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Beginning in LaSalle in 1987 and ending rather unceremoniously in Paris in 1990,
Le Cirque Réinventé (or "We Reinvent the Circus"), is the show that elevated
Cirque du Soleil from a provincial rag-tag band of performers to a colorful set
of international entertainers, creating nothing less than a phenomenon in the
process. Today we as fans are intimately familiar with the story: how Cirque banked
its success in West by performing outside their native Canada at the Los Angeles
Festival in summer 1987, later criss-crossing the North American continent -
taking Manhattan by storm, before picking up stakes and sailing across the pond
to England and France. By today's standards the production is a simple one, without
an esoteric story or theme, but if you look hard enough you can see a simple thread,
the beginnings of a tapestry, which would be expanded and expounded upon year over
year.
The show actually begins in the audience, where a dozen or so performers,
clad in an assortment of street clothes, hide quietly, masquerading as
ticketholders. The performance begins as they are then "selected," one by one,
with a great deal of fanfare, to come into the ring. They make up a Capra-esque
everyman's village: A slouch-shouldered and bespectacled businessman, a prim
schoolteacher, a little girl, a teenager in jersey and baseball cap. They mill
about, exchanging looks of amazement with the audience - is this a dream or is
it really true? Timidly, they perform a few tricks, showing off a couple of
dance steps or maneuvering a simple handstand. The truth is they begin responding
to some mysterious urge to let out some of the folly and playfulness buried deep
down in each of them. Arabesques, cartwheels, handstands... they can hardly contain
their joy. Dream or reality? All we can tell is that they're being drawn into a
world of fantasy.
Suddenly, as though rising from the seething belly of the earth, the King of
Fools appears in a cloud of white smoke. In the blink of an eye, he transforms
seemingly ordinary people into dancers, acrobats, and clowns. In this
ode to the child living inside each and every one of us, flamboyant characters
"contaminate" regular folk, who suddenly become circus artists. These everyday
characters go on to discover their true colors, letting out the folly and
playfullness buried deep inside them, which eventually shines through for all to
see. By doing so, they begin to show us that this playfullness is inside of each
us as well. They begin to dance about... Joined by the Queen of the Night and her
helpers (the Infants), she produces the atmosphere from which the transformed people
play out their destiny. So transformed that they become an integral part of the
show. Music, movement, color, and light combine to produce an atmosphere of true
enchantment. With the help of the ringmaster transformed into Ti-Claude, he will
guide you towards your destiny. Our destiny. From this point on, anthing is possible.
Dreams cease being just dreams...
Le Cirque Réinventé
has won many awards including - La Rose d'Or 1989, Montreux, Switzerland;
Emmy Award 1989, United States; four Gemini Awards 1989, Canada; Ace Award 1990,
National Cable Television Association, United States; Silver Medal 1990, and the
32nd New York International Film and TV Festival.
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| Premiere: | May 7, 1987 |
| Type: | Touring / Bigtop |
| Finale: | December 30, 1990 |
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Creative Team
Guide
Guy Laliberté
Director
Franco Dragone
Creation
Guy Caron
Costumes
Michel Crête
Choreographer
Debra Brown
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Composer
René Dupéré
Co-Composer
Benoît Jutras
Lighting Designer
Luc Lafortune
Set Designer
Andre Caron
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Audio/Visual
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