Cirque du Soleil 

This book is the true-life story of a little girl born in Moscow, Russia, in 1981 to a simple family of amazing gymnasts and performers. The girl lived and did not think that she would end up where she is today. Her two parents raised her without much help from their relatives, two parents who worked hard and traveled a lot, and were apart for a long time, just so they could provide and create a future for that one little girl. They thought of having more kids, but decided that they were going to give everything to her, just her, and create something wonderful and magical with her talents that she had started to develop in early age. They decided to do something completely different that no one had ever done before. The little girl was excited for the journey awaiting her.

And now what? Now . . . life! I want to live and experience it to its fullest, that's all! I love where I finally am in life, where I chose to live, and how things have taken a turn in the best and most unexpected way. I am done stressing, underestimating myself, and living in fear of what my body might do. I will turn 40 soon and have no interest in looking back, only in what lies ahead. I need and will find new ways to challenge myself, but have proven by going through so many hoops that I do not need one spinning on my foot to do so. This dream of opening my own restaurant first came to me in college and still lives within, and because of that idea, an ownership might be the next adventure. The road to get there will be long and I'll learn enough to write a whole other book, but it will be so worthwhile once I put the key inside my own door of something special to me, a door behind which I'll keep on speaking three languages and share my knowledge with those around me. Until this day comes, here are some parting pieces of advice: Dream big! Never look back! Never give up! Follow your heart and your goals, your passion and intuition! Succeed!

My name is Elena Lev, I am 40 years old, and this is My Life Story . . .

Parti de rien, Daniel Lamarre choisit d'abandonner ses rêves de journalisme pour se lancer dans une carrière plus lucrative, la publicité. Mais le jour où on lui propose de rejoindre le mythique Cirque du Soleil, il n'hésite pas une seconde.
Pour autant, ses débuts dans ce nouvel univers n'ont pas été de tout repos : comment passer d'une entreprise classique à l'une des organisations les plus innovantes et prospères au monde ?

Des ajouts de dernière minute aux prouesses technologiques, en passant par la réunion de Paul, Ringo, George et Yoko Ono pour la production du spectacle The Beatles LOVE, Daniel Lamarre nous ouvre les portes d'un monde artistique protéiforme aussi foisonnant que décalé. À travers son parcours hors du commun, il nous incite à révéler notre créativité, par l'imagination et la spontanéité, le plus court chemin vers la réussite.

Voici la splendide publication de l’exposition « Place au cirque! » présentée du 13 octobre 2021 au 6 mars 2022 au Musée Pointe-à-Callière qui propose une fabuleuse aventure à travers l’histoire des arts du cirque d’hier et d’aujourd’hui au Québec. Cette passionnante incursion dévoile page après page un sensible hommage aux familles et compagnies de cirque qui ont bâti les esthétiques uniques des arts du cirque québécois qui a conquis les cœurs des spectateurs à travers le monde.

"¡Señores y señoras!, ¡Damas y caballeros! ¡El mayor espectáculo del mundo ha llegado a su ciudad! Estas palabras son el preámbulo de la aparición de algo mágico, que despierta nuestro más tierno recuerdo. Existen pocas disciplinas que susciten en el espectador sentimientos tan universales como los de la risa, la admiración, la angustia, el suspenso, la alegría, el asombro, el miedo, el romance, la luz o la oscuridad. Todo eso... es el circo. Al igual que la música, la pintura o el teatro, el espectáculo circense surge de una necesidad de expresión del ser humano que trasciende los límites, explora el riesgo, la superación personal y las emociones.

Au cœur de cet ouvrage se trouve la parole précieuse de costumières et d’un costumier de cirque d’aujourd’hui recueillie par la Chaire ICiMa à l’occasion d’entretiens destinés à collecter auprès de ceux qui les font le savoir-faire spécifique à la création des costumes que portent les artistes en scène. Ce savoir-faire est souvent développé par les costumières elles-mêmes au gré des expériences, à l’écoute des acrobates, clowns, jongleurs, etc., et participe pleinement aux dramaturgies élaborées au sein des créations.

Cette série de portraits de costumières, souvent indépendantes et dont certaines prennent en charge le costume de sa conception à sa confection, jusqu’à son entretien en tournée, vient s’ajouter un aperçu des ateliers de confection de costumes du Cirque du Soleil à Montréal et, par le biais de l’expérience de Pascal Jacob, de ceux de l’entreprise de spectacles du Belge Franco Dragone. Ces ateliers cultivent tout aussi méticuleusement, mais à plus grande échelle un savoir-faire spécifique à la création de costumes de cirque et réunissent pour ce faire une grande variété de métiers de l’artisanat et de la confection textile.

Les articles de Pascal Jacob, historien du cirque et costumier, et de Marion Guyez, secrétaire scientifique de la chaire ICiMa, docteure en arts du spectacle et artiste de cirque s’intéressent selon une approche historique et esthétique à la place que les costumes occupent dans les créations circassiennes, à la façon dont cette « écorce du mouvement » met en valeur les corps et leurs prouesses, aux différentes esthétiques de ces costumes, aux tendances qui se dessinent et à leurs évolutions jusque sur les scènes contemporaines où les costumes se défont parfois des textiles aux tons et à la matière chatoyants. Ils abordent ainsi la place importante que le choix des costumes occupe dans la composition des spectacles de cirque et dans l’élaboration de leurs dramaturgies, la fameuse « justesse » évoquée par plusieurs des costumières interrogées.

Une partie de l’ouvrage est enfin consacrée aux recherches menées par la chaire ICiMa et le Cnac sur les textiles et les costumes. Les costumières Gabrielle Marty et Sofia Bencherif font ainsi part de leur expérience de la création des costumes du spectacle Atelier 29, mis en scène par Mathurin Bolze, Compagnie MPTA, avec la 29e promotion du Cnac dans le cadre de leur formation à l’École nationale supérieure des arts et techniques du théâtre de Lyon.
Cyril Thomas, responsable de la recherche au Cnac et co-titulaire de la chaire ICiMa et Victor Spazzola de l’Institut Français du Textile et de l’Habillement (IFTH) présentent notamment une synthèse des premiers résultats des recherches du chantier Textiles innovants. Ils détaillent les étapes qui ont permis d’aboutir à la réalisation de combinaisons de protection destinées à la pratique du tissu et de la corde d’une part et au mât chinois d’autre part.

How can we create or nurture a culture at work that's more innovative to answer the call of transformation? How can we leverage imagination and creativity to make our work more robust and resilient? And, how can such a culture help produce relevance, inside and outside of our organization?

Written by the former Executive Creative Director of Creations at Cirque du Soleil, Creative Courage shows what it takes to step outside our comfort zones to truly make a difference. Welby Altidor outlines a flexible and transformational framework for individuals and organizations who want to operate and innovate at the highest level in order to provide more constructive, inspiring, and empowering space for their employees, teams, and collaborators to flourish.

As Altidor clearly shows, creative courage is more than a practical strategy, it's a way of life. It opens our minds—and the minds of those around us—to new approaches, new ideas, and new schools of thought that can revolutionize the way we work. The author reveals the foundational values of caring, safety, and trust that need to be in place in order to dream of the seemingly impossible and then take the risks that innovation demands. Discoveries and breakthroughs happen when we are able to identify ideas that can trigger constructive emotional reactions or experiences. When we take the dare to grow, we let more love and beauty in the world.

Whether you work independently or as part of a team, whether you're self-employed or part of an organization, and even if you think creativity isn't a part of the work that you do—Creative Courage gives you the perspective, courage, and kick start you need to think differently about the things you do every day.

Two hundred and fifty years after Philip Astley invented the circus it has never been more diverse and captivating, the global success of the spectacular Cirque du Soleil just one testament to its enduring and universal appeal. In Britain alone there are traditional family circuses for kids and arty shows for adults, circuses in tents and circuses in theatres, circuses with animals and circuses without, the Circus of Horrors for clubbers, the comedy-based Circus Hilarious and cabaret-style hybrids on the burlesque circuit - and this form of entertainment is popular around the world.

What all circuses have in common are the extraordinary skills, dedication and lifestyle of those involved - a unique strain of performers who blend the discipline of sports stars with the razzmatazz of showbiz; itinerant entertainers who have often had circus blood in their families for generations; world-class gymnasts who risk death twice daily, serve on the tea stand in between shows and help take down the big top afterwards.

Circus Mania is a journey into this unique world, each chapter an access-all-areas pass to a different circus, talking to the trapeze flyers, clowns, animal trainers and showmen about their lives, work and customs and offering insight into the development of this traditional entertainment from the earliest times.[editor summary]

Essays examine the innovative and influential circus scene as a creative, entrepreneurial, and cultural force that spans the globe.

With a billion-dollar industry centred in Montreal, the province of Quebec has established itself as a major hub for contemporary circus. Cirque du Soleil has a global presence, and troupes such as Cirque Éloize and 7 doigts de la main are state-of-the-art innovators. The National Circus School of Montreal - the only state-funded elite training facility in North America - is an influential leader in artistry and technique. Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil’s Cirque du Monde supports arts for social change on many continents and is renowned for its social-circus training and research.

Cirque Global is the first book-length study of this new variety of circus and its international impact. The contributors offer critical perspectives on this rapidly developing art form and its aesthetics, ethics, business practices, pedagogical implications, and discursive significations. Essays explore creative, entrepreneurial, and cultural forces that are shaping Quebec’s dynamic nouveau cirque. Lavishly illustrated with photographs from circus performances, the volume showcases Quebec circus’s hybrid forms, which have merged the ethos and aesthetics of European circuses with American commercial and industrial creativity.

Cirque Global is the definitive study of the phenomenon of Quebec circus and is an important model for future research on contemporary circus. [editor summary]

The Routledge Circus Studies Reader offers an absorbing critical introduction to this diverse and emerging field. It brings together the work of over 30 scholars in this discipline, including Janet Davis, Helen Stoddart and Peta Tait, to highlight and address the field’s key historical, critical and theoretical issues. It is organised into three accessible sections, Perspectives, Precedents and Presents, which approach historical aspects, current issues, and the future of circus performance.

The chapters, grouped together into 13 theme-based sub-sections, provide a clear entry point into the field and emphasise the diversity of approaches available to students and scholars of circus studies. Classic accounts of performance, including pieces by Philippe Petit and Friedrich Nietzsche, are included alongside more recent scholarship in the field.

Edited by two scholars whose work is strongly connected to the dynamic world of performance, The Routledge Circus Studies Reader is an essential teaching and study resource for the emerging discipline of circus studies. It also provides a stimulating introduction to the field for lovers of circus. [editor summary]

Depuis plus de trente ans, le Cirque du Soleil brille de tous ses feux. Derrière cette extraordinaire réussite se trouve un homme pas ordinaire et dont on connaît peu de choses: Gilles Ste-Croix, l'un des fondateurs du Cirque du Soleil aux côtés de Guy Laliberté. Pour la première fois, ce créateur qui a choisi l'ombre nous livre son parcours de vie dans MA PLACE AU SOLEIL. Il nous raconte son Abitibi natal, où son père était fermier, sa vie dans les communes des années 1970, sa marche en échasses de Baie-Saint-Paul à Québec, la naissance, les triomphes et les revers du Cirque du Soleil, son rôle de directeur de création sur des spectacles comme SALTIMBANCO, ALEGRIA ou LOVE, la création de CHEVAL THÉÂTRE, son amitié avec Paul McCartney, et l'école de cirque pour enfants qu'il a fondé au Mexique.Aujourd'hui à la retraite, Gilles Ste-Croix est un des seuls à pouvoir témoigner des trente ans d'histoire du Cirque du Soleil. Et d'une vie palpitante, marquée par l'audace et le partage, une vie qui nous inspire de tout faire pour que nos rêves se réalisent. [résumé de l'éditeur]

Traveling back to the circus’s early days, Linda Simon takes us to eighteenth-century hippodromes in Great Britain and intimate one-ring circuses in nineteenth-century Paris, where Toulouse-Lautrec and Picasso became enchanted with aerialists and clowns. She introduces us to P. T. Barnum, James Bailey, and the enterprising Ringling Brothers and reveals how they created the golden age of American circuses. Moving forward to the whimsical Circus Oz in Australia and to New York City’s Big Apple Circus and the grand spectacle of Cirque du Soleil, she shows how the circus has transformed in recent years. At the center of the story are the people—trick riders and tightrope walkers, sword swallowers and animal trainers, contortionists and clowns—that created the sensational, raucous, and sometimes titillating world of the circus. [editor summary]

As Cirque du Soleil celebrates its thirtieth anniversary, it opens the doors to a world usually reserved for the initiated. Backstage Cirque du Soleil is the fruit of a collaboration between Cirque du Soleil and the photographer Veronique Vial, who through her unique lens has examined the world behind the curtains for more than twenty years. With touching humanity, Vial's photographs invite the reader into an intimate universe distilled to its most essential element: Behind each character there is an artist. [editor summary]

The extraordinary story of a young man’s plunge into the unique and wonderful world of the circus - taking readers deep into circus history and its renaissance as a contemporary art form, and behind the (tented) walls of France’s most prestigious circus school.

When Duncan Wall visited his first nouveau cirque as a college student in Paris, everything about it - the monochromatic costumes, the acrobat singing Simon and Garfunkel, the juggler reciting Proust - was captivating. Soon he was waiting outside stage doors, eagerly chatting with the stars, and attending circuses two or three nights a week. So great was his enthusiasm that a year later he applied on a whim to the training program at the École Nationale des Arts du Cirque and was, to his surprise, accepted.

The Ordinary Acrobat follows the collision of one American novice and a host of gifted international students in a rigorous regimen of tumbling, trapeze, juggling, and clowning. Along the way, Wall introduces readers to all the ambition, beauty, and thrills of the circus’s long history: from hardscrabble beginnings to Gilded Age treasures, and from twentieth-century artistic and economic struggles to its brilliant reemergence in the form of contemporary circus . [editor summary]

Bouissac is one of the world's leading authorities on circus ethnography and semiotics present in this volume a theory of the circus as a secular ritual and introduces a method to analyze its performances as multimodal discourse. He cover the range of circus specialties (magic, animal training, acrobatics, clowning) and provide examples to show how cultural meaning is produced, extended and amplified by circus performances and a reflection on the potentially subversive power of this discourse and its contemporary use. [editor summary]