Roy of Superior Art Creations (Old): Cirque du Soleil Touring Shows (Complete List)

This post is part of my Cirque du Soleil Information Primer Article Series

Cirque du Soleil Touring Shows

Touring shows are the traditional Circus style like shows that are performed within a big circus tent (called the "Big Top"), which gets wrapped up every few months to be rebuild and made ready in another City somewhere around the world to stay there for a few weeks , perform the show and then move on to the next city.

The first Cirque du Soleil show on tour in 19984 was limited to within Canada and the United States only. It was not until "Saltimbanco" that Cirque shows would be touring internationally and virtually to every continent on this planet (excluding Antarctica for now hehe)

	LeGrand Tour du Cirque du Soleil (1984-85, 16.June 1984, Gaspe, 14.May 1985, Montreal) Director: Franco Dragonè Director of Creation: Guy Caron Music Composer: René Dupéré Set: Andre Caron Costumes/Props: Hélène Dubé Lighting: Jean Leduc Trainer/Choreographer: Zygmunt Biegaj This show was more like classic circus. I am not aware of any recordings of it. Created to celebrate the 450th anniversary of Jacques Cartier's (1491-1557) arrival in Gaspe/Canada, it was so well received by audiences that Cirque decided to go on tour with the program within Canada afterwards. The second tour of the show in 1985 is also sometimes referred to as "Le Cirque du Soleil".
	La Magie Continue/The Magic Continues (1986, 20.April 1986/18.May 1986, Sherebrook) Director: Franco Dragonè Director of Creation: Guy Caron Music Composer: René Dupéré Set: Andre Caron Costumes/Props: Jean-Yves Cadieux Lighting: Luc LaFortune Buy Show DVD La Magie Continue is French and translates to “The Magic Continues”
	Le Cirque Réinventé /We Reinvent the Circus (1987-1990, 07.May 1987, La Salle) Director: Franco Dragonè Director of Creation: Guy Caron Music Composer: René Dupéré, Benoît Jutras Set: Andre Caron Costumes/Props: Michel Crête Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack La Cirque Réinventé is French and translates to English "Circus Reinvented", which was modified to "We Reinvent the Circus" Spelling of the name La Cirque Réinventé (the first and last "e" in "Reinvente" are the Latin lower case letter "e" with acute, Unicode: 0x00E9 (233), in HTML é or é)
	Nouvelle Expérience/A New Experience (1990-93, 8.May 1990, Montreal) Director: Franco Dragone Director of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix Music Composer: René Dupéré, Benoît Jutras Set: Michel Crête Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: Guy Desrochers Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown Buy Show DVD or here Buy official Soundtrack Nouvelle Expérience is French and translates to English “A New Experience” Spelling of the name: Nouvelle Expérience (the first “e” in “Experience” is the Latin lower case letter “e” with acute, Unicode: 0x00E9 (233), in HTML é or é)

	Saltimbanco (1992-2006, 23.April 1992, Montreal/10.December 2006, Rio de Janeiro) Director: Franco Dragonè Director of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix Music Composer: René Dupéré Set: Michel Crête Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: Jonathan Deans Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown watch 2:21 min promo video Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack Saltimbanco is about urban life in the city, about the high rise skyscrapers of downtown and the myriad kinds of people who are living, hustle and bustle in a modern day city. Saltimbanco is derived from the Italian phrase “saltare in banco”, which translates to English “to jump on a bench”.
	Fascination (1992, 22.May 1992, Tokyo) Director: Roger Parent Director of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix Music Composer: René Dupéré, Benoît Jutras Set: Michel Crête Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Luc Lafortune Trainer/Choreographer: Catherine Archambault, Allison Brierly, Wayne Hronek Only toured in Japan. Acts were a mix of Le Cirque Réinventé and Nouvelle Expérience, but all new costumes and arranged by a new director. It ran 118 times between May and September of 1992 and no video recording was ever published publicly.
	Alegría (1994-2009, 21.April 1994, Montreal, 5.April 2009, Dubai) Director: Franco Dragonè Director of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix Music Composer: René Dupéré Set: Michel Crête Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: Guy Desrochers Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown watch 5:41 min promo video (A different perspective) Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack Get Show Tickets The provided link is for the DVD that was filmed live in Sydney in 2001. There is a second DVD recording (which I would like to buy myself, if I'd know where), filmed in Japan in 2004 and called "Alegría 2 Evolution". Alegría Is about a Kingdom without a King where everybody wants the power. The Red Man, who was the fool of the king, he thinks that he has the power. All the nostalgic beautiful birds who want the power; then you have the young and energetic and vigilant fast trackers. The flyers high up in the lights, the beautiful nymphs and contortionists all struggle for the power in this leaderless kingdom. The word “Alegria” is the Spanish word for Joy, elation and jubilation. Spelling the name: Alegría (the “I” is a Latin lower case letter “I” with acute, Unicode: 0x00ED (237), in HTML í or í)
	Quidam (1996-..., 23.April 1996, Montreal) Director: Franco Dragonè Director of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix Music Composer: Benoit Jutras Set: Michel Crête Costumes/Props: Dominique Lemieux Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: François Bergeron Trainer/Choreographer: Debra Brown watch 57 seconds show DVD trailer Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack Get Show Tickets Quidam is a nameless by-passer, a solitary person who lingers in the shadows ignored by normal people who rush past him without being noticed. Quidam represents nobody and everybody and the deep inner feelings and fears that are part of all of us. The young girl “Zoe” finds herself in a world of Quidam, full of anger and pain, trying to escape from it. Quidam is Classical Latin and means "a certain; pl., some" or "anonymous passerby”.
	Dralion (1999-..., 22.April 1999, Montreal) Director: Guy Caron Music Composer: Violaine Corradi Set: Stéphane Roy Costumes/Props: François Barbeau Lighting: Luc Lafortune Sound: Guy Desrochers Trainer/Choreographer: Julie Lachance watch 37 seconds video trailer Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack Get Show Tickets Dralion is the fusion of ancient Chinese circus tradition and the avant-garde approach of Cirque du Soleil. The show's name is drawn from its two main symbols: the dragon, representing the East, and the lion, representing the West. Dralion derives much of its inspiration from Eastern philosophy with its perpetual quest for harmony between humankind and nature.
	Varekai (2002-..., 24.April 2002, Montreal) Director: Dominic Champagne Director of Creation: Andrew Watson Music Composer: Violaine Corradi Set: Stéphane Roy Costumes/Props: Eiko Ishioka Lighting: Nol Van Genuchten Sound: François Bergeron Trainer/Choreographer: Michael Montanaro, Bill Shannon, Cal McCrystal, André Simard watch 6 min video: Ikarian Games Act Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack Buy Premium OST - Get Show Tickets Varekai is about the ancient Greek myth of Ikarus, who attempted to fly with wings he made out of wax and reach the sun, which melted the wings and caused Ikarus to fall from the sky as a result of it. The story of Varekai begins at the end of the ancient story with Ikarus falling from the sky into a group of forest people, which have established a stable society within the magic forest that is made of survivors, just like the circus artists themselves. Varekai means “wherever” in the Romanian language spoken by the Gypsies, the people without a home who wander from place to place in order to survive, which is very much like circus life is.
	Corteo (2005-..., 21.April 2005, Montreal) Director: Danielle Finzi Pasca Director of Creation: Line Tremblay Music Composer: Philippe Leduc, Maria Bonzanigo Set: Jean Rabasse Costumes/Props: Jean Rabasse Lighting: Martin Labrecque, Jonathan Deans watch 1 min trailer video Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack Buy Ltd.Ed. OST - Get Show Tickets Corteo, which means "cortege" in Italian, is a joyous procession, a festive parade imagined by a clown. The show brings together the passion of the actor with the grace and power of the acrobat to plunge the audience into a theatrical world of fun, comedy and spontaneity situated in a mysterious space between heaven and earth. The clown pictures his own funeral taking place in a carnival atmosphere, watched over by quietly caring angels. Juxtaposing the large with the small, the ridiculous with the tragic and the magic of perfection with the charm of imperfection, the show highlights the strength and fragility of the clown, as well as his wisdom and kindness, to illustrate the portion of humanity that is within each of us.
	KOOZÅ (2007- ..., 19.April 2007, Montreal) Director: David Shiner Director of Creation: Serge Roy Music Composer: Jean-François Côté Set: Stéphane Roy Costumes/Props: Marie-Chantale Vaillancourt/Rogé Francoeur Lighting: Martin Labrecqu Sound: Jonathan Deans, Leon Rothenberg Trainer/Choreographer: Clarence Ford, André Simard watch 7 Min Special Video - 5 min video 20 min press conference Buy Show DVD - Buy official Soundtrack - Get Show Tickets Kooza Is about getting back to the traditions of the Circus. It follows the centuries old structure of a circus performance, including the use of the massive door with curtains where performance appear from and disappear to between each act. Spelling of the name: Koozá (the “a” is a Latin lower case letter “a” with acute, Unicode: 0x00E1 (225), in HTML á or á) It can also be spelled in all upper-case letters like KOOZÅ (the “A” is a Latin capital letter “A” with a ring above, Unicode 0x00C5 (197), in HTML Å or Å)
	Ovo (23.April.2009 Montreal – ...) Director/Writer/Choreographer: Deborah Colker Director of Creation: Chantal Tremblay Music Composer: Berna Ceppas Set/Props: Gringo Cardia Costumes: Liz Vandal Lighting: Éric Champoux Sound: Jonathan Deans Make-up: Julie Bégin Rigging: Fred Gérard Acrobatics Designer: Philippe Aubertin The 25th Cirque du Soleil show in 25 years, since the company was created in 1984. Ovo is a foray into the insect world, a link that is essential to the balance of the planet's ecosystem. watch mini trailer - 1:35 min video Get Show Tickets The name OVO means "egg" in Portuguese. This timeless symbol of the life cycle and birth of numerous insects represents the underlying thread of the show. Graphically, OVO hides an insect in its name: The two letter "Os" represent the eyes while the letter "V" forms the nose.