Cirque Du Soleil Research Paper

Now the largest theatrical producer in the world, Cirque Du Soleil started off as just a group of street performers. The group was founded by Gilles Ste-Croix and Guy Laliberté in 1984 (The current CEO and president of the company is Daniel Lamarre). They would perform on the streets of Baie-Saint-Paul under the name “Les Échassiers de Baie-Saint-Paul” (The Baie-Saint-Paul Stiltwalkers). Their acts included juggling, dancing, breathing fire, and performing acrobatic stunts-all to original music. 1984 marked the beginning of their journey; the group decided to go on a province-wide tour (Le Grande Tour) amid celebrations for the 450th anniversary of Jacques Cartier’s discovery of Canada. This is when the group officially became the Cirque Du Soleil. Audiences immediately fell in love with the shows and Cirque Du Soleil became popular outside of Québec, with performances popping up all over Canada. But it was in 1993- when Cirque Du Soleil made their very first appearance on a U.S stage- when things really began to take off. “We Reinvent the Circus” had L.A audiences and media hooked and was performed in front of sell-out crowds in North America as well as in Europe. Another immensely successful show was Mistère, which was the company’s first permanent show (L.A) and more than 2 decades later, the show is still running in a theatre built specifically for it. The company went from simple street shows to breathtaking and seemingly impossible performances in front of thousands.

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