Thursday, October 08, 2009
Cirque du Soleil's 'Alegria' brings joyful shows to arenas
PostGazette: "The world might first have noticed Cirque du Soleil's original Big Top experience, 'Saltimbocca,' in 1992. But most followers of this circus phenomenon established their love affair with the Montreal group two years later during the debut of 'Alegria,' which comes here tonight as the longest-running of the Cirque productions."
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4 comments:
What is most interesting to me about this article is how so many performers are athletes, and olympic athletes at that. Often, I feel the world looks upon the arts and sports as opposites. The high school model of showing how jocks and theater kids can't get along just perpetuates this feeling.
Cirque du soleil is a great example of how athletes are some of the best actors for this incredibly artistic show. The discipline they show is amazing, and overall, I am even more impressed by this show after reading this article.
We went on a backstage tour of the show this weekend, and something that the PM said really struck a chord on this vein. He mentioned that Cirque traveled two kinds of shows-- a big top (where they build a space in a parking lot) and the stadium shows. He mentioned that they first started doing stadium shows so that they could bring Cirque to smaller towns and cities. Cirque is great, and always produce great shows. But at $100 dollars a ticket, they sure aren't doing very well at bringing it to a larger audience.
Ethan went on a backstage tour of cirque and came back impressed with the precision and organization with which everything involving the show is run. Creative muscle and business savvy might be the backbone of these great shows however, in this article they mention the extreme commitment that all the staff and performers involved feel toward this show and the great personal sacrifices they make. This is probably due to the fact that it is a very productive efficient environment that people are satisfied to be a part of.
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