I never liked clowns, and never been a circus fan. But when I attend one of their shows, I feel like I found the time machine, travelled years and years backwards. I feel like I am a little girl watching the show so curiously, enjoying their nice music and painting my world with their lights, costumes and balloons. I really lough when I see their clowns, and cry when the show is over .. I am kidding. When the show is over, all what I can do is to stand up and clap very hard, forgetting who I am and how old. Until the sound of my claps wakes me up to reality, and I find my self clapping for a group of clowns who are practicing more serious arts than most artists in our Arabian World -Unfortunately-. So I get up from my dream land and continue my real life.
This is Cirque du Soleil (Circus of the Sun in French). It was first originated in Canada by Guy Lalibetré in 1984. He defined this circus as "a dramatic mixture of circus arts and street entertainment". The first show was Le Grand Tour du Cirque du Soleil. It gained a lot of success. The show kept succeeding especially during 1990-2000 ending up to 19 shows in more than 271 cities in the whole world (except Antractica). These shows have about 4000 employees from more than 40 countries. The circus makes about 810 million dollars/year, which made Lalibetré the 11th richest person in Canada and the 459th in the world by owning 2.5 billion dollars (March 2011). The permanent Las Vegas shows have about 9000 people of audience per night (5% of the city visitors), and the audience in the whole world is more than 90 million.
Lalibetré sold 20% of his part of the circus to Al-Istithmar World and Nakheel companies. There were plans to produce permanent shows in Dubai by 2012. However, the economic crisis of 2008 did not make this happen.
The circus was called circus of the sun because the sun is the source of youth and energy and this is its core. The absence of animals in their show lead to considering it as a contemporary circus. Each show contains its special theme and storyline. It attracts the audience by the continuous live music related to the theme.
The circus has won many awards as Bamby Award in 1997, Rose d`Or in 1989, Drama Desk Award in 1991 and 1998, Three Gemini Awards, Four Prime Time Emmy Awards, and the star of Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Warm Regards....
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