America's Greatest Brands

History

Imagine a group of street performers entertaining passers-by on a warm summer day in the early 1980s — hippies juggling balls, breathing fire, and walking on stilts. It seems impossible that in just 20 years this same group would be at the helm of a multimillion-dollar entertainment organization with more than 2,800 employees on three continents. Yet that, in a nutshell, is the history of Cirque du Soleil.

Under the guiding hand of accordion player, fire-breather, and stilt-walker Guy Laliberté, Cirque’s founder and CEO, the organization took its first steps by organizing small touring shows that quickly became the darling of audiences throughout Quebec, Canada.

Before long, the United States came calling to see what all the fuss was about, and in 1987 Cirque du Soleil took the biggest risk in its brief history by agreeing to perform a show called We Reinvent the Circus™ at the Los Angeles Festival. Cirque underwrote its own expenses in exchange for full proceeds from the gate. Failure was not an option: Unless they wowed audiences in L.A., the cast and crew didn’t even have the funds to travel home. They were banking on rave reviews — and that’s exactly what they got.

We Reinvent the Circus gave America its first taste of Cirque du Soleil’s innovative approach to circus arts: a masterful blend of acrobatics, theatre, dance, and live music. From there, Cirque returned to the East Coast, introducing new live shows every two or three years.

Cirque du Soleil made its first foray into Europe in 1990 with We Reinvent the Circus. Since then, Cirque has toured Europe and ventured into new markets each year with Saltimbanco®, Alegría®, Quidam®, and most recently Dralion™, in 2004. Cirque’s shows speak an international language of imagination and wonder that has paved the way for tours in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Mexico.

In 1993, Steve Wynn, then president and CEO of Mirage Resorts, approached Cirque du Soleil to create a resident show for Treasure Island in Las Vegas. The result was Mystère®, whose success blazed the trail for “O®” at Bellagio, ZUMANITY™ at New York–

New York Hotel & Casino®, and its new show at MGM Grand, slated to premiere in late 2004. A similar agreement was made with Disney, and in 1998 Cirque du Soleil premiered La Nouba™, a resident show housed in a permanent theatre at Walt Disney World® Resort in Orlando.

In 2001, Cirque du Soleil thrilled its largest audience yet with a gala performance at the 74th Academy Awards® that earned an Emmy® Award for its remarkable choreography.