
Now, there are 23 Cirque du Soleil shows worldwide, including six permanent shows in Las Vegas and 12 that are on tour. Las Vegas has six permanent Cirque du Soleil shows.Ĭirque du Soleil's first show had 10 acts and hit 15 cities in Quebec.That is where the idea of 'Soleil' came from, on a beach in Hawaii, and because the Sun is the symbol of youth and energy," Laliberté explained to Fortune in 2011. "When I need to take time to reenergize, I go somewhere by the ocean to sit back and watch the sunsets. The name Cirque du Soleil means "Circus of the Sun.".Laliberté landed a $1 million contract to make the proposal a reality, which led to the incorporation of the group as a non-profit under the name Cirque du Soleil. One of the troupe's members was Guy Laliberté, who eschewed a college education to join the group in 1984, he presented a proposal to the Canadian government for a company of performers that would tour across the country to celebrate the 450th anniversary of Jacques Cartier's discovery of Canada. Cirque du Soleil began as a troupe of 20 street performers.Ĭirque du Soleil has its roots in Les Échassiers de Baie-Saint-Paul (the Baie-Saint-Paul Stiltwalkers), a group that performed acts like fire-breathing and juggling on the streets of Baie-Saint-Paul in Quebec, Canada, in the early 1980s.Read on to learn even more jaw-dropping facts about Cirque du Soleil.

And no matter the show’s theme, technology always plays a role-the Montreal-based company, now one of the largest live theatrical companies in business, consistently ups its game with state-of-the-art stages, special effects and world-class stunts. In other words: There’s probably a Cirque show near you right now … or there will be soon.įor the uninitiated, Cirque du Soleil-which celebrates its 35th anniversary in July 2019-features a mix of circus acts, street performance, unparalleled acrobatic feats and the avant-garde. Since its founding in 1984, the contemporary circus Cirque du Soleil has performed for more than 180 million people in 450 cities on every continent but Antarctica.
