What would say if a bunch of travelling street performers, the kind you’d seen performing around your local town centre, become the biggest entertainment troupe in the world today? Well that’s what happened with a couple of Quebecians…
Cirque du Soleil is a world famous entertainment company that by their own admission is a “dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment.” The company was founded by former street performers Guy Laliberté and Daniel Gauthier in 1984, in Baie-Saint-Paul – a small town near Quebec, Canada. Cirque du Soleil is French for “Circus of the sun” the production creates their own original music, special effects, costumes and unlike other various circus’s don’t have any animal acts in their performances.
The company began as a group of street performers mainly stilt walkers named Les Échassiers de Baie-Saint-Paul in the early 1980s. The performers would exchange ideas and find ways to develop new and exciting productions. They initially had financial hardship but was helped out when they got a government grant. For the first year of establishment they were a success which lead to them getting another grant the following year.
Continue reading →