======================================================================= ______ _ __ _ __ / ____/___ ___________(_)___ ____ _/ /_(_)___ ____ / / / /_ / __ '/ ___/ ___/ / __ \/ __ '/ __/ / __ \/ __ \/ / / __/ / /_/ (__ ) /__ / / / / /_/ / /_/ / /_/ / / / /_/ /_/ \__,_/____/\___/_/_/ /_/\__,_/\__/_/\____/_/ /_(_) T h e U n o f f i c i a l C i r q u e d u S o l e i l N e w s l e t t e r ------------------------------------------------------------ http://www.CirqueFascination.com ------------------------------------------------------------ ======================================================================= VOLUME 19, NUMBER 9 September 2019 ISSUE #188 ======================================================================= Welcome to the latest edition of Fascination, the Unofficial Cirque du Soleil Newsletter. * * * WDW 2020 SHOW DISCUSSED AT D23 * * * Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group and Disney Parks, Experiences and Products have announced tickets are on sale for the highly anticipated new show coming to the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The yet-to-be-named production, a collaboration between Cirque du Soleil, Walt Disney Animation Studios and Walt Disney Imagineering will open for previews March 20, 2020, and officially premiere April 17, 2020. The show will take residency at Disney Springs. This original creation coming to Disney Springs celebrates the art of Disney animation in Cirque du Soleil’s signature way, with a tribute to the craftsmanship that makes Disney so extraordinary. It will transport the audience into the world of Disney animation with new original acrobatic sequences, dazzling choreography, musical masterpieces and whimsical characters. Daniel Lamarre, President and CEO of Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group, stated “We have joined forces with Walt Disney Imagineering and Walt Disney Animation Studios to create a show that combines Disney animation and heart with the unique artistry and theatrical sensibility of Cirque du Soleil. We are honored to be the first company trusted to work and create around these classic Disney characters in this unique way.” The story, which centers on a young girl whose father is a Disney animator who finds a way to send his daughter on a magical journey of self-discovery through a world of animation. “For more than 60 years, we’ve been bringing Disney stories and characters to life in our theme parks around the world,” said Bob Chapek, Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products. “Now our teams at Walt Disney Imagineering and Walt Disney Animation Studios have joined with Cirque du Soleil to create an entirely new experience that will wow Walt Disney World guests and bring timeless, enchanting Disney stories to life in an unforgettable new way.” Cirque du Soleil and Disney first teamed up to bring La Nouba to the stage at Disney Springs (then Downtown Disney) in 1998. Twenty years later, the two organizations are excited to be working together on a new project. This new show is the 50th original production of Cirque du Soleil. o) CHECK OUT SOME NEW RENDERINGS HERE: http://www.cirquefascination.com/?p=12989 o) WATCH THE PRESENTATION HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdDF0TzxLaE o) BUY TICKETS HERE: https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/at-walt-disney-world * * * CIRQUE EN CINEMA PRESENTS: LUZIA! * * * For one night last year, Cirque du Soleil in Cinema transported its internationally acclaimed show KURIOS – Cabinet of Curiosities to the big screen. This year it's brining LUZIA on October 29, 2019 (in the United States). Through a series of grand visual surprises and breathtaking acrobatic performances, it invites audiences to escape on a surrealistic journey through a sumptuous and vibrant world suspended somewhere between dreams and reality. LUZIA cleverly brings to the stage multiple places, faces and sounds of Mexico taken from both tradition and modernity. Experience a one-of-a-kind cinematic event including a not-to-be missed Cirque du Soleil special program: a collection of portraits highlighting the unique stories, passion and dedication of some LUZIA artists. IN THEATERS OCTOBER 29, 2019 – TICKETS ON SALE SEPTEMBER 14, 2019 https://www.fathomevents.com/events/luzia-cirque-du-soleil * * * CIRQUE HOLDS PRESS CONFERENCE FOR AXEL * * * On September 4th, Cirque du Soleil gave the media access to AXEL, its upcoming second ice show. The concept behind AXEL is that it will feel like a big arena rock show. The idea, said Fernand Rainville, the show’s stage director and writer, is “to make it feel like a rock opera, make it feel like a musical concert and/or a sports outing. To create that energy. So to create effects that we usually see in concert shows and bring them to the theatrics of Cirque and ice skating.” o) WATCH THE INTERVIEW HERE: https://youtu.be/Nz2Hqxz65S4 o) MEET THE CHARACTERS: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2636727566594067 o) MEDIA DAY VIDEO: https://www.facebook.com/CirqueduSoleil/videos/470636136819547/ Check out the article from the Montreal Gazette, who covered the Media Day, within. * * * CIRQUE RETURNS TO LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL * * * On September 20th and 21st, Cirque du Soleil will return to Las Vegas’ favorite music festival, Life is Beautiful, debuting exclusive performances. On Friday evening, 11 aerialists and dancers from Cirque du Soleil resident productions will dazzle audience members alongside award-winning rock band WALK THE MOON, as they perform their hit single “One Foot.” Additionally, Blue Man Group will electrify the downtown festival when they take the stage for a colorful culmination of their most loved creative pieces. The Blue Men will fully immerse themselves among the crowd throughout the 11-minute set, featuring Electronic Drumbone and Drum Finale Throwdown, with the group’s world- famous paint drumming. Festival goers can also anticipate Blue Man Group disturbances throughout the festival on Saturday. Cirque du Soleil and WALK THE MOON will perform on the main Downtown Stage at 7:35 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 20. Blue Man Group will perform in the crowd in front of the main Downtown Stage, at 7:15 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21. * * * AN UPDATE ON "THE PARKS" * * * Hey, remember the Cirque du Soleil Theme Park project with Grupo Vidanta for Nuevo Vallarta? Well... there've been a couple of updates regarding "The Parks" recently as chronicled by ThemeParkX. The first, in a new interview with Daniel Chavez Moran (Vidanta's founder) for Expansion MX, he describes "The Parks" now as follows: The Parks project is of enormous magnitude. In total, there are four parks, which occupy an area three times larger than The Magic Kingdom. Something we have learned is that a park alone does not generate the synergy that several parks can have together to develop the entire market. We have hired the best park developers in the world, from China, from Serbia, from the United States. The parks are not developed for a hotel, they are made for the destination, as we did with Joyà together with the Cirque du Soleil, to enrich the Riviera Maya. During the first three years of opening of the four parks, we estimate to attract between four and five million visitors to the destination. And second, in a statement from Vidanta given to Aimfair.com back in June regarding Cirque du Soleil's involvement and the overall status of "The Parks": Cirque du Soleil has always been—and remains—a very important part of The Parks. Since we first announced this project, we have decided to greatly expand its size and scale in order to include other mesmerizing, first-of-their-kind developments and immersive experiences to complement the Cirque du Soleil zone. We pride ourselves on delivering far beyond expectations on every new project and initiative we announce, and The Parks is certainly no exception. The Parks now spans over 830 acres and includes a vast array of 100% original concepts. The goal is to transform Vidanta Nuevo Vallarta into a new kind of destination where guests can experience every possible variation of the perfect vacation—from high-end tropical relaxation to gravity-defying attractions and everything in between—in one extraordinary location. Many of these new experiences are already under construction at the resort. In one section of The Parks, 25 acres of underground tunnels are currently being installed to ensure impeccable park operations and almost 1.3 million square feet of concrete foundations and structures have already been built, including portions of the new resort hotels. Two enormous lakes at the center of The Parks, totaling over 150 acres in size, have already been created with more on the way. And thus far, 1,500 trees have been planted, though once the project is complete, the total is estimated to be over 50,000. The wonder-filled region of The Parks dedicated to the creative genius of Cirque du Soleil will include a first-of-its-kind thrilling new production—a dazzling, large-scale extravaganza involving acrobatics, theatrics, water performances, music, and even a spectacular dining experience. This monumental new show will be housed in a gorgeous custom theater that will be an awe- inspiring sight in and of itself. Next door, there will be a Cirque Training Studio where guests will get the chance to grab the spotlight, learning tumbling, aerial arts, clowning, and so much more from the modern masters of the circus arts. While in the Cirque du Soleil plaza surrounding the theater and studio, guests should keep an eye open for spontaneous performances as they explore. We’re proud to continue our amazing partnership with Cirque du Soleil and work together on this highly anticipated collaboration so that we can give the world a breathtaking new type of experience unlike anything seen before. So... there you have it. Check out some new renderings here: http://www.cirquefascination.com/?p=13023 * * * LAST, BUT NOT LEAST... * * * And last, but certainly not least, we have a couple of important milestones for two of Cirque du Soleil's greatest shows to highlight: - Kooza celebrated its 4,000th performance on August 15, 2019 - "O" celebrated its 10,000th performance on September 1, 2019 - Amaluna received their new Blue and White Big Top September 4th! More? Keep reading! /----------------------------------------------------\ | | | Join us on the web at: | | < www.cirquefascination.com > | | | | Realy Simple Syndication (RSS) Feed (News Only): | | < http://www.cirquefascination.com/?feed=rss2 > | | | \----------------------------------------------------/ - Ricky "Richasi" Russo =========== CONTENTS =========== o) Cirque Buzz -- News, Rumours & Sightings * La Presse -- General News & Highlights * Q&A -- Quick Chats & Press Interviews o) Itinéraire -- Tour/Show Information * BigTop Shows -- Under the Grand Chapiteau * Arena Shows -- In Stadium-like venues * Resident Shows -- Performed en Le Théâtre o) Outreach -- Updates from Cirque's Social Widgets * Webseries -- Official Online Featurettes * Videos -- Official Peeks & Noted Fan Finds o) Fascination! Features * "The Show Must Go On! Inside Guy Laliberté's Plan To Create Another Entertainment Phenomenon" By: Madeline Berg, for FORBES Magazine * Jean David's Quel Cirque, Part 9: "A Little Farther West" A Special Series Celebrating Cirque's 35th Anniversary o) Copyright & Disclaimer ======================================================================= CIRQUE BUZZ -- NEWS, RUMOURS & SIGHTINGS ======================================================================= *************************************************************** LA PRESSE -- General News & Highlights *************************************************************** ---------------------------------------------------------- ICYMI - Cirque du Soleil: The Great Chinese Seduction {Aug.08.2019} ---------------------------------------------------------- {Article was translated from the original French via Google Translate} It's tomorrow night that Cirque du Soleil will officially launch its first permanent show in Hangzhou, China, in a brand-new 1,500-seat theater built on the site of a former railroad yard. With X: The Land of Fantasy , Cirque hopes to finally break through this coveted market. The arrival of the Circus in China inspired Quebec director Hugo Bélanger ( Harold and Maude , Around the World in 80 Days ) the theme of the meeting between East and West. Even the cast of X: The Land of Fantasy , of which half of the 50 circus performers are Chinese, reflects this "encounter". "It's a huge project," says Hugo Bélanger, who has been designing the show for three and a half years. "Just to give you an idea, Robert Lepage's show Kà [presented in Las Vegas since 2006] comes back four times here! It is very impressive. " Since the sale of Cirque to the consortium led by the US investment firm TPG Capital (in 2015), the deployment of the multinational entertainment company in Asia, and in particular in China, has become THE priority, despite the challenges (and collapses) encountered by many foreign companies. In the spring of 2017, Cirque's former creative guide, Jean-François Bouchard (now at Lune Rouge), unveiled at C2 Montreal the models of this new theater built in Hangzhou, a "small" city of 15 million people. residents located 200 km from Shanghai - a real estate project made by Chinese co-producer XTD and valued at 200 million US. The scenic device of X: The Land of Fantasy is probably the most sophisticated ever created by the Circus: 2 mobile islands of 750 seats each which rotate 360 ??degrees and move laterally. Four distinct scenes, therefore, the longest of which is 100 meters long! "This is a breakthrough for us, but I remain cautious because we are still at the beginning of the wave of all that is live entertainment in China", told us the CEO of Circus, Daniel Lamarre. "I hope we are not too far ahead of the wave and that we will find an abundant public to see it. One day there will be a market and that day we will be there." - Daniel Lamarre, CEO of Cirque du Soleil During the first show of the series of previews, last Saturday, the Chinese public has responded, said Hugo Bélanger, who was chosen for his ability to "tell a story." "The magic of the theater operated, there were people of all ages, a lot of oh! and ah! a lot of applause. They really reacted well. " It must be said that the Cirque put the package, creating acrobatic numbers of high aerobatics. Icarian games, acrobatic bungee, aerial straps, tumbling, trampomur, Chinese mast: all the acrobatic arsenal has been deployed. Luc Langevin even participated in the creation of illusions numbers presented in X: The Land of Fantasy . The role of the "faceless" narrator has been entrusted to Acadian artist Mathieu Chouinard, one of only 10 Canadian artists involved in the adventure. A HERO FOR EVERY STEP Contrary to the habits of the circus, which develops its concepts of shows before building its theaters (this is the case of all the shows presented in Las Vegas, for example), it was necessary for Hugo Bélanger to write a scenario according to the concept. of the room. "Each of the stands follows his own hero," he explains. In the yellow tier, which represents the East and is directed by an empress, one follows a boy, while in the red tier, representing the West, one follows a girl. So, there is 20% of the story that is different from one side to the other. " The stands then move according to the story before facing each other or standing side by side. Hugo Bélanger, who has been in Hangzhou since February, was inspired by Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima , which tell the same story during the Second World War - the first from American view, the other on the Japanese side. "I favored a fantasy world where two worlds [Aria and Petra], represented by a dragon and a phoenix, were separated following an earthquake and have been in dispute ever since. I invented a story where a royal seal was broken in two and lost. With this prophecy that once the two halves together, peace between the two worlds would return. These are two children who are at the heart of this adventure and this reconciliation. Hence the X of the title which symbolizes the meeting of the two diagonals. " NOT A "CHINESE" SHOW Cirque wanted to avoid a "Chinese" show despite the fact that in this city that seduced the European explorer Marco Polo at the end of XIII th century, over 80% of tourists are Chinese. "Young Chinese people are eager for things that come from elsewhere. They do not want to hear more about legends and Peking Opera, they want to open up to the world. " - Hugo Bélanger Despite the pitfalls related to the political nature of the Chinese empire, Daniel Lamarre looks forward to the future. "I hope this show will then help us to establish the brand and Cirque du Soleil, when I put my pink glasses, I think it may have the potential to do for us in China show that the O 's made for us in Las Vegas. If there is a big show that can work in China, that's it. If it does not work, I do not understand anything anymore ... " Have recent tensions between China and Canada had a negative impact on Circus? Daniel Lamarre weighs his words well. "Historically, it was an extremely important advantage to be Canadian, we were welcomed as friends and it was fantastic. Today, we no longer have that aura, but we are not treated like villains either, so I would say we do not have too many disadvantages. " What works for the Circus is that it will create jobs in China, says Daniel Lamarre, who talks about at least 125 jobs, including a team of Chinese technicians trained by the circus. "Circus brings a lot of positive things to China, and that contribution, I believe, is beginning to be recognized." { SOURCE: La Presse } ---------------------------------------------------------- Guy Laliberté's Island Goes For $1 Million A Week {Aug.15.2019} ---------------------------------------------------------- Some people will put their one-bedroom apartment up on Airbnb. Others will use the service to rent out their own private island. That’s the case for Guy Laliberté, the founder of Cirque du Soleil, who’s using the rental site to offer up Nukutepipi, his luxury island abode in French Polynesia. The five-star home, which is listed for more than $190,000 per night, can accommodate up to 52 people in its 21 rooms. Guests will be served by a private staff that includes a chef, a captain, activity coordinators, a doctor, and a massage therapist. The 2.3 kilometre-squared island features several pools, private spas, shared spas, bars, patios, a gym, a yoga room, a conference room, a recording studio, a tennis court, a volleyball court, a mini-golf course, a home movie theatre, hot tubs, a raised lookout, a telescope, and, of course, a long white-sand beach with a ton of boats and other nautical toys. And even though it’s in the middle of nowhere, there’s a wi-fi connection. Staying there will set you back $190,573 per night, or $1,334,011 for a week. That doesn’t include your transportation fees, like the plane ride to Tahiti and then the boat that will get you the 700 km from the Tahitian coast to the island. According to the Journal de Montréal, the spot took Laliberté 10 years and $150 million to set up. The renovations were completed last June. Nukutepipi hasn’t yet found a renter on Airbnb, but there are “several” potential clients, according to Anne Dongois, the communications director for Laliberté’s entertainment company Lune Rouge. There are three weeks in November where the island won’t be available to rent, though. Check out a few images from the island here: https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/guy-laliberte-private-island- airbnb_ca_5d518e74e4b0c63bcbeb5dc5 { SOURCE: Huffington Post } ---------------------------------------------------------- “X” Performs in Hangzhou, Drawing in a Large Crowd {Aug.20.2019} ---------------------------------------------------------- Hangzhou, China – August 20th, 2019 – Cirque du Soleil “X” The Land of Fantasy, produced by Hangzhou Suntiandy Group and Cirque du Soleil, has successfully premiered in Hangzhou Suntiandy Theatre. Liu Wendong, Chairman of Hangzhou Suntiandy Group, and Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group President and CEO Daniel Lamarre attended the premiere, delivered speeches and extended their ardent blessings to the show. The creation team of the show was invited to shared their thoughts with the audience as well. As a milestone production that succeeds the numerous iconic Cirque du Soleil shows presented around the world, such as “KÀ” and “O” both offered in Las Vegas, USA, Cirque du Soleil “X” The Land of Fantasy offers a truly unique experience to the audience. Inviting spectators to embark on a spellbinding tale of two kingdoms reuniting through heart-pumping acrobatics and astonishing staging, Cirque du Soleil “X” The Land of Fantasy takes traditional circus arts to a whole new level. Cirque du Soleil “X” The Land of Fantasy is an epic and thrilling quest to reunite two ancient kingdoms, Petra and Aria, torn apart centuries ago. The captivating legend is guided by The Watcher, a wise elder whose mechanical box unleashes the story. One that begins with two innocent infants, each left on the doorstep of the opposing kingdom’s palace. Inspired by a rich storyline, multi-dimensional characters, and surreal universes, Cirque du Soleil “X” The Land of Fantasy creates an incredible immersive experience. Driven by high-energy action and acrobatics, rich symbolism, beautiful poetry and artistry, history is told through two perspectives: Petra and Aria, through the Hero and Heroine. Two sides of the story, two cultures discovering each other. In Cirque du Soleil “X” The Land of Fantasy, the acclaimed world leader in Live Entertainment did not spare any details to immerse the audience deeper inside the story and create a surge of adventure for the whole family, each scene more powerful than the next. Great efforts were dedicated into innovating set designs. When seated, one will soon notice the tremendous 100m-wide stage right in front of you that will transform into various shapes as the story unfolds. The unique combination of 3D visual props, video projections, and fancy trap doors, enable the artists to vanish into thin air and return when you least expect it. The 360-degree-rotating revolving seats also allow the audience to fully embrace this visually stunning performance. Meanwhile, with the validation of a Feng Shui master, the cultural significance of colors, animals, symbols, scenography and clothing were explored to make this brand-new immersive experience more meaningful and mesmerizing. Inspired by ancient Chinese creatures, Bulong and Naga, two magical beings that are carved in the seal, share the same trace as phoenix and dragon. The stage Chinese traditional color, red and gold, as its dominant hue. One of the character’s choreography is even based on Monkey King. Traditional circus acts are reinvented with the help of revolutionary props, costumes and stage effects to ensure its thrilling experience. The theatre is also equipped with cutting-edge sound system to accord with visual interaction. A total of 1500 seats were installed with high-quality loudspeakers to guarantee your full immersion into this unforgettable live experience. Cirque du Soleil “X” The Land of Fantasy is the 45th original production of Cirque du Soleil, part of Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group. { SOURCE: Digital Journal Press Release } ---------------------------------------------------------- Guy Laliberte launching show on Las Vegas Strip {Aug.22.2019} ---------------------------------------------------------- The visionary behind the Las Vegas Strip’s predominant production company is creating once more. Cirque du Soleil co-founder Guy Laliberte is premiering “Candy World,” his new entertainment concept, Saturday night at Light Nightclub at Mandalay Bay. The event also marks Laliberte’s 60th birthday, remarkable because the former street performer is always a kid at heart. He’s even taking the DJ booth, along with such accomplished DJs as Nico Stojan, Laurence Matte and Isaiah Martin. “Candy Land” is a tease to what might be a resident production at Light by the end of the year. For now, Laliberte is promising a delicious night of technology and EDM sounds. The production feels like a mix of a Cirque production and Electric Daisy Carnival effects. Laliberte’s team says: ‘An immersive, sensory overload, ‘Candy World’ is a hyper explosion of art, technology and music encompassing escapism and inclusivity as guests are transported into other worlds while their participation completes the experience.” Hey, it’s legal. The event is open to the public, with doors at 10 p.m. and the party at 11. Click thelightvegas.com for details. The production is the first Las Vegas outpost for PY1, which produces events in unique nightclub venues around the world (Laliberte currently is producing a PY1 show in Montreal). Laliberte chose Light for “Candy World” because he helped design the club himself in the days when Cirque was invested in Strip nightclubs. Laliberte has not been active in artistic development on the Strip since he sold Cirque to an investment consortium headed up by TPG Capital in the spring of 2015. The reported price was $1.5 billion, making Laliberte a very rich man who still knows how to have a good time. { SOURCE: Las Vegas Review-Journal } ---------------------------------------------------------- AXEL Holds Press Conference {Sep.04.2019} ---------------------------------------------------------- The idea behind Axel, said Fernand Rainville, the show’s stage director and writer, is “to make it feel like a rock opera, make it feel like a musical concert and/or a sports outing. To create that energy. So to create effects that we usually see in concert shows and bring them to the theatrics of Cirque and ice skating.” Rainville was giving this explanation after a preview of three numbers from Axel at an ice rink in a studio in the east end of Montreal on Wednesday morning. The opening number of Axel is built around the 1982 Tears for Fears hit Mad World, which is sung live by Jayden Sierra, the 22-year-old musician from Sydney, Australia who plays the title character in the show, and he is accompanied by a live band. There are five well-known songs in Axel, including Radiohead’s Creep, Rihanna’s Diamonds, The Bee Gees’ You Should Be Dancing and House of Pain’s Jump. The songs are all arranged and adapted by prolific Québécois musician, composer and producer Philippe Brault. He also composed the original score for Axel. This is the second Cirque ice show following Crystal, which had its première at the Bell Centre in December 2017 and is still touring the world, with shows coming up in Mexico, Russia, Latvia and Poland. In the past, most of the Cirque shows only relied on original music and didn’t feature pop hits, with the exception of the Las Vegas Cirque shows devoted to specific artists like The Beatles and Michael Jackson. But Crystal showcased new versions of popular tunes, notably U2’s Beautiful Day, Beyoncé’s Halo and Sia’s Chandelier. Rainville said it made sense to include some pop hits in Axel. “Well, it’s something of a tradition in all of the ice-skating events,” Rainville said. “Skaters work with popular songs. So you can see any type of ice-skating show, you’ll hear greatest hits, from the Eurythmics to Sting to whatever. So we want people to be familiar with some of our songs … it’s like a hook, to bring people in to something that’s familiar and then take them someplace else. We created new songs that are catchy and we also created moody, very spiritual musical events during the show. So it still feels like a Cirque du Soleil show.” Axel will have its official première at the Bell Centre Dec. 19 and runs at the rink through Dec. 29. Prior to that, it plays in Syracuse, N.Y.; Pensacola, Tampa and Jacksonville, Fla.; Roanoke, Va.; Worcester, Mass.; and at the Centre Vidéotron in Quebec City. It will then tour arenas across North America in 2020, with stops in Detroit, Tulsa, Cincinnati, Kansas City and Nashville. { SOURCE: The Montreal Gazette } ---------------------------------------------------------- American Dream Mall Sets Opening Day Without Cirque {Sep.05.2019} ---------------------------------------------------------- It may be The “American Dream” Mall for a scant few, but for many others it has become a Canadian nightmare; with construction delays, traffic problems and few brands signing up for this 3.6 million sq. ft. of potential calamity in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Things have gotten so bad that even Cirque du Soleil, who started out with a purported contract to have a dedicated year-round live show on stage there, moved the project to just “rumor” and then finished up with a position of “pure speculation”. Suffice to say that Cirque du Soleil is now out and so is the planned dedicated theatre for them at the “American Dream”, which was maybe just a dream to some, and a nightmare to others (all credit to Dir John Boorman) DESPITE PRIOR ANNOUNCEMENTS, NO THEATER AT AMERICAN DREAM What is left at this Canadian conceived/funded/built (that is now a) mall/amusement/ice-rink/waterpark development in New Jersey’s Meadowlands, is a crazy melange of pretty much anything that would bring people through its doors. What is a surprise is that they just don’t pay people to come visit the mall itself, as that could be far cheaper, as the first phase of this project has already cost over $5 billion just to open its doors to the public. The potential white elephant in New Jersey, that has scant few shops and restaurants, has now set an opening day of October 25, 2019, and also intends to open the non-shopping attractions, that includes a water park, amusement park, an indoor ski slope and an ice rink – sans the Cirque du Soleil theatre. “DREAM, SHOP, PLAY AND DONE” IS MISSING “WATCH” The development has already weathered three developers, four designs, a rough recession and one angry NJ governor Chris Christie. The Governor famously called the building the ugliest building in America due to its terrible paintwork on the exterior of the building that abuts the Western Spur of the NJ Turnpike. This project was first conceived in 1994 when the retail landscape was far healthier and shopping malls still made sense. With internet shopping now being the most common way to purchase goods, shopping malls have lost all the momentum that they had back in the 1980’s and early 1990’s, but the American Dream project just steamed ahead. Given the amount of space that the mall was to provide, it seemed only fitting that the Canadian developers would try to get their fellow Canadian company’s into the mix, which is where Cirque du Soleil came in with plans for their first permanent show in the NYC area to be located in the American Dream Theatre. LAST DITCH EFFORT TO REINVENT THE SHOPPING MALL The American Dream mall, is in fact a last-ditch effort by developers to see if they can save the American mall idea, by bringing in flashy non-shopping activities that make the location a destination, rather than a chore. Thus the idea to bring a live performance theatre to the mall provides a cultural aspect never seen before in a shopping mall that has often played to the dingy crowd than than the cultural elites. The complex claims to have partnerships with some big names in the industry like DreamWorks, Coca-Cola, Nickelodeon, Lego and Vice Media, but given its inability to deliver Cirque du Soleil, these are dubious relationships at best. Transportation to the mall could prove to be troublesome as public transport is far from ready and the already crammed New Jersey Turnpike is not going to be able to deliver any more cars due to its overcrowding, especially bad at rush hour. The mall will run private shuttle buses, which will pick up visitors at sites in Manhattan and from local airports, but this may be its Achilles heel in that people may want to go there, but cannot actually get there. There may be better examples of the new-age mall strategy, with a new shining example opening at TSX Broadway, in the heart of Times Square. DOES CIRQUE MISS AN OPPORTUNITY OR DODGE A BULLET? It is no secret that the Cirque du Soleil (CDS) shows struggle to perform in the NYC area. The franchise is incredibly strong in Las Vegas NV, but they cannot seem to break into the NYC market, notwithstanding the many valiant attempts they have already made at various locations around the city over the last few years. The most successful CDS show was at the big top in Battery Park way back in 1995 . Since then Cirque du Soleil has been bounced around to Randall’s Island, Liberty State Park, Roosevelt Island, Madison Square Garden, The Beacon Theatre, Radio City Music Hall and finally the Lyric Theatre, just prior to Harry Potter landing there. If Cirque du Soleil had been able to pull the trigger at the American Dream, it would have been the first time that they have set down a sit-down permanent show in the NYC area and while it would have been a huge financial risk to be there, they really do not have much to lose except maybe some cash, well large amounts of it, because the American Dream financials are no dream, despite their protestations. { SOURCE: New York Show Tickets } ---------------------------------------------------------- At NY Fashion Week, This Hi-Tech Experience Steals Show {Sep.05.2019} ---------------------------------------------------------- In the dynamic world of fashion, technology is increasing its footprint every day. Brands like Rent the Runway, Moda Operandi and Amazon are integrating new tools into their platforms to make customer experiences seamless and enjoyable. Enterprise software provider SAP is also expanding its presence in the fashion industry, as its technology hits the runway for the third time in September, showcasing tech-enabled designs and a newly enhanced interactive runway app at New York Fashion Week (NYFW). This year SAP partnered with Cirque du Soleil, the world leader in art and entertainment, and Fashion-Tech designer and innovator Anouk Wipprecht, to create the first-ever tech-enhanced designs. The designs utilize SAP Qualtrics to capture participant’s inputs and delivers custom-made beverages – cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks – and fragrances to the individual. WATCH A VIDEO DEMONSTRATION: https://youtu.be/BHkUiq9m4Rs Also, the Runway by SAP app will again be incorporated in top-designer Badgley Mischka’s runway show to create new ways for viewers to interact and provide real-time feedback during the shows. With these innovative technology advances and utilizing participant input to drive personalization, SAP is turning big data into a moment of joy in fashion. CIRQUE UNVEILS TECH-ENABLED DESIGNS BASED ON PARTICIPANT’S INPUT These original tech-enabled designs will come to life at NYFW. Together, SAP, Cirque du Soleil and designer Anouk created “Elixir” and “Fragrance” – two designs, each including a dress and a suit, that are centered around audience interactions to create the ultimate customer experience. Here’s how it works: The experience begins when the participant first engages with the design. The participant interacts with the model and design through a tablet on their arm that takes them through a series of questions using the SAP Qualtrics Experience Management (XM) platform. Feedback from the interaction is analyzed and feeds the exact experiential and operational data it needs to pick one of many expertly crafted beverages or fragrances for each guest. After the questions are answered, the design starts to work. All fashionably hidden, through conveyor belts, pumps and capsules secured by 3D-printed harnesses and accessories, the beverage design blends different alcohols, fruit juices and flavors to craft the perfect drink. While the fragrance design combines different scents creating a personalized fragrance with a custom label delivering a world-class product and brand experience for users. The designs not only make the beverages and fragrances quickly, but they are specifically catered to you. The designs know exactly what you need – a lavender-infused drink for when you are stressed, ginger- infused for more energy, or even the perfect fragrance you did not even know existed. How’s that for the ultimate personalized experience? SHOP WITH RUNWAY BY SAP This year, whether you are at the show or watching, you can participate in the runway experience by engaging in real-time with the looks from the Badgley Mischka show on the Runway by SAP app. Simply point your iPhone at the model and the app will identify what they are wearing. You can then dive deeper into the look and “like” or “love” the items, and add them to your wish list. You can share your wish list with BM, and they’ll alert you when items are ready for purchase. The app uses the beacon technology and machine learning algorithms that instantly recognize the looks as they walk the runway. BM has incorporated the app into its show, giving the audience the chance to engage and react to what they like and love, showing the designers the feedback and influencing future designs and buying decisions. It’s a personalized experience for each user. FUTURE OF FASHION AND TECHNOLOGY On the last day of NYFW, SAP will contribute to an “In Conversation” panel, led by Emma Rosenblum, Editor-in-Chief of Bustle Digital Group with guests, Alicia Tillman, Global CMO of SAP, Marcus Wainwright, founder of rag & bone, Diane Quinn, Chief Creative Officer at Cirque du Soleil, and Aaron Duffy, CEO of Specialguest. These thought leaders will discuss the impact of technology and experience in the fashion industry across a wide variety of topics. “We are excited to return to our third New York Fashion Week with a focus on creating more personalized and unique consumer experiences at the intersection of technology and fashion,” said Alicia Tillman, Global CMO of SAP. “Through our tech-enabled fashion designs, created in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil, and our enhanced Runway by SAP app, we wanted to demonstrate how our technology can translate direct feedback and inputs to give designers the feedback they need to create designs that are the most relevant to consumers today.” { SOURCE: Forbes } *************************************************************** Q&A -- Quick Chats & Press Interviews *************************************************************** ---------------------------------------------------------- Talking Makeup With Kazuha Ikeda, Klara the Telegraph {Aug.01.2019} ---------------------------------------------------------- The circus is in town, folks. Cirque du Soleil is back with a spanking new show and cast, Kurios — Cabinet of Curiousities, which distinguishes itself from typical circus fare with a steampunk twist on acrobatic acts, clever contortions, and balancing feats. Performers are outfitted in extravagant, Victorian-era garb while faces are painted in a riot of shapes and colour to complement the elaborate sets and stunts. A striking visage amongst the cast is Klara the Telegraph of the Invisible with her teal-painted lids, bold liner arches, and distinctive gravity-defying hair 'do, also known as the human antennae that receives alpha waves with a turn of her heel. Played by Kazuha Ikeda, the professional dancer doesn't just bring her boogey skills to the table, but her talent with the brush, too. She does her own makeup — a feat made all the more impressive considering Ikeda's minimalist beauty approach on the day-to-day. We take a trip to the Big Top to witness the magic for ourselves and delve deep into the methods and madness behind Klara's powdered mien. Q. How did you become a Cirque Du Soleil performer? I'm from Japan, Tokyo, and it all started when I moved to Los Angeles in 2003. I took a trip down from L.A. to watch my first Cirque show in Vegas, and I remember being so impressed by the whole performance. I've never seen anything like it. As a dancer, I didn't think I'd be able to be a part of it because the show was mainly centered around acrobatics. Then I learned that there were so many other roles within the show, and that you didn't actually have to do acrobatics. That was when I decided to actively pursue getting into the Cirque. I auditioned many, many times before I got the role as Klara in 2017. It was a dream come true. Q. You do your own makeup. Is professional makeup application a mandatory skill at Cirque? No! [Laughs] When you sign with Cirque, you'll be sent to Montreal for training where makeup lessons are provided. Mine was four weeks long. During the training sessions, the designer behind the look teaches you how to do it step-by-step, and I'm given a template guide to refer to until I reach a point where I can do it from memory. Q. How long does it take for you to get your full face done? Now? I'd say it takes up to two hours. It might be because I'm always pausing in between to check my phone, relax... [Laughs] When I'm in a rush, I can get it done in an hour and a half. I used to take three and a half hours when I first started! Q. There are a lot of elements to your look. How do you keep track of them all? It was really easy for me to miss out on certain parts in the beginning. I always used to forget the lines right down my nose. The only way for me to remember was to do it as the first step until it became an ingrained in me. I spent a lot of time trying to work out an order to all these makeup steps so it's easier to remember. Q. How does ensure your makeup stays on throughout your performance? One of the methods Cirque employs is double application. You always apply your makeup first in cream form, then you double back with the same product in powder form, only then you set everything. This prevents you from sweating any makeup off on-stage... It's the technique used for our water show in Las Vegas as well. In those shows, the actors actually jump into a pool and they'll come out of the water looking just as fresh. It's a fool-proof method. We do a two-and-a-half-hour show, sometimes two shows a day, and I only ever really need to touch up my lipstick. Other than that, nothing ever comes off or peels. Q. That sounds like quite a bit of makeup. Does it take a toll on your skin? Nah. But that's probably because I have really strong skin. Q. Klara's makeup might not impact your skin, but does it play an integral role in helping you get in character? Yeah, it definitely helps me get into her frame of mind. The whole process of putting on her makeup takes a while, so I make it a point to come to work early and get it all done. The process calms me down and really allows me to get into her headspace. Q. What would you say is your favourite part of Klara's makeup? The earrings! I draw them in. It's such a small thing, and a lot of people don't notice that I have actual makeup on my ear, but you know... that's the fun of it. Q. How has stage makeup changed your relationship with beauty? I'm terrible when it comes to my personal makeup. [Laughs] Through this job, I feel like I've really learned how the human face works, like I understand how to make my face look more appealing and I feel that it is translating to my makeup in the day-to-day. Slowly. Q. How so? Well, I now know that I should be using more than one type of foundation to make my flat, Asian face pop! [Laughs] They also taught me the exact placement of blush where it is most flattering, like I should be dabbing it right at the apples of my cheeks. It's just all these things where it's like, "Oh, I never knew that!" Q. Do you have any makeup tips for someone doing stage makeup for the first time? A good tip to get these precise lines and details right is to use rulers. A lot of people I know don't use them, but for someone with asymmetrical eyes, it can be a real challenge. Q. What's more challenging — putting on your makeup, or taking it off? Oh, definitely putting on my makeup! Taking off my makeup is really easy. It takes all of fifteen seconds, because I use a really good oil cleanser. Putting it on is a lot more challenging, but I also like to use the time to meditate and really get into Klara's mindset for the show. I love it. { SOURCE: Buro } ---------------------------------------------------------- Jerónimo García, the Yucatecan who triumphs in JOYA {Aug.04.2019} ---------------------------------------------------------- {Translated from the original Spanish using Google Translate} “When the opportunity meets the preparation is something that many people call luck”, this is how the history of the only Yucatecan artist of the Cirque du Soleil JOYÀ is summarized. Consistency, determination and focus, those are the words that describe Jerónimo García Cabral; a Yucatecan who turned his life into the dream of many others. In 2002, he positioned himself as one of the first Mexicans to join Cirque du Soleil and is currently part of JOYÀ; a magical and truly unique theater experience that is about to be five years old as a resident in the Riviera Maya. Cirque du Soleil JOYÀ has more than 40 artists on stage being part of a multisensory show. All of multiple nationalities with great talents and among them is Jerónimo, who performs impressive acts on stage. Jerónimo García is a person who radiates energy and charisma but above all he is aware that dreams are possible if you have the perseverance and discipline to achieve them. He began his career as a gymnast from a young age and gradually went into the show business. “My mother always joked that she wanted to escape with the circus, I think she was the one who put that little seed,” he talks in an interview. “As a kid there was no Cirque du Soleil yet, I fantasized about being an astronaut or flying, I wanted to be in the air and move.” It was in the late 90s, when he discovered the circus company and for him the people who work there were like “aliens.” “I thought wow! How can they do that, I want to do it. There began my passion and I was 25 years old when I started to dream it ”. THE AUDITION, A GREAT EXPERIENCE A moment in which he says “I leave my soul there” and gave everything I had to give. “I heard that for the first time the tent of Cirque du Soleil would be in Mexico, I knew they would audition and I put together a demo with everything I had, but nobody told me that the auditions would be for vendors and setters not for artists,” reveals the Yucatecan . It was so that he literally “slipped in” with a blacksmith who would carry materials and entered the circus office to deliver a VHS cassette with his videos. “I created my opportunity and two weeks later they called me on the phone, they wanted to audition me,” he says. When the day came to test his talent, he focused and for 11 hours showed why he had to be at Cirque du Soleil. “It was an incredible audition, when I left there I didn’t even know what was going to happen but I felt it as the best experience of my life at an artistic level,” he says. The next thing was to do a training in Montreal, where the company was born in 2002 He gave him his first contract with “Zumanity” in Las Vegas , in which he “did everything” and achieved 6,000 performances over the next six years. Jerónimo’s career continued through Europe by performing a cruise show that took him five times to cross the Atlantic and meet the love of his life: his now wife Jessica Ritchie , with whom he performs one of his acts at the Cirque du Soleil JOYÀ , which was created entirely by them. But getting to this moment in his life was not easy, Jerónimo is a completely self-taught artist because of what he learned by trial and error, facing all obstacles and challenges with consistency and passion for what he does. “Yes I have had people who advise me, but 98% of what I do and have done in the characters comes from my mind.” Find out, fall, hurt, try again and criticize myself; when I started there was no one to copy or learn on YouTube,” he explains. FITNESS PROFESSIONAL Jerónimo has been working professionally with his body for 27 years and recently finished his twelfth certification as an international professional trainer in Fitness. What has led him to know himself very well and above all to know how the body works. “The only thing you need is to be very critical of yourself, to a certain extent obsessive because although it never reaches perfection there is always a process of improvement.” Although everyone could imagine that being an artist in the most important circus company worldwide implies a very rigorous work on and off the stage, Jerónimo says that over the years discipline has become his way of life. “I have created the habit of staying healthy and I no longer see it as a sacrifice. On weekends you can see me like any neighbor’s son but I can also be strict in my diet and exercises when I have to be. Now by instinct my body chooses everything healthy but it was not something I was born with and that is what I try to share with people; if you can and it takes your effort but once you create a habit it is not as difficult as it seems.” That is why their main message is that they remain active and curious. “They smile a lot and remember that small positive and well focused actions will change their lives.” When he managed to be part of the company, it was a goal he celebrated internally, but it is until now, 16 years later, when he feels “the best part” of his life. “When I started there was nothing to brag about, my job was just going uphill.” AT THE SUMMIT Today he knows that he is physically doing things better than when he entered and was 28 years old. “I feel fuller now that I have my son Arian and Jessica in my life.” And although he is 45 years old, for him it is only a figure. “At this point I am supposed to be retired but the truth is I still have enough energy, I feel very well physically,” he said. DREAM ACHIEVABLE For those who share the dream of one day being part of Cirque du Soleil, Jerome confesses that “there are no secrets” to achieve it. “Yes you can, but it is not a flown or a lottery ticket; They have to be very clear about their goals and at least have a plan on how to follow them. Every decision we make every day can lead us to a different direction and have a tremendously positive or negative result in our goals. ” It also explains that you have to know very well what you want, how much time you will spend, be realistic and know the limitations of yourself. “You have to be really alert and know what to do to become the person you want to be,” he adds. Currently, the circus is such a large company that there are many opportunities to integrate, whether as a dancer, singer, acrobat, choreographer, costumer, stage director, musician, etc. “If there are possibilities on a larger scale but the formula does not change, a lot of consistency and focus is needed. You have to think it, feel it and put the maximum amount of action to make it happen; you’re going to stumble all the time but you can’t stop seeing the compass to know where you’re going and not stop until you get your dreams. On the road to success you will stumble all the time, but you cannot stop seeing the compass to know where you are going, and not stop until you get it.” GREAT SATISFACTIONS The greatest satisfactions that his profession has left him are to be able to share many hours a day with his family and the privilege of doing what he loves most. “I really don’t feel this is a job. I love my time in the theater, being in JOYÀ is like my hobby. When I am there I disconnect from everything and I dedicate myself to what I like.” In addition, he is grateful to be able to inspire people and make a difference in their lives with just a look or a smile and being an example not only when he is on stage. “I want to raise fitness awareness through these 27 years of experience and help people a little.” That is why he is developing a Health & Fitness system , of which he already has 60 exercise routines, which he applies in his daily life. “I like to try everything, when I see a new technique I try it and that is the way I have stayed fresh and away from injuries in general. Everything has been prevention, recovery, awareness of how I train and technique, ”he says. MERIDA, IN YOUR HEART The strangest thing about Mérida is to share with her friends and her mother, although thanks to her closeness she is often followed. “I have many memories in Merida, that’s where the whole dream began. It is a city that I have deep in my heart and I go whenever I can. ” The memories he has most in mind are when he was transporting throughout the city on skates and took advantage of the defenses of the trucks to gain momentum. “I always went to Salvador Alvarado Stadium , hid the skates in the bushes and started running there.” Something he doesn’t have in the Riviera Maya is the Yucatecan food he loves so much. “The second best food on the planet is Mexican, the best is Yucatecan. That variety and combinations do not exist elsewhere; Where is my pout , my potage? I can’t have it here; I love to eat it but I have no patience to prepare it ”. He confesses addicted to knowledge, reading, learning, fitness and being very happy with his family. It is not one of the people who spends all day watching television or on Facebook but likes to be doing different activities with his wife and son as well as resting when the body needs it, as his priority is to be well for each show. “I am really an ordinary person but very energetic.” For Jerónimo, each one of his experiences with Cirque du Soleil has been like “the chapter of a book”, a story that he summarizes as very “picturesque”, which he has written from time to time and which still has many pages left. fill in. THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING His taste for gymnastics led him to be an artist. Inspired by the movie “Rocky 4” and with the aim of defending a friend who was bullied, Jerónimo García discovered his passion for the exercise. At age 14 he ran his first marathon and began his career as a gymnast in 1989 and shortly thereafter had his first state competition. When his mother discovered that he had potential, he trained him to train during a vacation with the Mexican Olympic Committee and, after that first approach, decided to stay and live in Mexico. “At that age I didn’t know who to stay with or how to do it but I always had the support of my parents for this adventure.” After problems between his coach and the Olympic Committee, Jerónimo returned to Mérida a short season but finally decided to return to Mexico in a final attempt. It was in 1993 when he started working extra on Televisa “to survive”. “I started in the show doing everything, musical comedy, children’s theater, novels, musical comedies, television commercials, circus stuff and even in bad death clubs.” After participating in different musicals, such as “Marcelino pan y vino” and “Muchachos de Nueva York” , he attended a casting for “Astral Express” , where he began to skate as a professional. The love for skating is something he had since childhood when he used the skates as his means of transport. Even after meeting Jessica when it occurred to her to create a couple act on roller skates. She did not know how to skate but during a vacation in Merida she taught him in the park of the German colony and from there every day they trained to achieve a solid show that led them to have one contract after another. IT WAS HIS DESTINY Upon learning that Cirque du Soleil would create JOYÀ as a resident show in the Riviera Maya, Jerónimo decided to speak to Montreal to ask for an opportunity, however they told him that it was not possible because the cast was complete. Almost a year later, he went to a company party where he met the artistic director of JOYÀ , who told him that he was looking for him to supply one of the artists for ten days. “I had seen the JOYÀ show two weeks before and the incredible thing is that I told Jessica that in the act of the paratroopers we could perfectly be with our skates.” That same night, they climbed their skating table to the van, slept just four hours and went to the Riviera Maya to do the lighting and costume tests; The next day they were already part of the show. “That is the magic of JOYÀ . That week became one more and then they offered us the one-year contract. ” Now the show has more than 1,500 presentations and has established itself as one of the most important in the company thanks to the magic and talent of each of its artists. If you want to know more about Jerónimo you can follow him on his social networks: IG: @trainwithjeronimo YouTube: Train With Jerónimo FB: trainwithjeronimo { SOURCE: Diario de Yucatàn } ---------------------------------------------------------- ICYMI - Meet Geert Chatrou, Corteo's Whistler {Aug.09.2019} ---------------------------------------------------------- I started whistling when I was about four years old. We lived in the Eindhoven area of the Netherlands, and my dad whistled all the time. It was impossible for him to whistle out of tune. He whistled a lot of Bach, but also the Beatles. We whistled TV theme tunes together – him whistling one note, and me the next. I immediately produced a nice tone. Within a few years, I was better than he was. By 2003, when I was 34, I was working as a psychiatric nurse, and had three young kids. That year we had a big Christmas dinner for the family, and I remember whistling along to cheesy tunes like Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer. My sister-in-law asked me to stop several times. At one point, I said: “If there was a competition, I would enter.” Two weeks later, I received a text from her: “Geert, you’re going to America. I’ve just entered you for the World Whistling Championships.” The auditorium was in a high school in Louisburg, North Carolina. Everything was overwhelming. There were about 30 contestants – some terrible, some very good. Some people were really, really competitive. It lasted two days – and I won. The prize was a big trophy covered with American flags and eagles. I had to go through customs with three trophies: one for classical, one for popular and one for grand champion. After that, I started receiving my first invitations to do concerts – mostly classical, accompanied by symphony orchestras, string quartets or, sometimes, just a piano. I was aware that I was the odd one out on the line-ups, and I had yet to turn professional. Then in 2007, I was asked to whistle in a big church in Leiden by an entertainment company. I knew it would be special – the queen of the Netherlands, Queen Beatrix, would be there. Normally at a concert there is a little security, but this was another level, with sniffer dogs. A lot of the performers, who included musicians and ballet dancers, were pretty nervous. When the queen came in, a weird frisson went through the audience. I whistled Czardas by Vittorio Monti; it’s a virtuoso violin piece that starts dramatically, then gets faster and faster; in the third part there are some really high notes. There was a circus performer in a feathered bird costume, hidden in the church ceiling. When I started my second piece, In A Sentimental Mood by Duke Ellington, she descended on a hoop and landed on the grand piano. Then I helped my “bird” down. The queen was very appreciative: it was a special moment. I’m not a big royalist, but I saw what she means to a lot of people. Now, I’m a professional whistler. I made the transition last summer; I had been working with homeless people, and felt close to burnout. Then Cirque du Soleil emailed me to say they were looking for a whistler. I went to Montreal to audition and they hired me in October; I’m travelling with them at the moment. I open the Corteo show as the ringmaster. At one point I whistle Twinkle Twinkle Little Star as beautifully as I can. Then I go into a duet with the violinist, backed by an orchestra. I do between 75 and 100 concerts a year and earn twice as much as I did as a nurse. I also run whistling workshops. I practise all day, but it’s hard for me not to whistle. I like to whistle recorder concertos by Vivaldi, but also jazz or blues. I love to improvise. The whistling community is getting bigger and bigger, and we often meet each other at tournaments. I’ve judged the past two World Whistling Championships. There’s a Japanese whistler, Akiko Shibata, who I think is brilliant. She’s one of my favourite whistlers right now. If people want to get into whistling, and they can afford it, they should go to the championships. There are also videos on the internet that can give you a feel for the quality of some of the top whistlers. The best advice is to keep it joyful. It’s unbelievable that I get to see the world just because I can whistle well. It’s really silly. But the key is not to take it too seriously. { SOURCE: The Guardian } ---------------------------------------------------------- The Toronto Star with Elena Lev {Aug.21.2019} ---------------------------------------------------------- For the first time in its history, Cirque du Soleil is bringing one of its shows out of retirement. Alegria is a beloved Cirque title: when it closed in 2013, it had been running for almost 20 years and had been seen by more than 14 million spectators worldwide. With its baroque, fanciful costumes, elemental story about a generational struggle between an old and a new order, and lush score by the famed composer René Dupéré, Alegria (the word is Spanish for “joy”) helped define the classic Cirque esthetic. Rather than just bringing the show back, Cirque decided to update it: “We looked at the costumes, the music, the acrobatic decisions and gave them a modern twist. Either artistically or acrobatically, we’re pushing them further,” says the show’s senior publicist, Francis Jalbert. “It’s almost like discovering the show from a new angle.” Having premiered in Montreal in April, Alegria: In a New Light is setting up camp under the signature blue and yellow big top at Ontario Place from mid-September through Dec. 1. Few people are better positioned to talk about the show’s significance and how it’s changed than Elena Lev, one of only two original cast members who is also in the remount. Twelve years old when the show premiered, Lev is now 37 and is performing a version of her original act, which combines hula hoop, contortion, dance and hand balancing. Much like the show itself, the act is a combination of old and new. In the years since Alegria premiered, says Lev, “I grew up from a little girl to a teenager, to a woman, to a mother, and whatever I present personally onstage today is so different. All the emotions, all the feelings, all the movements. It was a good step of renewing the things, keeping some of the original, but at the same time bringing something new and giving people a new way, a new look at Alegria.” She was raised in a circus family in Moscow; the whole family moved to Montreal when her father was recruited to participate in the creation of Alegria (his high bar act is in the remount, but he’s not himself performing). An offer for Lev to appear in the show came not long afterwards. As do her parents, Lev now calls Las Vegas home. Lev toured with Alegria for eight years and completed her high school degree at the same time: there were a number of young people in the show and Cirque provided their schooling (it’s a sign of changing times and societal expectations that Cirque no longer allows performers younger than 18 in its productions). Lev has kept on performing; she’s been in a total of six Cirque productions, most recently Zumanity, which is a permanent show in Vegas rather than a touring one. This suited her lifestyle as she raised her daughter, who is now 14. She also completed a college degree in food and beverage management. “That’s for later, for the future,” she says, because for the present, Alegria is somewhat unexpectedly back in her life. Last year, she and some other original cast members helped organize a reunion party for Alegria in Vegas, which ended up involving some 140 people from around the world. “While we were doing that, we heard a rumour that the show might be coming back,” she says. She performed her Alegria act at the party and, soon after, Cirque producers asked her if she would like to be in the remount. Taking up the offer took some thought, says Lev. “It was a challenge and a process.” Destabilizing her home life was a concern. And there was the whole question of extending her performing life: “Do I quit? Do I continue? The body’s going through this change as well in your mid-30s. A lot went through my head but, at the same time, there was always something telling me I’m not done. I’m not finished, and I want to go back and travel because that’s been my life for a long time.” In the end, “I couldn’t say no.” Performing with Cirque “made my life who I am today. Lots of memories, lots of stories and a big chapter of my life. It created a full circle. A chance for me to go back and kind of relive … but in a new way, in a new chapter. Share it with my daughter and touch the fans, hopefully, again. And people that want to see it or haven’t seen it. So here I am.” { SOURCE: Toronto Star } ---------------------------------------------------------- Q&A w/MJ ONE’s Sam Frahn {Aug.23.2019} ---------------------------------------------------------- You won’t be able to take your eyes off Sam Frahn, one of the warrior- dancers in Cirque du Soleil’s Michael Jackson ONE at Mandalay Bay and a natural-born entertainer loaded with charisma and personality. Originally from Tampa, Fla., Frahn has paved her own path by creating a unique and personal style of dance influenced by jazz and hip-hop styles. “I love the culture of hip-hop but what I do is not necessarily breakdancing,” she says. “I’m kind of a variety piece of all the things that I love, and I like being a girl that can hang with the guys. If somebody is hitting hard, I’m going to hit hard, too.” Q. How long have you been performing in Michael Jackson ONE? It will be three years in January. I still feel new. There’s so much to learn and so many people who have been doing it for so long. Q. Have you been dancing all your life? Since I was six. When you get to high school you start to think, “What am I going to do to make money?” And my parents were (saying), “It’s not going to be dancing.” I used to want to be a dentist, but I started studying and found out I wasn’t passionate about it. There was a dance crew in college called Ruckus and within that group I started to realize what was possible. The people doing it professionally, their skills and ability to achieve, I realized I wasn’t too far from that. So my parents made sure I got my degree and then I moved to Vegas. Q. Your first breakthrough was with a Jennifer Lopez performance in Florida. Did you get to see J. Lo’s residency show in Las Vegas? Oh yeah. That’s something so cool about Vegas right now, the residencies that are happening and bringing in all these dancers from L.A. who are very gifted. And they want to party it up while they’re in Vegas, and we go to the same clubs to hang out. A place like On the Record (at Park MGM), it’s doing a lot of stuff with dance battles and bringing the street scene into the club, so that’s the spot. You go there and you get to see a free show, all these people throwing down and having fun. Q. How do you describe your role in the show? The character I play is an MJ warrior. We are Michael’s army, his hand-selected crew of people to represent him in this world and to defend everything that is good. We help these kids who don’t realize they are heroes to see that within themselves. Our job is to send his message to them and to the audience that everything you need is within you already, you just have to hone your strengths and believe in them. Q. There’s a lot more to your performance than just performing classic Michael Jackson moves, but it must be exciting to hit those parts of the show every night. It’s what every dance kid dreams of. You watch these iconic performances and your eyes are glued to the screen and you think, “I wish I could learn those moves.” So to learn them with people who worked closely with Michael—it’s something else. Q. Do you have favorite parts of the show? I have different favorites for different reasons. My favorite number to be in would be “Smooth Criminal,” because that’s super-iconic choreography and the lean is so fun. It’s the coolest thing you get to do as a dancer and they did a phenomenal job of creating something so visually stimulating. When it comes to watching the show, I love “Billie Jean” for all the lights and because it’s my favorite MJ song. But for sentimental reasons, there’s a number called “Smile” that has one of the heroes coming into her own, and that resonates with me. It goes back to my mom and dad saying there’s no money in being a dancer and doubting what’s possible, limiting your potential. That hero goes through the same thing, then she puts the hat on and realizes everything she’s capable of. { SOURCE: Las Vegas Magazine } ======================================================================= ITINÉRAIRE -- TOUR/SHOW INFORMATION ======================================================================= o) BIGTOP - Under the Grand Chapiteau {Alegria, Amaluna, Koozå, Kurios, Luzia, Totem, Volta & Bazzar} o) ARENA - In Stadium-like venues {OVO, Crystal, Corteo, Messi10, AXEL} o) RESIDENT - Performed en Le Théâtre {Mystère, "O", Zumanity, KÀ, LOVE, MJ ONE, JOYA, Paramour, X: The Land of Fantasy, and R.U.N} NOTE: .) While we make every effort to provide complete and accurate touring dates and locations available, the information in this section is subject to change without notice. As such, the Fascination! Newsletter does not accept responsibility for the accuracy of these listings. For current, up-to-the-moment information on Cirque's whereabouts, please visit Cirque's website: < http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/ >, or for a more comprehensive tour listing, visit our Itinéraire section online at: < http://www.cirquefascination.com/?page_id=6898 >. ------------------------------------ BIGTOP - Under the Grand Chapiteau ------------------------------------ Alegría-25th Anniversary: Toronto, ON -- Sep 12, 2019 to Nov 24, 2019 Miami, FL -- Dec 13, 2020 to Jan 26 2020 Houston, TX -- Feb 21, 2020 to Apr 5, 2020 Austin, TX -- Apr 15, 2020 to May 17, 2020 Chicago, IL -- Jun 3, 2020 to Jul 12, 2020 Washington, DC -- Jul 23, 2020 to Sep 27, 2020 Vancouver, BC -- Oct 15, 2020 to Jan 10, 2021 Amaluna: Winnipeg, MB -- Sep 14, 2019 to Oct 20, 2019 San Francisco, CA -- Nov 19, 2019 to Jan 12, 2020 Sacramento, CA -- Jan 22, 2020 - Feb 16, 2020 Bazzar: Cairo, EG -- Sep 19, 2019 to Oct 6, 2019 Koozå: Malaga, ES -- Sep 13, 2019 to Oct 13, 2019 Madrid, ES -- Oct 24, 2019 to Dec 22, 2019 Seville, ES -- Jan 15, 2020 to Feb 9, 2020 Tel Aviv, IL -- Jun 4, 2020 to Jun 30, 2020 Kurios: Sydney, AU -- Oct 2, 2019 to Nov 24, 2019 Brisbane, AU -- Jan 10, 2020 to Feb 9, 2020 Melbourne, AU -- Mar 12, 2020 to Apr 13, 2020 Adelaide, AU -- May 29, 2020 to Jun 7, 2020 Perth, AU -- TBA Luzia: Calgary, AB -- Aug 16, 2019 to Sep 22, 2019 Vancouver, BC -- Oct 3, 2019 to Dec 15, 2019 London, UK -- Jan 12, 2020 to Feb 16, 2020 Moscow, RU -- Mar 19, 2020 to Apr 12, 2020 Totem: Gran Canaria, ES -- Jul 5, 2019 to Sep 22, 2019 The Hague, NL -- Oct 11, 2019 to Dec 1, 2019 Düsseldorf, DE -- Dec 19, 2019 to Jan 26, 2020 Munich, DE -- Feb 12, 2020 to Mar 8, 2020 Rome, IT -- Apr 1, 2020 to Apr 19, 2020 VOLTA: Washington, DC -- Jul 25, 2019 to Sep 29, 2019 Atlanta, GA -- Oct 10, 2019 to Jan 5, 2020 Los Angeles, CA -- Jan 18, 2020 to Mar 8, 2020 Costa Mesa, CA -- Mar 18, 2020 - Apr 19, 2020 ------------------------------------ ARENA - In Stadium-Like Venues ------------------------------------ OVO: Medellin, CO -- Oct 09, 2019 to Oct 26, 2019 CRYSTAL - A BREAKTHROUGH ICE EXPERIENCE: Monterrey, MX -- Sep 19, 2019 to Sep 22, 2019 Guadalajara, MX -- Sep 25, 2019 to Sep 29, 2019 Mexico City, MX -- Oct 4, 2019 to Oct 13, 2019 Moscow, RU -- Nov 22, 2019 to Dec 8, 2019 Saint Petersburg, RU -- Dec 11, 2019 to Dec 15, 2019 Kazan, RU -- Dec 19, 2019 to Dec 22, 2019 Ufa, RU -- Dec 25, 2019 to Dec 29, 2019 Ekaterinburg, RU -- Jan 1, 2020 to Jan 5, 2020 Riga, LV -- Jan 15, 2020 to Jan 19, 2020 Krakow, PL -- Jan 23, 2020 to Jan 26, 2020 Gdansk, PL -- Jan 30, 2020 to Feb 2, 2020 Minsk, BY -- Feb 6, 2020 to Feb 9, 2020 Kiev, UA -- Feb 13, 2020 to Feb 16, 2020 CORTEO: Turin, IT -- Sep 26, 2019 to Sep 29, 2019 Milan, IT -- Oct 2, 2019 to Oct 6, 2019 Bologna, IT -- Oct 9, 2019 to Oct 13, 2019 Pesario, IT -- Oct 17, 2019 to Oct 20, 2019 Leipzig, DE -- Oct 23, 2019 to Oct 27, 2019 Frankfurt, DE -- Oct 30, 2019 to Nov 3, 2019 Nuremberg, DE -- Nov 6, 2019 to Nov 10, 2019 Graz, AT -- Nov 13, 2019 to Nov 17, 2019 Brussels, BE -- Nov 21, 2019 to Nov 24, 2019 Paris, FR -- Dec 12, 2019 to Dec 15, 2019 Stuttgart, DE -- Dec 18, 2019 to Dec 22, 2019 Mannheim, DE -- Dec 25, 2019 to Dec 29, 2019 Lisbon, PT -- Jan 3, 2020 to Jan 12, 2020 Granada, ES -- Jan 15, 2020 to Jan 19, 2020 Zargoza, ES -- Jan 22, 2020 to Jan 26, 2020 Vitoria-Gasteiz, ES -- Jan 29, 2020 to Feb 2, 2020 Santiago de Compostela, ES -- Feb 5, 2020 to Feb 9, 2020 Santander, ES -- Feb 12, 2020 to Feb 16, 2020 Antwerp, BE -- Mar 13, 2020 to Mar 22, 2020 Vienna, AT -- Mar 25, 2020 to Mar 29, 2020 Montpellier, FR -- Apr 2, 2020 to Apr 5, 2020 Aix-en-Provence, FR -- Apr 8, 2020 to Apr 12, 2020 Lille, FR -- Apr 16, 2020 to Apr 19, 2020 Nice, FR -- Aug 20, 2020 to Aug 22, 2020 AXEL: Cornwall, ON -- Oct 4, 2019 to Oct 5, 2019 Syracuse, NY -- Oct 11, 2019 to Oct 13, 2019 Huntsville, AL -- Oct 18, 2019 to Oct 20, 2019 Pensacola, FL -- Oct 24, 2019 to Oct 27, 2019 Tampa, FL -- Oct 31, 2019 – Nov 3, 2019 Jacksonville, FL -- Nov 7, 2019 to Nov 10, 2019 Roanoke, VA -- Nov 14, 2019 to Nov 17, 2019 Worcester, MA -- Dec 5, 2019 to Dec 8, 2019 Quebec City, QC -- Dec 12, 2019 to Dec 15, 2019 Montreal, QC -- Dec 19, 2019 to Dec 29, 2019 Detroit, MI -- Jan 2, 2020 to Jan 5, 2020 Milwaukee, WI -- Jan 9, 2020 to Jan 12, 2020 Tulsa, OK -- Jan 16, 2020 to Jan 19, 2020 Cincinnati, OH -- Jan 23, 2020 to Jan 26, 2020 Kansas City, MO -- Jan 30, 2020 to Feb 2, 2020 Nashville, TN -- Feb 6, 2020 to Feb 9, 2020 Greeneville, SC -- Feb 13, 2020 to Feb 16, 2020 Messi10: Barcelona, ES -- Oct 10, 2019 to Nov 10, 2019 Buenos Aires, AR -- Jun 11, 2020 to Jul 5, 2020 'Twas The Night Before Chicago, IL -- Nov 29, 2019 - Dec 8, 2019 New York, NY -- Dec 11, 2019 - Dec 29, 2019 --------------------------------- RESIDENT - en Le Théâtre --------------------------------- Mystère: Location: Treasure Island, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Saturday through Wednesday, Dark: Thursday/Friday Two shows Nightly - 7:00pm & 9:30pm *) 2019 Dark Dates: o) August 20 thru 21, 2019 o) September 21 thru 25, 2019 "O": Location: Bellagio, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Wednesday through Sunday, Dark: Monday/Tuesday NOTE: Starting January 2020, "O" performs 7 Days a Week Two shows Nightly - 7:30pm and 9:30pm *) Single Show Dates | 7:00 pm Only o) Tuesday, Nov 5, 2019 *) 2019 Dark Dates: o) 9:30 PM Performance of November 7 Zumanity: Location: New York-New York, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Friday through Tuesday, Dark Wednesday/Thursday Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm KÀ: Location: MGM Grand, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Saturday through Wednesday, Dark Thursday/Friday Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm LOVE: Location: Mirage, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Tuesday through Saturday, Dark: Sunday/Monday Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm MICHAEL JACKSON ONE: Location: Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Thursday through Monday - Dark: Tuesday/Wednesday Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm JOYÀ: Location: Riviera Maya, Mexico Performs: Tuesday through Saturday, Dark: Sunday/Monday One/Two Shows Nightly: 9:00pm (Weekdays) 7:00pm & 10:15pm (Fri, Sat & Holidays) PARAMOUR: Location: Stage Theater New Flora | Hamburg, Germany Performs: One/Two Shows Nightly... o) Monday: Dark o) Tuesday: 6:30pm o) Wednesday: 6:30pm o) Thursday: 8:00pm o) Friday: 8:00pm o) Saturday: 3:30pm & 8:00pm o) Sunday: 2:30pm & 7:00pm X: THE LAND OF FANTASY Location: Hangzhou, China R.U.N: Location: Luxor Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Wednesday through Sunday - Dark: Monday/Tuesday Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm SHOWS BEGIN OCTOBER 24, 2019 ======================================================================= OUTREACH - UPDATES FROM CIRQUE's SOCIAL WIDGETS ======================================================================= o) WEBSERIES -- Official Online Featurettes o) VIDEOS -- Official Peeks & Noted Fan Finds --------------------------------------------------- WEBSERIES: Official Online Featurettes --------------------------------------------------- *) TEST R.U.N Prepare for a live experience, unlike anything you’ve ever seen from Cirque du Soleil! R.U.N is a live-action thriller jam-packed with stunts and chases that’ll leave you on the edge of your seat. o) EPISODE 1: "PLAYING WITH FIRE" LINK /// https://youtu.be/4wBqllx0BDw --------------------------------------------------- VIDEOS: Official Peeks & Noted Fan Finds --------------------------------------------------- o) MEET THE ARTISTS! Behind the Scenes at... o) Music Videos for... - KÀ | "The Deep": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcPKLaa-EmY - ALEGRIA | "Alegria (Encore)": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSwgpfMT0dE - VOLTA | "The Change": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIo7oeeM7IQ - "O" | "Simcha": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8Jn06_0b7s - TOTEM | "Koumaya": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b18J9W_Li8 o) Makeup Tutorials - Creating Stage Makeup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ0VsO5pwTk - TOTEM | "The Frog": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6n2baZOwck - OVO | "The Foreigner": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PXj4CXoFoo o) Videos About R.U.N - What it's like to Train: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJX0L7PsMbY - How a Martial Artist Became The Hero at Cirque https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B_QF3r7pys - Meet "The Groom" from R.U.N https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R5SWjGK6mE - Meet "The Hero" from R.U.N https://www.facebook.com/runtheshow/videos/2362114574027211/ - Meet "The Professional" from R.U.N https://www.facebook.com/runtheshow/videos/373610416650724/ - Dangerous Live Stunts Performed on Stage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoJSWsXVnPg o) AXEL Shows Off His Singing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UoHbjiBQUo o) Behind the Scenes at Alegria https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YExXpa5vk0A o) The Beauty of Cirque du Soleil on ICE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrPtBIwYyM4 o) The Challenges of a Cirque du Soleil Audition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ3fg0WLrsA o) The Challenges of Creating CRYSTAL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ihFD2NwwCI o) A Choreographers' Showcase Presents "Before the Stage Episode 1: Caine Keenan" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf3duaN-K5U o) What it Takes to Be a Contortionist for Cirque https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWJnbpK81PI o) CRYSTAL: When Hockey Players Meet Extreme Skaters https://www.facebook.com/sjseadogs/videos/364162404508702/ o) CRYSTAL: Meet Musician Brad Reid https://www.facebook.com/CrystalbyCirqueduSoleil/videos/1110722419121147/ o) KURIOS: Behind the Scenes in Singapore https://youtu.be/682bs2f6kfg o) VOLTA: Behind the scenes with unicyclist Philippe Bélanger https://www.facebook.com/usatoday/videos/498897494219407/ o) MESSI10: 10 Seconds of Training https://www.facebook.com/CirqueduSoleil/videos/842650539469133/ ======================================================================= FASCINATION! FEATURES ======================================================================= o) "The Show Must Go On! Inside Guy Laliberté's Plan To Create Another Entertainment Phenomenon" By: Madeline Berg, for FORBES Magazine o) Jean David's Quel Cirque, Part 9: "A Little Farther West" A Special Series Celebrating Cirque's 35th Anniversary ------------------------------------------------------------ "The Show Must Go On! Inside Guy Laliberté's Plan To Create Another Entertainment Phenomenon" By: Madeline Berg, for FORBES Magazine ------------------------------------------------------------ Guy Laliberté stands on a dock at the old port of Montreal and surveys the skyline. This is the city of a hundred steeples, as well as the 20-story La Grande Roue de Montréal Ferris wheel and the 90-year-old Jacques Cartier Bridge, its cantilevers a bright aqua blue. Up above is Mount Royal, the hill topped with a 100-foot steel cross. To his right, a blue-and-white-striped circus tent. “My first baby,” says Laliberté, pointing to the big top, where Cirque du Soleil performs. A black beanie is pulled over his head, a pair of ripped jeans hang on his hips. Laliberté turns to the left, where an 81-foot-tall gleaming white pyramid stands. “My new baby,” says Laliberté, 59. The pharaonic structure, formally known as PYI, spans 15,000 square feet, cost $30 million and is now home to Laliberté’s new acts. During the day it hosts “Through the Echoes,” an immersive light and sound show. It’s as trippy as it seems—and it only gets more so at night, when DJs arrive to spin into the early hours of the morning, presenting themed sets like “Candy World,” “Astral Plane” and “Sci- Matic.” Attendees to these events are encouraged to incorporate the evening’s theme into their attire. In “Candy World,” for example, partiers dress in shades of fluorescent pastels, creating visions of acid-laced sugar plum fairies. “Be cute, be evil, be twisted,” the event’s advertising tagline instructs. “Be anything you’d like—just don’t be shy about it.” This is Laliberté unleashed and uninhibited once again. Decades ago, he poured those impulses into Cirque du Soleil, creating one of the most profitable and famous pieces of performance art of the last century. Most recently, it has become a franchise. There is Cirque, the Michael Jackson version. Cirque meets Messi. Cirque does the Beatles. Cirque goes underwater. It was all very lucrative—and, after a while, replicative with a predictability bordering on boring. The Billionaire Behind Cirque Du Soleil Debuts Montreal’s PY1 Pyramid Laliberté wanted to do something else, so in 2015, he sold off most of Cirque—walking away with $1.5 billion to put into new endeavors. Some of that went to more real estate, a family office, some startup investing and art purchases, too. And then, two years ago, he launched Lune Rouge Entertainment, the corporate parent company of the pyramid and the psychedelic shows within it. Lune Rouge is not where most of the proceeds from Cirque's sale went—he has probably sunk about $100 million into it between constructing the pyramid and developing the live entertainment—but it’s certainly the most visible part of his second act. And given how Cirque turned out, it could very well turn out to be more valuable than anything he has done since Cirque. “He’s a winner. His name is associated with winning. You know it will work,” says Yves Lalumière, CEO of the Tourisme Montréal. “People will want to follow him without even knowing where he is going—you know he will deliver.” What’s happening in Montreal is only the beginning. The pyramid opened there in June and will close in September. It will be taken down and moved to Miami this fall and then possibly to New York. Laliberté is not shy about his ambitions. “A pyramid,” he says, “in every city.” Laliberté sees himself as made up of two halves: performer and capitalist. The fusion of those two occurred long ago. “I grew up in this type of very balanced world of business and creativity. My mom was very, very creative, eccentric. And my father was a PR guy, a wheeler-dealer,” he says from the red leather driver’s seat of his Range Rover as he maneuvers through downtown Montreal. “I really believe that one gift my life have given me is this fifty-fifty creative-business brain.” In 1978, he dropped out of college to become a busker, playing an accordion he’d found in his father’s closet.?He left his hometown the next year and hitchhiked through Europe. There he perfected his craft, learning skills like stilt-walking and fire-breathing. A few years later he returned home and joined a professional troupe called Les Échassiers—“stilt-walkers” in French—in Baie-Saint-Paul, a Canadian town off the St. Lawrence River. Still partly the kid who sold baseball cards in his schoolyard at age 5, he became one of the group’s leaders, organizing shows and raising money. Les Échassiers hit it big in 1987 when Quebec offered the group $1 million to create a circus-themed traveling performance for the 450th anniversary of Canada’s discovery. “We had every problem starting a big top could have,” Laliberté told Forbes in 2004. “The tent fell down the first day. We had problems getting people into the shows. It was only with the courage and arrogance of youth that we survived.” But they ended up turning a $40,000 profit and soon streamlined the performance. With the help of government grants and loans, the show added fanciful costumes, gravity-defying acrobats and emotional music. Cirque du Soleil was born. “I remember at the opening of our show my mom realized that this was a serious thing that we were doing,” he says. Grinning, he adds, “With my father, it took, like, two more years.” Cirque du Soleil expanded, betting everything it had on a show called Cirque Réinventé—the story of normal people entering a mystical alternate reality where they join a circus—that premiered at the Los Angeles Arts Festival. It was a gamble: Laliberté and company had only enough money for one-way tickets to California. If they failed, they’d be hitchhiking back to Canada. In the end, they could’ve flown home first class. Cirque Réinventé sold out throughout southern California before traveling the globe for three years. In 1993 the Treasure Island Hotel opened in Las Vegas with a theater dedicated to Cirque du Soleil. The next year Cirque’s revenues hit $30 million. Two years later, they were $110 million. By the early 2000s, the circus was putting on five different shows a night in Sin City and had permanent spots in Disney World, China and Japan. Sponsors like American Express and AT&T lined up to partner with the upscale acts, while merchandise like teapots and leather jackets brought in millions. When Laliberté sold Cirque in 2015, 10 million people were seeing its shows each year. Cirque employed 4,000 people—more than, say, Airbnb or Hasbro—and brought in $845 million in revenue. The scale was huge, the acts were repetitive and Laliberté was growing tired. He tried to find a buyer in Montreal but ended up making a deal with TPG Capital, a San Francisco private equity firm. In 2015, he sold the bulk of Cirque, keeping 10% of the company and the right to be involved in Cirque’s creative decisions. What next? “I gave myself an objective: I really was missing performing as an artist. When I started Cirque, I pretty much gave up performing. It’s really something that I wanted to live again,” he says. The sale left him with a great deal of money—and a great deal of time to think about what he wanted to do. Laliberté bought hundreds of millions in real estate—a French Polynesian island, a 270,000-square- foot complex of seven Montreal office buildings—and bought works by the likes of conceptual artist Jenny Holzer. He parked some money in green startups such as FoodHero and some in digital marketing companies like HelloStrategy. (He declined to give details on specifics investments.) But he longed to do something truly creative. He thought about going professional with his DJing hobby. In November 2016, he played his first paid gig in New York. He won’t say where he performed—to save the club’s reputation, he insists. Because when he went to cash the $4,000 paycheck from the performance, the check bounced. “It really brought me back to my street-performer days,” he says from behind a haze of Gauloises Blondes cigarette smoke. “There’s no way those people were getting away with not paying me.” Okay. Maybe not DJing. Laliberté thought about it a little longer, pondering how to create another Cirque-type spectacle that would take advantage of the significant advancements in technology since Cirque’s creation. Whatever he built, he wanted it to be able to morph as he thought more about what could work. “I wanted to create a sandbox to grow creatively for the next ten, fifteen years,” he says. What would that sandbox look like? For centuries, dome-shaped venues have been the preferred spaces for immersive technology. That seemed too obvious. “We wanted to do it in a shape that is different,” he says, an espresso now in his hands. His mind went to the pyramids, a spiritual symbol revered around the world. Unlike the Egyptian pyramids, which entomb the dead, Laliberté’s pyramid courses with life. The theater is equipped with massive screens, 126 speakers, 32 projectors, 948 lights and 39 lasers. There’s a smoke machine, too, and a bubble machine. Its first show, “Through the Echoes” is itself a celebration of life. The hour-long performance tells the story of the Earth’s creation from the Big Bang to the rise of mankind. Laliberté calls it a “technological and emotional odyssey.” “It’s very reminiscent of when I first started with Cirque,” says Michael Anderson, the pyramid’s production director, who began working with Cirque du Soleil in the mid-1990s. “Only today we have more money.” “Through the Echoes” is a loosely told narrative, and audience members experience it by lying on the floor, heads on pillows. Visually it feels like being inside a lava lamp. Laser beams flash, and organic, abstract images project onto all four sides of the pyramid. In one moment the pyramid seems to be transformed into the Milky Way. In another it’s lit up in flames before becoming a futuristic garden. The soundtrack—at some moments soft, in others, intense—matches the images. “I always want to create things that have not been done,” Laliberté says. “The pyramid … will be what the blue-and-yellow big top was for Cirque du Soleil.” Each pyramid is expected sell about 200,000 tickets (for $21 to $45 each) during a show’s three-month run just for the daytime performances. The DJ-led events—on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays—can bring far more, perhaps tens of thousands of dollars each night. Laliberté imagines the space as a home for fitness, yoga or meditation classes in the morning, and shows there should be less costly to put on than Cirque with its many performers and, in the case of the Michael Jackson circus show, royalty fees. Meanwhile, another part of Lune Rouge, the pyramid’s parent company, is figuring out how to turn the ideas behind the shows at the pyramid into other media— everything from comic books and podcasts to video games and TV shows. “I’m not stupid. I evaluate danger, but I trust life is good,” says Laliberté, taking a long drag on his Gauloises. “And I trust that there’s intelligence behind a decision we’re making, and if you want to be a game-changer, you just have to take risks.” ------------------------------------------------------------ Jean David's Quel Cirque, Part 9: "A Little Farther West" A Special Series Celebrating Cirque's 35th Anniversary ------------------------------------------------------------ Today a consultant in creativity and event marketing, Jean David was one of the pioneers of Cirque du Soleil, where he led the marketing department for 15 years (from 1984-1999), introducing the magic of the Grand Chapiteau to the whole world. During his tenure, David distinguished himself through innovative methods by commercializing the Big Top and introducing its magic to other cultures on four continents. A man of vision but also a determined entrepreneur, Jean David acted as Vice President of Entertainment, Sales & Marketing at the WYNN Hotel in Las Vegas before moving to India for 18 months, where he led a pre-feasibility study for the creation of an innovative project: the Mumbai International Creative Center, an international resort centered around the theme of creativity. In his 2005 book - "Quel Cirque!" ("What a Cirque!") - David offered his views on leadership and revealed the innovative qualities that contributed to Cirque du Soleil's enormous success in marketing, management, creation and exploration. There was only one problem... it was written in his native French. Thankfully, David himself translated and web-published an English-language version of his book and we've collected the relevant Cirque-related chapters for this 12-part series. Jean David's "Quel Cirque" is a fantastic read and as Cirque du Soleil celebrates its 35th anniversary this year, we thought this would be the perfect year to share these texts with you. So, without further ado, Quel Cirque! # # # A fascinating nation with a rich culture, Japan was eager to have us. In the autumn of 1987, Japanese producers were flocking to the big top in Los Angeles. But it took a few years for us to cut a deal. Fuji Television, the country’s biggest private TV network, became our privileged partner. The media giant had vast experience in producing shows of all sorts: variety, opera, and theater. The Japanese can’t get enough of big American-style shows. And Fuji television capitalizes on their viewers’ interest. Ever innovative, Fuji saw Cirque du Soleil as a golden opportunity. It was the beginning of a long-term partnership. During the early negotiations, I must admit we were a little apprehensive. You can’t help being impressed by the Japanese. Their culture is so different from ours that at first it can throw you for a loop. We teamed up with Fuji on a number of productions and co-productions in the 1990s. And they were mega-projects: astronomical costs, multiple shows and gargantuan operations. During that time, we had numerous dealings involving untold hours of meetings where decorum resembled protocol more than anything else. These marathon negotiations played out like a big game in which the ground rules are supposedly set. Everything is established, the major themes are agreed upon, the roles are clearly defined, the order of discussions is pre-synchronized, and if you’re patient and determined, you’ll probably manage to have a say about the next meeting’s agenda. Sometimes, the negotiations reached a dead end. Many a time, our Japanese colleagues would give a firm “no” to our requests. Then in the evening, leaving the bar, they’d freely concede that we were absolutely right and that they’d ok our conditions. The next morning, it was scene one, take two, and their answer was a categorical “no.” It was pointless to remind them that only a few hours before, they’d told us we were right: It would have been impolite! But the Japanese are absolutely delightful. They have a great sense of humor when you get used to it… Often, they give the impression that things are more complicated than they really are. Maybe, it’s because they prefer settling things among themselves in their own way. They take great care to make sure that no one loses face. I find different cultures fascinating. To me, a foreign language represents a different perspective on life, another way of seeing the world. In The Hidden Dimension, author Edward T. Hall explains that “people from different cultures, not only speak different languages but, more importantly, inhabit different sensory worlds.” I agree completely. Over the years, I have participated in meetings and negotiations in a wide variety of countries. I have had two fascinating linguistic experiences that were really rather similar. Both cases involved intense business negotiations: once with Japanese partners and another time with German colleagues. The conditions were the same: marathon negotiations that had been going on for 48 hours. The stakes were high. Everything had to be crystal clear; each dot and comma would count. In the first case, my Japanese counterparts started talking things over among themselves. I could sense that there was a misunderstanding; I felt they were misinterpreting what I had said. So I interrupted them and explained that there was a problem of interpretation: what they were discussing was not exactly what I had said. Then I rephrased my remarks. They were stunned. Some of them were convinced I understood Japanese. The same situation occurred one day in Nuremburg with a group of German businessmen. Of course, I don’t speak Japanese or German. What I picked up was the body language. I used my intuition. It was a question of attention and interest. Place Your Bets! ---------------- Playing in Las Vegas wasn’t just a pipedream. The resounding success our show registered in California in 1987, made some people consider the possibility of setting up our big top in Las Vegas. But it wasn’t until the early 1990s, that serious negotiations got underway with Caesar’s Palace. It was a very complex process indeed. There were many difficulties to iron out: the idea of a permanent show in the city was a fascinating and innovative concept, but there were many unknowns. Vegas casinos were old hands at producing all kinds of shows. Typically, they presented superstars who cost them a small fortune. Nevertheless, their investment in entertainment permitted them to draw hordes of customers who were tempted to try their luck at the gambling tables, and that’s where the casinos make their money. So entertainment had always had a privileged place in Las Vegas. Now there was a real need in the city for something new. Las Vegas wanted to reposition itself to attract a family clientele. Baby-boomers had contributed to Vegas’ development. They’d settled down, married, and had children, but they hadn’t lost their taste for gambling. Casinos had to offer them a new, modern product, fresh entertainment and something that would excite every member of the family. Cirque du Soleil, with its innovative shows, was just what the market needed. And Caesar’s management was intrigued. In fact, if Cirque du Soleil’s was a permanent fixture, total production costs could be amortized over a few years, making the investment extremely appealing. With 60% occupancy rates, it was even possible to foresee realizing a profit, a rather uncommon phenomenon in the Las Vegas entertainment scene. But the long months of negotiations between Caesar’s and Cirque ended abruptly. A few hours before the deal was sealed, Caesar’s management walked away. They probably thought the project too risky. For one of the world’s most famous gambling establishments, it was hardly a case of leading by example. Yet, the negotiations had been the talk of the town. The entire community was aware that the deal had fallen through. So Steve Wynn, who headed the Mirage Group, called to say that he wanted to see us. The meeting was held in Toronto where the Cirque had a show at the time. In a matter of hours we mapped out a very simple arrangement. The Mirage Group would build a hotel, the Treasure Island Hotel, scheduled to open in 1993. It would set up a magnificent performance space that met our technical requirements. In return, we undertook to produce a show exclusively for that venue. Cirque du Soleil and Mirage agreed on an investment recovery mechanism for each party, royalty payments and profit sharing. The contract was finalized in the weeks that followed. It was the start of an enduring and profitable partnership. The premiere of our new production Mystère left the spectators enchanted. Steve Wynn, a man of courage and foresight, received a standing ovation for making the whole thing possible. Scarcely three months after the show debuted, all ten performances a week sold out. The residents of the city were very proud. “Finally, a true show with true emotions.” And they weren’t afraid to express their feelings to anyone who’d listen. Guy Laliberté liked to say we’d planted a flower in the desert. Mystère embodied to perfection the transformation of Las Vegas. The show gave definite meaning to the town’s desire for renewal, which had started out as nothing but a gigantic marketing operation. From the outset, the Mirage and Cirque teams underwent many adjustments. The companies had very different corporate cultures, which were not incompatible but extremely different. Many times I had to iron things out with my opposite numbers Allen Feldman and John Schadler. The success and good will displayed by both parties was an excellent recipe for building a trusting relationship. At a press conference announcing the partnership, Steve Wynn detailed the remarkable things he intended to accomplish with us and spoke at length about the many millions of dollars in profit that he expected to make in this relationship. Mirage was listed on the stock exchange, and he loved to impress his shareholders. His firm stood in stark contrast to us, a private enterprise, which had received tens of millions of dollars in government grants. Cirque du Soleil was somewhat reticent about publicly revealing this kind of information. With the announcement of the project, many people feared we would lose our soul at the gambling tables. But I knew that Las Vegas would receive us with open arms. We weren’t changing the way we did shows; we were just furthering our development. After we’d played before full houses for a few years, Las Vegas knew entertainment could be a moneymaking enterprise. This was a mini- revolution. And Steve Wynn had other plans. He intended to build Le Bellagio, a hotel with a performance space tailored to Cirque du Soleil. We were encouraged to be even more creative, to imagine the unimaginable. The hotel project included a water theme, which was incorporated into the new show. On stage, there was a volume of water equivalent to three Olympic-sized swimming pools. So, for the most expensive hotel in the world, we created O, the most magnificent show in the world. Cirque du Soleil transformed the face of Las Vegas. It helped change the way things were done. It set new standards in business partnerships and raised the bar as to the kind and quality of shows presented. Now MGM, Caesar’s and Wynn Resorts rival one another in staging shows of superior class. All the mega-projects by the three groups have been created by Cirque du Soleil or the team headed by former Cirque du Soleil director Franco Dragone. Apparently Americans love winning formulas. ======================================================================= COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMER ======================================================================= Fascination! Newsletter Volume 19, Number 9 (Issue #188) - September 2019 "Fascination! Newsletter" is a concept by Ricky Russo. Copyright (C) 2001-2019 Ricky Russo, published by Vortex/RGR Productions, a subsidiary of Communicore Enterprises. No portion of this newsletter can be reproduced, published in any form or forum, quoted or translated without the consent of the "Fascination! Newsletter." By sending us correspondence, you give us permission (unless otherwise noted) to use the submission as we see fit, without remuneration. All submissions become the property of the "Fascination! Newsletter." "Fascination! Newsletter" is not affiliated in any way with Cirque du Soleil. Cirque du Soleil and all its creations are Copyright (C) and are registered trademarks (TM) of Cirque du Soleil, Inc., All Rights Reserved. No copyright infringement intended. { Sep.11.2019 } =======================================================================