2006

CIRQUE IN CONCERT

Taking the stage in January is DELIRIUM, an all-new concept by Cirque du Soleil. Created and directed by Michel Lemieux & Victor Pilon, the show featured remixed music and Cirque's signature acrobatic style when melded created a musical experience unmatched. DELIRIUM would begin touring arenas throughout the United States before hopping the pond to Europe.

Later in the year, LOVE, a creation celebrating the musical legacy of The Beatles opens at The Mirage Casino-Hotel in Las Vegas. The show becomes Cirque's fifth resident show in Las Vegas and the first official collaboration with the BEATLES since their last public performance on January 30, 1969. LOVE features a first for Cirque du Soleil - no live music - using original Beatles tracks mixed and re-arranged by Sir George Martin
and his on Giles Martin.

During this time, after touring in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia, Cirque du Soleil has set out to make a name for itself in South America by presenting its show Saltimbanco in Chile, Argentina and Brazil. Saltimbanco, after conquering South America, ends its almost 15 years on tour under the grand chapiteau in Rio de Janiero. And where projects are concerned, Cirque du Soleil entered into an exclusive agreement with CKX Inc. — through its subsidiary Elvis Presley Enterprises — for the creation, development, production and promotion of Elvis Presley projects, featuring touring and resident shows, as well as multimedia interactive “Elvis experiences,” throughout the world. The first of these projects is slated to debut in 2009 at the MGM City Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. And Laliberté suggested it wouldn't be the last, calling Las Vegas a gold mine. "If I can be producing 10 shows, I'll be producing 10 shows," he said.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Additionally, the Special Events team was hard at work. Cirque made a special visit to the Australian TV "Logie" Awards to perform a selection of highlights from past visits, including Saltimbanco, Alegría and Quidam. Plus a sneak preview of the (at the time) upcoming tour of Varekai. The live performance included 10 artists from 4 countries working together for the very first time. The company also performed near the Tempio di Venere in Rome. Located near the Coliseum, the Tempio di Venere (or Temple of Venus) is considered to be the greatest temple in all of ancient Rome, and with the exception of the Pope, no one had ever been allowed to use this fantastic venue. The performances were part of the activities held for the World Food Programme's global launch of "Fight Hunger: Walk the World", mobilizing hundreds of thousands of people in a walk to call for an end to child hunger. And presented a unique hand-to-hand act at the IFA 2006 Opening Gala, a German Consumer Electronics trade fair.

Cirque du Soleil was also invovled in the opening ceremonies surrounding the 1st World Out-Games held at Montreal's Olympic stadium. The troupe performed three very special creations under the direction of Michel Laprise with the "circle", which symbolizes harmony, as its theme. The first two acts were the Cyr Wheel—performed by Antoine Carabinier-Lépine, a member of the artistic team on the Celebrity Cruises' "A Taste of Cirque on Board" — and a hand to-hand act featuring the duo Jaroslaw Marciniak and Dariusz Wronski, who occasionally performs in Mystère. With the third act, Cirque decided to create a special number for the occasion set to a song by Quebec diva Diane Dufresne. The act's creative team chose a piece that the pop singer had vowed to never sing again. However, when Diane saw the script she agreed on the spot to embark on the adventure. An original act consisting of two parts and including floor performers and a quartet of Spanish web artists was thus created specifically for the event.

2005

2007