What if anything were possible? What if the stage became a fantastic world where the old were young again, and where the kings were clowns? And if that were Alegría, what would you make of it all?

In developing Alegría, Cirque du Soleil saw in the world around them a society in flux – uncertainty – in constant upheaval. They saw a world of contrasts – power and powerlessness, cruelty and kindness. They saw the irony of globalization, where a constantly shrinking world left individuals more isolated than ever before. They saw the irony of progress as though the sum of evil and hardship in the world remained forever constant. But through this uncertainty is the glow of the human spirit, an unconquerable force; resolute in its strength.

cirque du soleil presents alegría, a cirque du soleil images and serpent films production. Executive Producer: peter wagg. Director: nick morris. Producer: rocky oldham.

• Music Promo — A 58-second advertisement for Cirque du Soleil Musique. While the promo flashes lightning-fast highlights from most of the shows - with the album covers swimming across the screen, a three partial-song collage is played that consists of Dralion's "Bamboo", Alegría's "Irna", and ends with the haunting "O" theme.


• "Filming Alegría: a Featurette" (13:00) — Interviews with the filming crew, such as Rocky Oldman (Producer), Peter Wagg (Executive Producer), Nick Morris (Director), Patrick Woodroffe (Lighting Designer), and Luc Lafortune, who was brought back to help mesh the video lighting with his originally-designed stage lighting. The interviews cover how difficult it is to capture Cirque du Soleil's live magic on video.


• "A Journey to Alegria" (45:00)" — { Read }

  A documentary produced by Nine Network Australia and hosted by Australian gymnast, Jamie Durie. Jamie actually auditioned for Cirque du Soleil in 1997, but never reveals how it went. His interviews with several Alegría artists are an interesting blend of knowledge and humor, especially when some of the artists "train" him on their specialties.

  Mr. Durie's interviews include Guy Laliberté (Founding President, of course), who explains how Cirque du Soleil is more like theatre than a circus; Ria Martens (Artistic Coordinator), who trains him on fast track flips; Ana Shelper (Dual Trapeze), who shows him several trapeze positions and discusses her early trapeze days; Chimed Ulziibayar (Contortion), who lies on the floor with her feet next to her ears as they talk about being flexible and what goes through her mind while she is contorting; Kristina Ivanova (Nymph), who stretches with J amie as she reveals what it like being in a traveling circus family; Francesca Gagnon (White Singer), who sings the Hoops Act song a cappella that segues into the live version of the song, and to the next interview: Elena Lev.

  Elena Lev, who is one of Cirque du Soleil's most famous performers, has even performed with Aerosmith on stage. She talks with Jamie during her somewhat disturbing warm-up exercises that include bends and swivels as her body makes crackling noises that rival the sound of an army of crickets. Jamie ends the interview with a playful attempt to get a date with the Russian star.

  Some of the best interviews are in randomly interspersed scenes with Ebon Grayman (Monsieur Fleur). These two guys hit it off remarkably. With their senses of humor the banter is hysterical, especially when Jamie watches Ebon transform from an everyday man to the circus fool. Fleur's potbelly is perfect fodder for a beer joke. Ebon also demonstrates a nice tissu act that he is developing and allows Jamie to attempt the excruciating exercise. Another funny interview is with Strongman, Ginaud Dupuis, who lifts up a heavy log before Jamie challenges him to an arm wrestling match. Ginaud responds with "Where's the money?"

  Mr. Durie also covers the schooling for children of performers and the child performer, Batmunkh Batjargal, who plays Little Tamir. Batmunkh tells Jamie that his favorite part of the show is his role as an Old Bird during Ginaud's Strongman act.



• "A Different Perspective" — A wonderful montage of video and music. It is kind of a music video of Alegría highlights, featuring live portions of the songs "Taruka", "Irna", and the title track "Alegría." The five-minute video includes unused scenes from the main event.


• "Meet the Artists" — A unique personal touch where each and every performer introduces themselves while in street clothes then morph into their stage outfit to explain their role and how long they have been in the show. Some of the performers have limited use of the English language which makes the interview even more intriguing. The best interview is saved for last: Eve Montpetit, who plays the Black Singer. She explains that she used to sometimes play the White Singer, but she became innocent and naïve and happy. "I prefer to haunt you," she says with a slight smirk.


• Multi-Angle Performances — Four different camera angles from parts of two acts: the Fast Track and the Aerial High Bar. On the left side of the screen the angles are shown in small video boxes so that the person viewing can choose which angle is preferred. The multi-angle selections are not attainable during the main video.

{ Original DVD/VHS Cover }

{ Columbia/Tri-Star Cover }

Cirque du Soleil Images (1999-2002)

	• R01 (USA/CAN)    Release Date — Apr.xx.2002    Catalog — #502461 (4-00005-02461-x)
	• Release Date — Apr.xx.2002 • Catalog — CDS3-31412 (6-19061-31423-2)

Columbia/Tri-Star (2003+)

	• R01 (USA/Canada)    Release Date — Oct.07.2003    Catalog — #01754 (0-43396-01754-2)    ISBN — 1-4049-4045-6
	• Other Regions    Release Date — Oct.29.2004 (R2-JPN)    Catalog — #TSDD-35005 (R2-JPN)    Release Date — Feb.23.2005 (R4-AUS)