Even a clown can do it: Cirque du Soleil
recreates live entertainment
By Matt Williamson, W. Chan Kim, Renöe Mawborgne and
Ben M. Bensaoul
Cirque du Soleil began with a very simple
dream. A group ofyoung entertainers got
together to amuse audiences, see the worltJ, and
have fun doing it. Every yea4 the audience
becomes biggea we continue to discover new
places and ideas and we're still having.fun. We
also dream of suffusing our new projects with
the energy and inspiration, that are the essence
of our shows. And we want to help young people
express their dreams . . . and make them come
true.
(Guy Lalibert6, President and Chief Executive
Officer, Cirque du Soleil)
f n 198a. a derermined Guy Lalibert6 set out ro
Lreinvent the circus industry. This was no small
challenge given that the very core of the product was
delivering spectacles and surprise on a daily basis.
As with many other industries, this one had its share
of white elephants and dogs. It was rife with pro-
moters, hustlers and fire-breathers of all sorts, but
had its impassive iron-men as well. An amalgam of
both strong traditions and quest for novelty, it was a
circus.
From its original incarnation as a troupe called
'Le Club des Hauts Talons', so named because of its
host of stilt-walkers, Lalibert6's Cirque du Soleil
rapidly evolved from a pack of under-employed kids
into one of the largest Canadian cultural exports.
Almost 30 million people saw one of the troupe's
productions between 1984 and 2000. In that last year
alone, approximately 50,000 people took in the
Soleil experience, as productions appeared in 120
cities around the world. From a production which
put on its show in an 800 people tent purchased with
an Arls grant from the Quebec government, the show
now boasts three separate traveling productions
housed in 2,500 people tents and four permanent
rSource: O 2002
INSEAD-EAC, Fontainebleau, France. All rights reserved.
2cirque du soleil is
based in Montreal, Quebec and runs shows around the world. Neverlheless, the
place in the United States.
3Emest Albrecht The
, New American Circu.s (Gainesville, FL: university press of Florida), p2.
928
shows in purpose built theaters in Orlando. Biloxi
(Mississippi) and Las Vegas.2
The origins of Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil was created in 1984 by a group of
young street performers who had pooled their talents
and formed the 'Club des Talons Hauts' two years
earlier. Initially formed as part of the celebration of
the 450th anniversary of Jacques Cartier's arrival in
Quebec, the brainchild of Guy Lalibert6 was based
on a totally new concept: a mix of the circus arts and
street entertainment, featuring wild costumes, staged
under 'magical'lighting and set to original music. As
such, Cirque du Soleil was part of a movement that
many call the New American Circus.
Cirque du Soleil scrambled the existing traditions
of the circus and the performing arts, and reinvented
the wheel. The resulting dream world, populated by
operatic, choreographed and acrobatic sprites is like
no other place on earth; a reflection of the arts which
inspired it. Sharing elements of dance, circus and
opera, Soleil competes with them all but remains
utterly unique. Nor has Soleil failed to draw atten-
tion to its novel position as a non-circus; early
shows, We Reinvent the Circus and Nouvelle
Expörience forewarned the audience that the show
would be unlike anything they had ever seen before,
under the Big Top or anywhere else.
It was not, however, the first to take this new
route. Paul Binder and Michael Christiansen
founders of the Big Apple Circus in 1919, and Lzu-ry
Pisoni, founder of the Pickle Family Circus, brought
the more classical one-ring circus back to America
after over a hundred years, when even the smallest
circus spread their shows over three rings.3 Also in
1979, Guy Caron established the circus school that
majority of its performances take

would eventually become the Ecole Nationale du
Cirque and train a significant number of the original
performers in Cirque du Soleil's initial thirteen-week
tour. Each of these key players were outsiders in the
tradition bound world of the circus, having roots
more akin to the hippie counter-culture than any-
thing else. In contrast to the consciously intimate
scale and deference to skill and artistry above com-
mercialism of the Pickle Family Circus and Big
Apple Circus, Cirque du Soleil has never hesitated to
make theirs a commercial enterprise.
With a US$1.7 million contract from the provin-
cial govemment of Quebec, the show traveled the
province and produced some powerful fans that it
would later need. Ending the first season with a sur-
plus of US$50,000, Laliberr6 decided ro promore his
new show, and invested heavily in a new tent and
other equipment. Ending 1985 to critical acclaim,
Cirque du Soleil was nevertheless USg750,000 in
debt from its investments in equipment despite
extending the run several cities beyond the initial
route. Rene Levesque, then the prime Minister of
Quebec, and an avid fan from the 1984 opening
show, saw the cultural value in supporting the
enterprise and refinanced the debt.a
The troupe made another huge gamble in spend-
ing all its remaining funds after the 1986 season to
join the Los Angeles Arts festival in 1987. its first
serious foray outside of the Quebec region. This time
the gamble paid off. Cirque du Soleil was a big suc-
cess and almost immediately sold out its later shows.
Patronage of celebrities like Steve Martin, David
Bowie, Madonna, Elton John and Francis Ford
Coppola helped the troupe seal its identity as a
sophisticated and new form of entertainment.
The content and style of
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil has a unique approach to develop-
ing its shows, setting it apart from most other cir-
cuses. 'A Cirque du Soleil performance is like no
other circus ever seen in the United States or any-
where else. It is relentless in its drive to be nothing
short of spellbinding.'A thematic line, though fre-
quently rather vague and intentionally so, is mani-
aAlbrecht, p75.
)Albrecht, p77.
6Guy Ceron in Albrecht, p77.
cASE 21 CIRCLUE DU SOLElL g2g
fested throughout the show in costumes, music, the
types of acts performed. While not rising to the level
of storylines, the themes bring harmony and an intel_
lectual component to the show, without introducing
limits on the potential for acts. Rather than taking
acts as they exist and compiling them into a show,
Guy Caron, Franco Dragone and the creative teams
at Cirque du Soleil who have followed them, begin
with the theme, such as Saltimbanco or euidam and
build a show to suit. The result is a seamless enter_
tainment experience for the audience rather than a
punctuated series of acts. Moreover, unlike tradi-
tional circus, the company has multiple productions
where shows have distinctive themes that allow
the possibility for the same buyer to visit Le Cirque
multiple times.
In creating the performance that rocked the Los
Angeles Arts Festival, Caron took his team on a
weeklong retreat to focus simply on developing the
theme and how it would be conveyed through each
component of the show. That theme rather than sim_
ply being a new edition of the circus, each time is a
performance and an experience in itself. It serves as
the audience's guarantee for a high quality and
exotic experience.
The most impofiant element of this thematic
drive, and the starting point from which the creative
team begins, is an original score. Since the inception
of Cirque du Soleil, Rene Dupere has taken the cre_
ative director's expression of the theme and trans_
formed it into a full-length original score. The music
for a Soleil show drives the selection of the visual
performance, lighting and timing of the acts, rather
than the reverse.5 Says Caron, .In the movement
you see the music and in the music you hear the
movement,'6
In more than just the theme sequencing of pro_
duction, Cirque du Soleil represents a true mixture of
performance arts. It is not quite a circus and not quite
an opera or theater either, but takes elements from
them all. While the signature blue and yellow tent
and the circus acrobatics and clowns that form much
of the show's content are clearly circus, the show
takes place on a stage without a ring and seating on
three sides.
In constructing the physical dimensions of the
show, the creative team draws heavily upon the
930 SECTION 6 CAS ES
circus arts, featuring jugglers, trampolinists, tapeze
artists, teeterboard virtuosos and, of course, clowns.
Nevertheless, each act, even each movement, has a
purpose within the show and contributes to the
development of the thematic element. Because of
this singularity of purpose, big name acts have no
place in Cirque du Soleil. The presence of Gunther
Gebel-Williams and 40 wild cats or a drum roll lead-
ing into a Gaona quadruple somersault would under-
cut the dreamlike development of the theme.
Performers in Cirque du Soleil, while very
accomplished in their own right, play roles within
the larger show. In part because of the outlandish
costumes, but also because of the lack of a ringmas-
ter announcing the acts and a program which buries
the names of the individual performers in a cast list
at the back, individual performers are in essence
anonymous to the audience. This was not lost on the
initial cast of Cirque du Soleil and many were dis-
mayed to learn that Lalibert6 might not always
include them in future productions.
A final striking detail of the Cirque du Soleil
experience, which sets it apart from most traditional
circuses, is the complete absence of performing ani-
mals. There are none. This is a dramatic departure
for a medium that originated in a horse ring and has
been synonymous with elephant shows and wild
animal trainers. Leaving animal acts behind,
Lalibertd has created something new and different,
not quite circus, but not quite anything else. Circus
historian Fred Pfening notes, 'there's one question
that always annoys me: "But is it circus?" That's
utterly irrelevant. It is what the audience thinks it is.
It is Soleil.'7
The business of Cirque du Soleil
Certainly, the initial vision that drove the founders of
the various New American circuses were much more
artistic than commercial. The family nature of both
the Pickle Family Circus and the Big Apple Circus
were much more reminiscent of a hippie commune
than a typical start-up. Somewhat in contrast, Cirque
du Soleil took little time to become immensely prof-
itable after its success at the Los Angeles Arts
Festival. Unlike the others, Soleil pursued the dual
goals of artistry and profit, exemplified in the initial
TAuthor's interview with circus historian Fred Pfening, May 15, 2001
sAuthor's interview with circus historian Fred Pfening, May 15, 2001
agreement between Caron and Lalibert6 to lead these
two components separately.
Over time, Soleil has come up with a lifecycle
strategy that features an opening in Montreal fol-
lowed by a Norlh American tour, stretching over se\'-
eral years. The show then remains on tour for up to
4 more years, traveling first through Europe usuall1'
followed by a jaunt through Asia. Instead of travel-
ing to audiences, three permanent shows tap into the
continuous flow of potential viewers through such
places as Las Vegas and Disney World. Mystere, La
Nouba and 'O' have run in such permanent installa-
tions from the beginning, while Alegria, one of
Soleil's older touring shows, has performed in the
riverboat gambling casinos of Biloxi, Mississippi for
what was to be a permanent engagement, only to
begin touring anew two years later in the spring of
2001. Surprisingly, not since Nouvelle Experience
has a Soleil show stopped touring.
Quidam is exemplary of the typical touring
Cirque du Soleil show. The show was produced for
approximately US$5.9 million and first staged in
Montreal in April 1996. Following a three-year tour
of North America, the show has traveled throughout
Europe. Expected annual gross revenue at initiation
of the tour was US$14.6 million, a number that has
been exceeded year after year by a significant
amount, according to Soleil staff.
Cirque du Soleil draws its revenue in significantly
different fashion from the traditional circus and other
shows which take place in civic arenas and sporls
stadiums. The show derives the great majority of rev-
enues from ticket sales, though sponsor partners and
concession sales contribute to the margins.
Soleil's focus on providing sophisticated enter-
tainment enables a different approach to ticket pric-
ing. Rather than a family event with free or
discounted tickets for children or certain family
members, Soleil seats are generally sold at full face
value. 'Sure there are a couple ofkids at a Soleil per-
formance, but children make up a much smaller
share of the audience. With the Ringling Brothers
and Barnum & Bailey's circus (hereafter referred to
as the Ringling Brothers & Co.) the audience is
almost all families or kids.'8 Reflecting the adult
market for live entertainment, Soleil tickets are
available at a substantially higher price, in keeping
with a major theater or opera ticket. Tickets for

Dralion's 2001 Newyork engagement sold at US$65
to US$85. VIP packages including food offered in a
separate pre-show gathering tent sell at up to
US$230 per seat. Meanwhile, ,O, sported the most
expensive seat for Vegas based productions after
boosting the price to US$110 per seat in November
2000.It remains one of the hardest tickets to find. Its
shows are also regularly sold out and boast the high_
est seat occupancy in the industry, consistently
approaching 85-95%.
Soleil holds a traditionally large source of circus
revenues, i.e., the concessions, at arm's length. Not
surprisingly, less than 707o of revenues come from
concessions at a Soleil show. In keeping with the
performance-centered ethic of the troupe, nothing is
sold during the performance or inside the tent. For
the Ringling Brothers & Co. shows, this number
may be dramatically higher, closer to 20To, as the
sales effort is substantially stronger. The Ringling
Brothers & Co. circus has hawkers who travel
amongst the seated audience selling food and toys;
concession stands are also packed tightly outside the
performance space.
Sponsorships are a low-key but significant source
of revenue for Soleil. Originally a key revenue eamer
from the days when the show operated as non_profit,
many of the traveling shows have a primary sponsor,
usually associated with the VIp tent. Lincoln
Automobiles is the primary sponsor of Dralion, with
5 other corporations taking minor sponsorship roles
entitling them to discreet mention in the playbill,
advertising and banners around the tent.e For a typi_
cal 'shrine'circus or even a larger show such as the
Big Apple Circus, a main sponsor guarantees a gate
to the circus and sells the tickets independently.
Sponsors in this vein are normally powerful local
non-profit organizations who use the event as a
major fundraising opportunity. They view it as a
chance to associate themselves with the panache of
Soleil and the upscale consumers attending the show.
The arrangement is much more like a sponsor at a industry, Cirque du Soleil created a phenomenon
sporting event such as the Masters or the US Open.
Using its fantastic creative team and seeking to
build on the brand the live shows have created, in
recent years Soleil has somersaulted into film and
other ventures. Beginning with videos of live per-
formances and behind the scenes documentaries, the
eAuthor's personal
observation, May 30, 2001
l0Author's personal
observation, May 5, 2001.
CASE 2] CIRQ-UE DU SOLEIL g3I
troupe graduated to film, creating Journey of Man
in
the IMAX format. pieced together using'performers
from several of the different productions, the film
creates a dreamlike vision of the trajectory of
one
man's life using the brushstrokes of Soleil,s signa_
ture costuming and circus arts. Though the IMAX
format limits the potential box office take _ both the
projection equipment and special dimension screens
are extremely expensive and limited in numbers _
longer term engagements at the science museums
that ofren host these films enable Soleil to bridge the
film barrier by adding a physical dimension of rides
and interactive displays that would not be available
at a normal cinema. At the Franklin Institute in
Philadelphia, for instance, movie_goers willing to
pay an additional US$2, can bicycle on a high_wire
10 meters above the heads of other patrons sianding
on the ticket line.ro
FinaIe
One might think that in the performing arts and the
circus, the need for innovation is obvious. yet,
even in such an innovation friendly environment,
the circus industry had become stagnant, generat_
ing new acts by dressing up what already existed.
Circus families and individual artists creaied highly
developed and ever more challenging variants on
the same formula of trained animals and .death_
defying' stunts that had been popular in the past
century. Irving Feld was well known for pressing
performers to add yet another somersault off the
flying trapeze or add one more tiger to a simulta_
neous roll over act. yet, added difficulty and dan_
ger faced by the performers was all but lost on the
vast majority of the audience. This was novelty but
not innovation, adding little value to the audience,s
experience, yet requiring significant expenditures
by the circus company. By reinventing the circus
that has inspired and amazed millions of fans. ln
the process, it has generated revenues and an excit_
ing line of shows that has attracted millions of
people. This would have made p.T. Barnum blush
(see Figures 1 and 2).
932 SECTION 6 CASES

FIGURE 1 Major circus revenues

800
Ü Feld Entertainment, lnc.*
600
Revenue
Il Cirque du Soleil
(US$ Million) 400

2AA

*Estimates based on the data of Hoovers Online. Note: RBB&B is a major division of Feld

FIGURE 2 Cirque du Soleil attendance*

ü Dralion
ffi La Nouba
no
üQuidam
& Algeria
iIMystere
ilSaltimbanco
W Ctque du Soleil

*Estimates based on available company informption