Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "It all started in the early 1980s with a small band of musicians, jugglers and fire-eaters roaming the streets of Baie-Saint-Paul, a small town near Quebec City in Canada.
Today, that street theater troupe has grown into Cirque du Soleil, an international entertainment empire with 21 shows in performance on stages around the world."
8 comments:
I am absolutely flabbergasted that they shift the "acts," especially in such show that is constantly putting the performers at risk, despite their expertise. I can't help but wonder the proceedure for such a pre-show. Granted, I have only seen Cirque in Vegas and never in a (less than) semi-permanant setting so I imagine the precision of automation and technolog is no where near as prevelant as it is there. Still, I wonder how calm it is backstage with the order changing everynight. If there are costume changes, how is that handled? There are just so many proceedures taken from various departments for tracking that I wonder how they smoothly transition from there organiz acts each night!
Something in this article really perturbed me... "It's entirely possible to enjoy "Alegria" without worrying about the plot or characters, Smith says". The inverse ofthat, to me, is one of the greatest triumphs of Cirque du Soleil over all other circuses touring the country. Cirque shows with a plot have a subtle elegance above the average circus because it is able to make an artistic intellectual statement through its story, while other circuses remain on the stage only to entertain and show off the acts. Even the simple stories are enough: "Quidam" follows a girl who dons a magical hat to escape her parents, but in the course of exploring her new fantasy world, she discovers how much she misses them and how she was wrong to leave. Similarly, Varekai follows an Icarus-type man who crashes in the middle of a jungle and learns the ways of the animals in order to learn to fly again. These stories enhance the circus above the dog-and-pony show, and ultimately make for a more engaging performance.
In response to Brian's comment, I don't think this article was insinuating that 'Alegria' doesn't have a plot, just that it is also possible to enjoy simply the beauty of the show itself. I believe when people think of Cirque, they think of a show like this one, that combines the circus feel with impressive theatrical elements.
this was as very insetting article in that funding out that cirque started out as a small group of start performs and now has grown to thins huge company in all of these country having all of these shows.i find it some what strand that they dont know the order of the agenda show until a few hours be for the show. i think that would be so hard for every one to adapted to a deferent schedule for each show. i wonder if all of cirque shows are like this with the schedule changing each day. i find it extreme cool that they do that.
I was quite "At the end of the day, we are a circus," is a statement that quite suprises me. By shuffling the acts and breaking out, the story does not matter it seems. This is kind of appaling because this group prides themselves on telling stories in new interesting ways and by rearranging acts, the story is lost. It becomes just what he describes: a circus. Nothing more. I can see a circus anywhere, so why would I pay 110+ dollars to see a circus rather then a a theatrical event, different and smarter then a circus?
And like Addis says: I could only imagine the preshow. Shows as complicated as this must be incrediblely difficult with a set organization. By constantly changing the order the show must become even more complicated and difficult- more prone to error and possible saftey problems.
As most people commenting on this article have said, I too feel that shuffling around the acts at the last minute (2 hours before curtain) is a weird choice. From what I have heard about the tight timing back stage, changing things must create some interesting problems. I agree that it keeps the performers fresh, but would you really abandon muscle memory for the sake of freshness. I applaud that they have thought ahead to incorporate acts depending on sickness and absences. I also would assume (although this may be incorrect) that the reshuffling happens less often than the article makes it out to be. It is also quite possible that they have a number of preshows that they then choose from instead of just randomly (well, not really, but you get my point) recombining the acts 2 hours before curtain.
I'm so amazed with everything that Cirque does. The precision of which they execute their shows is so fine-tuned, that they can dare to go that extra mile, and preform potentially life threatening feats. It's incredible that they have come so far in almost 30 years. From just being street performers, to being one of the world's most renowned entertainment companies, it really goes to prove that with a lot of commitment, dedication, attention to details, and money, you can go so far with your artistic endeavors.
I think it's so cool how something that started out so small in Canada became such a huge hit all over the world. I think it's great they mixed theatre with the circus. I think that it is good that they have to break out of their routines, and figure out which acts are going on each night at the spur of the moment because it's all about the audience finding their own story within everything.
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