Welcome to the latest edition of Fascination, the Unofficial Cirque du Soleil Newsletter.
On Monday, October 7, 2019, Cirque du Soleil gave us a sneak peek at Cirque du Soleil 2020, an all new touring show set to premiere on April 23, 2020 under the big top at the Old Port of Montreal, written and directed by renowned artist and stage designer Es Devlin. On January 30th, Cirque du Soleil announced the name of the show as UNDER THE SAME SKY. In Cirque du Soleil UNDER THE SAME SKY, the audience will be touched by uplifting acrobatic choreography, startling physical theatre and moved by the vibrant musical score, all infused with the warmth of human interconnection. This new big top experience invokes the power of the human performance and communal experience which remain at the heart of all Cirque du Soleil creations. It is a meeting of visual art and human performance, a hymn to the vibrant communal experience that only a live show can offer. Cirque du Soleil invites fans to meet under the big top to share the experience of this new surprising and joyful live gathering.
WATCH THE TEASER HERE:
https://youtu.be/vDVOrzmW8c8
Read more about this new touring show within!
Amaluna celebrated its 2,500th performance on January 24th in Sacramento, California. We had hopes that the show would have many more performances to celebrate, but rumor had it the show would have its final curtain call in Hong Kong, at the end of April or beginning of May (had the stop been extended). However, with the onset of the Wuhan coronavirus, the Hong Kong leg was canceled and Amaluna will have its final show in Sacramento instead. Whether Amaluna is converted to the arena format for future touring remains to be seen.
The Madison Square Garden Company (MSG) held its Q2 2020 Earnings Call recently and on that call were two mentions of Cirque du Soleil’s Christmas-themed show ‘Twas The Night Before…:
The first: “Turning to our operations. […] Highlights this quarter included a very successful multi-night run of Cirque du Soleil’s Twas the Night Before, which sold out 37 of its 45 shows at the Hulu and Chicago Theatres.”
And the second: “Turning to our segment results. At MSG Entertainment, revenues of $312.7 million decreased 1%. […] These decreases were mostly offset by a significant increase in event-related revenues from other events, primarily due to Cirque du Soleil’s successful holiday show, a high-single-digit percentage increase in revenues for Tao Group and our record-setting year for the Christmas Spectacular.”
So it seems ‘Twas The Night Before… did quite well!
Discovery Kids Media (DKM) has announced that Big Top Academy will stream on Hulu in the US and air on the Sony Pictures Television (SPT) POP network across the UK. Both Hulu and SPT acquired rights to Season 1 and 2 of the live-action series. DKM is Discovery International’s recently created unit charged with developing, commissioning, co-producing and distributing kids’ animated and live-action content for both linear and digital platforms. Big Top Academy has already aired in Canada, Latin America, Portugal, and Africa. “We are excited to see Discovery Kids Media already announcing sales in two key markets such as the U.S. and the UK,” said Carolina Lightcap, CCO Discovery Latin America/USH & General Manager, DKM. “We look forward to delighting these audiences with Big Top Academy’s story, which combines high production standards with a strong and positive message for kids and families.”
On January 31st, Cirque du Soleil Casting announced a new initiative in collaboration with handpicked centers around the world, entitled: NexGen by Cirque du Soleil. The goal is to share expertise and best practices in the field of human performance and provide high caliber training opportunities to emerging talent, through…
• EARLY DETECTION — Training and workshops for athletes and artists as young as 16 years old.
• HIGH CALIBER TRAINING — The Centers and the athletes will benefit from the expertise of Cirque du Soleil coaches.
• FUTURE TALENT — Identify and nurture young as they prepare for a career on stage.
Partners include…
• ANT GYM – Avignon, France — ANT GYM is a sports and cultural complex for the whole family. The center offers activities in Women’s & Men’s Artistic Gymnastics, senior gym, baby gym, handi gym but also parkour and cross country. training, circus arts.
• San Diego Circus Center – San Diego, United States — Devoted to advancing circus training in North America and enriching the lives of our community by teaching circus disciplines, art and culture.
• Acro Clube da Maia – Maia, Portugal — We believe in the Power of Sports! At the Center, you can learn gymnastics and fitness as well as parkour. Salto, the international Circus School, also offers a two-year course plus workshops and intensive courses.
• Baross Imre Artistaképzo – Budapest, Hungary — The ancestor of the Imre Baross Institute opened in 1950. In addition to professional training and primary and secondary school education, the school is also the Hungarian institution for the development of circus arts education.
• Balance Akrobatika & Torna Club – Budapest, Hungary — Founded in 2017, the club offers gymnastic training for kids and adults. Circus training was added in 2019. The mission of the club is to help children grow in what they love to do and achieve a higher level of skill through a recreational, competitive or high-performance program.
Check out the following link for more information and for current class schedules!
https://castingpage.cirquedusoleil.com/nexgen/
• Cirque du Soleil and Air Canada enter an international sponsoring partnership, which is celebrated in the following video: https://www.facebook.com/CirqueduSoleil/videos/764196710742073/
• Alegria: In a New Light celebrated its 300th performance on January 15, 2020. Check out the following video marking the occasion: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2673896562705899
• On January 20th, JOYA celebrated its 100,000th spectator. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=458387551730373
• LUZIA performed at the 73rd British Academy Film Awards ceremony on Sunday, February 2nd. The Adagio artists gracefully brought the spirit of Judy Garland to life through choreography to “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” from the movie JUDY, a biographical drama film about American singer and actress Judy Garland’s career during the last year of her life when she relocated her stage career to Britain. Watch a video here: https://www.facebook.com/LUZIAbyCirqueduSoleil/videos/616842192195369/
• On February 2nd, AXEL celebrated its 100th performance.
More? Keep reading!
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