirs military music- only 400 people. In those days, the Ciniselli circus demonstrated a wide range of genre acts at the highest level. To a certain extent, he was the standard by which other world circuses were guided.

In post-revolutionary Russia, the circus began to be supported by the state, and the first productions for the Soviet circus were created by Mayakovsky and Meyerhold, among others. In the 20th century, the Soviet circus received tremendous development and turned into a world flagship, the largest structure in its field, incorporating talented representatives of numerous nationalities from the USSR. Masterly performance of the most complex, amazing tricks were often combined with naive means of artistic expression and propaganda pathos in the design, music, choreography and composition of many circus acts. But the aesthetics of the lines of flights and jumps, plasticity, special spirituality in execution - this cannot be taken away from ours. Russians are distinguished by their desire for creative invention, active invention for the sake of constant improvement of their numbers.

Vyacheslav Polunin was the first Russian clown invited to Cirque du Soleil for a long period. His special style of lyrical clownery arose from a fusion of different genres, and sources of inspiration include Russian buffoonery, commedia dell'arto, street theater, pantomime by Marcel Marceau, Chaplinian, the art of Buster Keaton, Leonid Yengibarov, etc. The introduction of Polunin’s metaphysical clownery had a very strong influence on the formation of further clown traditions in the Cirque du Soleil. After Slava, who played his number “Snow Storm” there, with this circus in different time four more ex-Litsedeya signed contracts: Sergey Shashelev (since 1995 in the show La Nuba, Orlando), Nikolai Terentyev (2000-2003 in the show Alegria) and the duet Valery Keft, Leonid Leikin (since 1997 years on the “Alegria” tour, and since 2000 - in the “O” show, Las Vegas). Last year, Leonid was even invited to stage a clown show in the new Cirque du Soleil show “Zaia” in Macau, Leikin’s talent and authority in this matter were so highly appreciated.

One of the oldest artists in Cirque du Soleil in the show “Alegria”, Yuri Medvedev, was brought in as his replacement by Slava Polunin in 1995. He accidentally found Yuri in New York, where he worked as a taxi driver. The former mime and actor of the Taganka Theater for a long time could not believe his happiness that he was back on stage again, and even in a solo clown act of such a show...

While telling me about this during a break between performances, Yuri Medvedev sneezed loudly and his clown nose fell off.

“What is this,” he said, wiping his face. - During the premiere of the number with the storm, my jacket almost blew off and my glued hair came off. Then I barely found my wig under the rows of spectators.

To date, Cirque du Soleil has a huge casting department that searches and selects the most interesting acts, outstanding athletes and talented artists from all over the world. Russia and the former socialist republics are in the area of ​​especially close attention. A small detail: on the official website of Cirque du Soleil (www.cirquedusoleil.com), the section dedicated to recruitment has a fully translated version into Russian. It describes in detail what requirements the applicant must meet and exactly how to apply for a job, there is also a complete list of vacancies open at the moment, and this list always remains long...

Having toured in dozens of countries and cities under his belt, Evgeny Ivanov shares his experience:

“At first I worked in Alegria in the “Fast Track” number on the cross trampoline track. This is a large group number where you constantly work in a team. And the whole team works for you, for the very final trick, most often it was a triple somersault. Over the years, the technical level of the act has grown greatly, especially with the arrival of such masters as my fellow countryman from Yaroslavl, Misha Vorontsov. But for the last few years I've been playing a red character with a hump. This is also interesting because it is associated with all the numbers. At any moment I can go out, walk around, chat with the audience and other characters. When I worked at a fast truck, I read four or five books a week between jobs. Now there is no time. I barely finish reading one in a month.

Regarding the whole show, I can say that when we performed on our first tour in America, it seemed to me that this was such a cool show, just super. Then on the Japanese tour they worked really well. We watched the American tapes and were terribly amazed: was it really we who worked so clumsily? Then there was a tour in Europe, and now, when we watch those tapes, everything seems very slow and weak to us. Perhaps, when we look at the current recordings in a couple of years, we will also be ashamed. So there is constant growth.”

Evgeny is silent that he is one of those thanks to whom the show is on at this level. This man, with outstanding talent, many years of experience and hardening, carried a huge burden of responsibility on his shoulders in a situation where his comrade Vorontsov tore his Achilles and was out of action for many months. Zhenya, already a 38-year-old man, jumped triple somersaults every day without replacement throughout the entire period. The calligraphic lines of his jumps remained flawless. This is true heroism, which inspires others to be honest and selfless.

A talented person is talented in everything (you don’t just become world champions). The transition from a collective act to the solo role of the Red Hunchback is only possible for a person with outstanding abilities. Eugene is completely unrecognizable when he transforms into a pot-bellied hunchback, dressed in a purple velvet tuxedo and a fabulously luxurious vest, studded with large diamonds. With his acting, he holds together the action of the entire performance...

For artists who have worked for a long time in one show, there is an opportunity to move to another, within Cirque du Soleil. In general, the relationships between artists of different shows are very close. For example, Evgeniy Ivanov’s daughter, Christina, who began performing as a child in “Alegria” with her dad, is now successfully working in the show “La Nouba” at the stationary theater of the Cirque du Soleil next to Disney Land in Orlando.

Christina, the owner of a charming smile and a stunning athletic figure, at 23 years old, has a lot of work experience. She started working at Cirque du Soleil when she was 11 years old. Before that, when her dad was already working in the show “Alegria,” she just went on tour with her parents for about a year and a half and dreamed of getting into the show too. It must be said that in Yaroslavl, where she was born, her mother and father took her to play sports from the age of five. They wanted Christina to master the same disciplines as them - acrobatics, jumping on the acrobatic track. And at some point - miraculously - a vacant place became available for her to play the character “Nymph”. This is a little bird that dances before every number.

“I really love performing,” says Christina. - To this day I enjoy every show, this is about 400-500 appearances a year. My character gave me the opportunity to see up close and act on stage with all the artists. Of course, I tried very hard to learn as much as possible from them in order to perform as well as possible. I always strive for complete dedication, because we really love what we do, and I hope that the public feels it. When people stand up during the ovation, it gives a great feeling of satisfaction - we see that people are happy. This is the goal we are striving for. Each performer tries to show the best they can, and that’s what I love most about working with Cirque du Soleil.”

Christina’s mother, Natasha Ivanova, knows very well what it cost her daughter to achieve her cherished dream. When it became known that Christina was given a contract, they arrived with her from Hong Kong, where the tour was going on, to the Montreal studio, the main center of Cirque du Soleil. This was in November 1996. Then there were 3 long months of preparation, during which five teachers worked with Christina: a trainer for specific trampoline jumps, choreographers, a mime, as well as costume designers and an English teacher. I had to get up at seven in the morning and return home around nine in the evening. Five full working days a week. Two days off. Fortunately, such qualities as hard work and diligence, instilled from early childhood, helped the girl cope with the stresses that were by no means childish. It also helped that she always grew up as a very cheerful and cheerful person. A little joke and a smile lit up her tired, concentrated face. The teachers loved Christina and enjoyed working with her. Returning to the tour after rehearsals in Europe, in Amsterdam in February 1997, Christina quickly became involved in working in the show, along with adult artists. It required full exertion of physical and moral strength. Communication was all in English. The circus school gave the right to study for child performers, but only in French. You can imagine an 11-year-old child going to school in the morning to study science in French, and in the afternoon going to a rehearsal, where all the teams are in English, and then in the evening work begins on a show where both languages, minus their native Russian. Moreover, it should be noted that the mother in the circus is a stranger and should not be nearby, and the father is the same artist who has his own rehearsal and working hours. It happened that there was no time to say words to each other in Russian.

Natalya Ivanova says with a sigh:

“Yes, it was very difficult. But I saw it, mom. But Christina seemed to perceive everything as it should be. It’s difficult, yes, but it’s necessary. And there is no word “I don’t want.” This is how we raised her from childhood. The premiere was successful for her, without failures. Christina always liked performing on stage, from the very beginning. And her artistic skill grew gradually, she was not an artist, she learned this in the process of working on stage, in public. Our family in the past, initially, was a family of athletes, not artists. It's different..."

Christina herself recalls something else:

“Tour travel is one of the most wonderful periods in my life, because it gave me the opportunity to see many countries, meet different people, cultures, traditions, and ways of life. I traveled with Alegria for 7 years. Among other things, I graduated from a tour school, which is based on the Quebec school system, so I have a Canadian school diploma. I learned English and French there, which I now speak fluently. In my time, we had 4 teachers who constantly worked on the tour and taught 11 students. I know that now there is even more students than before, and my younger brother Timosha is also studying there now.”

Despite the fact that Christina constantly performs, on weekends - two in a show a day, she, while working at La Nube, in Orlando, managed to graduate from a local college without interruption in the correspondence department, receiving a diploma in interior design for a possible future careers. She earned the money for her education herself. Others would have fallen off their feet from such a load, but not Christina. She sees her parents several times a year, flies to them when she has a weekend or vacation starts. He tries to fly to Russia with them every year. Of course, Christina has injuries and moments of weakness, when everything seems like hellish work. This lifestyle is not for the weak. But doing what you love is the best motivation since childhood.

Touring troupes are a subject of special pride and concern for Cirque du Soleil. On average, a circus camp numbers up to two hundred people, including staff and household members. Usually it looks like this: around a snow-white (or striped blue-yellow) tent with two and a half thousand seats, with numerous spiers and flags of different heights, a vast foyer with shops and buffets, there is a circus town, which includes ticket offices, complexes of administrative trailers, a dining room for staff and artists, a techno-zone for installers, electrical installations, plumbing and toilet communications, a pen for fifty temporarily hired ticket takers and three school buildings on wheels. It should be noted that the Circus only needs water and telephone communications from the city, and everything else, including electricity generation, is autonomous. At the entrance to the circus town there is an impressive watchman's hut, the territory itself is surrounded by a delicate, but high and durable mesh.

This is a microcosm with its own rules, laws, and established traditions. For example, once every couple of years, so-called “Talent Shows” are traditionally held, when at a special concert everyone demonstrates their alternative talents to each other: singing, tap dancing, performing heavy metal music. Or there is the “Techno Show,” a kind of private show where the audience is the performers of the show, and the staff and family members make a parody of the show and the relationships on tour, sometimes in a very ironic way. The wives of artists are the most knowledgeable people, word of mouth works, and all kinds of help are common when it comes to, for example, child care. Young people enjoy going to nightclubs to dance. The circus community periodically en masse gets interested in chess, organizing informal tournaments, ping-pong, attending Mexican salsa courses, or going to an away paintball game.

Circus children have extensive experience in adapting to a variety of conditions in different countries. They have privileges that are not available to ordinary children, for example, attending high-society celebrations after each premiere in the company of high-ranking persons and artist parents. Or trips around the best museums and attractions in the cities where the show travels. Children are allowed to sit in the classroom at their desks in a cross split or with their knee behind their shoulder, because it is useless to prohibit this. All of them speak three or four languages ​​fluently, although native language speak without an accent, are able to give lively interviews to the next reporters who come to school, and also support small talk at receptions.

They are aware that everyone is in the same boat, so they need to be more responsible and careful towards each other - their circle of close contacts is forcibly limited due to constant travel. Hence - tolerance when it comes to other people's national, cultural and other views. For younger students, high school students are almost like sisters and brothers; there is constant close communication with them.

Natasha Ivanova says:

“Family traditions on tour are a separate matter. For example, in our family it’s fun to celebrate your birthday, and not only feed the guests deliciously, but also make everyone laugh so that no one gets bored. Play, sing, dance. Unfortunately, the usual family traditions It's hard to save on tour. They are easy to maintain at home, when you are surrounded by your favorite objects, family and friends. But on tour this is not the case. You always have to adapt to new conditions.”

Of course, with endless travel, they miss communication with close friends in Russia, they miss their native Yaroslavl, and constantly call home, no matter how much money it costs. But they use every opportunity to invite their parents or friends to stay on tour, to see the world with them. And they really appreciate the opportunity to visit Beautiful places, museums, seeing diverse nature, making friends with people of other nationalities.

During their work, the Ivanov family made more than one tour around the globe: through Japan and New Zealand with Australia, many European countries, the length and breadth of the USA and Canada, right up to Brazil, Argentina and Chile. Every year they fly home on vacation to Yaroslavl to see their loved ones, and their cozy apartment is gradually filled with exotic souvenirs.

Evgeniy adds:

“On tour, different things happen. One day we were flying from country to country on a plane and going through customs. The customs officer suspiciously asked me to go through the security gate, empty my pockets, raise my hands, in short, looked from all sides, and then nodded somewhere at my feet and asked: What do you have there? I say: Where? I turn around, I don’t understand anything. Legs, I say. He orders me: lift up your trousers. I lift up my trouser legs slightly and the customs officer begins to blush deeply, he felt so ashamed and embarrassed. He apparently couldn’t even imagine that human calves could actually have such muscles. He apologized later.”

Evgeniy really enjoyed touring Australia, Japan, and Europe. According to him, in Japan the audience reacted a little more restrainedly, in Europe, especially Spain, there was squealing, screaming, and wild applause. And when Zhenya began to play the role of the Red Hunchback, he began to notice more nuances in the audience’s reactions. In his opinion, the best crowd is on Friday night, regardless of the country. After the end of the week comes relaxation and other pleasures. The most lethargic crowd is on Sunday morning. Some were late, some didn't get enough sleep. There are a lot of kids who get distracted. Americans are like children, they need constant action, if there is a pause, then they immediately start eating popcorn and communicating. And the Japanese will watch with wide eyes and open mouths as long as they want, no matter how long you stand still.

There is something to look at with your mouth open.

Negotiations about coming to Russia are already underway, so soon the Cirque du Soleil tour will take place here too.

Stationary shows are another “story with a continuation.” Each project is designed for many years of operation. For example, the show “Mistere” has been on since 1993, and is very successful to this day. Circus workers rent or buy housing at their location and live an ordinary city life, but work under special conditions. The scale of the circus’ capabilities is evidenced by a small quote from an interview with Robert Lepage, who staged the show “Ka” for Cirque du Soleil, which has a permanent hall in the most rapidly developing city in Nevada:

“It’s a very strange situation in Las Vegas. There is a lot of money there, there are only multi-billionaires around, so there is no talk about money there at all. They say: “Our only desire is to work with you.” - "Okay. How can I help you?" - "Invent something that no one has seen before. Do what you want, experiment, try, come up with new technologies, do any research, testing that you need. You can work as long as you need until you you will feel that you have come to things that did not exist before you.” These are the conditions. We worked, carried out all kinds of experiments, invented, experimented... And the total budget for the show appeared only at the very end - 200 million dollars.”

As a result, for the invention of new technologies, the show “Ka” (an epic tale in the spirit of martial arts) received a special award in 2008 for outstanding achievements in technical equipment. The stage space uses seven independent platforms: the main platform can rear up and rotate in three dimensions on a huge lever, five pillars emerge from below and disappear again on which acrobats jump, and deep below, a safety net invisible to the public protects the performers diving from above. Even watching a video of this show on the circus website is breathtaking.

Future projects will include more innovations and fusions of genres, such as multimedia capabilities, dance, various types of martial arts, illusion tricks, such as for the new show “CRISS ANGEL® Believe™”. Criss Angel himself says this about the new performance:

“People come up to me and ask me what it’s like your show? And here's the truth: expect the unexpected, because this spectacle was beyond my wildest dreams. This is beyond comprehension. The show offers you a special experience that is different from anything the entertainment world has offered so far. Believe me."

A success story like Cirque du Soleil is unique. This is possible once per era. Cirque du Soleil is now developing a truly global commercial entertainment industry. Laliberte takes on the scope and established name of his circus. His projects give a start to life to completely new ideas and feed great amount people, the company participates in numerous charitable initiatives.

One of the best modern experts on the history of world circus, Pascal Jacob, believes that in the future Cirque du Soleil will become an absolute monopoly due to the processes of globalization in world business. In this area of ​​the West, Cirque du Soleil will soon be as ubiquitous as Coca Cola. There is a gradual merging of the meaning of the word “Circus” and Cirque du Soleil, just as in the century before last the word “Circus” in America meant the spectacle “Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show On Earth”.

Pavel Brun, once the Artistic Director and Artistic Director of the Las Vegas Division of Cirque du Soleil, whom we already mentioned at the beginning, says:

“It is difficult to overestimate the importance of Russians in Cirque du Soleil. Why? Yes, because Russian traditions and technologies in the art of circus and theater and in sports are very high and deep. Cirque du Soleil began literally on the streets of Quebec, knowing nothing of the above, but, to their credit, fearing nothing. Step by step, bringing one Russian artist after another to Cirque du Soleil, creating act after act, attracting coach after coach, we introduced the Cirque to what we know and can do better than many (if not all) in the world.”

The impact of this example on the rest of the circus world cannot be overstated. Already, the number of spectators who have seen Cirque du Soleil productions approaches 80 million spectators on five continents.

After watching any Cirque du Soleil show, any of you can buy yourself a colorful program, open it on the last page, look at the composition of the troupe, with photographs, names and countries, who is from where, and find out how many of our people are there. And then, after the end of the performance, go to the service exit and tell them in Russian: “Hello, friends. Thank you for your art. How are the Ivanovs doing there these days?”

Irina TERENTYEVA.