Inductee Profile

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At a glance

Seeking a career in the performing arts, Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté toured Europe as a folk musician and busker after quitting college. By the time he returned back home to Canada in 1979, he had learned the art of fire breathing. Although he became "employed" at a hydroelectric power plant in James Bay, his job ended after only three days due to a labour strike. He decided not to look for another job, instead supporting himself on his unemployment insurance. He helped organize a summer fair in Baie-Saint-Paul with the help of a pair of friends named Daniel Gauthier and Gilles Ste-Croix.

Gauthier and Ste-Croix were managing a youth hostel for performing artists named Le Balcon Vert at that time. By the summer of 1979, Ste-Croix had been developing the idea of turning the Balcon Vert, and the talented performers who lived there, into an organized performing troupe. As part of a publicity stunt to convince the Quebec government to help fund his production, Ste-Croix walked the 56 miles (90 km) from Baie-Saint-Paul to Quebec City on stilts. The ploy worked, giving the three men the money to create Les Échassiers de Baie-Saint-Paul. Employing many of the people who would later make up Cirque, Les Échassiers toured Quebec during the summer of 1980.

Although well-received by audiences and critics alike, Les Échassiers was a financial failure. Laliberté spent that winter in Hawaii plying his trade while Ste-Croix stayed in Quebec to set up a nonprofit holding company named "The High-Heeled Club" to mitigate the losses of the previous summer. In 1981, they met with better results. By that fall, Les Échassiers de Baie-Saint-Paul had broken even. The success inspired Laliberté and Ste-Croix to organize a summer fair in their hometown of Baie-Saint-Paul.

This touring festival, called "La Fête Foraine," first took place in July 1982. La Fête Foraine featured workshops to teach the circus arts to the public, after which those who participated could take part in a performance. Ironically, the festival was barred from its own hosting town after complaints from local citizens. Laliberté managed and produced the fair over the next couple years, nurturing it into a moderate financial success. But it was during 1983 that the government of Quebec gave him a $1.5 million grant to host a production the following year as part of Quebec's 450th anniversary celebration of the French explorer Jacques Cartier's discovery of Canada. Laliberté named his creation "Le Grand Tour du Cirque du Soleil".

Past projects

* 74th Academy Awards (24 March 2002): Cirque du Soleil created a five-minute performance for the category of special effects at the 74th Academy Awards. They spent four months creating the show, which featured 11 acts from a variety of Cirque shows. Each of the acts were choreographed and themed to their equivalent movie by re-creating the special effect scene featured in the film on stage while playing clips on a large screen behind the performances.
   
* Soleil de Minuit/Midnight Sun (11 July 2004), a special one-night event in Montreal celebrating the 20th anniversary of Cirque du Soleil and the 25th anniversary of the Montreal International Jazz Festival.

* A Taste of Cirque du Soleil (2004—2005), a special 30-minute performance on the Constellation and Summit Celebrity Cruises cruise ships. Included on these ships was The Bar at the Edge of the Earth, a dreamlike bar/lounge/disco.

* Reflections in Blue (16 July 2005), a unique one-night water show in Montreal as part of the opening ceremonies for the 2005 World Aquatics Championships.

* Super Bowl XLI pre-game show (4 February 2007), produced by David Saltz.

* The Awakening of the Serpent (June—September 2008): Cirque du Soleil participated in the presentation of a daily parade spectacle called The Awakening of the Serpent at Expo 2008 in Zaragoza, Spain.

* Prêmio Craque do Brasileirão 2009 (7 December 2009): Cirque du Soleil took part in the celebration. Their artists performed acts from various shows.

* Microsoft Kinect event at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (14 June 2010): Cirque du Soleil created and performed a 45-minute presentation on the eve of the 2010 Electronic Entertainment Expo at the USC's Galen Center in Los Angeles to introduce Microsoft's hands-free gaming device for the Xbox 360.

Current projects

* May-September 2010: Cirque co-created the Canada Pavilion in association with the Government of Canada for Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China.
* Cirque du Monde, a social action project designed to reach marginalized youth.
* Revolution, a lounge concept designed for The Mirage resort in Las Vegas in which the Cirque cast members perform to the music of The Beatles.
* Jukari Fit to Fly: A Fitness program promoted cooperatively with Reebok.

Future productions
 2011

* A new Cirque show will debut at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California entitled Iris, a movie-themed show directed by Philippe Decouflé, set to premiere in the summer of 2011. The show takes spectators on a fantastic voyage through the history of cinema and its genres, taking them into the heart of the movie-making process and will run for 10 years, taking a six-week break during the city's Academy Award season.

* Cirque has announced an annual seasonal show called Zarkana, to be installed at Radio City Music Hall during the summer months starting June 2011, directed by film and theatre director François Girard (Zed, The Red Violin). The show will be a reinvention of the variety show, with a story about a magician in an abandoned theatre who has lost his love and with her, his magic has disappeared. As he cries and begs the Gods for her return he is plunged into a world inhabited by surreal creatures. This US$20 million show is expected to spend half its time in New York, with the other half speculated to run either in London or Paris.

* As of November 2010[update], Cirque is developing their third show based on a musician or music group, called Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour, with an arena show version scheduled to begin touring the world in October 2011 and a Las Vegas residency show scheduled to begin in 2012 or 2013. The touring show will be directed by Jamie King.

2012

* Cirque has signed a major partnership with United Arab Emirates real estate developer Nakheel to create a residency show at the Atlantis, The Palm Resort on The Palm, Jumeirah in Dubai, with an initial 15-year deal for an original show scheduled to debut in 2012, directed by Guy Caron (Dralion) and Michael Curry.