CMU School of Drama


Thursday, January 27, 2022

Cirque du Soleil to debut major international shows in Saudi Arabia

www.arabnews.com: Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture has signed an agreement with the Canadian entertainment group Cirque du Soleil to enable it to put on its renowned creative performances in the Kingdom.

2 comments:

Bunny Brand said...

I’ve vaguely known about the work of Cirque de Soleil, but then in Kevin’s production science class we learned a lot more about the tech aspect of the shows that they put on and just how complex they can get. I never knew that they had put on such advanced artistic shows until then. Now I have a lot of respect for the art that they create and its great to see it spreading to many more countries around the world. I think that this group really takes a spin on what we classically think of as a circus, or even just theatre in general. Another thing that the article mentions is how these new investments in theatre by the government in Saudi Arabia will create more jobs. The arts are something that not only create enjoyment for the general public but also create employment for so many people behind the scenes. It’s good to see a country investing in the arts.

Sophie Howard said...

It’s so exciting that cirque du soleil is expanding its audience but even more exciting that they created an all-new show unique to the new venue. This work allows for cirque du soleil to do outreach in these communities and also establish things like a “cirque du soleil academy”! Cirque du soleil will also be presenting many of its’ non-unique properties like paw patrol live, which I thought was really funny. Back to the academy, I thought it was so interesting how the deal included a clause that required cirque du soleil to have an academy with rigorous training in the area. It was supposed to let students work hard and achieve the artistic dreams they always wanted as well as expose them to other cultures through an international student exchange and artist in residence programs. I think that this will be an interesting move for the community because it forces us to get out of our own little bubble and gain interest in another culture with different tastes, opinions, and traditions than us.