Item Date Location Press Conference 03/04/1999 Montreal, QC Name Registered 03/17/1999 Montreal, QC Premiere 04/22/1999 Montreal, QC 500th Show 08/xx/2000 Mineapolis, MN 1000th Show 12/16/2001 Dallas, TX 2000th Show 11/5/2004 Madrid, ES 2500th Show 05/13/2006 Valencia, ES 3000th Show 10/02/2007 Osaka, JP 3500th Show 01/31/2009 Perth, AU 4000th Show 04/01/2011 Des Moines, IA 4500th Show 11/09/2012 Fresno, CA Final Show 01/18/2015 Anchorage, AK

Inventing "Dralion" was something of an adventure. Caron and his associates searched remote parts of the globe to find troupes that were performing unusual and extraordinary acts. In southeast China, for example, he found performers who could walk on a ball the size of a boulder and ride it for a distance; they soon became part of the show. How did he find such acts? Simple, Caron says: "We arrived in China and we said, 'Can we see this troupe and this troupe?' And we (saw) seven troupes and we decided (which one) was . . . artistically best for us to create something with them. We see something around the world and we say, 'Oh, we can integrate this in the act.' "We (often) work with acts that (have already been) created," Caron continues. "For us, we have two possibilities: We create a script and we try to find the act to go on the script, or we (find) an act and we look at it and we try to create the show around the act."

A tight turn-around was just half of the problem, though. The Chinese (from the Shandong Circus Troupe) were not able to easily adapt to the free-form workshop style methods originally championed by Dragone and the Company. So rather than attempt a Dragone-style show, Caron revisited the earlier style of Le Cirque Réinventé, preferring a show that's "full of energy, without gaps, that's full of strong acts." Despite the challenges - or perhaps because of them - Laliberté and Caron fulfilled their life-long dream of working with the Chinese on a large-scale project in Dralion, which received enthusiastic public response over its lifetime, going on to become one of the highest grossing touring shows in Cirque's repertoire. Even the 2000 filming of the show became the recipient of three Primetime Emmy Awards: Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special; Outstanding Directing for a Variety or Musical; and Outstanding Costumes for a Variety or Music Program.

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