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Creations


Grand Tour


Création

Concepteurs
Musique
Personages

Expérience

Prologue
La Fanfafonie
Contortion &
Handbalancing
Chin Balancing
Devil Sticks
Fire
Unicycles &
Slackwire
Stilts/Teeterboard
Juggling
Corde lisse
Les Marionnettes
Théâtre Tel Que
Boleadoras
Finale

Odyssey

Itinéraire

 


Welcome to Our Big Top Full of Dreams!


To begin a history for Cirque du Soleil, one has to travel back more than 20 years to 1981. That year a new and exciting union was formed: "Club des Talons Hauts, Inc." (which means "the High-Heels Club"). This non-profit company was founded on principle alone: "to promote circus arts and street performers." And in doing so this new organization went on to produce Cirque du Soleil during its earliest performances at Les Echassiers de Baie St-Paul (1981-1983) and Fête Foraine de Baie St-Paul Le Rendez-vous des amuseurs publics (1982-1984).

In June 1984, Cirque du Soleil officially came together in part by contributions and summons by the Québec government (a $1.4 million budget). Their name, meaning "Sun Circus" or "Circus of the Sun", was created by the troupe's founder: Guy Laliberté. Once armed with an identity, Cirque du Soleil came together to celebrate the 450th anniversary of Jacques Cartier's (1491-1557) arrival.

For the festivities, Cirque du Soleil presented a very special show with artists from its troupe to others hired to help flesh out the skill set, such as: Le Cirque du Trottoir (from Belgium), Théâte Tel Quel (from Switzerland), La Fanfafonie (the band, from Quebec), Le Tap Sixtet de l'Ecole Nationale de Cirque, La Ratatouille, Chatouille, Angela Laurier, Gilles Ste-Croix with Les Echassiers de Baie St-Paul, and Les Marionnettes du bout du monde all in a 800-set blue-and-yellow tent in Gaspé, the very same place Mr. Cartier's voyager took him so long ago as he desperately tried to find a land route through to the Orient.

The show was a smash success (with tickets $2 for adults, $1 for children how could it not be?) and the artists, invigorated by its reception, took their creation on the road and visited a handful of cities nearby: Baie-Comeau, Baie St-Paul, Québec, Magog, Hull, and Sorel et Montréal. Over 30,000 spectators came to see the show, and Cirque du Soleil hasn't stopped since!

 
Premiere: June 16, 1984
Type: Touring / Bigtop
Finale: August 26, 1984

 

Creative Team


Director
Michael Sinelnikoff
Guide
Guy Laliberté
Creation
Guy Caron
Set Designer
Gilles Ste-Croix
Costumes/Props
Hélène Dubé
  Composer
René Dupéré
Composer
Fernand Bernard
Composer
Jacques Grenier
Lighting Designer
Claude Accolas
Technical Director
Guy Saint-Amour
 

Itinéraire

  • Gaspé: 6/16/84 - 6/19/84
  • Baie-Comeau: 6/23/84 - 6/25/84
  • Jonquière: 6/28/84 - 7/1/84
  • Rimouski: 7/5/84 - 7/8/84
  • Saint-Jean: 7/12/84 - 7/15/84
  • Saint-Paul: 7/19/84 - 7/22/84
  • Québec: 7/26/84 - 7/29/84
  • Magog: 8/2/84 - 8/5/84
  • Hull: 8/9/84 - 8/12/84
  • Sorel: 8/16/84 - 8/19/84
  • Montréal: 8/23/84 - 8/26/84
 

Cirque Corner