Cirque du Soleil is known for its elaborate sets, fantastical characters, breathtaking costumes and most of all, the mind (and body) bending stunts executed by the performers. Now, they are coming back to Illinois for a short time only to present their popular show, Alegría. However, most people don’t know that Cirque du Soleil had modest beginnings and took a fascinating path to get to where they are today.
Guy Laliberté and his friends Gilles Ste-Croix and Daniel Gauthier, came up with the idea of putting together a performance troupe while they were managing a youth hostel for performing artists in Quebec. To get the ball rolling on this idea, Ste-Croix took matters in to his own hands, and walked 56 miles on stilts to Quebec City as a publicity stunt to convince the Quebec government to help fund his production. The ploy worked, and the three men hired 20 street performers in the summer of 1980 to create the Les Echassiers performance troupe and start touring Quebec.
Three short years later, the Quebec government gave Laliberté and Ste-Croix a $1.5 million grant to fund a production the following year as part of Quebec’s 450th anniversary celebration of the French explorer Jacques Cartier’s discovery of Canada. Laliberté named this production "Le Grand Tour du Cirque du Soleil".
With its premiere in 1984, Le Grand Tour du Cirque Du Soleil became a success and began to reinvent itself as a full blown circus. Laliberté accomplished this by hiring the head of the National Circus School, Guy Caron, as their new artistic director and making some changes in the overall production. Laliberté and Caron decided to create a performance accompanied by strong emotional music that played from beginning to end by live musicians while having each individual act tell a story. Their vision also included having the performers, instead of a technical crew, move props on and off stage and to create a modern day circus without rings or animals.
Cirque du Soleil got its next big break in 1987, when they were invited to perform at the Los Angeles Arts Festival. The performance troupe was in such financial trouble at the time, that they could only afford a one-way ticket to California. If the show had not been a success at the festival, the entire group would be stuck in Los Angeles. Luckily, Cirque du Soleil was successful both critically and financially and was able to not only return home, but to continue performing.
Throughout the years, Cirque du Soleil has had its ups and downs, but they have now reached a pinnacle of success most other performance troupes can only dream of obtaining. They entertain almost 100 million people in over 300 cities on five continents and have expanded to 5,000 employees, including 1,200 artists from 50 different countries.
Cirque du Soleil is now back in Illinois to share its critically-acclaimed show, Alegría. Alegría is Spanish for jubilation and is a Cirque du Soleil classic that is sure to dazzle audiences with its breathtaking acrobatics, creatively wild costumes, and original music from Cirque’s best selling album that ranges from jazz, pop, tango, and klezmer. The performance also features characters such as clowns, nymphs, and nostalgic birds that have entertained over 10 million people worldwide since Alegría, first debuted in Montreal in 1994.
Be sure to check out this amazing performance, coming to Hoffman Estates at the Sears Centre Arena from March 3 – 7 and Champaign at the Assembly Hall from March 17 – 21. Go to Cirque du Soleil’s website to purchase tickets or for more information.
http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/alegria/default.aspx
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