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Saltimbanco

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Creations


Saltimbanco


Création

Concepteurs
Scénographie
Musique
Personages

Expérience

Prologue
Adagio Trio
Chinese Poles
Aerial Straps
Balancing/Canes
Juggling
Boleadoras
Russian Swing
Solo Trapeze
Hand to Hand
Bungee
Epilogue

Retiré
Vertical Rope
Rat Act
Contortion
Hoops (Lev)
Manipulation
Diabolo
Duo Trapeze
Double Wire
Artistic Bicycle

Odyssey

Évolution
Itinéraire
Visuals
Audio/Visual
Features

 

Music
Vocalists & Songs
    "The music used in Saltimbanco is not a narrative composition. Instead its musical influences aim to convey the melting pot of people and cultures that can only be found in the city." — René Dupéré, Composer

  Saltimbanco marked the first time voices completely supplemented the music. Although previous shows did have songs with lyrics, Saltimbanco marked the first time lyrics were used throughout. It was called "Saltimbanco Language" then and was created using phonetic sounds drawn from many linguistic sources. Today we know it as "Cirqueish".
René Dupéré was involved in the creation of Saltimbanco from its conception. He delivered a music inspired by urban life of the end of the last century: ethereal yet baroque, rhythmic and cosmopolitan. "The idea that I had was this," Dupéré recalls. "What would it sound like if I rode from one end of the city to another with the car window rolled down? I would hear everything from Jamaican to Classical music." Therefore, urban life meant the democratization of music, that everything is available.

The composer explained that the theme of the music for Saltimbanco was "urbanity", where one has to explore the imagery the city brings to mind. The original idea was the city: the urban environment, the people who live there, the signs, traces, meeting places, intersecting points, parallel paths, different cultures... "I didn't retain the usual clichés and attempted to create the rumble of a city we imagine, luminous and full of hope. And what is distinctive about a city and its inhabitants? At the beginning, I understood that the human voice should be part of the performance – in much the same way as the percussion. In addition, I realised that the soundscape of the city is not only the rumble of five o'clock traffic. In downtown New York, the sounds of dawn are the sounds of the countryside..."

The use of the human voice in this production is the first for Cirque du Soleil. "In order to illustrate the ethnic and cultural diversity of the urban fabric, and since the show is produced mainly for English and French audiences, we didn't wish to use foreign languages as such." The score includes only one opera song in 13th century Low Italian. All songs are in phonetic sequences taken from various languages such as Arabic, Swedish or German. These elements serve the evocative power of music. If certain cultures seem totally foreign, René Dupéré believes that their music always succeeds in moving us. "The wonderful thing about all music is that it always gives rise to different emotions in each spectator, emotions that belong to him alone." That is why the music for Saltimbanco is not a narrative composition. On the contrary, the score appeals to musical signs and languages to evoke the blend of peoples and cultures that only the city has to offer.


[ VocalistsSongs ]


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    Francine Poitras Apr.23.1992 - Jun.1994;
    Mar.09.1995 - Oct.17.1995;
    May.2006 - Jun.11.2006;
    Nov.02.2006 - Dec.10.2006
    (Montréal to Tokyo);
    (Amsterdam to Düsseldorf);
    (Buenos Aires);
    (Rio de Janeiro)
    Chantal Girard Jan.30.1993 - Dec.19.1993 (Costa Mesa to Atlanta)
    Laur Fugère Mar.11.1994 - Jan.08.1995;
    1995 - 1996
    (Tokyo to Montréal);
    (... to ...)
    Chantal Hamel Jun.1994 - Jan.08.1995;
    Nov.10.1995 - Feb.01.1997
    (Tokyo to Montréal);
    (Vienna to London)
    Ève Montpetit Mar.09.1995 - Feb.xx.1996 (Amsterdam to Hamburg)
    Nicola Dawn Feb.1996 - Feb.01.1997;
    Sep.19.2003 - Jul.10.2005;
    Jul.31.2007 - Apr.13.2012;
    Oct.10.2012 - Dec.30.2012
    (Hamburg to London);
    (Zurich to Paris);
    (London to Casablanca);
    (Portland to Montreal)
    Susan Daly Oct.14.1998 - Feb.06.2003 (Ottawa to London)
    Sheinagh Anderson Oct.14.1998 - Nov.25.2001 (Ottawa to Yokohama)
    Isabelle Corradi Mar.xx.1999 - Sep.09.2001;
    Feb.26.2003 - Aug.17.2003
    ([Australia] to Osaka);
    (Bilbao to Oostende)
    Nicole Sieger Feb.14.2002 - Dec.2004;
    Mar.15.2006 - May.2006;
    Aug.03.2006 - Oct.22.2006
    (Amsterdam to Lille);
    (Santiago to Buenos Aires);
    (São Paulo)
    Leigh-Anne Cunningham Oct.2002 - 2004 (Madrid to ...) [Backup]
    Laurence Janot Dec.xx.2004 - Jan.01.2006;
    Nov.2011
    (Lille to Guadalajara);
    (Moscow to St. Petersburg)
    Vivienne Carlyle Aug.04.2005 - Feb.05.2006 (Monterrey to Mexico City)
    Chantal Blanchard Dec 2005 - Dec.10.2006;
    Jul.31.2007 - Jun.07.2009;
    Sept.17.2009 - Jan.16.2011
    (Guadalajara to Rio);
    (London to Sunrise);
    (Stockholm to Paris)
    Sujana Chand Jun.25.2009 - Aug.23.2009;
    Feb.11.2011 - Jun.xx.2011
    (Tampa to Columbus);
    (Friedrichshafen to Hobart)
    Charlie Jones Jun.xx.2011 - Oct.xx.2011;
    Nov.xx.2011 - Sep.09.2012
    (Melbourne to ... )
    (Kiev to Taipei)
    Anna "Anja" Bille Mar.xx.2012 - Dec.30.2012 (... to Montréal)

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    Main Show

    Prelude "Cloche et Présentation"
    Opening Rideau, Kumbalawé
    Adagio Trio "Adagio"
    Chinese Poles Saltimbanco
    Double Wire Kazé, Norweg, "Rêve"
    Juggling "Arlequin"
    Interlude Pokinoï
    Boleadoras "Malamba"
    Entr'Acte "Pocoleta", "Tap Dance"
    Russian Swing Barock
    Duo Trapeze Amazonia, "Démontage Trapèze"
    Hand-to-Hand Urgence
    Bungee Il Sogno di Volare
    Interlude "Transfert"
    Finale Horéré Ukundé

    Other Songs

    Vertical Rope (1992-1994) Pokinoï
    Solo Trapeze (1994-2012) Cantus-Mélopée
    Contortion (1995-1997) "Rave Out"
    Manipulation (1998-2001) "Rave Out" (1998; 1999-2001); "Manipulation" (1999)
    Hand-Balancing (2009-2012) "Rave Out", "Rêve"
    Diabolo (2002-2006) "Grand Tour"
    Bicycle (2007-2012) "Grand Tour"
    Aerial Strap (2012) "Grand Tour"
    Hoops (Lev) (Feb 1996) "Cerceaux" from Alegría
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