World Record by Three Cirque du Soleil Teenage Performers

 This article used to be part of my Cirque du Soleil Primer article, but I decided to remove it from there and make it its own article instead. Note that this World Record was already set in September 2007, much over 1 year ago. 

Highest Circus Act Ever Performed

Did you know that three of Cirque du Soleil's contortionists, Natasha Patterson, 10, born in San Francisco, Julie Bergez, 14, from France and Dasha Sovik, 15, from Russia, who perform in KOOZA, the Cirque's latest touring show, attempted to and actually set a new Guinness World Record™ for the Highest Circus Act ever performed?

Well, they did just that on September 25, 2007 at the top of Toronto's CN Tower, the World's Tallest Freestanding Tower. This feat was performed in the Glass Floor observation deck, 342 meters (1,122 feet) above the ground and as high up on Toronto's CN Tower as you can get as a human without getting into serious trouble.
 
The CN Tower-Canada's National Tower- is standing tall as the defining landmark of Toronto with a total height of 553.33 meters (1,815 feet, 5 inches). This means that the record by the three teenage girls from Cirque du Soleil can be broken, but it would have to be a much windier and chilling performance in lofty heights and exposed to the elements, or somebody has to build a higher tower. Not an easy task obviously, because the tower was already built in 1976 and nobody built a higher one in over 30 years yet.

Watch full video of this performance on YouTube.

*Note: Natasha might have been 11 and Dasha 16 already when they made the performance on September 25, 2007. I don't have their exact birth dates to say for sure.

Another World Record by Cirque du Soleil

There was another World Record that was set by Cirque du Soleil on June 16, 2004 for the most people walking on stilts at the same place and at the same time. Cirque gathered 544 of its employees at their corporate headquarters in Montreal, Canada and set the new record.

I wrote about this in a separate article, if you want to learn more about this (including a some video material).

It has long been taken away from Cirque since then. The record was 625 by May, 2009. Cirque attempted to recapture the record on June 16, 2009 at 5 locations worldwide simultaneously, in Orlando, Florida;  Moscow, Russia; Montreal, Canada; Macau, China and of course in Las Vegas, Nevada. If they succeeded or not is still undetermined. The auditors of the Guinness Book of World Records are still counting :).

From the description of their video of the 2009 event at Facebook.com

Worldwide Cirque du Soleil cast, crew and staff went to great heights to attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the most people to simultaneously walk on stilts on June 16, the date of its 25th anniversary.

In Las Vegas, nearly 300 Cirquesters took over the sidewalk in front of Bellagio to attempt the 328 foot distance on stilts that had to be at least 12" off the ground. Stay tuned to see if we broke the record. But even if we didn't, everyone had a great time!!!

However, the 300+ stilts walking Cirque du Soleil employees in front of the Bellagio hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada was a spectacle nevertheless and I am sure that people in Vegas and the other 4 locations worldwide had a lot of fun, world record or not. You can watch a 1:34 minutes video of the 2009 event at Facebook.com or Watch the video on YouTube .

Back to the Cirque du Soleil Primer

Cheers!

Carsten aka Roy/SAC and CirqueDuSoleilGuru

What is Your Favorite Cirque du Soleil Show?

I get this question again and again, especially at my YouTube channel CirqueDuSoleilGuru, which is focusing on Cirque du Soleil almost exclusively. Simple question, isn't it? Or is it?

What is your answer to this question? Do you have favorite show? Have you seen more than one Cirque du Soleil show to be able to pick a favorite? Have you seen a Cirque du Soleil show at all or do you have no idea what I am talking about? If the latter is the case, go and check out my YouTube channel and also my Cirque du Soleil Primer Article.

I for my part cannot give a simple answer to this question. Which show I like the most, really depends  on the mood I am in.  To at least narrow down the list of 20+ shows to a manageable number, here are my general favorites:  "KA", playing at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, "O" at the Bellagio, also in Las Vegas; and the touring show "Varekai". I also like "Zumanity" at the New York, New York in Las Vegas a lot, so make it FOUR favorites, all right?!

• "KA" is the EPIC show
• "O" is the BEAUTYFUL show
• "Zumanity" is the "FRIVOL" show
• "Varekai" is FUNNY and has GREAT acts in it

If I would have to make a choice, because somebody puts a gun on my head or something like that, I'd pick "KA".

I have seen each of the shows above multiple times. The three Vegas Shows, twice each (life) and Varekai on DVD multiple times, but unfortunately never live yet. Varekai are at the wrong place on this planet at the moment.

I got a late start with Cirque in 2006 when they had left the country already. I'd like to see Varekai live though and hope that I will get a chance one day.

I have not seen "Wintuk", "Believe", "Zaia" or "Zed" so they might be contestants still hehe. I also have not seen the new show "OVO" yet, but from what I have heard is the show unlikely to be a contestant.

Learn more about:

KA	Full Show Video(s)	Buy Tickets
"O"	22 min Video	Buy Tickets
Zumanity	video 1, video 2, video 3, video 4	Buy Tickets
Varekai	Video 1, Video 2	Check for Tickets

Note: Zumanity is the only Cirque du Soleil show where you have to be an adult (18+) to be able to watch the show, because of its sexual content.

So, now it's your turn? What is your favorite? Leave a comment below and tell me! Thanks.

Cirque du Soleil Then and Now 1984-2009 from Carsten Cumbrowski on Vimeo.

Ovo Update! I took the 2004 "Then and Now" video from Cirque du Soleil's Midnight Sun, which covered 11 Cirque du Soleil shows and extended it to cover the missing 10! shows as well (12 actually, if you include the mentioning of "Le Grand Tour" and "Fascination).

This extended introduction to the world of Cirque du Soleil covers the following shows:
Le Grand Tour, La Magie Continue, Cirque Reinvente, Nouvelle Experience, Fascination, Saltimbanco, Alegria, Mystere, "O", Dralion, Quidam, Varekai, Zumanity, KA, Love, Corteo, Delirium, Kooza, Wintuk, Zaia, Zed, Believe and Ovo.

You can download this video in AVI format at http://www.mediafire.com/?w2x3m0zzno5

For more information about Cirque du Soleil and their productions, visit http://www.roysac.com/cirque

Cheers!

Carsten aka Roy/SAC

Cirque du Soleil - Historic Time-Line 1984 to Present

This article is part of my Cirque du Soleil Primer Article Series.

Aurora

"Those who are able to walk on stilts can roam the earth unstopped by mountains or rivers. They are able to imagine flying and therefore to reach the Isles of the Immortals."

P'ao-Pou Tseu

In the early eighties, a group of young street performers pooled their talent and dreams and founded the "Club des Talons Hauts" or "High-Heels Club", aptly named because most of them were stilt-walkers. The Club also featured fire eaters, jugglers and other buskers. At that time, Quebec did not have a circus tradition as did several European countries.

So the Club members decided to organize a festival, where street performers could come together to exchange ideas and techniques. They called it the "Fête Foraine de Baie St-Paul" (the Baie Saint-Paul Fair). That was all a few visionaries needed to hatch the idea of bringing all this talent together under one roof, or - why not? - a big top! Cirque du Soleil was born.

 

Cirque du Soleil – Historic Time-line 1984 - Present

The story begins in 1982, in Baie-Saint-Paul, Quebec. In this haven of creativity whose rural charm attracts artists, art collectors and tourists alike, a group of young street performers mix with the crowd, walking on stilts, juggling and eating fire. Inspired by the spectators' obvious delight, the performers hatch the idea of organizing an entertainers' festival-the precursor of what is to become Cirque du Soleil.

1984

Cirque du Soleil is born with the assistance of the Quebec government, as part of the celebrations surrounding the 450th anniversary of Jacques Cartier's arrival in Canada. Cirque is based on a totally new concept: a striking, dramatic mix of the circus arts and street entertainment, featuring wild, outrageous costumes, staged under magical lighting and set to original music. With not a single animal in the ring, Cirque's difference is clear from the very start. The show debuts in the small Quebec town of Gaspé, and is then performed in ten other cities throughout the province. The first blue-and-yellow big top seats 800.

1985

After performing in Montreal, Sherbrooke and Quebec City, Cirque du Soleil leaves its home province for the first time to take its show to neighbouring Ontario. It performs in Ottawa, Toronto and Niagara Falls.

1986

Cirque du Soleil takes La Magie Continue to eight other cities across Canada, including Vancouver, where it puts on several performances at the Children's Festival and Expo 86. Cirque makes its name on the international stage too, as acts are awarded top honours at competitions and festivals around the world. As interest in Cirque grows, so does the big top, which now has room for 1,500 spectators.

1987

Cirque du Soleil visits its American neighbours for the first time. Having triumphed in five cities in Quebec, We Reinvent the Circus is performed at the Los Angeles Festival, and then moves on to San Diego and Santa Monica. Exhilarated by the Californian public's response, Cirque du Soleil is an overnight success.

1988

We Reinvent the Circus continues its North American tour, after a brief appearance at the Calgary Winter Olympics. It stops in San Francisco, New York and Washington, and spends several weeks dazzling Toronto. Wherever it goes, the result is the same: the performances sell out and the critics rave.

1989

Miami, Chicago and Phoenix are added to the We Reinvent the Circus tour. Since its beginnings in 1984, Cirque du Soleil has won many prestigious prizes, including Emmy, Drama Desk, Bambi and Ace awards, Gémeaux and Félix trophies, and a Rose d'Or de Montreux.

Cirque du Soleil's performers have taken part in and won several awards at various festivals throughout the world, including the Festival international du cirque de Monte-Carlo, the Festival mondial du cirque de demain (France), the Festival international de cirque de Vérone (Italy), the Festival international de cirque de Gênes (Italy), and the Wuhan International Acrobatic Art Festival (China).

1990

Montreal is the setting for the world premiere of a brand-new production, Nouvelle Expérience, in a new, 2,500-seat big top. The show then hits the road for an extensive run in California.

With this new production, Cirque du Soleil shatters all previous records for ticket sales, and it decides to make its first foray into Europe, staging We Reinvent the Circus in London and Paris. The overseas excursions have just begun.

1991

Nouvelle Expérience continues on its travels across North America, visiting Atlanta for the first time. By the end of an extensive 19-month tour of Canada and the United States, 1.3 million spectators have cheered the show.

1992

Cirque du Soleil crosses the Pacific and makes a name for itself in the Land of the Rising Sun with Fascination, a collage of the best acts from past shows. The show opens in Tokyo and then moves on to seven other cities, for a total of 118 performances in four months. Meanwhile, in Europe, Cirque du Soleil joins forces with Switzerland's Circus Knie and stages a show in over 60 towns throughout the country. In North America, 1992 sees Cirque du Soleil make its Las Vegas debut when Nouvelle Expérience kicks off a year-long engagement under a big top at the Mirage Hotel. Already juggling several productions, Cirque du Soleil adds a monument to its repertoire of shows: Saltimbanco. Premiering in Montreal, this latest production begins a lengthy tour of North America.

1993

Following Nouvelle Expérience's successful run in Las Vegas, Cirque du Soleil moves into a theatre built to its specifications at the new Treasure Island Hotel. A 10-year contract is signed with Mirage Resorts to stage Mystère, a gigantic production befitting this show business capital. Saltimbanco completes its 19-month North American tour of a dozen cities, receiving resounding ovations from 1.4 million spectators.

1994

Saltimbanco embarks on a six-month run in Tokyo in 1994 that attracts a great deal of attention. The same year, Cirque du Soleil celebrates its tenth anniversary with another production, Alegría. True to tradition, the two-year North American tour is launched in Montreal. Meanwhile, Mystère continues to create a sensation in Las Vegas, and Saltimbanco returns to Montreal for a brief run.

1995

While Alegría pursues its triumphant North American tour, Cirque du Soleil responds to a request from the Canadian government and creates a show for the heads of state gathered at the G7 Summit in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Also in 1995, Saltimbanco sets out to conquer Europe. Cirque's spectacular white big top with seating for 2,500 spectators makes its first stop in Amsterdam, followed by Munich, Berlin, Düsseldorf, and Vienna. Amsterdam becomes the site of Cirque du Soleil's European Headquarters.

1996

In April, Cirque launches Quidam in Montreal. After finishing its hometown run, Quidam heads off on a three-year North American tour.

Meanwhile, Saltimbanco continues its European tour, with stops in London, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Antwerp, Zurich and Frankfurt, while Alegría sets out to tour Asia for a few months.

In November 1996, Sylvie Fréchette, Olympic synchronized swimming gold-medallist, joined Cirque du Soleil as a performer and coach for the aquatic show "O".

1997

Quidam continues to capture the hearts of North American spectators, adding two new cities, Denver and Houston, to the tour. On the other side of the Atlantic, the curtain falls on Saltimbanco at London's Royal Albert Hall, marking the end of a two-year European tour. Alegría kicks off its own tour of Europe a few weeks later. But Cirque du Soleil's adventures do not end there. In May 1997, Cirque du Soleil announced that shooting would begin for a film inspired by its show Alegría. In Alegria the film, the magical spellbinding universe of Cirque becomes the backdrop for a tender love story between a street performer (Frac) and the lead singer of a travelling circus (Giulietta).

The year 1997 begins with the inauguration of the brand new International Headquarters in Montreal, the Studio, where all of Cirque's shows will be created and produced.

Construction of the International Headquarters was completed in late 1996, making it possible for more than 500 permanent Montreal employees to work together. It is there that all of Cirque du Soleil's shows are created and produced. Construction of the Headquarters represented an investment of approximately 40 million dollars.

Cirque du Soleil's International Headquarters are in Montreal. In addition, it has four regional headquarters: the Americas, Asia-Pacific, European and Las Vegas headquarters.

1998

While Alegría pursues its journey across Europe, Quidam finishes up its North American tour, which includes a stopover in Dallas, a first for Cirque du Soleil. During its three-year tour, almost 1,000 performances have been held under the blue-and-yellow big top. All in all, over 2,500,000 North American spectators have applauded Quidam.

Furthermore, in October 1998, Cirque du Soleil's second resident show, "O", takes to the stage of a new theatre at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. This production is Cirque's first aquatic show. In December of the same year, Cirque inaugurates yet another permanent show, La Nouba, at the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida. Cirque du Soleil also restages Saltimbanco in Ottawa for a few weeks before sending it off on an Asia-Pacific tour scheduled to last three years.

In November 1998, shooting began on a first large-format (IMAX) film, which will feature performances by various Cirque du Soleil artists in natural and historic sites around the world. Journey of Man has opened in movie theatres in December 1999.

1999

Saltimbanco sets up shop in Asia and the Pacific and begins a three-year tour of the region in Sydney. In March, Quidam embarks on a four-year European tour in Amsterdam. In addition, Cirque du Soleil's brand-new production, Dralion, launches its North American tour in Montreal.

In May 1999, the Alegría production, which has already dazzled audiences on three continents, finds a permanent home at Beau Rivage, a new resort in Biloxi, Mississippi. This resort is a property of Mirage Resorts Incorporated, Cirque du Soleil's partner for its two Las Vegas productions. The dinner show Pomp Duck and Circumstance sets off on a European tour. To top it all off, the multimedia division Cirque du Soleil Images releases its first feature film, Alegria, inspired by the show of the same name. Incorporating actual Alegría acts, the film is directed by Franco Dragone and produced by Stéphane Reichel ("Crash", "Black Robe", "Quest for Fire"). Alegria the film was launched in theatres in April 1999.

Its dynamic team also produces Cirque du Soleil Presents Quidam, a spectacular television version of the show to be aired around the globe.

2000

Audiences on three continents continue to marvel at Cirque du Soleil's four resident shows (La Nouba, Mystère, "O" and Alegría) and three touring productions (Quidam, Saltimbanco and Dralion). In the year 2000 alone, close to 6 million spectators will attend Cirque du Soleil shows worldwide. Moreover, movie fans will enjoy seeing Cirque du Soleil in its first-ever large-format IMAX production, entitled Cirque du Soleil Journey of Man (Cirque du Soleil Passages in French). Distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, the film will open in Montreal, New York and Los Angeles in May 2000 after a grand premiere in Berlin in January.

Since 1984, more than 23 million people from around the world have seen one of Cirque du Soleil's productions. On a typical weekend in 2000, some 50,000 people will see one of Cirque's several shows being staged simultaneously around the world. Cirque employed more than 2,100 people, including 500 performers, from several countries. The average age of Cirque du Soleil employees is 32.

2001

In Auckland, New Zealand, Alegría kicks off a three-year tour through the immense Asia-Pacific region. In addition, Cirque du Soleil keeps on growing with the February inauguration of a 14,000-square-metre addition to its International Headquarters in Montreal. Audiences on four continents continue to marvel at Cirque du Soleil's three resident shows (La Nouba, Mystère, and "O") and four touring productions (Quidam, Saltimbanco, Alegría and Dralion). In the year 2001 alone, close to 6 million spectators will attend Cirque du Soleil shows worldwide.

Since 1992, close to 2 million people have attended a Cirque du Soleil show in Asia.

By 2001 Cirque du Soleil has produced numerous shows: Cirque du Soleil (1984-1985); La Magie continue (1986); We Reinvent the Circus (1987-1989); Nouvelle Expérience (1990-1991); Fascination (1992); Saltimbanco (1992-2001); Mystère (running since 1993); Alegría (1994-2001); Quidam (1996-2002); "O" (running since October 1998); La Nouba (on stage since December 1998); and Dralion (1999-2001).

Cirque du Soleil has performed in over 120 cities throughout the world, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Tokyo, Osaka, Hong Kong, Paris, London, Amsterdam, Berlin and Vienna.

2002

The touring show Varekai, by first time director Dominic Chapagne (who will continue to direct other Cirque du Soleil productions since then), premiered in April 2002 in Montreal.

During the creation process of Varekai, a film crew was shooting a reality TV series about some of the shows performers and their struggle in the process of the shows development and creation from start to finish. The series was aired world wide in the same year.

On March 24, 2002, Cirque du Soleil performs at the awards show for the 74th Academy Awards (Oscars) at the old Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood (Los Angeles, California).

2003

July 2003, Zumanity at the New York, New York hotel and casino in Las Vegas. First Cirque du Soleil production for adults only. Created by Dominic Chapagne and René Richard Cyr.

Cirque du Soleil creates it first ever production for Television called “Solstrom”. Solstrom is a 13 parts TV series featuring over 250 artists in over 130 acts from many Cirque du Soleil shows and elsewhere. It also includes a number of celebrity guest performances.

2004

On June 16, 2004 - Cirque du Soleil set a new record for the Guinness Book of World Records when they gathered 544 employees in the Montreal Headquarters and had them stilts walking at the same place, at the same time.

November 2004, the epic show and biggest Cirque du Soleil production to-date, KA, directed by Robert Lepage was launched at the MGM Grand hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Cirque du Soleil celebrates its 20th birthday with the people of Montreal in the streets of their hometown and location of their corporate headquarters. The recording of this event is later published on TV under the name “Midnight Sun”  (Soleil de Minuit).

2005

The first touring show after almost three years was launched in April in Montreal, Canada. The name of the show is “Corteo” and has an “Italian theme”. It was created and directed by another new director for Cirque du Soleil, Daniele Finzi Pasca.

Cirque created and performed the special creation "Reflections in Blue" (Réflexions de bleu), a unique one-night water show as part of the opening ceremonies for the XI. World Aquatics Championships (FINA) in Montreal, Canada

2006

The Beatles “Love” at the Mirage resort and casino in Las Vegas. The first official collaboration with the Beatles since their last public performance on January 30, 1969. It is also the first Cirque du Soleil production that does not incorporate live music, since it uses original Beatles material that was mixed and re-arranged by Sir George Martin and his son Giles Martin.

Delirum, the first Music Concert and arena show production is launched in January of 2006. The concert show was created and directed by Michel Lemieux & Victor Pilon and is full of references to traditional Cirque du Soleil touring shows, visually and musically. Delirum will run for only two years and not continue to tour outside the United States (with the exception of its final performances in London, UK) for unknown reasons.

For the World Out-games 2006 - Cirque du Soleil performs the Hand in Hand Act. The opening ceremonies for the 1st World Out-games with 30,000 spectators was held in Montreal's Olympic stadium on Saturday night July 29, 2006.

2007

After another two years without a new touring show, Kooza, directed by David Shiner, debuted in April in Montreal, Canada. Kooza goes back to the traditional Circus theme and elements.

November 2007, debut of the seasonal resident show Wintuk at the Wamu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY.

The oldest active touring show of Cirque du Soleil, Saltimbanco is converted from a Big Top show to an Arena show. This will allow the show to visit new places where it could not go before, reaching new audiences to capture their imagination.

Cirque presented a Pre-Game Show at Super Bowl XLI (41.), the American football game to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 2006 season at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Indianapolis Colts (16-4) defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears (15-4), 29-17. This performance was produced by David Saltz.

On September 25, 2007 - Cirque du Soleil's contortionists, Natasha Patterson, 10, born in San Francisco, Julie Bergez, 14, from France and Dasha Sovik, 15, from Russia, who perform in KOOZA, set a new Guinness World Record™ for the Highest Circus Act ever performed at the top of Toronto's CN Tower, the World's Tallest Freestanding Tower. This feat was performed in the Glass Floor observation deck, 342 meters (1,122 feet) above the ground and as high up on Toronto's CN Tower.

2008

First resident shows outside the United States opened in Asia. Zaia, a production for the Sands Corp. resort and casino “The Venetian” at the Cotai-Strip in Macao, China and Zed, a production for the Walt Disney resort in Tokyo, Japan. Also launched was the first production that involves a celebrity and star in his own right, the show “Criss Angel – Believe” at the Luxor hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Delirum, which tour ended earlier in 2008, returned, but this time in big-screen format. It is only shown for a few days at selected theatres within the United States in August and once more for another three days during its “Encore” performances in October the same year.

Cirque du Soleil's tribute to The Beatles ”A Day In The Life” and Carol Woods & Timmy Mitchums (from "Across the Universe") performance of "Let It Be" at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California. In the same year, Cirque du Soleil performed during the day-parade, called "Awakening of the Serpent", for the "Water" Expo 2008 in public at the city of Zaragoza in Spain, Europe. Cirque du Soleil also created a special show for this anniversary, which was performed 5 times on three days at the Colisée Pepsi in Québec City. In December,  Cirque du Soleil presented an almost 1 hour long special one-time performance at the "La Notte Bianca" festival and street performances in Lecce, an ancient and annually celebrated event, in Italy, Europe.

2009

The big-top show Alegria is converted to an Arena show, like the other older Cirque du Soleil production “Saltimbanco” a few years earlier. A new touring show with Insects as theme, featuring Brazilian music and vibes, “OVO” premiered in April in Montreal, Canada.

Cirque du Soleil Articles in this Series

• Main Cirque du Soleil Primer Article
• Cirque du Soleil - Historic Time-Line 1984 to Present
• The Cirque du Soleil Story - Odyssea - The dreamer's Odyssey
• Cirque du Soleil Touring Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Resident Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Arena Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Special Events & Performances
• Cirque du Soleil Releases for TV and IMAX
• Cirque du Soleil Documentaries (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil DVD Releases (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Music Releases (Complete List)

The Cirque du Soleil Story - Odyssea - The dreamer's Odyssey

Source: Cirque du Soleil

This article is part of my Cirque du Soleil Information Primer article series. See the main article here.

Odyssea - The dreamer's odyssey

The History of Cirque du Soleil in their own words.

The Cirque du Soleil story is about a group of young people who wanted nothing more than the freedom to dream a dream.  Beginning with a street kid from Montreal called Guy Laliberté, it's the tale of individuals who have come forward at special moments in time to move that dream forward, and share it with the world.

1979 - 1980: The inspiration

In the late 1970s, Guy Laliberté attends a concert by Zachary Richard, a musician from New Orleans. The show inspires him to organize a school trip to the city, which proves to be a big success. It's the first time he experiences bringing a group of people together for travel and entertainment, and it sets the teenager on his life path.

Chance encounters occur that will galvanize the still unformulated dreams of the people who are to found Cirque du Soleil.

It is a time of creative ferment and great energy in Quebec that is gathering momentum.

1980 - 1981: Artists gather in Baie-Saint-Paul

Guy Laliberté, barely 20, burns with a desire to entertain and travel. He leaves Montreal for the artist colony of Baie Saint-Paul where he comes together with a group of young street performers who have pooled their talent and dreams and founded “Les Échassiers de Baie-Saint-Paul” (the Baie-Saint-Paul Stiltwalkers).

The stiltwalkers’ group also features fire-eaters, jugglers and other buskers. The group includes Gilles Ste-Croix, who will later become Artistic Director of Cirque until the production of Dralion.

Riding the crest of the Quebec street entertainer movement—on a roll since the mid-70s—a group of young stilt-walkers, fire-eaters and assorted mountebanks is born.

They are loud, eccentric, brash, impossible to avoid.

1981 - 1982: An idea takes form

In 1982, Guy Laliberté and Gilles Ste-Croix create another association to support their work with the Échassiers de Baie-Saint-Paul: “Le Club des Talons Hauts,” or the High-Heels Club. Through the Club, they decide to organize a street performer's festival, La Fête Foraine de Baie-Saint-Paul. Keeping a neglected tradition alive, they walk on stilts, juggle, and breathe fire to the crowd's obvious delight.

This talented group of young Quebec street entertainers has come together under a lucky star. Although a full two years pass before Cirque du Soleil as we know it today is created, its founders say that it was at that mystic moment in Baie Saint-Paul in 1982 that Cirque du Soleil was conceived.

The aurora borealis hits Baie Saint-Paul on the first day of La Fête Foraine. The sun has set but the sky is streaked with waves of otherworldly light. Green and silver refractions chase each other across the dome of the sky throughout the performance.

1983 - 1984: Cirque du Soleil is born.

In 1984, with the financial assistance of the Quebec government, Cirque du Soleil is officially formed by Guy Laliberté as part of the celebrations surrounding the 450th anniversary of Jacques Cartier's arrival in Canada. Guy is inspired to choose the name by the sun itself, a symbol of youth, energy, power and light.

His goal to bring together creative talent to delight new audiences in new locations takes a bold step forward.Cirque becomes a multicultural gathering point, with performers from Quebec, Belgium, Switzerland and Argentina.

The crazy dreams of a two friends begin to take wing. And maybe those dreams aren't so crazy after all. Maybe this idea about a different kind of circus is something that audiences will respond to. Maybe it will flourish.  Sometimes you just have to trust to fate and follow where your dreams lead you...

Youth, boldness, instinct, vision and a certain zany talent are their stock in trade.

1985 - 1986: Inspiration from abroad.

In 1985, Cirque welcomes Guy Caron as Artistic Director. Guy has toured the world and discovered new trends in live entertainment of all kinds. Cirque experiences a burning desire to return to the circus tradition the esteem and quality it knew at the beginning of the century.

Guy Caron brings in Franco Dragone to teach Cirque artists commedia dell'arte. Inspired by the best of what is happening internationally,  Cirque creates a new theatricality and adopts a vision whereby rules exist only to be broken.Cirque also performs La Magie Continue at the 1986 universal exposition in Vancouver

Guy Caron scours Europe and Asia to cast We Reinvent the Circus. He is looking for new ways of doing things. The mandate is clear: to produce a European-style professional show anchored in acrobatics, with original music and without animals.

From the Chinese we learned about perfecting the blend of presentation, music and choreography--about grace and beauty, gestures and smiles. We drew upon an Impressionistic sensibility, took everything that had existed in the past, and pulled it into today.

1987: Cirque decides to make it or break it in  L.A.

After years of honing its craft across Québec and in cities throughout Canada, Cirque du Soleil mounts We Reinvent the Circus. In 1987, Cirque takes the biggest risk in its history by agreeing to perform at the Los Angeles Festival, without the funds necessary for a return trip.

Its future will depend entirely on being successful in the U.S. market. The gamble pays off. The show is performed in Los Angeles, San Diego and Santa Monica to rave reviews. It then successfully tours the U.S. for two years.

Franco Dragoné is now taking on increasing influence directing all major Cirque productions from Nouvelle Expérience to La Nouba.

Cirque du Soleil leaves its home province for the first time in 1985 to take its show to neighbouring Ontario. In 1986, Cirque du Soleil visits eight more cities across Canada, including Vancouver, and holds performances at Expo '86.

"Cirque du Soleil comes to us from Montreal, but surely via the moon or Mars."-S.D., Los Angeles Times

1988 - 1990: Nouvelle Experience:a new level of theatricality

Buoyed by its growing success, Cirque du Soleil begins attracting artists from around the world, particularly Russians whose proud circus and acrobatic tradition makes a valuable contribution. Cirque mounts Nouvelle Expérience, its most successful show yet.

Franco Dragoné becomes Director, pushing Cirque's theatricality to new limits. His impact is enormous: Franco's theatrical vision will inform Cirque's approach for years to come. Key to Franco's indelible stamp will be his successful creative association with set designer Michel Crête and, later, costume designer Dominique Lemieux. They will work together on every show until "O," after which new creators will take up the challenge.

Suddenly it begins to happen. The show, like a reluctant spirit hounded by a posse of mediums, slowly reveals itself. An organic resonance emerges: each act finds its place, a succession of moments as fleeting as they are eternal.

Long before the house lights go down and the excitement begins to build under the Grand Chapiteau, designers and craftspeople have put in months of work behind the scenes to create the perfect costumes and makeup to bring life to a cast of characters.

1990 - 1992: The magic continues: Saltimbanco and more

In the year 1992 alone, Cirque encounters success in Japan with a show called Fascination and kicks off a 12-month engagement in Las Vegas with Nouvelle Expérience at The Mirage Hotel. Then it introduces a new show in Montreal: Saltimbanco. Today, the show is still playing to audiences around the world.As Cirque grows, it benefits from a greater number of artists, performers and creators who bring their own spark to the creative fire.

Saltimbanco is a celebration of life. Designed as an antidote to the violence and despair of the 20th century, this phantasmagoric show offers an alternative view of the urban environment brimming with optimism and joy.

"It is a circus, but then again it's not. Unquestionably, Cirque du Soleil Nouvelle Expérience is a visual and audio mind-twister bent on stir-frying your senses into a frenzy." —Las Vegas Sun

1992 - 1994: Mystère changes Las Vegas

Having seen Cirque in action, the president of Mirage Resorts in Las Vegas, Steve Wynn, makes an offer: why not bring Cirque du Soleil to a permanent installation in Las Vegas? Cirque responds to the challenge of staging a show outside of the traditional big top, and resolves, in its own words, to "plant a flower in the desert."

In 1994, Mystère premieres at the Treasure Island hotel in Las Vegas, setting a new standard and changing the way live entertainment is presented in Las Vegas. Cirque du Soleil celebrates it 10th anniversary by staging Alegría, which premieres in Montreal.

Mystère's message is universal because movement, music and humor are universal. Mystère is so richly diverse that it can be experienced over and over again, every performance revealing something new and extraordinary.

Be obnoxious. Be stupid. Be sweet. Be nasty. Be masculine, feminine, androgynous. Be amazing.

1994 - 1997: New home, new media

Cirque du Soleil now has four shows running: Saltimbanco, Mystère, Alegría, and its newest show, Quidam. Cirque decides that its artists must have a single home in which to gather, create, rehearse, and dream. The Studio, its new International Headquarters in Montreal, is born.

All of the shows will be created and produced in the new facility.The year 1997 sees the birth of a multimedia division, Cirque du Soleil Images, and the release of its first feature film: Alegría.

It's done The move, carried out over three weekends, goes very smoothly, and all employees are now ensconced in the new Studio. A few last-minute adjustments and everyone is able to get down to work.

As its repertoire grows and it moves into new and bigger premises, Cirque’s plans become even more ambitious and audiences flock to the Grand Chapiteaus in ever-greater numbers.

1997 - 1999: New Benchmarks

Inspired by the success of Mystère, Steve Wynn, the president of Mirage Resorts, invites Cirque  to Las Vegas to mount "O" in a specially constructed theatre at the Bellagio Resort. "O" sets a new benchmark for excellence in theatrical entertainment everywhere.After almost 10 years of discussion, Cirque du Soleil finally teams with Disney to present La Nouba in Orlando.

The agreement occurs after direct intervention from Michael Eisner, chairman and CEO of Disney, who concedes to Cirque's long-maintained insistence that it retain creative control. Moreover, a custom-made theatre is built for Cirque’s unique requirements.

Quidam tours North America in 1997, while Saltimbanco ends its two-year European tour at London's Royal Albert Hall and Alegría kicks off its own tour of Europe. Saltimbanco tours Asia and the Pacific in 1999, while Quidam embarks on a four-year European tour.  Starting with Dralion in 1999, new creators like Stéphane Roy and François Barbeau pave the way for Cirque’s continued success.

Cirque’s performances are a unique balance of physical strength, art and beauty.

Audacity is deeply ingrained in Cirque’s culture. With Gilles' historic stiltwalkathon from Baie-Saint-Paul to Quebec City, Guy Caron's artistic instincts, and Guy Laliberté's go-for-broke gambling spirit, it's been there from the beginning. It's stitched into the very fabric of the Grand Chapiteau.

1999 - ?: The dawn of a new era.

Cirque also begins looking beyond live entertainment for new means to share their which wonder, joy and creativity. The team produces Cirque du Soleil Presents Quidam for television, and the IMAX film Journey of Man.Guy Laliberté declares 2001 the beginning of "Cirque du Soleil, Volume 2."

In 2002, Varekai, directed by Dominic Champagne in collaboration with twelve other talented creators, begins its journey. Since its origins, Cirque has been an unique meeting space for more than 50 creators with big dreams. Cirque du Soleil wows its largest audience ever when it presents a one-of-a-kind act at the 74th Annual Academy Awards® in 2002.

In 2003, the television documentary series "Cirque du Soleil Fire Within," an intimate and revealing inside look at the making of a Cirque show, wins an Emmy award plus two Gemini awards. While Quidam tours Japan in 2003, the adults-only show ZUMANITY premieres at the New York-New York Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, and Cirque du Soleil Images completes “Solstrom,” a family-oriented TV series that merges acrobatic acts with dramatic comedy.

As the future approaches, Cirque prepares to embark on new projects and connect with new audiences everywhere. Dreams never die. Come along as they take on new forms with us

Final words from Guy Laliberté, Founder of Cirque du Soleil

So long as we keep our sense of excitement at discovering new paths, we’ll never lose our determination to share that excitement with every audience, at every performance

Today, we have our place in the sun and a roof over our heads, but once upon a time the street was our home. I would say we took a little dusty carpet and shook it out pretty well We've shown the world that under the dust, something exceptional is coming out of contemporary circus. My mission has not yet been accomplished. I still have a lot of entertaining to do.

For more information about Cirque du Soleil, their shows, their TV productions, their Music, their DVDs and more, check out my Cirque du Soleil Primer article and subsequent articles.

Cheers!

Carsten aka Roy/SAC

Cirque du Soleil Articles in this Series

• Main Cirque du Soleil Primer Article
• Cirque du Soleil - Historic Time-Line 1984 to Present
• The Cirque du Soleil Story - Odyssea - The dreamer's Odyssey
• Cirque du Soleil Touring Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Resident Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Arena Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Special Events & Performances
• Cirque du Soleil Releases for TV and IMAX
• Cirque du Soleil Documentaries (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil DVD Releases (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Music Releases (Complete List)

About Cirque du Soleil, the Guinness Book of World Records & a lot of Stilts

Well, the post title is actually very descriptive. This post is about Cirque du Soleil. Adding stilts to the mix should also not be surprising, considering that Cirque du Soleil was founded back in 1984 by a troupe of Stilts Walkers, dubbed the “High Heels Club”. You can now guess What Cirque du Soleil and stilts have to do with the Guinness Book of World Records. Na?  C’mon!   

Okay, I don’t want anybody to die stupid, without knowing the following facts hehe.

Background Information

On June 16, 2004 Cirque du Soleil set a new record for the Guinness Book of World Records when they gathered 544 employees in the Montreal Headquarters and had them stilts walking at the same place, at the same time.

544 folks on stilts is a lot, however, the record only lasted about 2 years, until 2006, when this record was being taken away from Cirque by a group of Japanese folks, who in turn lost their record also in 2008 to 625 youth from Ontario.

So 625 stilts walkers is now the official record and Cirque thought that things are somehow not right. 

2009 marks the 25th anniversary of Cirque du Soleil and they thought that they will be damned, if they will not be able to reclaim the record for them (for pride, honor and as a birthday gift for themselves).

The Upcoming New World Record Attempt

On June 16, 2009, five years after the original record was set, Cirque du Soleil is going to attempt to reclaim their record and will try to have more than 625 stilts walkers, made up of Cirque du Soleil employees from all over the world, walking on their stilts on that day.

In preparation for the employees and to announce to the rest of the world that it would not be Cirque du Soleil, if they would simply watch somebody taking this (for Cirque) important record and be living with it; Management created a casual video and published it on video sharing sites, such as YouTube.

The video explains the record attempt, how the hundreds of stilts are custom manufactured, decoration tips to personalize each set of stilts and a brief 101 on Stilt Walking, including the does and don’ts. 

• Backup Link to Video on YouTube.com
• You can download this video in .AVI format in 480x360 pixels resolution here.

I added to the original video released by Cirque du Soleil a short slideshow at the end with additional photographs from the original world record attempt on June 16, 2004. I also added the Guinness Book image at the beginning of the video :).

I wish them luck with this attempt and hope that they will re-“capture the flag".  

Here are some of the images from the 2004 World Record event in Montreal, Canada. Click on the thumbnail of the image to open the enlarged version of it.

For more stuff about Cirque du Soleil, check out my Cirque du Soleil Primer article and my YouTube channel CirqueDuSoleilGuru.

p.s. I hope you enjoyed the caricature that I made for the occasion :)

Cheers!

Carsten aka Roy/SAC

New Cirque du Soleil Show Ovo

The name for the new Cirque du Soleil touring show that will premiere on April 23, 2009 in Montreal, Canada was unveiled. The name is: “OVO”.

The theme of the show are insects. Yes, you read this right, insects. This also explains the name choice, because here is what Cirque du Soleil themselves stated about it:

The name OVO means "egg" in Portuguese. This timeless symbol of the life cycle and birth of numerous insects represents the underlying thread of the show. Graphically, OVO hides an insect in its name: The two letter "Os" represent the eyes while the letter "V" forms the nose.

The Cirque’s web site was also updated (it used to show simply “Cirque 2009”, which was the working title of the show). There are not much video images of the show available. The official trailer for the show is a just 16 seconds in length with less than half of that being images from the show itself.

Backup Link to Video on YouTube.com
Download this video in AVI format from my Mediafire.com account.

There are a few more photographs though, which I made available on my Flickr.com account. I created a new set for the “Ovo” show under my existing Cirque du Soleil photo collection.

This is Cirque’s 25th show production in 25 years. Yes, 2009 also marks the 25th anniversary of the Cirque. Congratulations. They were busy over the past few years. More than half of their 25 shows were created within the past 10 years. Last year 3 shows were launched in a single year in 3 different countries on 2 continents.

What is interesting about OVO is the fact that almost every important person among the creators of the show didn’t play a major role in the creation of any of the previous Cirque productions. Except from the usual mention of Guy among the creators of every Cirque du Soleil show, Jonathan Deans who did the Sound Design for Ovo, is the only person who worked on other shows. Jonathan did the sound design for the Cirque du Soleil touring shows Saltimbanco and Kooza and helped with the lighting design for Corteo.

Deborah Colker wrote and directed the new show and also did the choreography. Director of Creation is Chantal Tremblay, who is not exactly a newbie to Cirque du Soleil. She was Associate Producer for the resident show “The Beatles LOVE” at the Mirage hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. She actually started out as a dancer in Cirque, then became an assistant to choreographer Debra Brown, then Artistic Coordinator and then Artistic Director.

The composer of the music for the show is Berna Ceppas. The music by the early Cirque shows was composed René Dupéré, Benoît Jutras and then later also by Violaine Corradi. That changed over the past years and many new composers were introduced to the Cirque family, including: Jean-François Côté (Kooza), Philippe Leduc (Corteo), Simon Carpentier (Zumanity), Éric Serra (Believe). René Dupéré was busy with the music for Zed and Violaine Corradi for the show Zaia. I don’t know what happened to to Benoît Jutras. Maybe he is busy with one of the other Cirque projects that are currently in production. I am not familiar with Berna Ceppas and his music. I know that he is from Brazil and learned that he has a MySpace page where you can listen to some of his earlier work to get an idea about how the music for Ovo might sound like. The short trailer was unfortunately not long enough to get it from there.

Additional show credits: Set Design and Props: Gringo Cardia, Costume Design: Liz Vandal, Lighting Design: Éric Champoux, Make up: Julie Bégin, Rigging: Fred Gérard, Acrobatics Act Designer: Philippe Aubertin, Artistic Guides: Gilles Ste-Croix & Guy Laliberté.

Cirque du Soleil also launched a Facebook page for Ovo.

Another YouTube user from Germany with I am in touch will be in Montreal for the premiere. I won’t be able to make it myself, but he promised me to let me know about his impressions from the show.

Like the previous touring shows of Cirque du Soleil, Ovo will start its multiple years long journey across Canada, the United States and then the rest of the world, including Europe, Asia, Australia and South America.

I hope to have some new video material from the show available soon to post it on my YouTube channel and share it with you. I have already over 350 videos about Cirque du Soleil and related subjects up online. You might want to check it out. Also do not forget my Cirque du Soleil Primer article for facts and information about your favorite Circus, the Cirque du Soleil.

Cirque du Soleil Touring Shows (Complete List)

This post is part of my Cirque du Soleil Information Primer Article Series

Cirque du Soleil Touring Shows

Touring shows are the traditional Circus style like shows that are performed within a big circus tent (called the "Big Top"), which gets wrapped up every few months to be rebuild and made ready in another City somewhere around the world to stay there for a few weeks , perform the show and then move on to the next city.

The first Cirque du Soleil show on tour in 19984 was limited to within Canada and the United States only. It was not until "Saltimbanco" that Cirque shows would be touring internationally and virtually to every continent on this planet (excluding Antarctica for now hehe)

LeGrand Tour du Cirque du Soleil (1984-85, 16.June 1984, Gaspe, 14.May 1985, Montreal) Director: Franco Dragonè Director of Creation: Guy Caron Music Composer: René Dupéré Set: Andre Caron Costumes/Props: Hélène Dubé Lighting: Jean Leduc Trainer/Choreographer: Zygmunt Biegaj This show was more like classic circus. I am not aware of any recordings of it. La Magie Continue/The Magic Continues (1986, 20.April 1986/18.May 1986, Sherebrook) Director: Franco Dragonè Director of Creation: Guy Caron Music Composer: René Dupéré Set: Andre Caron Costumes/Props: Jean-Yves Cadieux Lighting: Luc LaFortune Buy Show DVD La Magie Continue is French and translates to “The Magic Continues” Le Cirque Réinventé /We Reinvent the Circus (1987-1990, 07.May 1987, La Salle) Director: Franco Dragonè Director of Creation: Guy Caron Music Composer: René Dupéré, Benoît Jutras Set: Andre Caron Costumes/Props: Michel Crête Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack La Cirque Réinventé is French and translates to English "Circus Reinvented", which was modified to "We Reinvent the Circus" Spelling of the name La Cirque Réinventé (the first and last "e" in "Reinvente" are the Latin lower case letter "e" with acute, Unicode: 0x00E9 (233), in HTML é or é) Nouvelle Expérience/A New Experience (1990-93, 8.May 1990, Montreal) Director: Franco Dragone Director of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix Music Composer: René Dupéré, Benoît Jutras Set: Michel Crête Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: Guy Desrochers Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown Buy Show DVD or here Buy official Soundtrack Nouvelle Expérience is French and translates to English “A New Experience” Spelling of the name: Nouvelle Expérience (the first “e” in “Experience” is the Latin lower case letter “e” with acute, Unicode: 0x00E9 (233), in HTML é or é)

	Saltimbanco (1992-2006, 23.April 1992, Montreal/10.December 2006, Rio de Janeiro) Director: Franco Dragonè Director of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix Music Composer: René Dupéré Set: Michel Crête Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: Jonathan Deans Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown watch 2:21 min promo video  Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack Saltimbanco is about urban life in the city, about the high rise skyscrapers of downtown and the myriad kinds of people who are living, hustle and bustle in a modern day city. Saltimbanco is derived from the Italian phrase “saltare in banco”, which translates to English “to jump on a bench”.
	Fascination (1992, 22.May 1992, Tokyo) Director: Roger Parent Director of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix Music Composer: René Dupéré, Benoît Jutras Set: Michel Crête Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Luc Lafortune Trainer/Choreographer: Catherine Archambault, Allison Brierly, Wayne Hronek Only toured in Japan. Acts were a mix of Le Cirque Réinventé and Nouvelle Expérience, but all new costumes and arranged by a new director. It ran 118 times between May and September of 1992 and no video recording was ever published publicly.
	Alegría (1994-2009, 21.April 1994, Montreal, 5.April 2009, Dubai) Director: Franco Dragonè Director of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix Music Composer: René Dupéré Set: Michel Crête Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: Guy Desrochers Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown watch 5:41 min promo video (A different perspective) Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack Get Show Tickets The provided link is for the DVD that was filmed live in Sydney in 2001. There is a second DVD recording (which I would like to buy myself, if I'd know where), filmed in Japan in 2004 and called "Alegría 2 Evolution". Alegría Is about a Kingdom without a King where everybody wants the power. The Red Man, who was the fool of the king, he thinks that he has the power. All the nostalgic beautiful birds who want the power; then you have the young and energetic and vigilant fast trackers. The flyers high up in the lights, the beautiful nymphs and contortionists all struggle for the power in this leaderless kingdom. The word “Alegria” is the Spanish word for Joy, elation and jubilation. Spelling the name: Alegría (the “I” is a Latin lower case letter “I” with acute, Unicode: 0x00ED (237), in HTML í or í)
	Quidam (1996-..., 23.April 1996, Montreal) Director: Franco Dragonè Director of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix Music Composer: Benoit Jutras Set: Michel Crête Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: François Bergeron Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown watch 57 seconds show DVD trailer Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack Get Show Tickets Quidam is a nameless by-passer, a solitary person who lingers in the shadows ignored by normal people who rush past him without being noticed. Quidam represents nobody and everybody and the deep inner feelings and fears that are part of all of us. The young girl “Zoe” finds herself in a world of Quidam, full of anger and pain, trying to escape from it. Quidam is Classical Latin and means "a certain; pl., some" or "anonymous passerby”.
	Dralion (1999-..., 22.April 1999, Montreal) Director: Guy Caron Music Composer: Violaine Corradi Set: Stéphane Roy Costumes/Props: François Barbeau Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: Guy Desrochers Trainer/Choreographer: Julie Lachance watch 37 seconds video trailer  Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack Get Show Tickets Dralion is the fusion of ancient Chinese circus tradition and the avant-garde approach of Cirque du Soleil. The show's name is drawn from its two main symbols: the dragon, representing the East, and the lion, representing the West. Dralion derives much of its inspiration from Eastern philosophy with its perpetual quest for harmony between humankind and nature.
	Varekai (2002-..., 24.April 2002, Montreal) Director: Dominic Champagne Director of Creation: Andrew Watson Music Composer: Violaine Corradi Set: Stéphane Roy Costumes/Props: Eiko Ishioka Lighting: Nol Van Genuchten Sound: François Bergeron Trainer/Choreographer: Michael Montanaro, Bill Shannon, Cal McCrystal, André Simard watch 6 min video: Ikarian Games Act Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack Buy Premium OST - Get Show Tickets Varekai is about the ancient Greek myth of Ikarus, who attempted to fly with wings he made out of wax and reach the sun, which melted the wings and caused Ikarus to fall from the sky as a result of it. The story of Varekai begins at the end of the ancient story with Ikarus falling from the sky into a group of forest people, which have established a stable society within the magic forest that is made of survivors, just like the circus artists themselves. Varekai means “wherever” in the Romanian language spoken by the Gypsies, the people without a home who wander from place to place in order to survive, which is very much like circus life is.
	Corteo (2005-..., 21.April 2005, Montreal) Director: Danielle Finzi Pasca Director of Creation: Line Tremblay Music Composer: Philippe Leduc, Maria Bonzanigo Set: Jean Rabasse Costumes/Props: Jean Rabasse Lighting: Martin Labrecque, Jonathan Deans watch 1 min trailer video Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack Buy Ltd.Ed. OST - Get Show Tickets Corteo, which means "cortege" in Italian, is a joyous procession, a festive parade imagined by a clown. The show brings together the passion of the actor with the grace and power of the acrobat to plunge the audience into a theatrical world of fun, comedy and spontaneity situated in a mysterious space between heaven and earth. The clown pictures his own funeral taking place in a carnival atmosphere, watched over by quietly caring angels. Juxtaposing the large with the small, the ridiculous with the tragic and the magic of perfection with the charm of imperfection, the show highlights the strength and fragility of the clown, as well as his wisdom and kindness, to illustrate the portion of humanity that is within each of us.
	KOOZÅ (2007- ..., 19.April 2007, Montreal) Director: David Shiner Director of Creation: Serge Roy Music Composer: Jean-François Côté Set: Stéphane Roy Costumes/Props: Marie-Chantale Vaillancourt/Rogé Francoeur Lighting: Martin Labrecqu Sound: Jonathan Deans, Leon Rothenberg Trainer/Choreographer: Clarence Ford, André Simard watch 7 Min Special Video - 5 min video 20 min press conference Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack - Get Show Tickets Kooza Is about getting back to the traditions of the Circus. It follows the centuries old structure of a circus performance, including the use of the massive door with curtains where performance appear from and disappear to between each act. Spelling of the name: Koozá (the “a” is a Latin lower case letter “a” with acute, Unicode: 0x00E1 (225), in HTML á or á) It can also be spelled in all upper-case letters like KOOZÅ (the “A” is a Latin capital letter “A” with a ring above, Unicode 0x00C5 (197), in HTML Å or Å)
	Ovo  (23.April.2009 Montreal – ...) Director/Writer/Choreographer: Deborah Colker Director of Creation: Chantal Tremblay Music Composer: Berna Ceppas Set/Props: Gringo Cardia Costumes: Liz Vandal Lighting: Éric Champoux Sound: Jonathan Deans Make-up: Julie Bégin Rigging: Fred Gérard Acrobatics Designer: Philippe Aubertin The 25th Cirque du Soleil show in 25 years, since the company was created in 1984.  Ovo is a foray into the insect world, a link that is essential to the balance of the planet's ecosystem. watch mini trailer - 1:35 min video Get Show Tickets The name OVO means "egg" in Portuguese. This timeless symbol of the life cycle and birth of numerous insects represents the underlying thread of the show. Graphically, OVO hides an insect in its name: The two letter "Os" represent the eyes while the letter "V" forms the nose.

Return to the Cirque du Soleil Primer Article.

Cirque du Soleil Articles in this Series

• Main Cirque du Soleil Primer Article
• Cirque du Soleil - Historic Time-Line 1984 to Present
• The Cirque du Soleil Story - Odyssea - The dreamer's Odyssey
• Cirque du Soleil Touring Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Resident Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Arena Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Special Events & Performances
• Cirque du Soleil Releases for TV and IMAX
• Cirque du Soleil Documentaries (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil DVD Releases (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Music Releases (Complete List)

Cirque du Soleil Resident Shows (Complete List)

This article is part of my Cirque du Soleil Information Primer Articles Series.

Resident Shows of Cirque du Soleil

Resident shows are in contradiction to the Cirque du Soleil touring show, performed at one specific location/venue throughout it's run. A resident show does not come to visit people around the world, you have to pay it a visit yourself and travel to the location of the resident show, if you want to see it live. The venue is usually specially constructed and build from scratch for the Cirque du Soleil show and only that show is performed at that venue location.

This allows Cirque to do things that are impossible with a touring show on the road that need to be packed up and moved to another city every couple months. Good examples of resident shows that take special advantage of their fix location are "O" with the big swimming pool as the stage and "KA" with the stage that is vertical and capable of rotating 360 degrees.

	Mystère (1993-..., 25.December 1994, Las Vegas) Location: Treasure Island hotel & casino in Las Vegas, NV Director: Franco Dragonè Director of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix Music Composer: René Dupéré Set: Michel Crête Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: Jonathan Deans Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown watch 20+ min teaser video Buy official Soundtrack - Buy Live Album Get Show Tickets Mystère is French and means "Mystery" Spelling of the name: Mystère (the first “e” is a Latin lower case letter “e” with grave, Unicode: 0x00E8 (232), in HTML è or è)
	"O" (1998-..., 19.October 1998, Las Vegas) Location: Bellagio hotel & casino in Las Vegas, NV Director: Franco Dragonè Director of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix Music Composer: Benoit Jutras Set: Michel Crête Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: Jonathan Deans, François Bergeron Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown watch 3 min video - 22 min video Buy official Soundtrack Get Show Tickets “O” is inspired by the concept of infinity and the elegance of water's pure form. The name “O” also represents the expression “Oh” that humans use when they are struck with awe, excitement, surprise or pleasure.
	La Nouba (1998-..., 23.December 1998/28.January 1999, Orlando) Location: Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, FL Director: Franco Dragonè Director of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix Music Composer: Benoit Jutras Set: Michel Crête Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: Jonathan Deans, François Bergeron Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown watch 4:26 min teaser video Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack Get Show Tickets The show name La Nouba originates from the French phrase “faire la nouba,” which means to party, to live it up. It is a world where dreams and reality intertwine as the urban and circus worlds meet on stage. Blending acrobatics, dazzling choreography, whimsical characters and live music, La Nouba stimulates our imagination from beginning to end.
	Zumanity (2003-..., 31.July 2003/20.September 2003, Las Vegas) Location: New York, New York hotel & casino in Las Vegas, NV Directors: Dominic Champagne & René Richard Cyr Director of Creation: Andrew Watson Music Composer(s): Simon Carpentier, Anna Liani Set: Stéphane Roy Costumes/Props: Thierry Mugler/Normand Blais Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: Jonathan Deans Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown, Marguerite Derricks, Cal McCrystal watch 9 min teaser video - 8 min promo Buy official Soundtrack Get Show Tickets Zumanity explores the sensual side of Cirque du Soleil and is the first and only Cirque du Soleil show that is designed for mature audiences only. It is provocative, sexual, esthetic, beautiful, lustful and emotional, touching every aspect of human sexuality that each of us wants to experience, but often does not, due to social codes that do not allow the free expression of your inner feelings and desires. Zumanity deals with this conflict in a caberret-istic way and lets people forget about the codes, at least for the duration of the show itself.
	KÀ (2004-..., 26.November 2004/03.February 2005, Las Vegas) Location: MGM Grand hotel & casino in Las Vegas, NV Director: Robert Lepage Director of Creation: Guy Caron Music Composer: René Dupéré Set: Mark Fisher Costumes/Props: Marie-Chantale Vaillancourt/Patricia Ruel Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: Jonathan Deans Trainer/Choreographer: Jacques Heim, Michael Curry (Puppets), André Simard watch 57 min Promo Video - 30 sec trailer - 90 min show 9 min videos 1 and 2 Buy official Soundtrack - Get Show Tickets KA is the story of two imperial twins who lost their parents, discover life and love on their journey to regain back their kingdom from the evil counselor and his son who invented a magic super weapon. They used this magic weapon to assume power of the people who helped them to take control over the kingdom of the twins. It is about the duality of KA, the power that has the ability to destroy and to create, war, love and the struggle in life itself. KA stands for “Life Force” in Egyptian mythology and is one of the five parts that make up a human soul. The other four parts are LB = heart, Sheut = Shadow, REN = Name and BA = Personality. KA is also the word for "Sun" or "King" in Sanskrit (Indian mythology), which is the title of Brahma (Hinduism). Spelling the name: KÀ (the “a” is a Latin capital letter “A” with grave, Unicode: 0x00C0 (192), in HTML À or À)
	LOVE (2006-..., 02.June 2006/30.June 2006, Las Vegas) Location: The Mirage hotel & casino in Las Vegas, NV Director: Dominic Champagne Director of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix, Chantal Tremblay (Assoc.) Music Composer: The Beatles, Sir George Martin, Giles Martin, Neil Aspinall Set: Jean Rabasse Costumes/Props: Philippe Guillotel/Patricia Ruel Lighting: Yves Aucoin Sound: Jonathan Deans Trainer/Choreographer: Hansel Cereza, Dave St-Pierre, Geneviève Dorion-Coupal, Daniel Ezralow, Margie Gillis, Michael Curry (Puppets), Daniel Cola/André Simard watch 10 min gala - watch 50 min preview Buy official Soundtrack - Get Show Tickets The Beatles “Love” starts with the last live performance of The Beatles on the roof at the Apple Studios in London on January 30, 1969. The Beatles songs itself inspired the acts of the Cirque performances, particularly their lyrics and their historic backgrounds or meanings to the individual members of the band. The title “Love” is derived from The Beatles single “All you need is Love”, which is also the song for the shows final and closing.
	WINTUK (2007-..., 01.November 2007, New York City) Location: WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY (Seasonal Show, only performed during the Winter, Nov-Feb) Director: Robert Lepage Director of Creation: Fernand Rainville Music Composer: Simon Carpentier, Jim Corcoran Set: Patricia Ruel Costumes/Props: François Barbeau/Patricia Ruel Lighting: Yves Aucoin Sound: Jonathan Deans, Leon Rothenberg Trainer/Choreographer: Daniel Cola warch 9 Minutes Teaser Video Buy official Soundtrack - Get Show Tickets Wintuk is a whirlwind winter adventure about a boy—Jamie—and his quest to find snow. Jamie lives in an imaginary city where the arrival of winter has brought intense cold, but no snow! He interacts with a cast of high-energy urban street characters, including acrobats, dancers and talking lampposts. Jamie embarks on a journey to an imaginary North called Wintuk. He is joined by three companions—a female Shaman with magical powers, the girl he has fallen head over heels for and a timid young man called Wimpy, destined to discover his own courage. Jamie's goal: bring the snow back to where it belongs.
	Zaia (2008-...,26.July./28.August.2008 Macao) Location: Venetian hotel and Casino in Macao, China Working titles "Cosmos" or "Macao I". Resident show at the COTAI ARENA® at the Sands Venetian Macao Hotel and Casino Resort at THE COTAI STRIP® in Macao, China Director: Gilles Maheu Director of Creation: Neilson Vignola Music Composer: Violaine Corradi Set: Guillaume Lord Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Axel Morgenthaler Sound: Steve Dubuc Trainer/Choreographer: Martino Müller, Leonid Leykin, Jeff Hall, Rob Bollinger watch 9 Minutes Teaser Video - watch 2:56 min Promo Get Show Tickets ZAIA is the dream of a young girl who journeys into space on a strange, yet familiar voyage of self-discovery. As she travels, she encounters the beauty of humanity and eventually brings it back with her to share with the inhabitants of earth. Then title of the show, “ZAIA”, comes from a Greek name meaning “life”. It also sounds close to “Gaia”, which is the name of the living and self-aware, spirit of the earth.
	Zed (2008-...,01.October.2008 Tokyo) Location: Cirque du Soleil Theatre @ Disney Tokyo Resort in Tokyo, Japan Director: François Girard Director of Creation: Line Tremblay Music Composer: René Dupéré Set: François Séguin Costumes/Props: Renée April Lighting: David Finn Sound: François Bergeron Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown, Jean-Jacques Pillet, Serge Lamothe (Playwright), Florence Pot watch 4:20 Minutes Snippet - watch 2:52 min of Premiere Get Show Tickets The name ZED is the name of the lead character of the show, the white fool called Zed. The inspiration for the show comes from the world of Tao, symbols, elements and also various characters, such as Zed.
	Believe (2008-..., 10.October. 2008 Las Vegas) Location: The Luxor hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV Director: Serge Denoncourt, Criss Angel (Illusions) Director of Creation: Pierre Phaneuf, Christiane Barette (Assoc.) Music Composer: Éric Serra Set: Ray Winkler Costumes/Props: Mérédith Caron/Michael Curry Lighting: Jeanette Farmer Sound: Jonathan Deans Trainer/Choreographer: Wade Robson, André Simard watch 7 min Video - watch 2:47 min trailer Get Show Tickets Believe is the dark and gothic style magic show of Criss Angel in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil that is not like a traditional magic show that people are used to. It is also not like a traditional Cirque du Soleil show either. It is also not like Criss Angel’s TV show “Mindfreak”. “Believe” is the secret word that the legendary magician and escape artist Harry Houdini was giving to his wife at his death-bed before he died in 1926 to enable her to expose charlatans claiming to be able to communicate with the people in the afterlife. Only he and she knew the code word and the self proclaimed mediums did not.

Upcoming/Planned Resident Shows of Cirque du Soleil

	2009 – VAUDEVILLE in Chicago Show Cirque du Soleil is putting a contemporary twist on Vaudeville by infusing this classic form of theatre with a modern flair. This brand new type of Cirque du Soleil production will feature comedy, dance and song. Get ready for an exciting fusion of genres, directed by David Shiner – accomplished comedic actor, Broadway creator and director of KOOZA from Cirque du Soleil. Official show name to be announced in early September 2009. Here is the official home page of the show.
	2009-2015 - the Elvis Presley Projects for Las Vegas' Project City Center. One touring Elvis show is planned for Europe/Asia in 2008, with one "Elvis Experience" outside the United States. One new Elvis Presley Project will open each year from 2009-2015. News update from the Cirque front. Elvis 2009 is a new Cirque du Soleil resident show that will be playing at ARIA Resort & Casino at CityCenter in Las Vegas as of December 2009. The production pays tribute to Elvis' music and life, fusing dance and acrobatics, live music and iconic tracks, nostalgia and modernity, high technology and raw emotion. In short, the show will be in Elvis' image: powerful, sexy, whimsical and truly unique. Director: Vincent Paterson Director of Creation: Armand Thomas Set: Mark Fisher Costumes/Props: Stefano Canulli Lighting: Marc Brickman Sound: Jonathan Deans Trainer/Choreographer: Daniel Cola
	2009 - A movie theme show at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles, California is currently being created. The new show is planned to run for 10 years
	2010 - A second resident show on Macao's Cotai Strip at a yet-to-be constructed hotel will premiere. I heard that the new show will be directed by René Simard, a famous Quebec artist (from such works as Elvis Story and Génération Motown, both produced in Quebec). Serge Roy will b the show’s Director of Creation and Robert Lemoyne the Production Manager. Director: René Simard Director of Creation: Serge Roy Music Composer: Michel Cusson Set: Stéphane Roy Costumes/Props: Alan Hranitelj Lighting: Alain Lortie Sound: Steve Dubuc
	2009 - A show is planned for the capital of China, Beijing in 2009. Details are still unknown. It is also only a rumor at this time and not confirmed yet.
	2011 - Dubai World - Nakheel and Cirque du Soleil agreed in May 2008 to build a theater at one of the hotels at The Palm, Jumeira, a large island housing development Nakheel is building in the Persian Gulf. The 1,800 seat venue is expected to house a permanent Cirque du Soleil show starting in summer 2011. Nakheel is one of Dubai's biggest developers and owns together with the investment company Istithmar World Capital a 20 percent share of the Montreal, Canada based Circus troupe. The acquisition happened in August 2008. The initial deal is 15 years and the creators assigned to this Cirque project are by Guy Caron (Dralion) and Micheal Curry. Nakheel and Istithmar World Capital are both part of "Dubai World", a holding that is owned by the government of Dubai. Director: Guy Caron, Michael Curry Director of Creation: Fernand Rainville

Return to the Cirque du Soleil Primer article.

Cirque du Soleil Articles in this Series

• Main Cirque du Soleil Primer Article
• Cirque du Soleil - Historic Time-Line 1984 to Present
• The Cirque du Soleil Story - Odyssea - The dreamer's Odyssey
• Cirque du Soleil Touring Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Resident Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Arena Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Special Events & Performances
• Cirque du Soleil Releases for TV and IMAX
• Cirque du Soleil Documentaries (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil DVD Releases (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Music Releases (Complete List)

Cirque du Soleil Arena Shows (Complete List)

This article is part of my Cirque du Soleil Information Primer Articles series.

Cirque du Soleil Arena Shows

Arena shows are touring shows, but without the Big-Top. They are performed in existing venues, just like rock concerts and similar events.

	Delirium (2006-2008) Directors: Michel Lemieux, Victor Pilon Directors of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix, Carmen Ruest Music Composer: Francis Collard (Musical Director), Ian Tremblay (Producer) Costumes/Props: Michel Robidas/Anne-Séguin Poirier Lighting: Alain Lortie Sound: Yves Savoie Trainer/Choreographer: Mia Michaels The Cirque du Soleil Music Concert and Arena Show. It is not touring anymore and can be watched on the big screen today and hopefully soon on DVD as well. watch 28 min Video Buy official Soundtrack - Buy Solarium/Delirium CD Buy Tapis Rouge Solarium CD Delirium is more like a music concert. Most of the music in the show are remixed versions of traditional and well known tracks of previous Cirque du Soleil shows. Also the acts that are performed to these remixed songs often are similar in look and feel as the act of the original show. Delirium is a urban tale about an ordinary man (Bill) who experiences the issues of a words who is increasingly getting out of sync, believing to be just a dream. He sees reality from inside his own bubble and how it tries to find the balance between the virtualization of life that isolates people and the quest for love and harmony outside the virtual computer worlds.
	Saltimbanco (2007-...) Director: Franco Dragone Director of Creation: Carmen Ruest Music Composer: René Dupéré Set: Michel Crête Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: François Desjardins Trainer/Choreographer: Hélène Lemay, René Bazinet watch 5 min Video and watch 2 min Video Get Show Tickets - Buy official Soundtrack
	Quidam (2008- ...) Director: Franco Dragonè Director of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix Music Composer: Benoit Jutras Set: Michel Crête Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: François Bergeron Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown watch 57 seconds show DVD trailer Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack Get Show Tickets The big-top version of the 1996 show Quidam was adapted for arenas and similar concert venues to be able to reach more places and without the need to bring along its own venue with it. Quidam "Arena" is currently touring Europe. Quidam is a nameless by-passer, a solitary person who lingers in the shadows ignored by normal people who rush past him without being noticed. Quidam represents nobody and everybody and the deep inner feelings and fears that are part of all of us. The young girl “Zoe” finds herself in a world of Quidam, full of anger and pain, trying to escape from it. Quidam is Classical Latin and means "a certain; pl., some" or "anonymous passerby”.
	Alegría (2009-…, 27.May 2009, Halifax) Director: Franco Dragonè Director of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix Music Composer: René Dupéré Set: Michel Crête Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: Guy Desrochers Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown watch 5:41 min promo video (A different perspective) Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack Get Show Tickets Alegria is the second touring show of the Cirque that was converted from a big top version to the arena show format. See more information about this show in the paragraph about the original touring show version.

Return to the Cirque du Soleil Primer article.

Cirque du Soleil Articles in this Series

• Main Cirque du Soleil Primer Article
• Cirque du Soleil - Historic Time-Line 1984 to Present
• The Cirque du Soleil Story - Odyssea - The dreamer's Odyssey
• Cirque du Soleil Touring Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Resident Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Arena Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Special Events & Performances
• Cirque du Soleil Releases for TV and IMAX
• Cirque du Soleil Documentaries (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil DVD Releases (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Music Releases (Complete List)

Cirque du Soleil TV and IMAX Releases

This article is part of my Cirque du Soleil Information Primer Articles Series.

Cirque du Soleil Releases for TV and IMAX

TV Schedule for Cirque shows and Documentaries on public television around the world.
 

	Journey of Man (IMAX) - Release Year: 1999-2000 - Rated: G - 39 minutes Released by Sony Pictures Classic in 1999 for IMAX theaters Director: Keith Melton Producers: Peter Wagg, Andre Picard, Antoine Compin, Charis Horton Music Composer: Benoit Jutras Projections/Photography: Reed Smoot Journey of Man follows the stages of human development from birth to maturity, with each stage introduced by a Cirque du Soleil act. Included acts: Taiko Synchronized Swimming Bungee Cube Act Statue Act (Hand to Hand) Banquine watch 5 1/2 min Video Buy it on DVD -Buy official Soundtrack
	Alegria Le Film - Release Year: 1999 (filmed in 1998), 94 minutes An Enchanting Fable (Movie/Motion Picture) Tag line: If you have no voice: Scream. If you have no legs: Run. If you have no hope: Invent. What if anything were possible? Director: Franco Dragone Written by: Rudy Barichello Producers: Rudy Barichello, Hans De Weers, Stéphane Reichel, Alexandre Heylen Executive Producers: Peter Wagg, Hélène Dufresne Music Composer: Benoît Jutras Editing: Jean-François Bergeron Production Design: Michel Crête, Ben van Os Costumes: Dominique Lemieux, Trixi Rittenhouse Art Direction: Johnny Boivin Cinematography: Pierre Mignot watch trailer - watch extended cube act - extended Hoops Video Buy it on DVD -Buy official Soundtrack
	Fire Within - Release Year: 2002 Emmy Award Winning Reality TV Show and Documentary about the making of the Cirque du Soleil touring show Varekai from the perspective of several performers from start to premiere. The 3 discs DVD set includes all 13 episodes (each 23 minutes in length) of the show and several bonus features. The artists featured in the show are: Andrew & Kevin Atherton (Aerial Straps Act) Ashley Beaver (Spotter) Gareth Hopkins (Lizard) Raquel Karro Oliveira (Aerial Triple-Trapeze) Oleg Ouchakov (Acrobatique Pas de Deux) Olga Pikhienko (Contortion/Hand-balancing  on Canes) Stella Umeh (Aerial Triple-Trapeze) watch 45 seconds DVD trailer Buy it on DVD (3 DVDs) The DVD also includes a bonus episode about the reunion of the people that were part of this reality TV-show/documentary and interviews with the cast members about their experiences with the show and its impact on their life during the shoot and after its release and broad cast. Also includes is an interview with the creator and director of Fire With, Lewis Cohen
	Solstrom Release Year: 2003 TV Series with 13 episodes, 45 minutes each) Writers and Screenplay: Edmond Bensimon, Pascal Elbé Producers: Martin Bolduc, Yolande Riccioli Colin Gee playing Alberto (clown in Cirque du Soleil show recordings on DVD of Varekai and Quidam). Solstrom features over 250 artists in over 130 different acts from Cirque du Soleil's own touring and resident shows as well as acts that are not or in some cases were not part of a Cirque du Soleil production yet. Some of the featured acts made it into shows of Cirque that were created after the show was produced. It also provides the opportunity to see acts from many Las Vegas productions where there is no DVD release of the show available yet, such as Mystère and "O". Not from shows like KA, Love, Zumanity or Believe, because those were created at a later time. watch DVD trailer 1 - watch DVD trailer 2 Buy it on DVD (5 DVDs)

Return to the Cirque du Soleil Primer article.

Cirque du Soleil Articles in this Series

• Main Cirque du Soleil Primer Article
• Cirque du Soleil - Historic Time-Line 1984 to Present
• The Cirque du Soleil Story - Odyssea - The dreamer's Odyssey
• Cirque du Soleil Touring Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Resident Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Arena Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Special Events & Performances
• Cirque du Soleil Releases for TV and IMAX
• Cirque du Soleil Documentaries (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil DVD Releases (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Music Releases (Complete List)

Cirque du Soleil Special Events and Performances

This article is part of my Cirque du Soleil Information Primer Articles Series.

Other Performances of the Cirque

	June 15 to June 17, 1995 - 21th G7 Summit in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1995 Cirque du Soleil did a special performance at the request of the Canadian Government.
	1997 - Royal Variety Performances, including the December 1997 edition in conjunction with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip's Golden Wedding Anniversary. watch video (10 min) of the Royal Variety Performance
	March 24, 2002 - Cirque du Soleil performs at the awards show for the 74th Academy Awards (Oscars) at the old Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood (Los Angeles, California)(2002-03-24) watch full video (5 min)
	June 16, 2004 - Cirque du Soleil set a new record for the Guinness Book of World Records when they gathered 544 employees in the Montreal Headquarters and had them stilts walking at the same place, at the same time. watch the video about this
	July 11, 2004 - Soleil de Minuit/Midnight Sun (2004-07-11). Cirque du Soleil celebrates its 20th birthday with the people of Montreal in the streets of their hometown and location of their corporate headquarters. Buy the DVD Soleil du Minuit is French and translates to English “Midnight Sun”. Although it was not exactly midnight when Cirque du Soleil performed their one-time special 20th anniversary show in the streets of Montreal where Cirque has its head quarters; but it was already dark when the show reached its climax. The “Sun” represents the Cirque itself, the Cirque du Soleil or the Circus of the Sun.
	28. October, 2004 - Zink Magazine November, 2004 Issue Celebration With Artists From the Cirque Du Soleil show Zumanity (10/28/2004) watch 4:11 min video excerpt
	November 10, 2004 - Cirque du Soleil & the Pope - the troupe of Saltimbanco visited the Vatican and Pope John-Paul II. Special performance in front of over 6,000 spectators.
	June 15, 2005 - "Reflections in Blue" (Réflexions de bleu), a unique one-night water show as part of the opening ceremonies for the XI. World Aquatics Championships (FINA) in Montreal, Canada (2005-07-16). watch video (10 min) (not the whole show)
	December 2005 - A Taste of Cirque du Soleil - a 30 minutes long performance, featuring three acrobatic performances and characters from Cirque du Soleil, was presented twice per cruise on Celebrity's cruise ships "Constellation" and "Summit" in the Celebrity Theatre. Discontinued for unknown reason. Date of last performance: unknown. watch 21 seconds video (that is all that I got :()
	May 2006 - 2006 TV Week Logie Awards - Cirque du Soleil at the 2006 Logies in Australia performed a selection of highlights from their past visits, including Saltimbanco, Alegría and Quidam, plus a sneak preview of their (at the time) upcoming Australian tour of Varekai. watch video (4:02 min)
	May 19, 2006 - World Food Programme - The cast of the Cirque show "Alegria" performed on Friday, May 19, 2006 a special performance for the WFP - World Food Program's launch of their campaign "Fight Hunger: Walk the World" at the Tempio di Venere, which is located near the Roman Coliseum in Rome, Italy.
	July 29, 2006 - World Out-games 2006 - Cirque du Soleil performs the Hand in Hand Act. The opening ceremonies for the 1st World Out-games with 30,000 spectators was held in Montreal's Olympic stadium on Saturday night July 29, 2006. The Out-games, also known as the Gay Olympics were held between July 29 and August 5, 2006 and are not exclusive to gays though. Some 12,000 participants from over 100 countries took part in 35 athletic events. (07/29/2006). watch full video (9 min)
	September 1, 2006 IFA 2006 Opening Gala - Cirque du Soleil as the new the marketing partner of IFA 2006 (Internationale Funk Ausstellung) presents exclusive show acts of the Special Event Department Montreal at the IFA Opening Gala in Berlin, Germany (09/01/2006) The event organizers told me that no cameras were allowed for the gala and that no official video recordings were done either. This means that chances are slim that any video material of this performance exists at all. There are only a few photographs, which are available at my Flickr collection with Cirque du Soleil photographs.
	February 4, 2007 - Pre-Game Show at Super Bowl XLI (41.), the American football game to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 2006 season at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Indianapolis Colts (16-4) defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears (15-4), 29-17. This performance was produced by David Saltz (2007-02-04) watch full video (9 min)
	February 2007 - NBA All-Stars 2007 Half-time show by some members of the cast of Cirque du Soleil's "KA" in Las Vegas, Nevada. watch full video
	May 12, 2007 - The rock band Apocalyptica gave a special performance for the Eurovision song contest on May 12, 2007 in in Helsinki, Finland. The show included some elaborate circus performances as well. Involved were Antti Suniala and other circus artists, such as the finnish circus Sirkus Sorin. I was also pretty sure that I recognized Oleg Ouchakov & Tatiana Gousarova from Cirque du Soleil in the video (Banquine Act, Quidam, Varekai, Fire Within, Journey of Man), but are not 100% sure anymore. watch full video (8:21 min)
	August 4th, 2007 - CHU Sainte-Justine Centennial Feast 2007 - The CHU Sainte-Justine Mother and Child University Hospital Center of the University of Montreal, Quebec (Canada) celebrated in 2007 their 100th Anniversary. Part of the festivities was the Great Centennial Fair on August 4th, 2007 at the Jean-de-Brébeuf Collège. (08/04/2007). watch video (7:37 min) (Hoops and Aerial Straps segments only)
	August 28, 2007 - Surprise Cirque du Soleil performance for the the Grand Opening show of the Venetian Macao Resort Hotel in Macau, China by the Las Vegas Sands corporation (Sheldon Adelson) (2007-08-28). watch 1 min video excerpt
	September 25, 2007 - Cirque du Soleil's contortionists, Natasha Patterson, 10, born in San Francisco, Julie Bergez, 14, from France and Dasha Sovik, 15, from Russia, who perform in KOOZA, set a new Guinness World Record™ for the Highest Circus Act ever performed at the top of Toronto's CN Tower, the World's Tallest Freestanding Tower. This feat was performed in the Glass Floor observation deck, 342 meters (1,122 feet) above the ground and as high up on Toronto's CN Tower. more ... Watch full video of this performance.
	29 January, 2008 - UMW Re-Brands, Unveils New Identity - United Motor Works (UMW Holdings Berhad), a Malaysian Business in Automotive, Equipment, Manufacturing & Engineering and Oil & Gas unveiled their new identity in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The show included an extensive performance by the performers of Cirque du Soleil's Alegria touring show (01/29/2008). watch full video (26 min)
	February 10th, 2008 - Cirque du Soleil's tribute to The Beatles ”A Day In The Life” and Carol Woods & Timmy Mitchums (from "Across the Universe") performance of "Let It Be" at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California (2008-02-10) watch full video (7:45 min)
	Summer 2008 - Expo 2008 in Zaragoza, Spain - Cirque du Soleil performed during the day-parade, called "Awakening of the Serpent", for the "Water" Expo 2008 in public at the city of Zaragoza in Spain, Europe. Videos of the performance (multiple parts) 1a - 1b - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5
	September 24, 2008 - In celebration of Zumanity's 5th anniversary. Chelsea Handler from The Chelsea Lately interviews one of the stars from the hit Vegas Cirque Du Soleil Show Zumanity, Alan Silva. He does some hanging acrobatic aerial silk work and gives a great interview! watch Video of Performance & Interview (6:11 min)
	October 17-19, 2008 - 400th Anniversary of Québec, Canada - Cirque du Soleil created a special show for this anniversary, which was performed 5 times on three days at the Colisée Pepsi in Québec City. Watch excerpts of the performance 8 min video
	November 7, 9 & 16, 2008 - A Choreographers' Showcase - The Nevada Ballet Theatre and Cirque du Soleil joint venture project - A Project Designed to Stimulate and Encourage Artistic Growth, Debut in 2007, Performances at the Mystère™ Theatre at Treasure Island, Las Vegas, Nevada, Friday, November 7th, 2008; Sunday, November 9th and 16th, 2008 watch 3:09 minutes Video (excerpt only)
	November 7-9,  Festival of the Masters at WDW (Walt Disney World) in Orlando, FL - Live Entertainment by performers from Cirque du Soleil La Nouba.
	November 12, 2008, Wednesday Night Affair: An Evening au Cirque, 5–7 p.m. - The Mandalay Bay ballroom - A special performance for the SEG (Society of Exploration Geophysicists) conference by artists from Cirque du Soleil's Mystère show. Las Vegas: November 11-16, 2008 (Set)
	December 5, 2008 - "La Notte Bianca" - festival and street performances in Lecce, Italy. An almost 1 hour long special one-time performance by Cirque du Soleil during this ancient and annually celebrated event, in Italy, Europe. watch 28 minutes Video (excerpt with redone audio)
	2008-09 - The Fox Network New Year's Eve special was broadcast on Wednesday, December 31st at 11:00 P.M. - 12:30 A.M. ET live from Las Vegas and presented segments with special interviews and a behind-the-scenes look at three of Cirque du Soleil's Las Vegas shows; "Zumanity, The Sensual Side of Cirque du Soleil", "The Beatles LOVE" and "CRISS ANGEL Believe".
	December 31, 2008 - Special New Years Eve performance by Cirque du Soleil's La Nouba for WDW New Years Party
	2009-05-15 - A special performance by Cirque du Soleil on May 15, 2009 for the Eurovision 2009 Song Contest (the largest contest of this kind in Europe) Second Semi-Finals Gala show in Moscow, Russia. watch 6 minutes Video -watch entire 2 hours program
	June 16, 2009 - Cirque du Soleil is determined to re-capture their Guinness Book world record from 2004 that was taken away from them and beat the current record of 625 people stilt walking at the same time and place. more ... watch 1:34 min video
	2010 - Cirque will co-create the Canada Pavilion in association with the Government of Canada at Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China

Note: The Cirque did more special performances than I listed here. I learn about other performances every now and then and update my list. Nobody else seems to keep a record of this, including the Cirque itself.

Las Vegas has the lion share of resident shows and that will not change in the future. Two more shows who will call "Sin City" their home are in the making and add to the FIVE resident shows Las Vegas has already today. The Cirque will also continue to create smaller scale one-time events in the years to come. Okay, here are the details for what is known today already.

TV Promotions

Ongoing - TV Appearances - Acts of Cirque du Soleil shows appear frequently on television all over the world to promote their resident and touring shows. Here are some examples. Le Best of Cirque du Soleil Promo on ABC Good Morning America on 10/8/2005   Zumanity @ Jay Leno (video was taken down by NBC)  Zumanity @ Jay Leno again (video was taken down by NBC) Alegria Hoola Hoops at TV5 Quebec, Canada (4:47 min) KA on CSI, Zumaity once more at Jay Leno (7:47 min) KA invades Seattle KOMA NWA in 2008 (5:45 min) "Believe" @ "So You Think You Can Dance" in August 2008 in LA Alegria Taiwan 2009 Promo (2:04 min) Alegria on Brazillian TV in 2009 (5:13 min) Varekai Promo in Madrid Spain 2009 (3:11 min) Bonus Franco Dragone's "LE REVE" TV appearance 2008 (3:36 min)

Cirque in Commercials

LG Commerical with Alegria, Kohls with La Nouba CDS Mystere & Fox 5 News

Return to the Cirque du Soleil Primer Article.

Cirque du Soleil Articles in this Series

• Main Cirque du Soleil Primer Article
• Cirque du Soleil - Historic Time-Line 1984 to Present
• The Cirque du Soleil Story - Odyssea - The dreamer's Odyssey
• Cirque du Soleil Touring Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Resident Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Arena Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Special Events & Performances
• Cirque du Soleil Releases for TV and IMAX
• Cirque du Soleil Documentaries (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil DVD Releases (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Music Releases (Complete List)

Cirque du Soleil Documentaries (Complete List)

This article is part of my Cirque du Soleil Information Primer Articles Series.

Cirque du Soleil Documentaries

Unfortunately are several of them not available anymore, because they are out of print. Documentaries are listed in chronological order.

	Quel Cirque (1991) A look into the creation of Nouvelle Experiénce.
	Saltimbanco's Diary (1992) The making of the award winning Cirque du Soleil show "Saltimbanco".
	A Baroque Odyssey (1994) - Buy the DVD A 56 minutes long documentary about the early beginnings of Cirque du Soleil between 1984 and 1994.
	The Truth of Illusion (1994) A 22 minutes long documentary about the production of the show Alegria which was released on VHS only.
	The Alegria DVD (2001/2003) Buy the DVD contains in addition to the 1:30 h long show recording with multi-camera angle feature, also includes 14 short "Meet the Artists" introductions and interviews, the 44 minutes long behind the scenes documentary: A Journey to Alegria: A Special with host Jamie Durie, the 14 minutes long documentary featurette: Filming Alegria and the 5:45 minutes long special A Different Perspective. All-in-all about 1 1/2 hours of bonus material.
	Full Circle (1996) The Making of Quidam. A 22 minutes long short behind the scene documentary about the creation of the Cirque show Quidam which was released on VHS only.
	Inside La Nouba (2000) From Conception to Perception, a 45 minutes long "making of" documentary for the Orlando show La Nouba, playing at Disney World Resort, Florida. La Nouba DVD (2003) Buy the DVD The special 2 discs DVD with the show recording of "La Nouba" also includes a behind the scenes special (15 minutes) and 9 interviews with artists and creators of the show (total 30 minutes).
	Varekai Anywhere (2002) The Making of an Angel, a 45 minutes documentary about the making of the Cirque du Soleil show Varekai. The documentary is part of the Varekai show recording DVD on 2 discs. The Varekai DVD (2 discs) (2002) Buy the DVD The 2 DVD's set includes in addition to the documentary "Varekai Anywhere" also 16 short "Meet the Cast" interviews and introductions, 7 longer artist interviews and a 20 minutes special for the TV mini-series "Fire Within", which follows some of the performers for the show from their arrival at the Cirque, nine months before the show, until the premier under the big-top. The entire mini-series "Fire Within" is also available on a 3 discs DVD set. Whatever 'Stie (2003) A Parody of Varekai show acted by the technical crew only for the actual artists
	Run Before you Fly (2004) - A Portrait of Cirque du Soleil A documentary program about the Cirque which ran on Sunday, November 21, 2004 4:12pm on ABC Television.
	KÀ Extreme (2005) - Buy the DVD A 47 minutes long look behind the scenes of the epic Cirque du Soleil show "KA", it's challenges and accomplishments. KA is running at the MGM Grand hotel and casino in Vegas. Content: - KA Extreme (main documentary) - The Creators of KA - KA Music Excerpts - Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas (Ads) - Cirque du Soleil Promos (Ads)
	Through the Curtain - An In-Depth Look at Corteo (2005) is a 45 minutes "behind the scene/making of" documentary of the Cirque du Soleil touring show Corteo, which is part of the special features on the Corteo show recording DVD. "A Day in the Life of Corteo Artisits" is a 10 minutes long featurette from the Corteo show DVD release. "Filming Corteo" is a 7:38 minutes long featurette from the Corteo show DVD that shows how the live show was captured on film. Buy Show DVD A shortened 24:31 min version of the documentary was released on Cirque du Soleil's - Corteo official soundtrack double disc special edition (1 audio CD and 1 DVD) Buy Ltd.Ed. OST
	Cirque du Soleil - 20 Years Under the Sun (2005) 60 minutes BBC/WGBH Documentary from 2005 about the history of the Cirque, a year after its 20th anniversary. Couldn't find a place where it can be purchased. I downloaded a copy off the Internet.
	Imagine the Beatles in Love (2006) - Buy the DVD A 51 min long documentary that was produced by the BBC in Great Britain about the creation of the Cirque show "The Beatles - Love", which is running at the Mirage hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
	Lovesick (2006) - Buy the DVD A 99 minutes long documentary DVD about the artists and the creation of the Cirque show "Zumanity", which is still performed over 10 times per week at the New York, New York hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Content: - Lovesick (main documentary) - Lovesick in the Making - Aural Pleasures (Slide show) - Zumanity Preview
	FLOW (2007) - Buy the DVD Sub titled: "A Tribute to the Artists of 'O'" is a 80 minutes long documentary DVD about the popular Cirque du Soleil show "O", shown at the Bellagio hotel and casino in Las Vegas. Content: - Flow (main documentary) - Steps below the Surface - Water in the Desert - Russian Swing - Ads for the Las Vegas shows: Mystère, KA, Love, O and Zumanity
	The Mystery of Mystère (2007) - Buy the DVD A 80 minutes long film about the idea behind the subject of the show, featuring great intellectual and scientific minds of this century and the artists of Mystère, the oldest permanent Cirque du Soleil show and still running at the Treasure Island hotel and casino in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip. Content: - Mystery of Mystère (main documentary) - Franco Dragonè meets the Scientists - Food for Thought - Impressions and Interrogations - Flow DVD Ad - Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas (Ads)
	A Thrilling Ride through KOOZA (2007) - Buy the DVD A short 47 minutes long documentary DVD without bonus features about the creation of Cirque du Soleil's touring show "Kooza", which debuted in Spring 2007. Note: The entire documentary is also part of the bonus features on disk 2 of the show DVD that was released in 2008.
	KA - Backstage (2007) A 90 minutes long behind the scenes documentary produced in 2007 for the French Language TV channel Arte in corporation with the German TV Station ZDF (Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen). The documentation is not available on DVD as far as I know, but you can watch the entire program on the Internet via windows media video live-stream in 480x270 pixels resolution (only for Windows Media Player, sorry). The documentary is only available in German and French language. 15 Minutes Intro to the Documentary Language Versions: German - French KA - Backstage (Main Part) Language Versions: German - French
	All Together Now (2008) - Buy the DVD A 84 minutes long documentary about the Cirque du Soleil show "The Beatles - Love", released on DVD on October 20, 2008. Additional bonus features include the 22 minutes special "Changing The Music", the 9 minutes special "Music In The Theatre" and the 10 minutes special "Making 'LOVE'" - A backstage pass to explore the design of "LOVE".
	Cirque du Soleil LOVE (2008) An unofficial & fan-made promotional documentary by Carsten Cumbrowski (55 minutes long) watch full documentary
	Cirque du Soleil KA (2009) An unofficial & fan-made promotional documentary by Carsten Cumbrowski about Cirque du Soleil's show KA, performed at the MGM Grand hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada (57 minutes long) watch full documentary

Return to the Cirque du Soleil Primer Article.

Cirque du Soleil Articles in this Series

• Main Cirque du Soleil Primer Article
• Cirque du Soleil - Historic Time-Line 1984 to Present
• The Cirque du Soleil Story - Odyssea - The dreamer's Odyssey
• Cirque du Soleil Touring Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Resident Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Arena Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Special Events & Performances
• Cirque du Soleil Releases for TV and IMAX
• Cirque du Soleil Documentaries (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil DVD Releases (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Music Releases (Complete List)

Cirque du Soleil DVD Releases (Complete List)

This article is part of my Cirque du Soleil Information Primer Articles Series.

Cirque du Soleil on DVD

Many of the Cirque's shows are available on DVD, especially the older touring shows. They also created some stuff for television and for IMAX theaters, which is also available on DVD today.

The DVDs are not a substitute for a real life show experience, but some folks did not have the opportunity to see the Cirque at all and the DVDs do a good job to give you an idea of what to expect.

I added links to online stores next to each show or special performance if there are DVD recordings, soundtracks on Compact Disc (CD) and/or tickets to the live show available. Some of those links are affiliate links, which means that I will earn a few cents if you use my link to purchase the item. If you like my content and want to show your appreciation, just use the links provided here, if you decide to buy anything that I mentioned.

I also included links to online videos on video sharing web sites, such as YouTube and Google Video, especially for the shows and special one-time performances where no DVD recording exists.

Watch the video trailer for the Cirque du Soleil DVDs. Very short and nicely edited (by myself hehe). If you are not familiar with the Cirque at all, I promise that you will enjoy the videos. Cheers!

Backup link to video at Vimeo.

#	Title	Type	Year		Filming Location
1	La Magie Continue	show	1986		Toronto
2	Cirque Reinvente	show	1989		Montreal
3	Nouvelle Experience	show	1991		Toronto
4	A Baroque Odyssey	documentary	1994		Montreal
5	Saltimbanco	show	1994		Atlanta
6	Alegria An Enchanting Fable	movie	1999	release
7	Quidam	show	1999		Amsterdam
8	Journey of Man	movie	2000	release
9	Inside La Nouba - From Conception to Perception	documentary	2000	release
10	Dralion	show	2000		San Francisco
11	Alegria	show	2001		Sydney
12	Varekai	show	2002		Toronto
13	La Nouba	show	2003		Orlando
14	Fire Within	tv series/docu	2002		Montreal
15	Solstrom	tv series	2003		Montreal
16	Midnight Sun	special event	2004		Montreal
17	KA Extreme	documentary	2005	release	Las Vegas
18	Corteo	show	2005		Toronto
19	Imagine the Beatles in Love	documentary	2005	bootleg
20	Lovesick	documentary	2006	release	Las Vegas
21	The Mystery of Mystere	documentary	2007	release	Las Vegas
22	Flow - A Tribute to the Artists of "O"	documentary	2007	release	Las Vegas
23	A Thrilling Ride Through Kooza	documentary	2007	release	Montreal
24	Kooza	show	2007		Toronto
25	All Together Now	documentary	2008	release

Cirque Du Soleil - Anniversary Collection, 1984-2005

Almost the entire Cirque du Soleil show collection in one set for a price of just a bit over $10 per DVD, that's less than half the price of what you would pay for the included DVDs, if you would purchase each of them individually. A great gift for a friend and a perfect starter kit for your own Cirque collection.

12 DVDs, Region Code 1 (USA and Canada), Note: some of the DVDs are RCE encoded, which means that they do not work with region code free DVD players.

Included in this package are the following Cirque du Soleil shows, special performances and documentaries: La Magie Continue (1986); Cirque Reinvente (1989); Nouvelle Experience (1991); Saltimbanco (1994), the 1994 documentary retrospective A Baroque Odyssey; the Amsterdam-set Quidam (1999); Allegria (1999), the live Sydney show; the Chinese-influenced Dralion (2000), in its standard, non-Superbit release; the relatively short IMAX film Journey of Man (2002); Varekai (2002), from Toronto; La Nouba (2003), from Walt Disney World; and Midnight Sun, strikingly staged outdoors at the 2004 Montreal International Jazz Festival.

Return to the Cirque du Soleil Primer Article.

Cirque du Soleil Articles in this Series

• Main Cirque du Soleil Primer Article
• Cirque du Soleil - Historic Time-Line 1984 to Present
• The Cirque du Soleil Story - Odyssea - The dreamer's Odyssey
• Cirque du Soleil Touring Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Resident Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Arena Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Special Events & Performances
• Cirque du Soleil Releases for TV and IMAX
• Cirque du Soleil Documentaries (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil DVD Releases (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Music Releases (Complete List)

Cirque du Soleil Music Releases (Complete List)

This article is part of my Cirque du Soleil Information Primer Articles Series. Make sure that you also check out the primer article and the other related articles of the series about the most famous Circus in the World.

Cirque du Soleil Music Releases

This article covers primarily the music releases by Cirque du Soleil on Compact Disc and not so much the earlier releases on Vinyl (with exception of the newer "Collectors Edition" vinyl releases) and also not the Audio Tape versions. At least for the albums were Tape Cassette versions always released in parallel with the old school plastic vinyl records as well as with the modern day digital audio CDs.

Covered are not just the soundtrack releases for their resident and touring shows, but also other music releases, such as the soundtracks of the motion pictures/IMAX movies that Cirque du Soleil produced, as well as special remix albums and "Best Of" collections and samplers. Some of the releases are already out of print, but I tried to link to places where you can buy the release where ever possible, even if it meant to refer to secondary market places, like the Amazon.com Market Place, where you still can buy it either used and sometimes even new, from old inventories of specialty music stores etc.

Song Lyrics and Translations

The lyrics of many Cirque du Soleil song are not a real language and entirely made up. The reason for this is that Cirque wants its shows to appeal to a world wide audience and avoid language barriers. However, there are a number of songs that do have lyrics, some in English, Spanish, Italian or some other language. You can fond the lyrics including an English translation for a number of songs at the CirqueTribune.com Wiki.

In the case of the show "Love", where the music is based on original Beatles songs, check out the track list for the show sound track CD below and then see this article of mine with a list of all Beatles songs and links to the lyrics and online video (for some of them).

Sound Tracks / Full Albums

	Fanfafonie 45 Composer: Rene Dupéré Release Date: 1/1/1985 Publisher: Naga Productions Track Listing Vinyl Record #01 (7:07 min) 01.  Le Cirque du Soleil (3:22) 02.  Le Funambule (3:45)   This is actually a vinyl record release and not a CD. Only about 1,000 records were pressed. If you happen to own one of the few records and could provide some album art for it, I’d appreciate it.
	Cirque Réinventé (Vol 1) / Cirque du Soleil Composer: Rene Dupéré Release Date: 11/1/1987 Publisher: Naga Productions Track Listing CD #01 (39:00 min) 01.  Overture (1:45) 02.  Personnages (3:12) 03.  Chaise Musicale / Musical Chair (4:21) 04.  Bicycles (4:00) 05.  Masha (5:12) 06.  Les Pingouins / The Penguin Step (4:20) 07.  Tango (5:52) 08.  Trapeze (6:02) 09.  Charivari (4:01) Semi-official soundtrack CD for the old & discontinued touring show "Cirque Reinventé" (We reinvent the Circus) between 1987 and 1990. This album and also volume 2 could be seen as the OST for the mentioned "Cirque Reinventé" show, but also for the two shows before that, "La Magie Continue" and "Le Grand Tour". In the early days of the Cirque there were no multiple shows touring and performing at the same time like they do today. Back then the shows came one after another, borrowing acts and music from each other, or a sequel or progression so to speak. The concept of creating a show, sending it on the road and running and running and then simply create another show and send that one on the road as well, and so on and so forth, did not establish itself until the creation of their touring show "Saltimbanco", which still tours the world today and was created while the previous Cirque show "Nouvelle Expérience" was still running.
	Les Penguins 45 (Pengoins) Composer: Rene Dupéré Release Date: 11/1988 Publisher: Naga Productions Same story for this CD as for the very first one in this list. If you happen to own a copy of it, please contact me. Thank you.
	Cirque Réinventé (Vol 2) / Cirque du Soleil  Composer: Rene Dupéré & Benoit Jutras Release Date: 7/1990 / 11/8/1994 Publisher: Naga Productions / RCA/Victor Track Listing CD #01 (52:15 min) 01.  Overture (2:27) 02.  Bulgares (5:03) 03.  Boule 4 (1:06) 04.  Tango (5:10) 05.  Trapeze (5:58) 06.  Cadres (4:27) 07.  Fil de Fer (4:18) 08.  Bicylettes (3:51) 09.  Boules 1 A (6:12) 10.  Les Chaises (3:22) 11.  Entracte (6:05) 12.  Pingouins (3:25)
	Saltimbanco (Official Sound Track/OST) Composer: Rene Dupéré Release Date: 10/9/1992 Publisher: RCA/Victor Track Listing CD #01 (60:23 min) 01.  Kumbalawé (5:34)  02.  Barock (4:20)  03.  Kazé (5:07)  04.  Amazonia (7:58)  05.  Norweg (6:08)  06.  Urgence (5:32)  07.  Pokinoï (5:08)  08.  Saltimbanco (5:19)  09.  Il Sogno di Volare (5:13)  10.  Horéré Ukundé (6:47)  11.  Rideau (3:07)
	Nouvelle Experience (Official Sound Track/OST)  Composer: Rene Dupéré Release Date: 3/23/1993 Publisher: RCA Victor Track List CD #01 (67:41 min) 01.  Fanfare (0:48) 02.  Meandres (6:54) 03.  Bolero (4:17) 04.  Bascule (4:42) 05.  Fixe (4:13) 06.  Ballant (5:27) 07.  Baleines  (3:42) 08.  Havi Vahila (4:38) 09.  Suite Chinoise (10:23) 10.  Eclipse (4:19) 11.  L'oiseau (4:50) 12.  Azimut (5:41) 13.  Sanza (4:50) 14.  Grosse Femme (2:57)
	Alegría (Official Sound Track/OST)     Composer: Rene Dupéré Release Date: 9/27/1994 CA, 10/11/1994 US Publisher: RCA Victor  Re-Release Date: 7/20/2004 Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique Track List CD #01 (61:28 min) 01.  Alegría (5:47)  02.  Vai Vedrai (4:33)  03.  Kalandéro (5:16)  04.  Querer (4:34)  05.  Irna (4:46)  06.  Taruka (5:32)  07.  Jeux d'Enfants 4:40)  08.  Mirko (5:03)  09.  Icare (7:25)  10.  Ibis (6:20)  11.  Valsapena (4:06)  12.  Nocturne (3:08)
	Mystère (Official Sound Track/OST)   Composer: Rene Dupéré Release Date: 3/29/1994 CA, 11/8/1994 US Publisher: RCA/Victor Track List CD #01 (55:23 min) 01.  Égypte (4:25) 02.  Rumeurs (10:08) 03.  Birimbau (6:10) 04.  Kunya Sobé (5:19) 05.  En Ville (4:57) 06.  Ulysse (6:23) 07.  Rondo (6:05) 08.  Caravena (5:12) 09.  Kalimando (6:28) The tracks of this soundtrack CD were all produced in the studio and are slightly different from the original songs used in the show. They sound nice, but if authenticity is important to you, this CD is not for you.
	Mystère Live  Composer: Rene Dupéré & Benoit Jutras Release Date: 8/14/1996 CA, 11/12/1996 US Publisher: RCA/Victor Re-Release Date: 8/16/2005 Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique Track List CD #01 (52:27 min) 01.  Ouverture / Ramsani (4:13) 02.  Misha (5:38) 03.  Égypte (3:13) 04.  Rondo / Double Face (5:10) 05.  Ulysse (5:36) 06.  Dôme (2:45) 07.  Kalimando (4:12) 08.  Kunya Sobé (3:16) 09.  En Ville / Frisco (5:12) 10.  Gambade (1:18) 11.  High Bar (7:16) 12.  Taïko (3:50) 13.  Finale (2:48)
	Quidam (Official Sound Track/OST) Composer: Benoit Jutras Release Date: 1996 Publisher: RCA Victor  Re-Release Date: 6/14/2005 Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique Track Listing CD #01 (46:29 min) 01.  Atmadja (3:21) 02.  Incantation (5:22) 03.  Marelle (1:27) 04.  Rivage (5:24) 05.  Zydeko (1:17) 06.  Let Me Fall (4:46) 07.  Innocence (1:55) 08.  Carrousel (3:05) 09.  Steel Dream (5:13) 10.  Séisouso (5:23) 11.  Réveil (3:21) 12.  Quidam (5:37)
	Cirque du Soleil: Collection  Composer: Rene Dupéré & Benoit Jutras Release Date: 10/28/1997 Publisher: RCA/Victor Track Listing CD #01 (53:58 min) 01. Ouverture (2:26) 02. Égypte (4:25) 03. Kumbalawé (5:32) 04. Suite chinoise (10:26) 05. Querer (4:33) 06. Entracte (6:06) 07. Pokionoï (5:07) 08. Alegría (5:48) 09. Kalimando (6:22) 10. Grosse Femme (2:57) The Cirque du Soleil Collection is the first "Best of" type CD release by Cirque. It includes popular tracks from the very early shows that don't run anymore, such as Nouvelle Experience, which finished it's touring life at the Mirage in Las Vegas (next to the Treasure Island, the venue of Mystère), but also tracks from older Cirque shows that are still performed and touring the world, like Saltimbanco & Alegría or Cirques first resident show in Las Vegas, Mystère.
	Saltimbanco Live in Amsterdam Composer: Rene Dupéré Release Date: 12/1997 in Canada only Publisher: Cirque in-House (Special Limited Employee Edition) Track Listing CD #01 (44:12 min) 01.  Cloche et Présentation (0:58)  02.  Rideau (2:47)  03.  Kumbalawé (3:27)  04.  Adagio (5:42)  05.  Saltimbanco (5:26)  06.  Clown (0:13)  07.  Kazé / Norweg (9:16)  08.  Rêve (1:09)  09.  Arlequin (7:26)  10.  Rave Out (7:51)  CD #02 (49:06 min) 01.  Tap Dance (1:56)  02.  Barock (7:21)  03.  Cantus-Mélopée (8:39)  04.  Amazonia (9:05)  05.  Démontage Trapèze (0:34)  06.  La Mort (1:44)  07.  Urgence (8:25)  08.  Il Sogno di Volare (7:48)  09.  Transfert (1:44)  10.  Horéré Ukundé (1:53)
	Alegría Live at Fairfax Composer: Rene Dupéré Release Date: 12/1998 in Canada only Publisher: Cirque in-House (Special Limited Employee Edition) Track List CD #01 (57:23 min) 01.  Milonga (3:13) 02.  Ouverture (1:16) 03.  Mirko (2:47) 04.  Prelude to Vai Vedrai (0:28) 05.  Vai Vedrai (5:37) 06.  Jeux d'Enfants 1 (1:31) 07.  Jeux d'Enfants 2 (1:40) 08.  Fast Track 1 (2:04) 09.  Fast Track 2 (2:04) 10.  Fast Track 3 (1:18) 11.  Fast Track 4 (0:48) 12.  Oiseaux sur la Corde (3:30) 13.  La Perche 1 (4:51) 14.  La Perche 2 (0:21) 15.  Homme Fort (11:56) 16.  Hoola Hoops (6:30) 17.  La Tempête (1:13) 18.  Le Feu (6:10) CD #02 (43:45 min) 01.  Le Bal (3:28) 02.  The Letter (1:12) 03.  Prelude to Le Cube (0:51) 04.  Le Cube (6:47) 05.  Barres Russes (5:39) 06.  Bardak 1 (1:49) 07.  Bardak 2 (0:46) 08.  Prelude to Contorsion (2:17) 09.  Contorsion (7:23) 10.  Montage du Filet (2:50) 11.  Prelude to Grans Volants (1:22) 12.  Grands Volants (6:00) 13.  Alegría (3:21)
	Alegria: Le Film (Official Sound Track/OST) Composer: Benoit Jutras Release Date: 3/23/1999 Publisher: BMG Quebec/RCA Track Listing CD #01 (55:07 min) 01.  Alegría (4:20) 02.  Frac's Room (1:33)       Frac and Train (1:21)       Frac and Giulietta (1:36) 03.  Love Leaves Someone Behind (4:03) 04   Opera  (2:19)       Fleur's Trailer (0:37) 05.  Mirko (1:14)       Vai Vedrai (4:33) 06. Love Leaves Someone Behind (1:22)      Chase (1:04)      Factory (1:32) 07. Hervé (2:06) 08. Child in his Eyes (4:25) 09. Wedding (1:40) 10. Irna (2:52) 11. Hervé (1:16)      Giulietta and Fleur (2:43) 12. Filet (1:01)      Make-Up (0:56)      Let Love Live (instrumental) (1:15) 13. Mountain of Clothes (4:34) 14. Let Love Live (Instrumental) (2:07) 15.  Let Love Live (4:05)
	La Nouba (Official Sound Track/OST)  Composer: Benoit Jutras Release Date: 6/22/1999 CA, 6/29/1999 US Re-Release Date: 8/16/2005 Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique Track List CD #01 (53:45 min) 01.  Once Upon a Time (6:45) 02.  A Tale (4:18) 03.  Porte (2:53) 04.  La Nouba (2:56) 05.  Distorted (6:35) 06.  Liama (4:23) 07.  Queens (6:57) 08.  À la lune (6:11) 09.  Rêve Rouge (2:48) 10.  Urban (4:54) 11.  Propel (1:17) 12.  Jardin Chinois (3:37)
	Dralion (Official Sound Track/OST) Composer: Violaine Corradi Release Date: 10/26/1999 CA, 11/9/1999 US Re-Release Date: 7/12/2005 Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique Track List CD #01 (50:32 min) 01.  Stella Errans (4:36) 02.  Ombra (5:56) 03.  Spiritual Spiral (4:14) 04.  Miracula Aeternitatis (5:18) 05.  Bamboo (1:26) 06.  Ballare (5:41) 07.  Ravendhi (4:41) 08.  Ninkou Latora (5:14) 09.  Aborigenes Jam (3:08) 10.  Hinkò (5:47) 11.  Kamandé (4:28)
	Journey of Man (Official Sound Track/OST) Composer: Benoit Jutras Release Date: 5/2/2000 Publisher: Sony Music Soundtrax Track Listing CD #01 (46:23 min) 01. Journey of Man (3:46) 02. Overture (1:01) 03. Taiko (1:41) 04. Birth (4:14) 05. The Forest (3:41) 06. In the Beginning (5:03) 07. Youth (4:50) 08. Flying (1:41) 09. Réveil (7:19) 10. Banquine (5:05) 11. Journey of Man (Instrumental) (5:02) 12. Trip Hop (2:59)
	Quidam Extended (dubbed EXTENDED) Composer: Benoit Jutras Release Date: 2/19/2002 Publisher: BMG/CDS Musique Canada Track Listing CD #01 (58:21 min) 01.  Atmadja (3:21) 02.  Incantation (5:22) 03.  Marelle (1:27) 04.  Rivage (5:24) 05.  Zydeko (1:17) 06.  Let Me Fall (4:46) 07.  Innocence (1:55) 08.  Carrousel (3:05) 09.  Steel Dream (5:13) 10.  Séisouso (5:23) 11.  Réveil (3:21) 12.  Quidam (5:37) 13.  Misère (Banquine) (5:34) 14.  Enfants d'Acier (Diabolos) (6:36) The tracks 13 "Misère (Banquine)" and 14 "Enfants d'Acier (Diabolos)" were not included in the 1996 release of the Quidam soundtrack. The two additional tracks were recorded live in Amsterdam, the Netherlands in 1999, when the show was filmed for the DVD release. The addition of the two tracks is the reason why this release is dubbed “EXTENDED”.
	Saltimbanco Extended (dubbed EXTENDED)  Composer: Rene Dupéré Release Date: 3/19/2002 Publisher: BMG/CDS Musique Canada Track List CD #01 (73:36 min) 01.  Kumbalawé (5:34)  02.  Barock (4:20)  03.  Kazé (5:07)  04.  Amazonia (7:58)  05.  Norweg (6:08)  06.  Urgence (5:32)  07.  Pokinoï (5:08)  08.  Saltimbanco (5:19)  09.  Il Sogno di Volare (5:13)  10.  Horéré Ukundé (6:47)  11.  Rideau (3:07)  12.  Adagio (Adagio) (5:47)  13.  Arlequin (Juggling) (7:36)  Tracks 12 and 13 were not included in the 1992 release of the Saltimbanco soundtrack. The two additional tracks are live recordings that were recorded for the Cirque internal CD release of the show soundtrack in 1996 (Live in Amsterdam). The addition of the two tracks is the reason why this release is dubbed “EXTENDED”.
	Varekai (Official Sound Track/OST) Composer: Violaine Corradi Release Date: 11/5/2002 CA, 1/7/2003 US Publisher: BMG/CDS Musique Track List CD #01 (69:26 min) 01.  Rain One (4:54) 02.  Le Rêveur (7:06) 03.  Vocea (5:00) 04.  Moon Licht (6:21) 05.  Patzivota (9:18) 06.  El Péndulo (4:53) 07.  Gitans (3:41) 08.  Kèro Hiréyo (7:06) 09.  Lubia Dobarstan (6:12) 10.  Emballa (5:08) 11.  Oscillum (4:35) 12.  Funambul (2:43) 13.  Resolution (2:24)
	Alegría Extended (dubbed EXTENDED)   Composer: Rene Dupéré Release Date: 6/11/2002 Publisher: BMG/CDS Musique Canada Track List CD #01 (69:26 min) 01.  Alegría (5:47) 02.  Vai Vedrai (4:33) 03.  Kalandéro (5:16) 04.  Querer (4:34) 05.  Irna (4:46) 06.  Taruka (5:32) 07.  Jeux d'Enfants (4:40) 08.  Mirko (5:03) 09.  Icare (7:25) 10.  Ibis (6:20) 11.  Valsapena (4:06) 12.  Nocturne (3:08) 13.  Cerceaux (Manipulation) (4:00) 14.  Malioumba (Flying man) (4:16) Tracks 13 and 14 were not included in the 1994 release of the Alegría soundtrack. The two additional tracks are supposedly live recordings from a 2001 performance in Sydney, Australia, when the show was filmed for the DVD release. I always assumed that tracks came from the Cirque internal CD release of the show soundtrack in 1998 (Live in Fairfax), as in the case of the Saltimbanco “Extended" version, but I don’t own the Cirque internal 1998 soundtrack to start arguing. The addition of the two tracks is the reason why this release is dubbed “EXTENDED”.
	Tapis Rouge Solarium  Composer: various Release Date: 9/1/2003 / 10/19/2004 Publisher: BMG/CDS Musique Track Listing CD #01 (57:42 min) 01.  Ombra - Ibizarre Remix (7:47) 02.  Alegría - A Man Called Adam's Magical Mix (6:06) 03.  A Tale - Chilluminati Mix (6:14) 04.  El Péndulo - Fenomenon "Northern Comfort Mix" (4:32) 05.  Africa - Cottonbelly Remix (4:45) 06.  Nocturne - Christophe Goze Remix (5:54) 07.  Le Rêveur - Thievery Corporation Remix (5:08) 08.  Gamelan - Cantoma Remix (6:00) 09.  Ombra - Afterlife Mix (5:02) 10.  Africa - Banzai Republic "Equator Bound Mix" (6:14) Not a soundtrack CD, but a collection of Remixes of known and not so known songs from previous popular Cirque du Soleil show productions. All tracks are slow and relaxing, ideal for a break and chilling out.
	Varekai Special Edition (2 CD, 1 DVD) Composer: Violaine Corradi Release Date: 10/1/2003 Publisher: BMG/CDS Musique Track List CD #01 (69:28 min) 01.  Aureus (1:16) 02.  Rain One (3:37) 03.  Le Rêveur (7:06) 04.  Vocea (5:00) 05.  Moon Licht (6:21) 06.  Rubeus (1:28) 07.  Patzivota (7:50) 08.  El Péndulo (4:53) 09.  Gitans (3:41) 10.  Kèro Hiréyo (7:06) 11.  Infinitus (1:32) 12.  Lubia Dobarstan (4:40) 13.  Emballa (5:08) 14.  Oscillum (4:35) 15.  Funambul (2:43) 16.  Resolution (2:24) CD #02 (40:12 min) 01.  Célébration de l'Errance (1:30)  02.  Trasperenza (5:28)  03.  Euphoria (7:02)  04.  Sun Drum Fun (5:30)  05.  Mutationis (7:13)  06.  Movimento 4:41)  07.  El Péndulo (4:33)  08.  Emballa (5:47)  The tracks from bonus CD#2 were recorded live in Toronto in 2002. 5.1 Surround Sound Bonus Remixes: 01.  El Péndulo - Fenomenon "Northern Comfort Mix" (4:33) This remix was taken from the Cirque du Soleil Remix CD release "Tapis Rouge Solarium" 02.  Emballa - Llorca Remix (5:47) remixed exclusively for the special edition soundtrack CD release.  DVD #03 (24:20 min) Two special music videos (created by Yeast Visuals), presented in 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound and some promotional trailers and video excerpts are the content of this special bonus DVD for the special editions soundtrack CD of Varekai. 01.  Rubeus – Patzivota &  Moon Licht (14:08) 02.  The Making of an Angel - documentary excerpt (6:34)      The full 45 min long documentary is part of the Varekai show DVD bonus features. 03.  Varekai the Show Ad (1:00) 04.  Varekai the DVD Ad (1:38) 05.  Cirque du Soleil Music Ad (1:00)
	Varekai (2) Composer: Violaine Corradi Release Date: 7/20/2004 CA, 7/27/2004 US Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique Track List CD #01 (69:28 min) 01.  Aureus (1:16) 02.  Rain One (3:37) 03.  Le Rêveur (7:06) 04.  Vocea (5:00) 05.  Moon Licht (6:21) 06.  Rubeus (1:28) 07.  Patzivota (7:50) 08.  El Péndulo (4:53) 09.  Gitans (3:41) 10.  Kèro Hiréyo (7:06) 11.  Infinitus (1:32) 12.  Lubia Dobarstan (4:40) 13.  Emballa (5:08) 14.  Oscillum (4:35) 15.  Funambul (2:43) 16.  Resolution (2:24) Like the previous version of the soundtrack of Varekai from 2002/2003 are non of the tracks actual live recordings from the show. They were studio produced and sound often different from the same songs used in the show. The special edition soundtrack CD set contains a few tracks with actual audio footage recorded from a Varekai live show.
	Cirque du Soleil: Le Best Of Composer: Rene Dupéré & Benoit Jutras & Violaine Corradi  Release Date: 9/21/2004 Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique Track List CD #01 (57:04 min) 01.  Egypte (4:29) 02.  Alegria (5:43) 03.  Pokinoi (4:43) 04.  Querer (4:35) 05.  Kumbalawe (4:40) 06.  Ombra (5:42) 07.  Reveil (3:23) 08.  Nostalgie (4:07) 09.  Vocea (5:00) 10.  Stella Errans (4:34) 11.  Gamelan (5:43) 12.  Liama (4:25) This second "Best Of" album by Cirque du Soleil has the "Best of" already in the title to be more clear and straight forward. "Cirque du Soleil Collection", the previous "Best of" release was a bit more ambiguous with the choice of it's title. This album features only tracks from Cirque shows that are still performed and/or touring, including Alegría, Saltimbanco, Mystère, Quidam, Dralion, Varekai, La Nouba and "O".
	Saltimbanco (2005) Composer: Rene Dupéré Release Date: 2/17/2005 Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique Track List CD #01 (60:!3 min) 01.  Kumbalawé (4:39)  02.  Saltimbanco (4:32)  03.  Cantus-Mélopée (6:42) 04.  Norweg (4:31)  05.  Kazé (4:35)  06.  Barock (4:01) 07.  Adagio (5:07)  08.  Amazonia (7:28)  09.  Pokinoï (4:45)  10.  Il Sogno di Volare (5:13)  11.  Horéré Ukundé (5:28)  12.  Rideau (3:11)  To make the confusion complete, Cirque released a third (forth actually) version of the soundtrack in 2005. This version has 12 tracks. It misses the tracks “Arlequin (Juggling)” from the EXTENDED version in 2002 and “Urgence” from the 1992 & Extended version of the soundtrack, but includes a newly recorded track titled “Cantus Mélopée”, which is neither on the 1992 version nor the 2002 version of the soundtrack. Got it? :)
	Zumanity (Official Sound Track/OST) Composer: Simon Carpenter Release Date: 3/22/2005 Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique Tracks CD #01 (63:31 min) 01.  Mio Bello Bello Amore (2:58) 02.  Entrée (0:31) 03.  En Zum (1:30) 04.  Wind (3:24) 05.  Another Man (4:39) 06.  First Taste (0:31) 07.  Do It Again (4:42) 08.  Water Bowl (Awakening) (5:24) 09.  The Good Thing (4:37) 10.  Tickle Tango (2:29) 11.  Into Me (4:34) 12.  Fugare (1:44) 13.  Meditation (1:20) 14.  Piece of Heaven (4:52) 15.  Zum Astra (4:12) 16.  Mangora En Zum (4:51) 17.  Per Sempre (6:21) 18.  Bello Amore (4:52) If you expect to find much songs from the show on this “soundtrack”, then you will be in for a not so pleasant surprise. The soundtrack was produced and recorded in a studio, many songs from the show are modified beyond recognition, I have seen the show live TWICE and do not recall some of the tracks on the album, however, I do miss A LOT of tracks that I DO remember from the show on this CD. The music isn’t bad, but if you specifically liked the music from the show and want to get the CD for that reason, beware!
	Solarium/Delirium  Composer: various Release Date: 5/17/2005 Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique Track Listing CD #01 (Solarium) (55:01 min) 01. OMBRA (Ibizarre Remix) (7:43) 02. ALEGRIA (A Man called Adam's Magical Mix) (5:20) 03. A TALE (Chilluminati Mix)  Listen (6:09) 04. EL PENDULO (Fenomenon "Northern Comfort Mix") (4:30) 05. AFRICA (Cottonbelly Remix) (4:35) 06. NOCTURNE (Christophe Goze Remix) (5:41) 07. LE REVEUR (Thievery Corporation Remix) (4:18) 08. GAMELAN (Cantoma Remix) (5:33) 09. OMBRA (Afterlife Mix)  (4:56) 10. AFRICA (Banzai Republic "Equator Bound Mix")  (6:08) CD #02 (Delirium) (62:11 min) 01. EMBALLA (Louie Vega featuring Jaffa "Album Mix") (6:22) 02. QUERER (Julien Jabre Remix)  (6:05) 03. KUMBALAWE (Roger Sanchez Release Mix) (7:51) 04. ABORIGENES JAM (Frangois K / Eric Kupper "Vocal Mix") (6:42) 05. POKINOI (Sasha Remix) (6:41) 06. AFRICA (Quicksound / Alain Vinet Remix) (8:48) 07. TERRE ARIDE (Jori Hulkkonen Remix)  (6:10) 08. SPIRITUAL SPIRAL (Carmen Rizzo Remix)  (6:44) 09. MER NOIRE (Tiksto Remix)  (6:44) The second release of Cirque du Soleil Remixes on compact disc. This time even a double Whopper of two packed and juicy silver discs of almost two hours in length. Okay, they cheated, because the first disc, dubbed "Solarium" is the same as the previously released "Tapis Rouge Solarium" CD. The second (and longer) disc, dubbed "Delirium" (not to confuse with the Cirque show of the same title) is all new material though. The 2nd disc "Delirium" is much faster than the 1st disc Solarium, which falls more like under the category "Easy Listening". I believe that this was done on purpose, to symbolize the duality of life, or Ying and Yang or whatever you want to call it.
	"O" (Official Sound Track/OST) Composer: Benoit Jutras Release Date: 8/16/2005 Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique Track Listing CD #01 (63:13 min) 01.  Jeux d'Eau (4:20) 02.  Mer Noire (5:30) 03.  Tzelma (3:00) 04.  Africa (2:24) 05.  Remous (7:15) 06.  Svecounia (6:20) 07.  Nostalgie (4:08) 08.  Simcha (5:40) 09.  Gamelan (5:57) 10.  Ephra (4:55) 11.  Désert (7:18) 12.  Terre Aride (4:25) 13.  O (2:36)
	KA (Official Sound Track/OST) Composer: Rene Dupéré Release Date: 10/18/2005 Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique Track List CD #01 (57:43) 01.  O Makundé (3:06) 02.  Pageant (2:44) 03.  Koudamare (3:49) 04.  Storm (4:15) 05.  Deep (2:30) 06.  Shadowplay (3:46) 07.  Pursuit (5:55) 08.  Forest (4:16) 09.  Flight (2:24) 10.  Threat (3:59) 11.  Love Dance (3:34) 12.  Battlefield (4:12) 13.  Aftermath (2:17) 14.  If I Could Reach Your Heart (3:33) 15.  We've Been Waiting So Long (3:28) 16.  Reach for Me Now (3:48)
	Delirium (Official Sound Track/OST) Composer: Francis Collard (Producer) Release Date: 7/25/2006 Publisher: BMG/CDS Musique Track List CD #01 (63:13 min) 01.  Cold Flame [Oscillum from VAREKAI] (3:45) 02.  Slipping Away [Ombra from DRALION] (3:46) 03.  Someone [Patzivota from VAREKAI] (3:26) 04.  Too High [Spiritual Spiral from DRALION] (3:30) 05.  Walk on Water [A Tale from LA NOUBA] (5:12) 06.  Alone [Querer from ALEGRIA] (4:28) 07.  Climb [Le Rêveur from VAREKAI] (6:29) 08.  La Nova Alegría [Alegría from ALEGRIA] (4:05) 09.  Lifeline [El Péndulo from VAREKAI] (3:51) 10.  Bridge of Sorrow [Nostalgie from "O"] (4:00) 11.  One Love [Pokinoï from SALTIMBANCO] (3:18) 12.  Let Me Fall [from QUIDAM] (5:07) 13.  Time to Go [Mountain of Clothes from Alegria Le Film] (4:09) 14.  Time Flies [Mer Noire from "O"] (5:16) 15.  Sans Toi [Querer from ALEGRIA] (3:42)   Several of the tracks are remixes of famous Cirque du Soleil songs from other shows. This is not an accident. The acts where those remixes were used were depicting the original acts as well, at least to the extend that you would recognize them, if you are familiar with those original shows. Basically not only the music is a remix, but the act performed was as well.
	Corteo (Official Sound Track/OST) Composer: Philippe Leduc & Maria Bonzanigo Release Date: 10/3/2006 Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique Track List CD #01 (56:03 min) 01.  Funerale (0:53) 02.  Ritornare (4:03) 03.  Rêve d'un Pantin (4:57) 04.  Les Chevaux à Bottes (0:56) 05.  Nos Dejó (4:23) 06.  Klezmer Moment (4:11) 07.  Prendersi per Mano (5:08) 08.  Anneaux (5:42) 09.  El Cielo Sabrá (5:18) 10.  Fugue (0:35) 11.  Volo Volando (4:34) 12.  Un Tierno y Dulce Chao (0:48) 13.  Balade au Bout d'une Échelle (4:07) 14.  Garda Lassù (0:48) 15.  Triangle Tango (4:40) 16.  Che Finalone (5:00)
	Corteo Limited Edition (1 CD, 1 DVD) Composer: Philippe Leduc & Maria Bonzanigo Release Date: 10/3/2006 Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique Track List CD #01 (56:03 min) 01.  Funerale (0:53) 02.  Ritornare (4:03) 03.  Rêve d'un Pantin (4:57) 04.  Les Chevaux à Bottes (0:56) 05.  Nos Dejó (4:23) 06.  Klezmer Moment (4:11) 07.  Prendersi per Mano (5:08) 08.  Anneaux (5:42) 09.  El Cielo Sabrá (5:18) 10.  Fugue (0:35) 11.  Volo Volando (4:34) 12.  Un Tierno y Dulce Chao (0:48) 13.  Balade au Bout d'une Échelle (4:07) 14.  Garda Lassù (0:48) 15.  Triangle Tango (4:40) 16.  Che Finalone (5:00) DVD #02 (24:31 min) Through the Curtain – An In-depth Look at Corteo video documentary (short version). This is only an abbreviated version of the 45 minutes long documentary feature with the same name, which is part of the bonus features of the Corteo show DVD recording.
	The Beatles - LOVE (Official Sound Track/OST)  Composer: The Beatles, remixed by George Martin & Giles Martin Release Date: 11/20/2006 Publisher: Capitol/Apple Track List CD #01 (78:38 min) 01.  Because (2:44) 02.  Get Back (2:05) 03.  Glass Onion (1:20) 04.  Eleanor Rigby / Julia (transition) (3:05) 05.  I Am the Walrus (4:28) 06.  I Want to Hold Your Hand (1:22) 07.  Drive my Car / The Word / What You're Doing (1:54) 08.  Gnik Nus (0:55) 09.  Something / Blue Jay Way (transition) (3:29) 10.  Being for the Benefit of Mr.Kite!, I Want You (She's So Heavy), Helter Skelter (3:22) 11.  Help! (2:18) 12.  Blackbird / Yesterday (2:31) 13.  Strawberry Fields Forever (4:31) 14.  Within You Without You / Tomorrow Never Knows (3:07) 15.  Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (4:10) 16.  Octopus's Garden (3:18) 17.  Lady Madonna (2:56) 18.  Here Comes the Sun / The Inner Light (transition) (4:18) 19.  Come Together / Dear Prudence / Cry Baby Cry (transition) (4:45) 20.  Revolution (2:14) 21.  Back in the U.S.S.R.  (1:53) 22.  While my Guitar Gently Weeps (3:46) 23.  A Day in the Life (5:08) 24.  Hey Jude (3:58) 25.  Sgt.  Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (reprise) (1:22) 26.  All You Need is Love (3:39)
	The Beatles - LOVE Special Edition (CD & DVD) Composer: The Beatles, remixed by George Martin & Giles Martin Release Date: 11/20/2006 Publisher: Capitol/Apple Track List(s) Same as regular album. The 5.1 Dolby Surround DVD version also features some nice animations and other music video like visions (instead of showing a black screen while you are listening to the music via your 5.1 (or better) entertainment system.
	Wintuk (Official Sound Track/OST) Composer: Simon Carpentier Release Date: 11/1/2007 Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique Track List' CD #01 (47:26 min) 01.  Something's Missing (3:38) 02.  Shadows (3:31) 03.  Beyond the Clouds (3:31) 04.  Dogs will be Dogs! (2:12) 05.  He's Scared of His Shadow (0:57) 06.  Norah Knows (4:01) 07.  Heading North (2:31) 08.  Back Where We Belong (2:12) 09.  Northern Folk (3:51) 10.  Elena (3:51) 11.  Ice Giants (3:36) 12.  Dolce Luce (1:56) 13.  Tundra Ballet (3:26) 14.  We Want to See it Snow (0:46) 15.  Nothing's Missing (3:01) 16.  Snowstorm (4:26)
	Kooza (Official Sound Track/OST) Composer: Jean-Francois Cote Release Date: 5/8/2008 CA, 6/24/2008 US Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique Track List CD #01 (68:26 min) 01. KOOZA Dance (3:28) 02. Superstar I (2:27) 03. L’Innocent (5:50) 04. Royaume (3:40) 05. Junoon (5:31) 06. Alambre Alto (4:59) 07. 16- Papillon (5:08) 08. Pearl (4:07) 09 Cabaret Satã (3:12) 10. Aankh Micholi (4:28) 11. Diables (3:36) 12. El Péndulo de la Muerte (3:02) 13. Petit-Jaune (1:43) 14. Superstar II (3:23) 15. Imposteur (1:21) 16. Prarthana (4:50) 17. Don’t Be Afraid (3:46) 18. Hum Jaisa Na Dekha (3:53)
	Alegría-Remastered (25th Anniversary Edition) Composer: Rene Dupéré Release Date: June, 2009 Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique Track List CD #01 (61:10 min) 01.  Alegría (5:51)  02.  Vai Vedrai (4:34)  03.  Kalandéro (5:19)  04.  Querer (4:34)  05.  Irna (4:46)  06.  Taruka (5:34)  07.  Jeux d'Enfants 4:41)  08.  Mirko (5:07)  09.  Icare (7:24)  10.  Ibis (6:27)  11.  Valsapena (4:00)  12.  Nocturne (3:09)
	Zaia (Official Sound Track/OST)  Composer: Violaine Corradi Release Date: 5/26/2009 Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique track list CD #1 (74:30 min) 01. Noi (4:52) 02. Aestus Calor (1:58) 03. Ignis (3:32) 04. Hatahkinn (4:51) 05. Aquilex (2:26) 06. Comissatio (3:39) 07. Blue Ales (3:02) 08. Adrideo (3:00) 09. Ardor Oris (4:00) 10. Aequor Oris (4:48) 11. Caelestis (6:54) 12. Undae (5:59) 13. Temperatio (5:47) 14. Ellâm Onru (8:35) 15. Gaudiumni (4:00) 16. Utinam (7:07)
	Cirque du Soleil 25th Anniversary Collection (2 CDs) Composer: Various Release Date: June, 2009 Publisher: Cirque du Soleil Musique To mark Cirque’s 25 years in music, a double CD containing 25 tracks compiled from the entire show catalogue was released by Cirque du Soleil in June 2009. track list coming soon

Singles (exclusively released in Europe)

It is hard for me now to keep track of those. I am originally from Germany, but moved almost a decade ago to the United States. So if you see that I missed any "Single" release by Cirque, please let me know about it, that I can update my list here. Thanks. Why they only released Single CDs in Europe and not in the United States or Canada is not known to me. Your guess is as good as mine.

	Irna & Alegria (Alegria) Composer: Rene Duperé Release Date: ??? Publisher: Bertelsman Music Group
	Gamelan (O) Composer: Benoit Jutras Release Date: ??? Publisher: Bertelsman Music Group
	Love Leaves Someone Behind (Alegria Le Film) Composer: Rene Dupere Release Date: ??? Publisher: ???
	Querer & Jeux dEnfants (Quidam) Composer: Benoit Jutras Release Date: 1997 Publisher: Bertelsman Music Group
	Quidam Composer: Benoit Jutras Release Date: 1996 Publisher: Bertelsman Music Group
	Quidam (2) Composer: Benoit Jutras Release Date: 1999 Publisher: Bertelsman Music Group
	Stella Errans (Dralion) Composer: Violaine Corradi Release Date: ??? Publisher: ???
	Let Me Fall (Quidam) Composer: Benoit Jutras Release Date: ??? Publisher: Bertelsman Music Group
	Child in His Eyes (Alegria Le Film) Composer: Rene Dupere Release Date: ??? Publisher: Bertelsman Music Group
	Kumbalawe (Saltimbanco) Composer: Rene Dupere Release Date: ??? Publisher: Bertelsman Music Group
	Tzelma (O) Composer: Benoit Jutras Release Date: ??? Publisher: ???

Tapis Rouge Vinyl Mixes

Special collectors editions of remixes in old school vinyl format (Vinyl 12", White Label, 33 1/2 RPM), which were all previously released on either the Tapis Rouge Solarium CD or later the Solarium/Delirium double CD already. All of them were released on 10 Nov 2003, 2004 and May 16, 2006 by Cirque du Soleil Musique and sold to fans (and DJ's I guess) in Canada and the United States.

	Africa (Tapis Rouge Vol 1) Style: Downtempo Track List A1 - Africa (Cottonbelly Remix) A2 - A Tale (Chilluminati Mix) B1 - Le Reveur (Thievery Corporation Remix) B2 - Emballa (Llorca Remix)
	Ombra (Tapis Rouge Vol 2) Style: Dub, Downtempo Track List A1 - Ombra (Afterlife Remix) A2 - Gamelan (Cantoma Remix) B1 - Africa (Banzai Republic Equator Bound Mix) B2 - El Péndulo (Fenomenon Northern Comfort Mix)
	Aborigenes Jam (Tapis Rouge Vol 3) Style: Progressive House, Deep House, Tribal House Track List A - Aborigenes Jam (FK-EK Vocal Mix) B - Aborigenes Jam (FK-EK Dub Mix)
	Emballa (Tapis Rouge Vol 4)  (Louie Vega Remixes) Style: House Track List A - Emballa (Album Mix) (6:23) B1 - Emballa (Ritual Mix) (6:23) B2 - Emballa (Sun Dub) (5:54)
	Kumbalawe (Tapis Rogue Vol 5)  (Roger Sanchez Remixes) Style: Progressive House, House, Tribal Track List A - Kumbalawé (Roger Sanchez Release Mix) (8:33) B - Kumbalawé (Roger Sanchez Release The Dub) (7:47)
	Mer Noir/Africa (Tapis Rogue Vol 6) Style: Trance, Downtempo Track List A - Mer Noire (Tiësto Remix) (9:05) B - Africa (Quicksound Remix) (8:58)
	Tapis Rouge Remixed (Limited to 100 copies) Style: Abstract, Downtempo, Ambient Track List A1 - A Tale (Chilluminati Remix) A2 - Rumeurs (John Beltran Remix) B1 - Gamelan (Cantoma Remix) B2 - Africa (Banzai Republic Remix)

Return to the Cirque du Soleil Primer Article.

Bonus Album (Almost Cirque du Soleil)

Le Rêve (Official Sound Track/OST)  Composer: Benoit Jutras Release Date: 2005 Publisher: Productions du Dragon Track List CD #01 (62:56 min) 01. Overture (3:38) 02. Between the Lines (3:57) 03. The Tree (2:48) 04. Chapel (6:25) 05. Against the Moon (3:38) 06. Tension (1:38) 07. Eden (3:50) 08. Filet (4:32) 09. Samurai (3:44) 10. Beam of Light (4:30) 11. Red Man (3:29) 12. Last Dreams (1:34) 13. Splash (5:27) 14. Vampire (3:03) 15. Planets (5:28) 16. Dreaming (5:00) Yes, Le Rêve is not an official Cirque du Soleil show, but the show that is currently performed at the Wynn Las Vegas was created by probably the greatest directors of Cirque du Soleil, Franco Dragonè, the creative mind behind Cirque shows like Alegria, Saltimbanco, Mystère, La Nouba and "O". He started his own production company and created this fantastic show. The music for the show is fantastic as well and was composed by no other than  Benoit Jutras, who composed many of the scores for other Cirque du Soleil productions. In my opinion is the soundtrack to Le Rêve  his best composition to date. The soundtrack is not easy to come buy and another reason why I posted it here. You can get the CD at the gift show at the Wynn Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and that's about it. I saw some folks selling the CD on auction sites, but completely overpriced. You cannot buy the album on the Internet, at least not officially. The Wynn gift show does not have a web site to this day, but you can order it over the phone from them and they will ship it to you for a normal price. Their phone number is +1 (702) 770-3541.

Cirque du Soleil Articles in this Series

• Main Cirque du Soleil Primer Article
• Cirque du Soleil - Historic Time-Line 1984 to Present
• The Cirque du Soleil Story - Odyssea - The dreamer's Odyssey
• Cirque du Soleil Touring Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Resident Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Arena Shows (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Special Events & Performances
• Cirque du Soleil Releases for TV and IMAX
• Cirque du Soleil Documentaries (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil DVD Releases (Complete List)
• Cirque du Soleil Music Releases (Complete List)

Cirque du Soleil in Lecce, Italy - KA Show Videos

Cirque du Soleil gave a special acrobatic performance on December 5, 2008 during the Notte Bianca street festival in Lecce, Italy that consisted of multiple parts, involving dozens of artists.

Acts like Russian Bars, Spanish Web and other Aerial performances, Cyr Wheel, Wheel of Death and general dancers, singers and musicians as well as light projection and other special effects.

My 28 minutes video of these performances is based on the footage of several home made videos that I found on the web. The visual quality differs from good to poor, but I hope that I was able to capture the essence of the show. I replaced the audio almost entirely, but tried to be true to the actual music as good as possible. The original videos are still out there, if you want to see the true live recordings of the event.

Here is the 28 minutes video that I created about this special performance by Cirque du Soleil in Lecce, Italy.

 Backup Link to Video on Google Video

Cirque du Soleil - KA - Video Recording of the Entire Show

I was talking about the issue that non of the Vegas Cirque du Soleil shows are available on DVD and that video footage will leak out over time to cover the whole show, like in the case of Cirque du Soleil's epic show KA, which is performed live at the MGM Grand hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The raw videos of the show are available via torrent downloads, such as here (German Intro Narration, XVID, .AVI) and also here (French Intro Narration, MPEG-2 Format).

So I decided to lean myself a bit out of the window and sliced the video up into 9 pieces and put it up on my YouTube channel for Cirque du Soleil related videos of mine. Here is the link to part one. To find the remaining 8 videos, check out the play list that I created for this video series.

The Intro narration is in German (that's the version that I used for YouTube) and translates to:

On the way to a pageant to their honor, the imperial twins put their skills in the traditional art of sword fighting to the test. They have no idea on that day, about the real threats that lay ahead of them. About the great thunder that will soon put an end to the innocent lives that they were used to. About destruction and devastation that will drive an entire nation into exile and about the chaos of war that will soon separate the brave brother from his beloved sister. This is the story about the journey to self discovery of a young man and a young woman through their experiences with love, conflicts and the duality of KA, the fire that has the power to combine or to separate and the power to destroy or to enlighten.

Fast Facts about KA

• Length of the show: about 90 minutes
• Venue: The "KA Theatre" at the MGM Grand hotel & casino in Las Vegas, NV
• Premiere(s): 26.November 2004/03.February 2005, in Las Vegas, Nevada
• Official Show Homepage on the Web: http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/KA
• People: 80 artists from around the world perform the show twice per day, 5 days per week and about 50 weeks per year
• Show times: Tuesdays to Saturdays, one at 7:00 pm and a second show at 9:30 pm local time, No show performances on Mondays and Sundays
• Over 100 crew members are working for the show in 8 or more technical and artist support departments, including wardrobe, make-up and wig personal.
• The music is played live, by human-beings, every time, only about 2 minutes of pre-recorded audio is used throughout the whole performance
• The total number of cast and crew for the show is about 266 people
• The production cost for KA were higher than the combined cost of all Broadway productions that were released in the same year as KA
• The custom build venue for the show inside the MGM has 1,951 seats
• Every seat is equipped with its own loud speakers for optimal sound experience
• The main stage of KA is called a "Gantry" made of 2 decks, one that can slide forward and backward and the other one which can be rotated and moved 360 degrees.
• The main deck is 25x50 feet (8x16 meters) in diameter, weighs 300,000 lbs, which is more than a fully booked, loaded and gassed-up average-size jet airliner
• If fully erected to its maximum height, artists perform their act 100 ft above the ground
• Ticket prices for the show range from about $75 to $165 per seat and are available at the MGM box offices at MGM properties, via toll free phone # at (800) 929-1111 and on the web at http://mgm-cds.admission.com/ or http://www.cirquedusolei.com/CirqueDuSoleil/en/showtickets/ka/tickets/

The Creators of the Show KA

• Show Director: Robert LePage
• Director of Creation: Guy Caron
• Music Composer: Rene Dupere
• Set Designer: Mark Fisher
• Costumes Designer: Marie-Chantale Vaillancourt
• Props Designer: Patricia Ruel
• Lighting Director: Luc Lafortune
• Sound Designer: Jonathan Deans
• Trainer for Aerial Performances: Andre Simard
• Choreographer: Jacques Heim
• Puppets Creation & Choreography: Michael Curry

For more Cirque du Soleil visit http://www.roysac.com/cirque

Regardless of the video, you should go and see it live, if you get to Vegas, because no video can substitute the live theatre experience. However, I do hope that this incident will cause MGM and Cirque du Soleil to rethink their policy about DVD releases of Vegas Cirque du Soleil shows and release those shows on DVD for people to buy legally. Not everybody can make it to Vegas and/or afford the ticket price to see the shows live. And also people like me, who saw the shows already, several of them even more than once, would like to have the DVD and watch it to refresh some of the good memories from the live experience.

Cheers!

Carsten aka Roy/SAC

Where is the Delirium DVD by Cirque du Soleil?

The Cirque du Soleil show Delirium, which was called a "music concert" rather than a traditional Cirque du Soleil show, was the first experiment by Cirque to transport the experience of a Cirque show from the Big Top into the arena environment to be able to reach a greater audience.

This experiment was obviously successful, because they converted their oldest touring show Saltimbanco to become an "Arena Show". Saltimbanco Arena re-launched in the year 2007.

Delirium was only running between 2006 and 2008, 2 years.
I don't know why they stopped touring with it in 2008, but that is also not the reason why I am writing this blog post.
I watched Delirium in 2006 here in Fresno, California, the first time that a Cirque du Soleil production made it here. It was a good show, different, yes, but different does not mean bad.

The show was obviously filmed by a professional film crew at one time during the shows run, because in summer 2008 Cirque announced something unusual. I cannot recall that Cirque ever did something like it in the past.

Delirium Shown in Movie Theaters

They announced the screening of Delirium in movie theaters. It was only shown at selected movie theatres and only for a few days. I missed that and thought that it will be running longer, like a movie release. But I was lucky, they announced "Delirium Encore", another screening of the show at local theaters. There were only three screenings, the main one on Wednesday, October 15 at 7:00 PM and then two more, each at midnight on the following weekend on Saturday, October 18 at 12:00 AM and on Sunday, October 19 at 12:00 AM.

I saw it was my family on the Wednesday. We were the only ones in the theater, except for one other group of 3 or 4 people. I recorded a little bit of the show with my Flip Camera and used the material for a 7:24 minutes long promotional video, but lost by accident the raw recording (40-45 minutes) that I made shortly after. I was not too much upset about it, because I expected the DVD to be released by Christmas anyway.

I posted a 28 minutes video with the complete hula hoops and hand-balancing act included two months earlier in August, after the announcement of the release of the show in theaters, all in the expectation that the DVD release is not far in the future anyway. Now it is March 2009, five months after Delirium Encore and still no DVD release of the show in sight, what's up with that?

Where is the DVD?

An user with the name "funplyr69" posted a comment about one week ago at the video of the Delirium Encore trailer at YouTube.com that he contacted Cirque du Soleil to inquiry about the release of Delirium on DVD and got the response that

"there was currently no plan for a release but that there could be in the future." (video with comment at YouTube)

WHAT? Why the heck would they do that?

He stated correctly that Cirque released in the past all of their shows on VHS and/or DVD, except for their resident shows in Las Vegas.

I also created a video where I talked about this issue.

Backup link to video on YouTube.com
Download the video in AVI format and 720x480 pixels resolution at MediaFire.com

Spin Off to Las Vegas Shows

In the case of the Las Vegas shows, I believe that the reason for not publishing a DVD is MGM who owns all the Las Vegas properties where Cirque du Soleil shows are running.

But that changed now too. I know about a pirate release of the recording of show KA at the MGM Grand hotel and casino. I am not talking about a shaky recording by somebody sitting in the audience with a cheap digital video camera, no, a quality recording, fully edited and almost perfect DVD quality.

The NFO file of that pirate release states:

All Cirque du Soleil shows became eventually available on DVD, even while they are still running and touring around the world. The only exception is the Las Vegas shows, which all happen to run at MGM properties only.

Cirque must have signed an exclusivity agreement with MGM, from how it looks like. Franco Dragone, the famous former Cirque du Soleil director, who directed many of CDS shows, including Alegria, Mystere and "O", split from Cirque to found his own company. Franco Dragone created a Cirque du Soleil like show called "Le Reve" for Steve Wynn's latest Las Vegas property, the "Wynn Las Vegas".

The exclusivity agreement must be limited to Las Vegas only, because Cirque created and launched a show in Asian new "Las Vegas", Macao, China last year, called "Zaia" and that show runs at the Venetian Macao, which is owned by Sands Corp. and not MGM, who also operates casino and entertainment properties in Macao as well.

I am certain that the reason why no DVD release exists for any of the currently SIX and later this year SEVEN show productions is MGM and their old fashioned and paranoid management.

The oldest show launched almost 15 years ago and stills no DVD release of it in sight. A large amount of segments became public naturally through promotional ads, documentaries, news reports and other media releases, but never an entire show, with all consecutive pieces in place and consistent format of video and audio.

This is a first now. Cirque du Soleil shows (Circus a la carte) is a live experience that no canned version will ever be able to replace. For this reason I am convinced that this "pirate" release of the show will not hurt Cirque nor MGM ticket sales for the show in the years to come.

I dare to say that the opposite will be the case. The recording will only function as better advertisement for the show than anything that is currently out there already.

They probably will lose on DVD sales, but no, wait, they won't, because they do not sell any recording of the show on DVD, except for a behind the scenes/making of documentary, which might won't sell as good now anymore, since it is also part of this release as well.

If MGM does not like to miss out on revenue and profits, then they have to release their own official DVD version of the show.

People will eventually find this release, because nothing else like it exists at the moment... If the choice that people have includes only downloading a pirated show recording or no show at all, many will decide to choose the pirated version, with only little or no remorse, because MGM prevents people from being able to make the right choice and buy the legitimate version of it.

As long as we agree that the purpose of copyright laws is still to make sure that artists are being compensated for their work and creations and not as a tool to execute a real form of censorship, which I define as the prevention of access to content and/or information that are of interest for the general public and for the benefit of the society as a whole, if access would be possible), then nobody should ever feel the wrath of the Justicative arm of the government.

Most of the free world guarantees rights to its people to be able to access information without censorship via fundamental laws or constitutions, which means that nobody would have to fear, facing positional imprisonment or monetary penalties/fines for executing those rights in the real world.

List of Cirque du Soleil shows and the year the show was launched at MGM properties in Vegas:

- 1994 - Mystere at Treasure Island
- 1998 - "O" at the Bellagio
- 2003 - Zumanity at the New York, New York
- 2004 - KA at MGM Grand
- 2006 - The Beatles "Love" at the Mirage
- 2008 - Criss Angel's Believe at the Luxor

... And later this year in 2009 an "Elvis" themed show at the MGM City Center, which is currently under construction. MGM also owns the Mandalay Bay, Excalibur and Monte Carlo properties in Vegas (I hope that I didn't miss any).

and also

I hope that this release will function like a sticky note at the tip of a baseball bat that gets slammed into MGM Executive faces with the words:

"Release freaking DVDs of the Cirque shows at your properties in Vegas! Damn it!"

Amen to that. I hope that this will have the desired effect on MGM and/or Cirque du Soleil.

I also hope that Cirque du Soleil will change their opinion about the release of the Delirium DVD. I guess I will continue to gather up as much video material from the show I can get my hands on, to create another video of the show, which will be even longer than 28 minutes, like the last one.

Notes to Copyright Laws and Implications

Stuff is easier to find on the Internet than it used to be in the past. We will get the content... slowly and with pain staking work and not over night, but eventually we will get there. All this only, because content produces hide content that is in demand in their vaults rather then making the content available FOR PAY that people can easily get access to the content without jumping through hoops and doing it "illegally". Illegal is too hard of a word in this case, because the only crime committed is a violation of "Copyright Laws" that is supposed to protect the creators of content from getting robbed of their intellectual property and not to prevent access to that content in general.

If the content has implication on people and society, this withholding of content would be called "censorship".

If I want to pay you for your work that you have already done and you don't make it available, but it gets out to become accessible anyway, then accessing this content should not be against the law, due to the fact that It is impossible to obey to the law and compensate the artist for his work. If the content is made available for pay (in a way that follows common sense business rules and pricing), then you might call it unlawful, if the same content is being acquired without paying, because it was possible for the person to obey to the law, he had a choice.

As a side note: I think that in some cases copyright protection should be removed, if the material is of great importance for history and society itself. I am referring to footage of events of historic significance, such as news images. In those cases copyright becomes willingly or not a tool for censorship that prevents people from educating themselves about the facts of historic events

Additional Links to Delirium Videos

• Cirque du Soleil's Delirium, a 28 Minutes video (split up) on YouTube, including the complete Hula Hoops and Hand balancing Act: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3
• 7:27 minutes video on YouTube.com about my experiences from the Delirium Encore event on October 15, 2008. I split the video into 3 parts for some reasons: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.
• Official Delirium trailer for movie theater release from August 2008. Video on YouTube.com

Cheers!

Carsten aka Roy/SAC

Cirque du Soleil - Complaints and Suggestions Revisited

In my blog post and video from January about some issues with Cirque du Soleil, I was complaining about three things. 1.) about the hard to impossible to find Wintuk show soundtrack 2.) the unavailability of merchandize, especially the media content (DVDs, CDs etc.) outside the United States and 3.) about the missing tracks on many of the so called official soundtracks of Cirque du Soleil shows.

It is two months later now and I decided to check once more to see if anything changed this my last "rant".

If you rather watch and listen than reading my blog post, watch my 9 minutes video below, which covers pretty much the same content as I do in my writing below.

• Backup Link to video on YouTube
• Download the video in AVI format and 720x480 pixels resolution (50 MB) from MediaFire.com.

Issue 1 Reviewed - Where to Buy the Official Wintuk Soundtrack CD

Okay, first to the positive things (bitter sweet actually, because it is not all positive, only partially).

When I checked the CD section of the Cirque online shop (Cirque Boutique), I couldn't believe my eyes at first.

There it was (see screen shot image to your right), the  official soundtrack CD for the show "Wintuk" is now finally also available in the general Cirque du Soleil merchandise online store and not only in that special micro online shop on another web site that they created, just for that one lonely show.

You have to have "United States" selected as ship-to country to get that listing.

You can still buy the official Wintuk soundtrack CD at that special store. Regarding the listing. Also note that the United States version has even a second listing page for music cd releases (see second image on the left). I will get back to that one in a moment.

Okay, so far so good. But I also tried Google again, to see, if I would be able now to find the sound track cd, if I would still be looking for it, like I was last year.

So I typed "buy official Wintuk soundtrack cd" into the Google search box and checked the results that I got back on my screen. You can look at the screen shot of the Google.com search results page with my comments below.

The number one results is still a torrent with the pirated version of the soundtrack CD. mmmh.

The number two result is an eBay auction listing for the CD. Also not so great, because folks are sometimes abusing the lack of availability or easy access to things to make a quick buck by purchasing the stuff for the original price from the original source that nobody can find and then turn around to sell the same product with hefty profit margins added to it at a place that people are actually able to find.

The number three listing is finally the official special mini store for the Wintuk show, where you can buy the CD without any problems or artificial mark-ups etc. Hallelujah.

This is funny. The number four listing is my blog post from January where I complained about the inability to find the soundtrack hehe. Well, that post has also (just like this one) a link to the CD at the official store. I wonder if my nice and descriptive text links from my Cirque du Soleil 101 primer article and my other blog post had enough "Google Juice" to push the product listing of the CD out of the supplemental search index hell of Google and up into the top of the SERP's for the terms where it actually should rank number one?

Possible. My blog is getting older and older, more and more traffic and more and more authority and Google PageRank as a consequence of it.

The Cirque Boutique is nowhere to be found at all, but that does not surprise me a bit. I couldn't even help them with a link to the item there, because last time I checked, deep linking into the Cirque Boutique eShop did not work at all (unless you had a cookie set from a previous visit to the same online shop already, where you selected the correct shipping destination (country), which makes no sense whatsoever). Why would I want to refer people who visited the store already back to the same place again. If they wanted to buy something, then they probably did so already.

Well, until now, the few okay to good listings are surrounded by junk or unrelated  stuff, like promo videos on YouTube, Torrents, Torrents, Torrents, a Wikipedia article, the old out of stock Amazon.com marketplace listing of the CD, some forum posts and more Torrents to download the pirated version of the CD in MP3 format.

Issue 2 Reviewed - Cirque du Soleil Merchandise outside the U.S.

If you read the first segment of this post, then you already saw the CD listings for customers from the United States at the Cirque Boutique online store.

The listing shows 20 Music CD releases on two pages, available for purchase.

To your left is a screen shot of the DVD section of the store, also for customers in the United States only. Not too bad, 16 DVDs listed in total, 2 of them unfortunately out of stock, which makes it 14 DVDs available for purchase.

Now I went back, erased my cookie for the store that set the U.S. location and selected India as shipping destination instead.

The prices of the store are still shown in U.S. dollars, but the look and feel of the store changed (different site) and most importantly, the listings of available products changed as well. I did not embed the screen shots. I only linked to them via plain text link. Here they are:

• Link to screen shot of DVD section for India
• Link to screen shot of Music CD section for India

The results were bad, really bad.

The DVD selection is worse that it was last year in September, when I checked the last time. Instead of 5 DVDs available back then, only 4 DVDs were available 7 months later. Nothing compared to the 16 (or 14) DVD releases available for U.S. customers.

The Music CD selection is almost as bad, but just not as bad as the DVD section. It lists 11 CDs, but shows 4 of them as being out of stock = 7 CDs actually available. Not convincing, if you consider that for U.S. customers are 20 CDs available to choose from at the same category.

Cirque du Soleil - Fix This!

Oddities in Cirque Boutique U.S. Listings

1. Mystère CD or Mystère Live CD or Mystère What?

Have a look at the product detail pages screen shots for the two CDs.

• Mystère CD 1 product detail screen shot
• Mystère CD 2 product detail screen shot

I will keep this one short. Look at the screen shots and tell me, if you notice something?

Okay, I am just kidding. They are the same, except for the Image and the Catalog numbers. The real product pages even link to the same music sample files. The CDs are virtually identical, except for the cover and booklet.

So don't waste your money on both of them.. buy only one of them, unless you are a collector.

2. No Thrilling Ride to Kooza Show DVD

The Cirque Boutique lists the latest show DVD release for "Kooza", but unfortunately it is out of stock. The release contains two DVDs and the item is sold exclusively through the Cirque du Soleil Boutique. It is not made (officially) available anywhere else.

I purchased the DVD (2 discs) already a while ago and even blogged about it, when I got it. Before the show DVD was released, a "making of" documentary about Kooza was released earlier. The DVD release called "A Thrilling Ride Through Kooza"  is only 47 minutes in length.

See screen shot of product detail page for the documentary DVD "A Thrilling Ride Through Kooza".

The documentary DVD is available for $19 for, which is a not so good price for a rather short making of documentary feature. Like KA Extreme, about the show KA, which is also short like this. They did a better job with "Flow" about the show "O" and "The Mystery of Mystère", which are each 80 minutes in length or "Lovesick" about the show "Zumanity", which is 99 minutes in length.

Anyhow, the thing is that the whole 47 minutes documentary that they sell for $19 dollars is included on the second DVD discs with bonus features of the show DVD release for only $10 more. That CD, where you get a lot more bang for your buck is out of stock. Not very good for their own latest DVD show release, which they did not make available for purchase at other large retailers like Amazon.com etc.

If you do not happen to walk by a physical Cirque Store location (in Vegas, Orlando, Tokyo or Macao) where they might have a copy of it left (if you are lucky), your options to get the DVD legally are thinning out quickly.

Guess what, the whole disc set is available for download in ISO format via warez torrents or on Usenet. It will probably not for long that pirated versions will be the only versions that can be found in Google, unless I write a few more blog posts about the DVD release to out-rank them.

Not good. FIX THAT!

That Cirque cannot do much that quickly about missing tracks on soundtrack CD releases is clear.

However, I hope that the OST CD releases for the shows that launched last year in Asia and Las Vegas will become available for purchase soon. The music for the show "Criss Angel - Believe", which premiered in October in Las Vegas, Nevada, the show "Zaia", which premiered in Macao, China last August and the show "Zed", which launched also last October at the Disneyland Tokyo in its custom build theatre.

I hope that Cirque will not show the same attitude that it shows to U.S. content for non-U.S. customers in reverse. I mean that the merchandise for the Asian shows will not become available for purchase to customers outside of Asia (e.G. the United States). It would not surprise me too much, if this happens, but I try to remain optimistic and hope that Cirque will get their act together and fix this problem.

I also hope that the sound tracks will be complete. I will get them, one way or another, if not via purchase from a store officially, then via MP3 download from the Internet, where they will become available with absolute certainty.

Oh Boy, this post became longer than I originally intended. It also contains more stuff than my 10 minutes video. So if you read this post instead of just watching the video, them you got rewarded for hanging in with me :).

But now it is enough! Seriously!

Cheers!

Carsten aka Roy/SAC

Extended Cirque du Soleil KA and Love Videos

It has been a while since I created any extended videos about any of the Cirque du Soleil shows. Well, I have been busy and finished now two very extended videos for the Cirque du Soleil shows "KA", which is currently performed at the MGM Grand hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada and the for the show "The Beatles Love", currently performed at the Mirage hotel and casino, also in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The last extended, 28 minutes long, video (78 MB download in AVI format) that I did was for the Music Concert/Show "Delirium", which was running in movie theaters for a short time already and where I am still waiting for the DVD release.

I still remember the C&D letter that I got from the Cirque because of my videos and therefor will not embed them here in this post for you to watch, without leaving my web site. Like I did with my old posts as the reaction to the letter, links with image place-holders will have to do hehe.

Cirque du Soleil "Love" Video

The "Love" video is a whopping 55 minutes long. You can download the video in AVI format (422 MB in size) here.

Backup link to video on Google Video

Cirque du Soleil "KA" Video

The "KA" video even tops the "Love" video, being 57 minutes long. You can download the video in AVI format (384 MB in size) from MediaFire.com via this URL.

Backup link to video on Google Video

As I always say, no video recording will be a substitute for watching a Cirque du Soleil show live and in person.

However, I hope that my video releases will put some pressure on Cirque du Soleil and MGM to release show DVDs for the resident shows in Las Vegas and elsewhere for people like me, who have seen the shows live already and for people who can not afford the trip in person to Las Vegas and watch the show there. They will have at least the next best thing available to them, which is watching a canned recording of the live show at home on DVD.

You can find links to the videos and other videos that I created for other Cirque du Soleil shows at my updated and extended Cirque du Soleil Primer Article by the way. Video downloads in AVI and WMV format for all my Cirque du Soleil videos can be found at this shared folder at the file sharing service MediaFire.com.

Informational Videos about the Cirque

I created a series of informational videos about Cirque du Soleil merchandise, which you might find interesting as well. I covered only the digital content though and not the clothing and other "schwag".

All links are going to the video recordings at my YouTube.com account about Cirque du Soleil.

• Cirque du Soleil shows on DVD
• Cirque du Soleil TV & IMAX Productions on DVD
• Cirque du Soleil Documentaries on DVD
• Cirque du Soleil Music on CD

To get a nice overview of the Cirque du Soleil shows from the past and present, check out my 5:37 minutes long video, which is an extended version of the 2004 promotional video "Then & Now" from the "Midnight Sun" DVD, covering the 9 new shows since 2004 in addition to the existing 11 shows of the original video.

This extended introduction to the world of Cirque du Soleil covers the following shows: La Magie Continue, Cirque Reinvente, Nouvelle Experience, Saltimbanco, Alegria, Mystere, "O", Dralion, Quidam, Varekai, Zumanity, KA, Love, Corteo, Delirium, Kooza, Wintuk, Zaia, Zed and Believe.

Cirque Complaints and Suggestions

I also created a video with some complaints and suggestions that I have about the Cirque and their merchandise.

Backup link to video on YouTube.com

1. I hate that they miss almost on every official sound track CD for any of their shows the music for several of the acts in the show. It is not an official sound track, if it is not complete!

2. It took me almost one year to find the official sound track CD for their seasonal show Wintuk. I even contacted their customer service who was not able to help me. I got a pirated copy of the album, which was not hard to find at first, until I finally found the web site with official Wintuk merchandise last year in December. The site is not in the search engines at all and why they do not offer the OST in their Cirque Boutique web site with their other CDs and DVDs is a mystery to me.

3. Many of their merchandise is not available for purchase, if you select as shipping location the wrong part of this planet (such as Asia). For an international company, touring world wide and having fans world wide, it is a shame to leave people out in the dust without the ability to legally buy many of the merchandise from the Cirque du Soleil web site. Especially the digital content like CDs and DVDs should be made available, because people can get those anyway, yes, illegal and as pirated version, but what do you want them to do, if this is the only option to get the stuff? People want to do the right thing. People want to pay the money. Don't force them to do the wrong thing, because there is absolutely no reason for it.

You don't believe me? See for yourself. I took some screen shots of the Cirque du Soleil online store (Boutique).

• Screen Shot - Cirque Boutique DVD Section for India
• Screen Shot - Cirque Boutique DVD Section for the United States

Some difference there, eh?!

FIX THIS!

Cheers!

Carsten aka Roy/SAC

Cirque Du Soleil: 20 Years Under the Sun - A Book Review

In case that you missed it. I created a book review video in October for the book "Cirque Du Soleil: 20 Years Under the Sun - An Authorized History" (Hardcover) by Tony Babinski (Author), Kristian Manchester (Contributor). I also uploaded this video review to Amazon.com, which is shown on the product detail page of the Book on their web site now. I find that pretty cool hehe.

As I said indirectly already, the book is available for purchase for about $37 (USD) at Amazon.com and here is the video review of the book. My review in text format follows right below this embed video.

Backup Link to Video on YouTube.com

As always, you can download this video in AVI format at Mediafire.com

The book is a monster in size and weight and packed with glossy images of the Cirque and its shows and provides a interesting behind the scene look at the humble origins of the enterprise and its worldwide successful shows.

It's a good gift for somebody who is interested in the Cirque, beyond just the acrobatics. Other people probably won't appreciate it as much, so check first, before you make the $37 investment for this book.

The book was published in 2004 and probably written in 2003 to early 2004. That means that many of the Cirque du Soleil shows are missing in this book. Cirque du Soleil was very busy over the past four years, since this book was published.

The last touring show covered by the book is "Varekai" and the last residential show "Zumanity", which is performed at the New York, New York hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The show "KA" at the MGM is barely mentioned, not even by name yet and there is nothing to be found about the touring shows "Corteo" and "Kooza", the Las Vegas shows "Believe", "The Beatles - Love" and as I already mentioned "KA". The new resident Asian shows "Zaia" and "Zed" are of course also missing. The music concert "Delirium" is also not part of this book.

All those shows were created after 2004. This is quite a lot of shows, so I can only say again, that you better make sure that the person who you would like to buy this book for can actually appreciate it anyway.

All the new stuff is missing, but the more it covers the early Cirque and first shows that are not running anymore, such as "Fascination", "Le Grand Tour", "La Magie Continue", "Cirque Reinvente" and "Nouvelle Experience".

Also covered are the still running and touring shows "Saltimbanco", "Mystere", "O", "La Nouba", "Dralion", "Alegria" and the mentioned "Zumanity" and "Varekai". The special anniversary show for the 20th anniversary of Cirque du Soleil at Montreal "Midnight Sun" is also not mentioned. Keep in mind that this special performance happened also in 2004, the year when the book was published for the same reasons.

I don't know, if the book is also available in other languages than English, but I would assume that this is the case. It should also be available for purchase at any other well sorted book store, other than Amazon.com, such as Barnes & Noble or Borders.

I hope that you found this brief review helpful. Let me know via the comments section below.

To learn more about Cirque du Soleil, check out my Cirque du Soleil primer, here at RoySAC.com and also my special YouTube account "CirqueDuSoleilGuru" for Cirque videos and my Cirque du Soleil photo album collection at the photo sharing web site Flickr.com.

Cheers!

Carsten aka Roy/SAC

Negative Feedback for Criss Angel's and Cirque du Soleil's 'Believe'

I was surprised a lot when the first comments for the new Cirque du Soleil show "Criss Angel - Believe" were made at preview videos of the show at my YouTube.com channel "CirqueDuSoleilGuru" and also at previous posts of mine about the show here at my blog.

I cannot recall any instance where a Cirque du Soleil show received that many negative comments in such short period of time (less than 3 months). It's usually all praise and love with a stupid idiot posting some mindless comment once in a while. In case of the new show "Believe" did very specific negative comments pour in pretty much since the first pre-screenings of the show in September and onwards.

Here are the unaltered negative comments about the show from my various videos and blog posts. Since I did not alter them, all misspellings and grammatical errors remained as they were also.

User: HOTskull888 on YouTube said:

honestly the show was the shit. like it was nuts and dont say stupid as shit stuff like ow it suks or what ever because i do magic to and i dont care what anyone thinks of it

User: rjslider58 on YouTube said:

i saw the show oct 10, it sucked do your self a faver dont waste your time or money.

User: emtttmike on YouTube said:

I wasted my money going to see 'Believe" on 10/17...I sat waiting for it to get better and it never did...I actually looked at my watch hoping it would end soon. It was that bad.

User: jshkneale on YouTube said:

this show sucked. i mean it really sucked. it would have been good only if they changed one thing,.....Chris angel, he destroyed the show. the dancers were OK if you like them to be out of sync with each other.

User: Kraken303 on YouTube said:

Anyone who thinks Criss Angel is a good magician is completely ignorant when it comes to magic. The show does not suck because of Cirque--it sucks because Criss can't pull off any tricks without using extensive camera edits or plants. I really makes me angry to think that that $100 million dollars was spent on this show, and it's still so BAD.

User: taxthis2001 on YouTube said:

Saw Believe last week, was disappointed. To much Cirque not enough Angel. I was very impressed with mind freak on the street but some of those disappearing tricks done on a stage with 40 trap doors are not as impressive. Criss u can do better. I leave this feedback to help guide your show for the better, please use it as such. Keep Mind Freak going.

User: 2RISEPROD on YouTube said:

Enjoy Criss Angel on A&E for years, when he said for all skeptics I will be doing this stuff live in my new show "Believe' I was like OMG! really can't wait! Went to Vegas for the opening, must say it was a total disaster and waste of money!! It made no sense at all! Criss did a dove from sleeve trick - and some very predictable birthday trick..Then he lip sang his MF song at the end, people were leaving before the show was over and bitching in the Luxor about how it sucked ass!! ??

User: iglesiasarenas on YouTube said:

is not MF but is not "o" or "the bettles shows" is the worst show of Circus du solei with the best magician Criss...

User: StealthCracker on YouTube said:

I went to the show Oct 4, and I thought it was too much dancing. -.-" only a few tricks performed. HE NEEDS MORE TRICKS

and

Everyone look at the words BELIEVE... if you look at the logo, you'll see that the BE---VE is faded out, leaving bold words: LIE. I found this out. Check it out!!!

Anonymous Blog Comment here at RoySAC.com:

IMOP...I went to see the Criss Angel Believe show at the Luxor, and I must say.... IT WAS HORRIBLE! I am a huge Criss Angel fan, I think he is a great entertainer, however this show was horrible. I found out after watching the show that everyone that has seen the show to date has hated it also, everyone left the theater talking about how bad it was, my suggestion is it is better to save your money for another show and skip this trash. Also, it is not kid friendly at all, I did not take my kids to it, however there where some there and they left in tears from being scared of it. Think of Alice in Wonderland on really bad drugs.

User: realhonest1 on YouTube said:

I went Nov. 3. The show has lived up to the reviews. It sucked. I wish someone would have said "lets go!" Unfortunately we sat through to the dismal end. I want my $200 and 2 hrs back! Bad actor and bad tricks. On a pos. note the backgrounds and Wade Robson choreography were nice. Criss Angel is why this show bombs. I used to be a fan, but can't even watch Mind Freak anymore. Way to go Criss, thanks for robbing your fans.

Thoughts and My Own Comments

I wrote a comment at one of my "Believe" videos at YouTube in response to some supporting comments by "Loyals" (Criss Angel Fan Club Members), who were appalled by the negative comments by others and expressed their sympathy for Criss. It reflects pretty much what I believe to be the actual problem here.

I have the feeling Criss managed to disappoint both crowds at once, for the "Mindfreaks" is the show not freaky enough and for the "Cirque Fans" is there too little circus and too much dancing, with some creepy atmosphere.

I cannot imagine that the show itself is that bad, its just not what people in the know expected it to be like. So they either get over it and take a new look at it from a distance or Criss has to look for new type of fans, who are not prejudges and in-flexible.

I will be in Las Vegas in January 2009 for a conference and hope that I will be able to see the show myself and get a real grip on what the problem might be here.

In the meantime enjoy a extended trailer video for the show that I created. Those images look actually pretty cool and promising, don't you think?

Backup Link to Video on YouTube.com

You can download this video in 480x360 pixels resolution and AVI (XVID/MP3 Lame) format at Mediafire.com.

Additional Links related to this post

• Video - Criss Angel - Believe - Animated Slide Show
• Video - Cirque du Soleil & Criss Angels -Believe- Special Preview
• Video - Cirque du Soleil - Believe - 1st Real Show Footage
• Official Show Homepage at CirqueDuSoleil.com

Cheers!

Carsten aka Roy/SAC

Cirque du Soleil Delirium Encore

I was with my parents and my sister who are currently visiting me here in California at the movies on Wednesday evening. We are usually not much of movie goers and prefer watching movies and other stuff from the comfort of our own homes. However, there was something special that made me go to the movies this week and take my family along with me as well.

Cirque du Soleil's stadium show and music concert "Delirium" finished touring this year. It was launched in 2006 and toured the whole country. I saw the show/concert live in 2006 when they made it to Fresno, California (which actually surprised me).

Cirque du Soleil decided for something unusual after the tour was over. They showed the show in movie theaters, but not for a regular run, like any other movie, no, it was only screened for a few days this August.

When I wrote my post about this back in August I also thought that it will be a run for several weeks and not only an one time thing. I learned about my error the hard way, when I was looking for movie tickets for Delirium here in Fresno. I first thought that it wasn't aired in Fresno at all, but I found out that I missed the show altogether, bummer.

I also learned that Cirque du Soleil decided for an Encore event, which was on October 15, 2008 (Wednesday). I was smarter this time and got tickets. I thought that it will be sold out, but that was just an assumption. The movie theatre was almost empty. Only 4 more people (next to the four of us) watched the show. Okay, it was shown in Fresno's largest movie theatre, the Edwards Stadium at River Park and it was a Wednesday evening (not exactly prime time for movie buffs), but I was a bit disappointed anyway. Not in Cirque, but Fresno, or better the people in Fresno.

Last Chance to see on the Big Screen

In the case that you happen to read my post today, there are two more Encore presentations of Delirium tonight at midnight and tomorrow at midnight as well. It is weekend, so if you do not have anything better planned for the weekend, here is a good option for you.

The movie presentation, which is not an IMAX movie as I thought, convinced me that a DVD release of the concert is on the horizon, probably before Christmas. The Kooza show DVD also came out much earlier than I would have expected, so if the Delirium DVD would be available for purchase at the Cirque Boutique online store next week, I wouldn't be surprised by it either.

Delirium Pirated Promo Video :)

Because the theatre was almost empty, I couldn't help myself and use my Flip camera to take some video recordings. No, I didn't record the whole show and no, I won't publish everything that I recorded. Wait for the damn DVD and buy it. It cannot be for long anymore. However, I did create a short seven minutes promotional video to shorten the waiting time for the DVD a little bit. I told the marketing folks at Cirque du Soleil, who sent me the Cease and Desist letter last month that their policy regarding the maximum allowed length for promotional videos of 3 minutes is b.s. in the world of the Internet and social media.

To demonstrate my point though, I decided to slice up my 7 minutes video into three pieces for YouTube, non exceeding the 3 minutes mark. To avoid trouble and make somebody really mad, I will only embed video 1 of the trilogy in this post and link to the two other parts. If you want to watch the video as a whole, check out the provided link to the un-sliced version at Google Video and/or download the AVI version in higher 640x480 resolution from Mediafire.com. All the URLs can be found below.

 

Links to Videos Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 at YouTube.com

Link to .AVI video file on Mediafire.com

an last but not least the link to video in one piece at Google Video

Enjoy the video! Cheers!

Carsten aka Roy/SAC

p.s. some notes on the side. The editor of the movie (not my video) sucked. I think he failed to capture important elements of the show by selecting the wrong shot at some of the scenes. He always had multiple camera angles available to pick from and he picked too often the wrong one IMO. I was also disappointed that the opening act for the show was not part of the presentation. 

The opening act for the show was the Greek/Canadian singer Nitza, which was actually pretty cool too. She was doing a mix of traditional Greek music and Western pop/rock music in English. Check out her web site, which is also pretty cool and features some (extensive) samples of her music. You can buy the CD and other merchandise for Nitza right off her web site.

I bought her CD right there at the concert venue in 2006. I hope that the opening show will be part of the DVD release version or of a 2 DVD discs special edition of Delirium or something like that. I have my doubts that Nitza would be against this, so there is no reason for not putting it on the DVD as bonus. It was after all the official opening act during the entire run of the show as far as I know. It would be something that is missing, if it is not included IMO.

Update!

I just saw on her web site that she signed up with Cirque du Soleil again. She is the featured vocalist of the new resident Cirque du Soleil show "Believe", a partner project together with the street magician and entertainer Criss Angel. The show just premiered a few days ago at the Luxor hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Beatles - All Together Now DVD Release Postponed

Updated! See update at the end of the post!

What a bummer... A couple days ago, I checked out the official Beatles web site and noticed the announcement of full length featured documentary DVD about the Cirque du Soleil show "The Beatles - Love". Great! Okay, there is already one "Imagine: The Beatles in Love", a BBC documentary from 2006, but the more the merrier. I don't expect them to recycle the already published content for the new DVD.

It looks like they are going to re-use some material, but also include plenty of new one. You can watch the short and the long trailer for the DVD at my Cirque du Soleil related YouTube account.

Okay, so I went off and pre-ordered the DVD with a planned release date of October 20, 2008 at BestBuy.com, the exclusive retailer who is to offer the DVD for sale on the Internet.

Today I got an email from the BestBuy.com customer service that states that the delivery date will be postponed until April 21, 2009. What??? That is a freaking 6 months delay of the release.

They must be kidding, right? The documentary itself is supposed to be 84 minutes long, plus 3 additional mini documentaries with a running time of about 40 minutes total. It's not god damn Lord of the Rings movie where they need a year for the post production. In 6 months they could re-do the whole documentary DVD entirely from scratch. 

I couldn't believe the email and went on to the BestBuy.com web site to check my order status.

And there it is again... April 21, 2009. Damn it!

I don't need to understand this BS, don't I? I guess we have to continue to live with the existing documentary from 2006 for a while longer now. I couldn't find an official press release or something like that, which explains the long time difference from the previous to the new release date ad why the original release date of October 20, 2008 cannot be met.

No news since the C&D letter by the Cirque and my blog post response. I wonder what there is cooking now too.

Well, until there is more to report, check out my Cirque du Soleil Primer article here at my blog and my Cirque du Soleil and Performing Arts related YouTube.com video channel.

Cheers!

Carsten aka Roy/SAC

Update October 14, 2008: I got contacted by Cirque du Soleil and told that Best Buy made an error. The documentary DVD is supposed to be shipped out on-time and will not be postponed until next year. I will know for sure in about one week. Let's see how that goes.

Update October 16, 2008: I received an email from BestBuy.com with a shipping confirmation and number (shipped via XMEX?!) . The provided tracking link does not work yet, but I expect that to change on Monday and the actual delivery also within the next week.

I received the DVD the week after my second update. The DVD is great and it does not use that much of the same content from the BBC documentary as I feared. Most of the content is completely original. If you are a Cirque du Soleil fan or Beatles fan, I highly recommend buying this DVD. You won't be disappointed. Promise!

Roy/SAC Homepage

Kooza DVD and Cirque C&D Letter

This is my first post, using the Windows Live Writer application. It's a free tool by Microsoft to make blog posts, supporting various blogging platforms beyond Windows Live Spaces. It was able to determine the blog layout and I can now see right when I type this, how it will probably look on the site. Another important feature, which made me giving Live Writer a shot, is the nice image upload feature via FTP. If all goes well, images that I insert here into the editor should be transferred over to my web server and the post in Blogger should refer to the images web URL instead of the local file on my hard-drive. Lets see how it works out :).

They have a dedicated web site, an open SDK  and a gallery with already 97 plug-ins available for download and use with the new Writer tool. I was able to configure the Writer for this blog (using classic Blogger with FTP to push to my servers), with SearchEngineJournal.com (WordPress), but not with ReveNews.com. I think that the problem with ReveNews.com has not to do with the Writer, but the configuration of the ReveNews.com blog itself, which is also using WordPress, like SEJ, where it worked instantly.

Post Reason No. 1

Okay, but this is not the reason for my post. There are actually two much more significant reasons. Lets start with the first, which is much simpler and explained in no time, compared with reason number two.

I got today my 2 discs DVD set of the recording of the Cirque du Soleil show "Kooza". I ordered it on the weekend and paid $12 or so for express shipping. The shipping was really express, which justifies the high shipping charge. The DVD itself cost $29.00. It seems to be expensive, but you actually get a lot of stuff for your bucks, so I'd say that the price is fair. You can only buy it via the Cirque Boutique online as far as I can tell.

I stumbled across the DVD by accident. I didn't see any promotion for it (including nothing on the Cirque web site itself) or anything like that. I noticed it when I compared the DVD offers in the Cirque Boutique for shoppers from the United States to the ones for shoppers from India. Why I did that will be explained in reason two a bit later. Well, that also means that I don't know when the DVD was actually released, because I didn't see any preview, announcement or advertisement for it. It cannot be for long be available though, because it is not available via Amazon.com yet. Assuming that the delay for appearing in Amazon.com is the same as it was for the Kooza soundtrack, then it must have been released sometimes last week.

What do you get for your money?

I mentioned already that you get a lot for your money. DVD 1 contains only the main show, which is about 2 hours in length. Audio is available in Surround, Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1. The show was filmed with 8 cameras during its run in Toronto Canada. The second DVD contains the entire 47 minutes long documentary "A Thrilling Ride Through Kooza", which was/is sold separately for several months already. This documentary itself cost already $19.00!

Also included are an about 11 minutes long documentary about the Wheel of Death act, some promotional advertisements for other Cirque products and the DVD credits. Altogether over 3 hours of content in high definition and superb sound quality. Subtitles are also available in multiple languages, including Spanish and French. The DVDs come in a custom made box cover, which did not fit in its entirely on my scanner. But you will get the idea, I hope :).

Post Reason No. 2

Now it is getting serious, so hold on tight and bear with me please :).

If you noticed and wondered, why many of my past blog posts were changed and include this ugly button where there used to be videos embedded, I will now explain why that I did it and you will hopefully understand and forgive me.

I received a bit over one week ago a Cease and Desist letter by Cirque du Soleil. I am not kidding here, this is real, I swear. You can see the actual letterin PDF format here. See for yourself.

It was written politely. They obviously don't like that I promote their business and help them to make more revenue and more profits (I am still not kidding).  Before I responded to them, I did contact the Social Media Manager for Cirque du Soleil, Jessica Berlin, who is located in Las Vegas, Nevada. I had contact with Jessica in the past, first through my old YouTube.com account and then through my CirqueDuSoleilGuru account. Jessica manages the CirqueLasVegas account on YouTube and we bumped into each other, because she was literally spamming many of my Cirque du Soleil related videos (no joke). She knew what I was doing, appreciated it, and even gave comments and made suggestions.

So I forwarded the email from her colleagues to Jessica, assuming that there was an error made or some rookie at the Montreal office does not know anything about social media and what is going on the Internet these days.

My email to her looked like this quote (excerpt only):

Could you please explain to your colleagues what social media is and that they fight an up-hill battle, if they try to prevent people from taking their brand and run with it by force?

I do it publicly as a fan and do tons of advertising and more for free and honest, It's a promotion that you cannot buy for any money in the world. I answer questions of people and cannot remember getting any negative feedback ever. Since I am a fan and not a hater of the Cirque, I try to present the Cirque in its best light possible. I never claimed to work on behalf of the Cirque. I am also open to comments and suggestions, like the one you did for the "Believe" video, where you thought that I was not clear enough expressing that this is not an official Cirque du Soleil released video. If you try to force, regulate and control what people think and interpret by using threats and citing inadequate and outdated laws, two things will happen.

1. you lose support and might even turn your best friends into your worst foes
2. people will not stop doing what they do (the genie is out of the bottle), they will only close all communication channels and use the protection of anonymity, removing the option for you to guide and support and to maintain at least some control over the message that is send out to people.

What is the point in doing that? It does not make sense at all, personally and also from the business point of view.

I understand that there are some ethical limits what some other people do not. I don't publish full DVD or CD rips of Cirque du Soleil shows for example, although I still believe that this does not hurt you guys that much really, unless the CD/DVD business became bigger than show ticket sales. I stated at my blog and YouTube channel, that the best recording of a show, Multi-Angle, High Definition (HD), 5.1 Surround Sound etc. is no substitute for watching a show live. It's like watching a roller-coaster ride on TV... it gives you a glimpse, but you have to experience it yourself to get the full package.

You are allowed to forward this and also any previous email communication to other folks at Cirque du Soleil, including the two ladies below. I hereby give you officially the permission to do so.

I have 10 days to respond to the notice. I will wait with my response until Wednesday and hope to hear back from you before then. It gives you over two working days to discuss this subject with your colleagues internally and to make a decision.

I wrote in March an Article titled "Social Media Guide for Big Brand Businesses" for Search Engine Journal, which was well received. I suggest to you and your colleagues to read it.

http://www.searchenginejournal.com/social-media-guide-for-big-brand-corporate-businesses/6604/

I got a response from Jessica a few days later (I got the C&D letter on a Friday, just to mention it). She wrote:

Thank you for forwarding this.  I think this has come about primarily because of the DVD content that is hosted on your sites.  I understand your frustrations with this but Cirque has always upheld a very firm policy that no more than three minutes of content is able to be used without having to pay for rights to the footage.  Usually we have media (both traditional and 2.0) sign a release form for the use of any footage.  Social media is still relatively new territory for us but we still need to enforce our brand standards in all mediums.

I know you are a huge fan and we truly appreciate your help in promoting the shows.  In order to be able to continue working together, I hope you will respect the guidelines.

So I changed the posts on my blog and responded to the original email with the C&D letter attached to it, before the 10 days time-limit was up:

Sorry for the delayed response, but I was busy. Well, the set 10 days are not over yet, so I am still acting within the accepted limits.

There are no possibly infringing Cirque du Soleil videos hosted or embedded at RoySAC.com or any other web sites that I operate anymore, as you requested.

What remains is material provided by partners with whom I am affiliated with, including Amazon.com and MGM or meet the criteria of fair use within the acceptable limits of news reporting and/or expression of my personal opinion, which is still perfectly legal in this country.Let me know, if you have questions or refute my claims for the remaining content on my web sites.

I followed the demands made in the C&D by the letter, not a bit more and, I honestly believe, no less either.

This makes things look a little bit odd now, because the videos are still there and not removed from the planet earth of course. I did this on purpose, to make a point.

I would make a bet that the three minutes length limitation, specified by their internal policies, is based on the use for traditional media, including Television but also high definition ads on DVDs, including their own DVDs. Signing a release form applies also to traditional media (which includes large Web 2.0 publishers), but not to social media (video sharing).

The Cirque would have to hire a lot more staff and new servers (web and/or email servers), if they want every guy on the planet who decides to make a fan video from various sources sign a release form (which they must have available in at least a few hundred of the close to 7,000 living languages in the world today, because not everybody who has a computer and Internet access is necessarily also fluent in English or French.

The 3 minutes time limit probably has also to do with the standards in the TV and Movie industry. Ad blocks on TV are often sold with a  30 seconds length. A 1 minutes Ad would take up 2 blocks. Some even use 20 seconds blocks, which would require the purchase of 3 blocks for a 1 minute Ad. Movie trailers for the theatres, TV, online movie sites (e.g. IMDB.com) or to be included on other DVD movies are usually between 20 seconds to 2:30 minutes long, max 3 minutes (oh.. surprise!). Anyway, I can only say "Leave the old rules with the old habits and get used to new rules (and maybe also new habits)"

Asking a regular guy and fan to only make videos that are no longer than 3 minutes is not only ridicules, but also stupid and to some extend even discriminating. Jessica also seems to be new to all of this. Her well meant, but poorly exercised promotional campaign for the announcement video of the new Cirque show in Vegas starring the magician "Criss Angel" (the spam that I mentioned earlier), seems to confirm my personal assumption.

I can only recommend to read my original email once more. This should help with the missing understanding a little bit. I am also open to talks, since I seem to know a little bit more about this subject then they do. Hey, I don't even charge them money for it.

Now to the complained regarding the use of DVD content for some of my videos.

The Stuff is already there, not because of me!

First, ALL Cirque du Soleil DVDs are available for free download in pirated form all over the Internet. Pick your poison, Torrents, Usenet, FTP servers or sliced up into <10 minutes pieces on YouTube. Non of those were my doing. I got tons of requests to publish extensive DVD material, which I refused politely, referring to online stores where those DVDs can be purchased for personal use. This includes Cirque Documentaries.

One Exception, for Good Reasons

There was one exception. I made one of the documentaries available non-public to a fan in India, who cannot afford to travel to Las Vegas to see the show in Person, Due to the fact that it is a resident show, no show recording of the show is available or will be available any day soon (the show "Mystère" runs for over 15 years and there is still no recording of it). The documentary "Flow" (about the Cirque show "O") is only available through the Cirque Boutique online shop. Before you are able to show the store is it necessary to specify where the items will be shipped to. If you select USA, everything is fine and pretty much the entire product catalog is accessible. Different story, if you specify India as shipping location. The number of products available  shrinks significantly. The DVD section is almost empty. Non of the documentary DVDs is available for purchase.

So the there is no legal way for somebody from India to get access to this content. I assume that the restriction for India has nothing to do with the Cirque using copyright laws to control distribution in a bad way, but logistical issues and/or the risk of and fear for credit card fraud, which is rampart in Asia and requires some sophistication to reduce the risk to an acceptable limit.

I felt sorry and uploaded the video to Google Video and sent the non-public URL to this guy in a personal email. The videos do not appear in any listings or search results on any web site though. Here are screen shots of the site, one with the DVD offerings, if you specify United States as delivery destination and another, if you set the destination to India (btw. when I made those screen shots, is when I noticed the Kooza DVD and bought it right then and there hehe).

Show Content from Documentaries

Yes, I admit that I used show content from documentaries, including the ones that are available on DVD. However, I only did it for shows, where there is no recording on DVD available (yet). I did not publish the documentary parts though, which always made up the larger part of the documentaries.

If you are a fan and live half way around the globe from the venue where a resident show is being performed, chances could be slim to zero that the person would be able to ever make it to that show in person and in his or hers lifetime.

Know your Customers and Don't Use Cheap Methods to make a Quick and Dirty Buck!

If the person is interested in the shows but not the behind the scenes stuff, trying to sell to him a documentary DVD as a quick fix is not only low, but unethical as well. There are folks (like me), who value the background info of a show, about the creation, the artists and the surroundings. Fine, for them is the DVD and I didn't publish anything that would deter any of those potential customers from buying the documentary DVDs, on the contrary actually. I mentioned in some of the videos that it contains as source material images from a documentary DVD.

I was contacted who were unaware of the existence of such DVDs and who asked me specific questions about them. Often of the nature "which one to buy", because they only had enough money for one DVD and not all of them, so they wanted to pick the best they possibly could.

The folks interested in just the shows got a nice freebie in less than High Definition quality. They wouldn't buy the DVDs for the documentaries sake of them, are unable to buy a DVD recording of the show and sometimes unable to make it to a show in person.

However, some are able to make it and appreciate the video footage to help them with their decision about, for which of the soon to be SIX Cirque du Soleil shows (plus ONE additional Cirque like show, "Le Rêve" by former Cirque director Franco Dragonè, now on his own, plating at the Wynn Las Vegas), they should get tickets for when they are visiting Las Vegas.

Many of the viewers of the videos are actually folks who already got tickets are are excited about seeing a show live and folks who just saw one the shows and are still thrilled and excited to let everybody else know about their excitement via a comment a respective video of that show in YouTube. I am not kidding, check out the comments of the Cirque Videos on YouTube yourself, if you do not believe what I am telling you.

Summary, I do not cut into the Cirque's business, I am actually supporting and promoting it, helping them to sell more show tickets and to sell DVDs to the right customers for the right reasons. I even state at the user home page of my CirqueDuSoleilGuru account the following:

REMEMBER! A VIDEO (REGARDLESS OF ITS QUALITY) IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR A LIVE EXPERIENCE OF THE PERFORMING CIRCUS ARTS!

I did not make that up, I really mean it! The Cirque should send me a check instead of a cease and desist letter! Others would probably agree with me on this one. I try to portrait the Cirque from his best side in my videos and try to be as true to the brand as I can. At the same time I am making as clear as possible that I created (edited) the video and do not work for the Cirque. This is important because of content that I use some times, where the Cirque does not own any copyright themselves, yes, content that includes live performances by the Cirque itself (I am not kidding again and won't start with it at the end :) ).

What I Do NOT Do!

I do not publish any video recordings where artists didn't do their act successfully and fell and might got injured beyond their own pride. I am sure that not everybody is a fan of the Cirque, competitors for example. They can produce stuff as well and appear in search results for "Cirque du Soleil" or any of their show names on search engines and other web sites, like YouTube. I am sure that the Cirque would prefer if that content would be about the Cirque and not the competitors offerings and certainly not content that makes the Cirque look bad, stupid, unprofessional or unable to do their job right.

Conclusion and Wrap Up

I will send the link to this post to the folks at Cirque du Soleil in Montreal, Canada and also to Jessica in Las Vegas and hope that they will retract their C&D letter and do what I already suggested in my first email (to Jessica only, now published also publicly here at my blog). I will be in Vegas in a few days and hope to get the chance to talk with Jessica of Cirque du Soleil in person. I hope that she will appreciate all my free tips and advice that I provided and starts getting a real grip on this whole social media thing, where she was made a marketing manager for. I won't give up on the Cirque that easily. And if their is "reasoning" then there will be a solution that will work for everybody involved and can be used by the marketing folks at the Cirque for other instances like this one, where the person on the other side does not happen to be a marketer with experience in the social media space and is also a blogger (a lucky coincidence for the Cirque, I'd like to believe).

I think this post makes the top 5 list of the longest posts written for this blog. I didn't check and will stop here to avoid to be able to be sure that this must be the longest post of them all hehe.

Cheers!

Carsten aka Roy/SAC

p.s. One last thing. Did you notice the new buttons below the post to enter a comment? How do you like it? I think that it is more prominent than the old simple text links.

I have not found a way to add Blogger tags to a post yet, but there might be a plug-in. That is the only issue that I encountered with the Windows Live Writer so far. There is room for hope and happiness here :).

Cirque du Soleil's Music Concert 'Delirium' Video

Cirque du Soleil's music concert and arena show "Delirum" is now running in Movie Theatres. You cannot see the show live anymore, because it is finished touring.

However, you can see it on the Big screen at the moment and hopefully soon on DVD.

I finally got around creating a longer sneak preview video, which I had on my to-do list for some time already. The news that the show stopped touring and is now shown in movie theaters made me realize that it won't be for long anymore and a DVD will be available and no need for me to spend time on editing together a nice video hehe.

So here it is now, a 28 minutes long sneak preview of some segments of the show. I think it is a record... yes, it is. The "O" and "Mystere" videos were "only" 21 and 22 minutes long.

As a special bonus, both, the handbalancing (Andrey Koltsov) and hoola hoops (Irina Akimova) acts are covered completly (yeah! hehe). Editing video on a PC is still a bitch and it took me longer than I wanted to. Not the editing, but the rendering of the final video :(. God, I hate this "codec", "DirectShow Filters", "Video for Windows" crap and all the problems that come with it.



Backup link to video at Google Video.

You can also download the entire video in 400x300 resolution and .AVI format from Mediafire.com here. Other Cirque du Soleil videos of mine can also be downloaded. See a complete list at this URL.

For more Cirque du Soleil visit my Cirque du Soleil primer.

Something else...
A side note about my blog here at RoySAC.com/blog.

Have a look to the right side and you will notice a new text box below the text box for the email subscription to my posts via Feedburner.

It's a new search feature for my blog. It only searches my blog and not the rest of the website.

I use Google's Custom Search Engine (CSE) for it and tweaked it to make the results even more relevant. I excluded the "category" pages and the homepage for example. It should actually only search and return blog post pages, if I did everything right and as I wanted it to be. The Category pages and homepage tend to rank high in Google, but they are not that much helpful, especially if you are looking for something specific. :)

So check it out and let me know how it works for you. I am thinking about creating a second CSE for the rest of the RoySAC.com site, which is also getting bigger and harder to navigate every day.

Enjoy and Cheers!
Carsten aka Roy/SAC

Cirque du Soleil & Criss Angel's 'Believe' - A Special Sneak Preview

The news that the new Cirque du Soleil show with the (in)famous magician Criss Angel with the title "Believe" will premier much later than it was originally planned was bad, but there was nothing that could be done about it.

There is only about 1 1/2 months to go until the current premier date and the Cirque is already on "promo tour", which is a good sign. You do not go on promo tour, if you are in trouble and far behind schedule, risking further delays... no, you would be back "home" and work overtime, weekends and holidays to get the thing done on the date you said it would be done.

Well, 16 dancers of the new show and their ceographer were sighted in Los Angeles, California a few days ago. They gave a special performance at the event "So you think you can dance?" and a first real sneak peak of the new Criss Angel show ever, actual footage from the show itself, no talks, no stills, drawings and models.. nope, the real deal this time.

It shows the actual performance to get a glimpse of the things to come, when the new show finally premiers in October 2008 at the Luxor hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

This performance was aired on TV on Fox and somebody was kind enough to record it/Tivo it and upload the whole thing to his favorite video sharing website, where I picked it up. I also found a mini-documentary video, officially by the Cirque itself that shows "behind the scene" footage of this special performance called "All in a Day's Work".

I grabbed that one too. Then there was also the very first show teaser that was released.. no show footage (unfortunately), but you cannot have everything you wish for all the time.

Anyhow, I grabbed those 3 videos and added some stuff from a fourth one and some images for a mini video slideshow, with music from the actual show in the background, to round up my video version of all this.

All in all some entertaining 7:22 minutes to enjoy.



You can download this video in higher 640x480 resolution and in .AVI format at Mediafire.com here.

To learn more about Cirque du Soleil, their shows and special performances, check out my Cirque du Soleil primer.

Cheers!
Carsten aka Roy/SAC

Cirque du Soleil's Delirium Coming to Movie Theaters

Some good, but not entirely unexpected news, at least half of it.

Cirque du Soleil and Sony Pictures announced a few days ago the release of the Cirque du Soleil concert show for the big screen in movie theaters. It will be released this month (they made the announcement on very short notice).

This probably means that we can expect a DVD release of the show by Christmas this year or latest by Spring 2009. I would be surprised, if they would not release it this year already. Christmas would be perfect to get a piece of the holiday business.

I am not surprised about the availability of a recorded version of the show, the Cirque did that with other shows that were not resident shows in the past already (with exception of "La Nouba"), including "Corteo" and "Varekai". It should not be for long until a video of the touring show "Kooza" will become available on DVD. I do not recall though that they had the recordings running in Movie Theaters prior the DVD release. That's a first as far as I know.

Here is the trailer for the Movie release, coming to selected Movie Theaters near you.



Backup Link to Video on Youtube.com.

For more Cirque du Soleil visit my Cirque du Soleil primer. Also check out my YouTube channel about Cirque du Soleil and performing arts in general.

This announcement also reminded me on working on a longer preview video of the show. I got many video snippets and have the official soundtrack CDs. I need to sit down and spend the time to create a nice little teaser as I did for other Cirque shows, such as "O" and "Mystere" to name the shows where I was able to create a 20+ minutes teaser and "Zumanity", "Kooza" and "KA" where I was able to create 7=10 minutes long teasers. All of those mentioned videos are available through my YouTube channel and also referenced in my Cirque du Soleil Primer article.

Cheers!
Carsten aka Roy/SAC