Telling people that I had just been to see Cirque du Soleil in Malaga without exception elicited two responses; those who had not seen a Cirque du Soleil show before answered that they do not like circuses. Those that had, said “how (insert suitable expletive here) good are they?”
The answer to that question, having seen the latest show in Malaga called Quidam, is absolutely superb. Some good friends of ours Steve and Mike saw the previous touring show to come to Malaga, Dralion and enthused about how good it was. So when I heard Quidam was coming to town, we invited them to come and see it with us. I was, I must confess a little bit unsure of going to see the show as I am in the group of people that do not like circuses. We probably all have childhood memories of mangy lions and slightly scary, unfunny clowns driving a car with square wheels. But we decided to make a night of it and have a meal in Malaga after the show.
Cirque du Soleil is a contemporary circus; a movement that was begun in the 1970’s mainly by street entertainers. A contemporary circus has no animals and no ring, but uses art forms such as music, juggling, acting and trapeze to convey a story or theme. Cirque du Soleil itself was formed in 1984 by two street entertainers called Daniel Gaulthier and Guy Laliberté. The pair previously toured Quebec in their native Canada, but struggled financially. A government grant in 1983 helped the pair launch Le Grand Tour du Cirque du Soleil the success of which secured another year of funding. The money was invested in growing the troupe and including Guy Caron from the National Circus School. Since these beginnings the Cirque has grown substantially. From having one show with 73 employees in 1984 they currently have an estimated 3,800 employees doing fifteen shows touring every continent and have an estimated annual revenue exceeding 375 million euros! According to the Daily Telegraph in June 2008 there was an attempt to buy the Cirque by a Dubai-based holding company. The amount offered – $2 billion.
Since 2000 the Cirque has been 95% owned by Guy Laliberté after he brought out Daniel Gaulthier.
As well as having touring troupe, Cirque has a permanent show in Las Vegas that plays to 9,000 people per night which equates to 5% of the city’s visitors. One show that has a residency in Vegas is based upon the music of the Beatles and is called LOVE. The show was apparently created out of a friendship between George Harrison and Guy Laliberté and features original recording created into a Beatles soundscape by legendary producer George Martin.
Despite the fact that the shows in Malaga took place in a huge Big Top, for performers and employees, the clichéd life of Gypsy-like circus people ends there. To go with the huge revenues generated by the Cirque, employees are extremely well looked after. Artists are well paid and have one or two year contracts. On tour they accommodated in apartments and can bring children on tour who will receive free schooling as well as being offered free education themselves including learning English as a second language. At the end of their careers – personally I think that an old-age pensioner doing trapeze-based shows would be hugely entertaining, but what do I know? – performers can take part in the Crossroads Program.
Thankfully this is not a circus-based remake of the terrible 1970’s soap opera, but a program created to help performers find work off of the stage either with the Cirque itself or with other companies and organisations.
So how do you join Cirque du Soleil? The Cirque employs a team of twenty four talent scouts which roam the globe looking for outstanding talent. The team, each of whom has their own area of expertise such as acrobatics, circus acts and sports, will typically attend events such as the Olympics and spot potential acts. They will probably be at Malaga Football Clubs Rosaleda stadium next season looking to bolster their clown department.
So back to Quidam; the show I had the pleasure of seeing in Malaga. The show premiered in Montreal in 1996 and then had a three-year tour of North America during which it was watched by an estimated 2.5 million people. The concept of the show is that the acts represent the daydreams of a young girl called Zoe. The show has a dark, surreal feel to it and to be honest some of the “story” was lost on me. This did not stop me from enjoying the spectacle. Acts often merge into one and appear from all over the stage including from above and across the stage. It was not until about fifteen minutes in that I noticed the band playing the music live and non-stop from the back of the stage. The acts in the show range from the breathtaking, with some of the acrobatics causing me to involuntarily utter “flipping heck” or words to that effect, to the downright beautiful. The aerial silk performer – where acrobatics are performed in the air suspended by a length of silk – and four acrobats swinging from hoops suspended by ropes, were, in my opinion, as skilfully performed and choreographed as any ballet I have seen. The clown in the show, again most people I have told this to said “oh, I don’t like clowns”, was truly funny. The two hours of the show flew by. I would wholeheartedly recommend to anybody that they should go to see a Cirque du Soleil show if they have the chance to.
If I had to level one criticism at Cirque du Soleil, it would be the prices of their merchandise. Two examples of these hideously over-priced items were a t-shirt for 35 € and a set of three juggling balls for 19.99 €.
We left the show still buzzing, and after a very nice meal in Malaga city centre we began walking back to our hotel. The date of this night out was 22nd June; the night Spain played Italy in the quarter final of the Euro 2008 tournament. The sounds we heard as we walked along told us instantly which team had won. People were singing and chanting which was accompanied by the constant drone of car and bike horns. The atmosphere was amazing; there was no hint of trouble and it was a joy to be able to share the delight of the Spaniards that night. We grabbed a table at a bar and sat and watched as hundreds of vehicles drove past with Spanish flags scarves and banners held aloft by their passengers. It topped-off a great night out and for me, once again reminded me just how much I enjoy living here.
