In the aftermath of his speech at the Palais des congrès de Montréal, Barack Obama asked Cirque du Soleil to advise him in the design of the Obama Presidential Center, which will include the all-digital presidential library, a museum and the Obama Foundation. A set that will be built in Jackson Park, Chicago.
Barack Obama’s request was made this morning during a 30-minute meeting with Cirque du Soleil CEO Daniel Lamarre, La Presse reported.
The 44th US president is a “big fan of Cirque du Soleil”, said Daniel Lamarre, who joined Barack Obama at his hotel to “have a coffee”. He knows our shows, and he was genuinely very interested in what we were doing. He had plenty of questions to ask me about creation, about our projects, our foundation, and so on. I expected to spend five minutes with him, but eventually we talked for 30 minutes! ”
The meeting between the two men was nevertheless solicited by Daniel Lamarre, who had “two, three ideas in mind” while not “expecting anything”.
When he learned that Barack Obama would be in Montreal, the CEO of the Cirque made contact with the entourage of the former president to invite him to the head office. “I was told that his schedule did not allow him to go to Cirque, but that he would like to meet me very much,” said Lamarre, who has confessed to pinching himself a few times since this morning.
Barack Obama, who unveiled a model of his future presidential center in Chicago a month ago, asked the Cirque to advise him on the design of the future complex.
“I found it very flattering,” Daniel Lamarre told us. He was very intrigued by the technology used in our immersive “NFL Experience” project, which will be inaugurated in Times Square in November. He said, “We’re in the design phase, you’re in the production phase, so I’d like to see what you’re doing to inspire our creators.”
An American team will be sent “in the coming weeks” to the Cirque headquarters in the Saint-Michel district to meet the creators of Cirque, who will “share their knowledge”.
Barack Obama, who is also working on the founding of his foundation, was also very interested in Cirque du Monde, founded by Cirque 20 years ago. This social circus program for young people from disadvantaged neighborhoods is present in some fifty countries around the world.
“The foundation of Barack Obama is also aimed at young people in difficulty,” noted Daniel Lamarre, “so we felt that through our influence with Cirque du monde, but also by that of Cirque du Soleil, which is present in 350 cities Of the world, there were surely things that could be done together. That is one of the ideas I have proposed. We’re going to put our people in touch, who will come back with recommendations. ”
{ SOURCE: La Presse | https://goo.gl/JCVW50 }
