ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Amphitheater of Fire - Cirque du Soleil

Updated on June 24, 2012

The Circus

Circuses like these were the forerunners of Cirque du' Soleil (public domain).
Circuses like these were the forerunners of Cirque du' Soleil (public domain).

Fire and Ice

In Black Elk Speaks, Native American mystic Black Elk stated: Everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the power of the world always works in circles, and everything tries to be round. In the old days when we were a strong and happy people, all our power came to us from the sacred hoop of the nation, and so long as the hoop was unbroken the people flourished…

Cirque du Soleil or Circus of the Sun can also be translated as Amphitheater of Fire. A cirque is a valley that has been carved by erosion into the shape of an amphitheatre (roughly a circle) at the head of a glacier (source: OSU Geology Department).

The idea of the amphitheater was first found by archaeology in 53BC, formed by semicircular wooden seating stands in Rome. These were replaced by stone structures in 29 BC. The amphitheater was likely the first theater in the round, the later-named Roman Colosseum being used to stage chariot races and battles between men and wild animals (Christians vs. the Lions, etc.).

The Roman amphitheater was a microcosm of the current society, with the various classes seated in specific sections. In modern arenas and the Cirque du Soleil round tents, the tradition carries on through price gradations in seating sections, cheaper seats being farther away from the action. However, the highest seats in the Colosseum (term dervied from a colossal statue of Nero there) were wooden instead of stone and protected by an awning or colonnade and this is where the legislator's wives and charioteers sat, out of the sun.

Many of the Cirque du Soleil productions are similar to amphiteater events and theater in the round in which spectators sit in full circle or 3/4 circle around the performance area(s). No matter what venue, the company's productions radiate the intense energy of the burning sun and audiences are caught in their magnetic grip, like planets and moons orbiting a star, unable to leave.

A geological cirque.
A geological cirque.
Elephants performing.
Elephants performing.
Fire eater.
Fire eater.
Fire dancers (public domain)
Fire dancers (public domain)

The Circus

By the 1960s, the Americans circus had begun to decline to such an extent that dwindling circus organizations began to merge. Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus is an example. Later, they took over a third circus.

Ray Bradbury writes about the circus in the early 20th century in many of his stories and the novel Something Wicked This Way Comes. The circus was a major event of many small towns on the rail circuit. Before railroads, the show packed up in wagon trains for cross country tours. Youth met the trains or wagons bearing human and animal performers and worked with the setup crews to earn free entrance into the Big Top. In far flung western locations, townspeople crowded around the back end of a single wagon for a Medicine Show that was a microcosm of the circus Big Top. This small troupe often included a ringmaster/doctor, a woman, and an American Indian. I know all this because my father was one of those youth who worked with the circus when it came to town.

Lest you think that I am 200 years old, I must say that he was a senior citizen when I was born. He made sure to take me to two circus shows before the decline of the concept in the 1970s. I saw one Circus under a Bog Top tent and can still smell the sawdust and peanuts, and one at a baseball stadium. Both shows were breathtaking - at least to a 6-year-old. I remember the lady acrobats in sequined butterfly costimes twirling high in the air on ropes at night under the spotlights, their sparking, spinning wings making rainbows in the air.

The old time circus was honored on stage and screen with the musical Carnival, the television series Circus Boy, and a film featuring Burt Reynolds as a trapeze acrobat. Additional films and TV appearances have featured circuses, but in the 21st century, some people now ask, “What's a circus?”

As circuses began to disappear from smaller and then larger cities in America, the Shrine Circus and circuses sponsored by other civic groups filled some of the gap, although at higher ticket prices and hawking expensive souvenirs from the center ring between each act. This drove children to beg adults for toys until they gave in and made the purchases. It became expensive to visit the circus.

A Chinese state circus began to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show and the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, as did the Russian National Circus. These were both high quality productions that overshadowed American efforts. People could watch Red Skelton on TV and get a dose of clown in Freddie the Freeloader, without standing in line at a circus or worrying about tent fires. But they missed out on the aroma of roasting peanuts and the tickle of an elephant's trunk when he took them from your hand.

Americans in the 1960s began to enjoy amusement parks several times a year and leave circuses behind. Disneyland, Sea World, the Six Flags empire, Kings Dominion and those parks mesmerized the public away from the circus tent. State and County Fairs began to feature small circuses with 45-minute performances. The Soul Circus enjoyed a resurgence of audience interest for circuses in the latter half of the 20th century, with an emphases on African American performers. However, by the early 1980s, the institution of the circus was a hollow shade of former success. The entire experience of Circus Day was lost to several generations of children that would never meet an elephant at the end of the railroad line or have lunch with the clowns.

Street performers are the norm of entertainment on many Canadian streets in an urban world so different from America's that it is hard to describe.. We host street performers in yearly festivals and in some areas of NYC, but such cities as Montreal, Quebec, and Victoria see them regularly. Mime, fire eating, flaming hoops, magic, living statues, juggling, singing, instrumental music, comedy. We don't have that in our regular experience. Our urban areas have been too crime ridden to support such entertainment and revitalization has brought more night clubs and fewer opportunities for street performance, other than the yearly local festival. In order to have something approaching the full circus experience, one must now attend an amusement park, a state fair, a comedy club, a rodeo, a zoo, and a pow wow in close order at a cost of $10 – 40 each.

Rome - Circus Maximus, site of The Big Show

(public domain)
(public domain)

Enter Cirque

In 1982, street performers in Quebec Province (French-influenced) had an idea. They had called themselves the High Heels Club (Club des Talons Hauts). Their idea was to form a yearly entertainment and performance arts festival named Fête Foraine de Baie-Saint-Paul or FunFair for the neighborhood of Baie-St. Paul.

In 1984, Guy Laliberté led newly named Cirque du Soleil to encompass the fete, aided by Quebec governmental support for the 450th anniversary of the arrival of the explorer Jacques Cartier in Canada. No animals were used at all, but circus and street performance art were combined, people taking part costumed as animals when needed.The first shows were held int he town of Gaspé, the very first blue-and-yellow tent seating 800 sepctators. In 1985, the show's tours expanded from sevral sites in Quebec into Ontario Province, including Toronto. 1986 saw the tour across Canada, including children's festivals, the World's Fair and enternment competitions. The Big Top needed to be doubled in size.

in 1987, America could enjoy this different type of circus, full of light shows and suspense, of people appearing as animals, of provocative overlays of ideas. The Cirque show was We Reinvent the Circus, hostedin California. Success spread acros the USA for Cirque and by 1990, the Big Top needed 2500 seats. Cirque sent a troup to Europe as well.

In 1992, a troup performed in the home of Kabuki and Noh Theater - Japan. This was a success as the Cirque show expresses some similarities to these Japanese styles. Other parts of the world enjoyed the show as well. The company began adding new, differetnly themed shows with a traveling troupe for each. By 1995, Amsterdam was needed as a European HQ in addition to Montreal, Quebec at home (a new HQ was built in 1997 and named The Studio, where all shows are designed).

In 2000, Cirque du Soleil, after having traveled around the world witjh several different shows, presented an IMAX theater presentation around the globe. This show was named Passages or Journey of Man in America. In 2001, a structural addition of over 161,000 sqaure feet was needed in Montreal. By 2002, a Multimedial Division was added and a TV Series was aired in Canada and USA (with a new series beginning in 2003). The company continued to grow as audiences continued to flock to the various shows around the world.

Adults-only shows became resident in Las Vegas in 2003 -- Zumanity plays only at New York-New Yorko Hotel and includes explicit sexual themes.

The book 20 Years Under the Sun was published in 2004, outlining the entire history of Cirque du Soleil and it is fascinating. Additional shows were wrrtien this year to be performed in only certain locations. Thsi boosted the Travel and Toruism industry in those cities, becuase people went there to see these shows they felt the could not miss - and still do so today. Shows were booked on Cruiselines for the first time in 2005 and Cirque began to perform shows for the opeing ceremonies of large athletic events. By 2006, the shows were solid at Disney venues, with additional shows touring to present tribues to The Beatles and Elvis Presley. 2007 saw an explosion of licensed Cirque products as well as shows at all sorts of events.

2008 - More expansion and additional new shows, including permant shows in far flung places. Dubai World both a 20% interest in the company overall and Cirque du Soleil Rus began for Russia. High quality Russian circuses now have a brother and a little competition.

2009 - 25th anniversary! A special anniversary show was held in Montreal during April, 2009.

Marketing Hall of Legends 2005 - Guy Laliberté, Visionary

An Anniversary Show Clip

Information About Tickets and Jobs

For a list of shows and ticket purchases around the world - permanent, touring, and new shows, see the Cirque du Soleil website at Cirque du Soleil Official Website. Videos on the website are astounding. Not only is the tradition of the circus intact, but upgraded, with no harm to animals.

Applications for performing jobs can be placed online at the website as well. Job candidates may need photos of themselves and/or a video presentation, depending on the job. An appropriate hard-hitting resume is always a plus. Cirque states that candidates should tell about themselves fully, even if no job seems available in a specific interest category, because new jobs are being created constantly. With characters performing ballet to tumbling to marital arts and trapeze acts, one never knows when one may be called because they have a unique talent.

Technical and management positions are also advertised online. Literally multiple dozens of job categories exist.

I hope to have the opportunity to sit in the amphitheater of fire and feel the compelling nature of Cirque du Soleil.

Cirque du soleil Quidam, Caroussel

Verakai - Water Meteors

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)