Documentary (n.) a movie or television problem intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purpose of instruction or maintaining a historical record that tells the facts about actual people and events.
Through the efforts of out filmworks division – first Télémagik (formed in 1988 to release the original 90-minute version of “Le Magie Continue” as well as various other Cirque shows up to Saltimbanco in 1994) and later with Cirque du Soleil Images (Télémagik was renamed CDSi in May of 1997 to better brand the multimedia company with its parent) – Cirque du Soleil has produced a variety of documentaries over the years. So many that it’s hard to keep up with them all, their availability and just where to get them.
Would you believe that as of this writing there are over twenty in all?
In order to help with the confusing status of many of Cirque du Soleil’s documentaries, we here at Fascination offer this overview. We’ll first take a look at those produced from 1991 through to 2005 in this installment and conclude with the rest in a follow-up. Don’t worry, there isn’t a quiz at the end but we will have a cliff-notes version of the listing next time.
Quel Cirque (1991) & Saltimbanco’s Diary (1992)
“Quel Cirque” was a 1991 look at the creation and staging of Nouvelle Experience. The 22-minute documentary was produced for television; however, it is not clear whether this title was ever released commercially. It is currently out of print and not available in any form. I’ve never seen it so I can’t attest to its content or quality – anyone have a copy?
“Saltimbanco’s Diary” was produced in 1992 as a 22-minute behind-the-scenes featurette into the making and staging of Saltimbanco. It is not clear whether this title was ever released commercially. It is currently out of print and not available in any form. I’ve also never had the privilege of seeing this documentary – anyone have a copy to view?
Baroque Odyssey (1994)
This 10-year anniversary retrospective, made in 1994, is a fascinating and inspiring look into the heart of the Cirque du Soleil universe, highlighting its essence – the amazing energy and spirit that gave birth to the phenomenon and the breathtaking artistry that has captivated and delighted audiences around the world.
“Baroque Odyssey” goes into depth describing the company’s history, and takes a stark honest look at those early years. (Hearing one executive talk about how much money they made and lost in their early years is something you don’t often see in a company-produced documentary; however, this is something of a badge of honor for Cirque du Soleil – rising from the ashes like a phoenix). The archival footage of their early years means the program has an uneven look, the older material looking grainier compared to the new, but this is to be expected. All in all “Baroque Odyssey” is a fascinating program for anyone interested in looking “behind-the-scenes” at the nuts and bolts (and surprisingly, some of the financial considerations) of Cirque du Soleil in 1994.
“Baroque Odyssey” was originally released on VHS in 1994 in two curious versions: a 56-minute English-language edition and a 70-minute French-language edition. Only the English-language edition was later re-issued on both VHS (#07211, UPC: 0-43396-07211-4) and DVD (#07075, UPC: 0-43396-07075-2) on October 30, 2001, with the VHS version quickly falling out of print. The DVD version eventually followed the VHS, although it is widely available on the secondary market.
The Truth of Illusion: Alegría (1994)
“Truth of Illusion: Alegria” is a 1994 production to support the release of Cirque du Soleil’s 10th Anniversary show, “Alegría.” Like its predecessors, the 22-minute production is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the show.
“When the time has come and when the time is right, somehow you know,” the documentary’s narrator begins. “Time after time and time again, you’ve seen the signs and wondered what it was out there, deep in the river. Was it hell on earth and fading into the sky? Was it the garden of delights? In the heart of the night, you’ve seen the moon and the shadow of light, the spirit of creation, the spirit of dream. You’ve seen the truth of illusion – the spirit of Alegría infiltrated the Cirque du Soleil Montreal studios on a windy winter night… subversive, smooth, yet dangerously dynamic. The spirit operated a silent break-in and a major breakthrough; seizing the premises – walls and halls, shops and props – then, capturing the hearts and minds of many humble servants. His shadow seemed expected and respected by all – Alistair, Greg, Serguei, Danielle, Michael, Emily; all of them willing subjects of Alegría, made of stardust and made to be stars again…”
As a documentary, Alegría “The Truth of Illusion” is not just a collage of peeks at Le Cirque’s world. It tells a story, an adventure in which the suspense starts subtly, then builds up steam and hurtles at a breathtaking pace towards its happy ending. It’s a human story, the tale of a noble and fearless team that knows that people are waiting for it all over North America… and perhaps all over the world.
We hear from Franco Dragone, Director, regarding the over-arching theme of the show: “We wanted maybe to scream, ‘Alegria!’ It’s impossible to have only joy. It’s impossible to have only tears. Joy’s always with tears and tears is always with joy. But this show has touched me very much. All the images of this show are very good to my imagery. I hate power, any kind of power. It’s why I try never, never to abuse with my power. Sometime people think and been casting people out is thing that I scream a little bit too much.”
We hear from Debra Brown, Choreographer: “We’re looking for alternative ways of expression that have normally been expressed through athleticism and tumbling, height and flight and dynamics, and what else is there that can come out of that apparatus in collaboration with the artists and the dance and the movements and the music.”
We hear from René Dupéré, Composer: “I tried to go back to the beginning of the circus. I was a street performer. I played in the streets and there was something very lively, something very emotional. I want to go back to the emotion in the music with accordion, a kind of raunchy street voice, and violin and those basic instruments.”
And we hear from Luc Lafortue, Lighting Designer: “We’d rather take our time, maybe wait, more often and not till the last moment, and listen to what the tent has to say, what the set will communicate to us, and then go ahead and draw our lighting design.”
“Their time is now. And now the time is right. It is the vigil of the longest night, when the builders of dreams, magicians, engineers, fools and kings are humbled seers, welding their flying machines for the coming of the new dawn. Your time has come. And should we ask who you are, would you remember who you were? Now that you know the mysteries of many lives ago, angels… garrisons of angels, wise old birds from the galaxy of illusion!”
“We are always, always in connection. Even the trapeze moving this is in connection with us,” says Franco Dragone. “The cable of the trapeze, drawing the air of beautiful things, they are not cables. It’s at earth to build images. It’s a big ballet, big waltz, big choreography and listen to the music. So good luck for today, we will run!”
Alegría “The Truth of Illusion” was released on VHS (#9451) in 1994. It was not included on the “Cirque du Soleil Presents Alegría” DVD and is currently out of print and unavailable.
Full Circle: Quidam (1996)
“Full Circle: The Making of Quidam” is simply that, a 1996 peek into the creative process behind the making of Quidam.
From the releases’ back cover: Come in under the Big Top for a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Cirque du Soleil’s ninth creation, which critics have described as “the most dramatic, the most esthetic and perhaps the most melancholy show in the history of this marvelous circus” (La Presse, Montreal). Full Circle shows you the making of Quidam from its very beginnings to its triumphant finish. Join Franco, Oleg, Debra, Samuel, Dominique and all of Quidam’s other creators and performers as they practice, experiment, innovate and explore. From costume fittings to character improvisations, and from music full of imagery to acts that have to be perfect, you will be there as the show takes form. Share their dream. Join their quest for a magical show in Quidam: Full Circle.
We hear from Franco Dragone, Director: “For me, Quidam pays a kind of tribute to the joys and suffering of everyday people. Everyone who does not appear in ads or television clips or in the public spotlight – these are ‘gawkers,’ people who wander all over the place. We have done a lot of shows with a lot of success that we can think that now the next one will be a success. What we want to do now is start a new cycle. We have tried – this year – we have tried to change… to evolve a little bit the process, to really change the show…”
Choreographer, Debra Brown, discusses the change in direction: “Right now, we’re very innocently researching and it is part of the process to get to know who I am and who they are and how we can create together.”
Boris, the head coach, muses: “There is an old saying among the acrobats that if an acrobat wakes up in the morning and he doesn’t hurt, chances are he’s dead. There’s nothing normal about holding 3 guys and having a fourth-guy land on top of the third guy. There’s nothing normal… in our human makeup for that. There’s nothing normal flying through the air and being fully confidant and allowing the catchers, the porters, to do all the work. There’s nothing normal for a porter to catch somebody in the arms when they are coming down from the height of a 20 feet. So that element – to some extent, pain is always there. For example, we were working on [Banquine] where the guys said ‘We can do it 10 times out of 10’ so they can handle it. The question that I have to pose to them is ‘can they do it 600 out of 600?’”
Martyne, one of the young performers, quips: “Franco’s got a technique. He explains something vague and he says ‘Go for it’. When you don’t understand it makes him happy because it means you’re going to show him something he doesn’t expect.”
“There is something wrong if all I see while the music plays is a trapeze act,” says Franco Dragone. “On the other hand, when I have two ropes, an iron bar, and someone on the trapeze with music and lighting that all of a sudden gives me something else, not just a performance but an image. If I have images that think, then it works. The music has to help me construct and write down images that think.”
“One thing that is sure, and it can be scary sometimes, is that the show must open when we said that it would and there is a magic moment when everything falls into place just like that when, despite all the trouble we had and moving the foot from left to right, in making the turn-table go around and doing the lights, all of a sudden: Bingo! It all comes together.” – Franco Dragone.
“Full Circle” was released onto VHS (#201Q01A; Télémagik) and was not subsequently re-issued when most other Cirque du Soleil visual properties were re-released in 2001. As such it was also not included as a bonus or special feature on the “Cirque du Soleil Presents Quidam” DVD (#04225; Columbia/Tri-Star, UPC: 0-43396-04225-4) on February 6, 2001. However, a digital version of the documentary can be found on a CD-R promo disc released by Optus, a mobile telephone company who was the presenting sponsor of Quidam during its 2004-2005 Australian tour. Within you’ll find a fully digitized “Full Cirque: The Making of Quidam” documentary (22:34) previously available only on VHS (and now well out of print.) The Promo CD-Rs were given away and are not available for purchase; however, you might be able to find one on eBay or other secondary markets.
In the Heart of Dralion (1999)
“In the Heart of Dralion” is a short 24-minute retrospective on the creation of Cirque’s 1999 production: Dralion. Although it does touch on the troubles the creative team endured to bring Dralion to audiences, its slow-paced narrative style, poor video quality, and little in-depth knowledge don’t make it a worth-while documentary to view. However, should you be interested: the documentary can only be found as a Bonus Feature on the “Cirque du Soleil Presents Dralion” DVD (#06105, UPC: 0-43396-06105-7), which is currently in print and available for purchase at the Cirque du Soleil Online Boutique. It was previously available on the “Inside La Nouba” stand-alone documentary DVD, which is no longer in print.
Inside La Nouba (2001)
“Inside La Nouba” is a special 45-minute inside peek into La Nouba, interviewing all the creators and giving an excellent (if short) overview of most of the acts you’ll find in the show, staged at the Walt Disney World West Side Theater. An “Added Feature” (as mentioned on the cover) is another copy of the making-of “In the Heart of Dralion” 20-minute featurette. The sleeve art promises also “A Look at Costumes.” But this is merely a 1:00 slide show of 9 costume sketches by Dominique Lemieux, with a clipping from the video to show how they actually turned out. No interview with the creator, no behind-the-scenes shots of seamstresses. And only 60 seconds long. The documentary was originally released as a stand-alone region one DVD on November 19, 2001, but it is no longer in print.
Behind the Scenes of Journey of Man (2001)
“Behind the Scenes of Journey of Man” is a six minute long featurette with interviews, discussions about the logistics of filming Cirque in IMAX, off-camera silliness, and peeks into the various acts filmed for the movie.
The featurette also includes brief interviews with actors and production crew. Peter Wagg, the producer and co-writer of the film, states that the IMAX production team is trying to “raise the bar” of IMAX in order to draw more attention to large-format filmmaking and Cirque du Soleil was the best way to do that. Brian Dewhurst (the Old Man) states that he thinks the large format “brings the public right into the circus.” Other people interviewed include the director Keith Melton; Reed Smoot, the director of Photography; Co-producers Antoine Compin and Chris Horton; Boris Verkhovsky, the Banquine coach; Warren Conley, the Bungee coach; project manager Andre Ducas; and cast members Chris van Wagenen (Youth) and Mikhail Matorin (Cube Man).
Three acts are highlighted in the featurette: Banquine, Bungees, and Cube Man. The Banquine segment explains how the performers have to work on a marble floor with no mats, and though this is dangerous for them, they ask for retake after retake when they are not satisfied with their performance. The act was partially restaged and re-choreographed from the Quidam original in order to “flow” better for the film. Other points of interest are clips of acrobats warming up and marking through tricky portions of the Banquine such as the towers and pyramids.
The Bungees segment is comparatively short. In it, those interviewed proclaim that it is the best version of the act they have seen, and how pleased they are that the acrobats are not limited by a ceiling. The props and scenery people set the scene by adding brush and moving plants, and bungee artists practice in full costume, makeup, baseball caps and fleece jackets. This segment is the disappointment of the featurette because nothing is said about how the bungee cords are rigged into the redwoods, or what sort of work is going into the scene.
The last segment is the Cube Man, Mikhail Matorin. In the middle of the night, in the middle of the desert, Matorin is preparing to fly toward and over the large camera–only the wind is too strong. Chris Van Wagenen and Brian Felton explain how everyone is at the mercy of Nature and can only wait. “Why do something easy when you can do something difficult?”
“Behind the Scenes of Journey of Man” was only included as a bonus feature on the VHS version of the movie’s release, and not the DVD or other subsequent releases. Therefore, with the VHS out of print, this documentary featurette is no longer available and unavailable for purchase today.
The Making of an Angel (2002)
“The Making of an Angel” is a retrospective on the creation of Varekai, Cirque’s 2002 production.
With many interviews, mostly from the Creative Team, the documentary goes through the entire creative process from initial steps to the premiere. There are several early concept designs and constructions we see here that didn’t make the final cut. We see bits of Gareth’s audition tape, and learn more about the projection Cloud. After the night of the premiere, we are treated to a long un-narrated moment of jubilation as the cast comes offstage, with ovations for the creative team, a wonderful moment only hinted at in “Fire Within.” This film, directed by Joclyn Bernabe and produced by Martin Bolduc makes a nice companion to “Fire Within” looking at it from the Creative Team’s point of view.
“The Making of an Angel” is only available as a Bonus Feature on the “Cirque du Soleil Presents Varekai” region one DVD (#01720, UPC: 0-43396-01720-7) on October 7, 2003. It is in print and available for purchase on the Cirque du Soleil Online Boutique.
Run Before you Fly (2004)
“Run Before you Fly: A Portrait of Cirque du Soleil” was a made-for-television documentary that looked at how a team of creative artists and tightrope walkers in the 1980s revived the ageing idea of the circus to create a global hit and a multimillion-dollar empire. It aired on ABC in 2004 and has aired on the BRAVO and other cable networks world-wide. It has not been released as either a stand-alone documentary disc or as a bonus feature on another Cirque du Soleil DVD, making it currently unavailable to purchase.
Through the Curtain (2005)
“Through the Curtain – An in-depth look at Corteo” is a 45-minute behind the scenes/making of documentary on Cirque du Soleil’s 2005 touring show Corteo. Like “Making of an Angel,” “Through the Curtain” takes us into the creative world of Corteo, interviews some of its principle actors and takes us in-depth into this brand new venture for Cirque du Soleil. The full 45-minute documentary is only available as a Bonus Feature on the “Cirque du Soleil Presents Corteo” DVD (#14253, UPC: 0-43396-14253-4) released on April 11, 2006. This DVD is in print and available for purchase on the Cirque du Soleil Online Boutique. A shortened version of the documentary (24 minutes long) was released on the Limited Edition Corteo Soundtrack CD (CDSMCL-10025-2, UPC: 8-74751-00045-5), which is no longer in print but can still be found.
20 Years Under the Sun (2004)
In celebration of Cirque du Soleil’s 20th Anniversary in 2004, “20 Years Under the Sun” by the BBC/WGBH is a 60-minute retrospective on the history of Cirque du Soleil; however, as a documentary there’s little to it. Most of the footage found within was directly lifted from previously released DVDs. For example: we see clips of full acts from Alegría, Quidam, Dralion, and Varekai as recorded and released to DVD interspersed with a few words from Cirque’s creators. “20 Years under the Sun” has not been released as either a stand-alone documentary disc or as a bonus feature on another Cirque du Soleil DVD, making it currently unavailable to purchase, although considering where the content originated from… what would be the point?
KÀ Extreme (2005)
The Story of the Creation of KÀ – an Epic Journey!
The KA Documentary is a compilation of discussions with the Director and Creator of KA, Robert Lepage, and other creators, “behind the scenes” folks, and artists from the show. We get insight from Lepage as to how he came up with the vision of a show with inverted worlds and anti-gravity. We hear from Mark Fisher, Theatre and Set Designer for KA, how the theater came together and how everyone worked to deliver a show performed not on a stage but in a void.
We see the renovation of the KA Theater at the MGM Grand and get some insights as to its design and function. We see the moment the cast is introduced to the stage and get a glimpse of their excitement as they see it all come to life. We also see some of the particular safety measures and challenges this show has given the designers and how Cirque has come up with innovative solutions. Jonathan Deans, Sound Designer, speaks about how big a part sound plays in the production, and Holger Forterer, Interactive Projections Designer, speaks on the show’s ambitious visual effects. We hear from the designers and directors of every aspect of the production, from lighting and rigging to costume, makeup and technology, to name a few. We learn of the challenges they faced and the innovative and creative solutions they came up with to create the world of KA. And we also hear from several of the artists and acrobats talking about the enormity of the production, how it feels to be part of a show of this size and caliber and how they had to overcome their own personal fears to perform “in the void”.
There are many excellent visuals from the production as well as rehearsals. We see behind the scenes and learn a few of the secrets that make this show so amazing. While no documentary could ever be “complete”, this one gives enough insight to provide a little more understanding of the origins of the show as well as an appreciation for the work you see (and the work that goes on behind the scenes).
The DVD also includes these Bonus Features:
• “The Creators of KA” – 3 minutes – Basically a photo album of the people who created, directed and supported the production. There are also some interesting original concept drawings
• “Excerpts of the Music of KA”. – There are two songs, “Cliff” (6 minutes) and “Baton” (3:30), both composed by René Dupéré and are on the KA CD.
“KÀ Extreme” was released as a stand-alone region one DVD (#CDS1DD20-0001, UPC: 4-00005-06550-7) in 2005 and is currently in print and available for purchase on the Cirque du Soleil Online Boutique.
In Part Two, we’ll conclude our overview on Cirque du Soleil documentaries through the years by focusing on those produced from 2006 through 2011.
Until next time!
