Come in under the Big Top for a behind-the-scenes look a the making of Cirque du Soleil's ninth creation, which critics have described as "the most dramatic, the most esthetic and perhaps the most melancholy show in the history of this marvellous circus". Full Circle shows you the making of Quidam from its very beginnings to its triumphant finish. Join Franco, Oleg, Debra, Samuel, Dominique and all of Quidam's other creators and performers as they practice, experiment, innovate and explore. From costume fittings to character improvations, from music full of imagery to acts that have to be perfect, you will be there as the show takes form. Share their dream. Join their quest for a magical show!

“Full Circle” was originally released onto VHS and was not subsequently re-issued when most other Cirque du Soleil visual properties were re-released onto DVD in 2001. However, a digital version of the documentary can be found on a CD-R promo disc released by Optus, a mobile telephone company who was the presenting sponsor of Quidam during its 2004-2005 Australian tour.

cirque du soleil presents quidam: full circle, a télémajik production. Director: joel bertomeu. Executive Producer: hélène dufresne. Associative Producer anne plamondon. Editor: philippe ralet.

• Transcript — We hear from Franco Dragone, Director: "For me, Quidam pays a kind of tribute to the joys and suffering of everyday people. Everyone who does not appear in ads or television clips or in the public spotlight - these are 'gawkers,' people who wander all over the place. We have done a lot of shows with a lot of success that we can think that now the next one will be a success. What we want to do now is start a new cycle. We have tried - this year - we have tried to change... to evolve a little bit the process, to really change the show..." { Read }

  Choreographer, Debra Brown, discusses the change in direction: "Right now, we're very innocently researching and it is part of the process to get to know who I am and who they are and how we can create together."

  Boris, the head coach, muses: "There is an old saying among the acrobats that if an acrobat wakes up in the morning and he doesn't hurt, chances are he's dead. There's nothing normal about holding 3 guys and having a fourth-guy land on top of the third guy. There's nothing normal... in our human makeup for that. There's nothing normal flying through the air and being fully confidant and allowing the catchers, the porters, to do all the work. There's nothing normal for a porter to catch somebody in the arms when they are coming down from the height of a 20 feet. So that element - to some extent, pain is always there. For example, we were working on [Banquine] where the guys said ‘We can do it 10 times out of 10’ so they can handle it. The question that I have to pose to them is ‘can they do it 600 out of 600?’”

  Martyne, one of the young performers, quips: "Franco's got a technique. He explains something vague and he says ‘Go for it’. When you don't understand it makes him happy because it means you're going to show him something he doesn't expect."

  "There is something wrong if all I see while the music plays is a trapeze act,” says Franco Dragone. “On the other hand, when I have two ropes, an iron bar, and someone on the trapeze with music and lighting that all of a sudden gives me something else, not just a performance but an image. If I have images that think, then it works. The music has to help me construct and write down images that think." [...] "One thing that is sure, and it can be scary sometimes, is that the show must open when we said that it would and there is a magic moment when everything falls into place just like that when, despite all the trouble we had and moving the foot from left to right, in making the turn-table go around and doing the lights, all of a sudden: Bingo! It all comes together."

{ USA VHS Cover }

Télémajik (1986-1998)

• R01 (USA/Canada)    Release Date — 1996    Catalog — Télémagik #201Q01A    UPC — n/a