History Creator / CirqueDuSoleil

* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning: Most shows have at least one act that invokes this trope; common ones include aerial hoop, (hula-style) hoops and/or manipulation, bolas, Chinese meteors, and German wheel.

* LongRunners: ''Alegria'', ''Quidam'', ''La Nouba'', ''Dralion'', ''Varekai'', ''Zumanity'', ''KA'', ''Corteo'', and ''LOVE'' passed the 10-year mark, while ''Saltimbanco'' performed off-and-on (mostly on) for a little over 20 years.
''"O"'' launched in 1998 and is still performing, and ''Mystere'' has been running nonstop since 1993.

Touring troupes visit major cities worldwide for visits of a few weeks to a few months each, usually under a custom-built big top, Le Grand Chapiteau (usually in Cirque's signature colors of blue and yellow). With the sheer number of shows now touring, the older shows have been adapted for arenas, expanding the company's reach to mid-sized cities and shorter engagements.

Cirque has made a variety of film and TV productions. For years, most were filmed performances of the touring shows, but original efforts derived from the shows and behind-the-scenes documentaries have come to dominate their output in TheNewTens (''Amaluna'' was the last show to be filmed). Several behind-the-scenes books have also been published, such as the 20th anniversary marker ''20 Years Under the Sun'', which helped flesh out this entry.

* TheShowMustGoOn: Despite horrible critical reception, shows such as ''Criss Angel Believe'' and ''Banana Shpeel'' continued to perform -- the latter, after being burnt by the press in its Chicago tryout, went through its ''second'' retool to go on to New York as planned and after ''that'' was unsuccessful, attempted a North American tour. Only its poor reception in Toronto, its first stop, brought the show to an end. As for ''Believe'', it had a substantial {{Retool}} that dropped most of the Cirque-based elements and is still running.

* LongRunners: ''Alegria'', ''Quidam'', ''"O"'', ''La Nouba'', ''Dralion'', ''Varekai'', ''Zumanity'', ''KA'', and ''Corteo'' passed the 10-year mark; ''Saltimbanco'' performed off-and-on (mostly on) for a little over 20 years. ''Mystere'' has been running nonstop since 1993; if it closes in 2016, when its current contract with its host hotel expires, it will have managed 22 years.

** In 2002, cast members from various troupes [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7_O6l8YwDI performed]] at the UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s to introduce (naturally) the [[VisualEffectsOfAwesome Best Visual Effects]] category.

** Well, looks like one model won out: Ringling Bros. deciding to wind up their whole group basically means that animal circus performance is going the way of dancing bears in the US, at least. It's been on the cards for a while.

* SteamPunk: ''KURIOS.''

* CommediaDellArte/ {{Pantomime}}: The Commedia (and the related Harlequinade) essentially form the beating heart of their entire ethos. You don't have to scratch their stories, scenarios or characters too hard to find a very familiar set of patterns and themes.

** In 2008, the cast of ''Theatre/TheBeatlesLOVE'' teamed up with the cast of ''Film/AcrossTheUniverse'' for the Grammys' tribute to Music/TheBeatles and/or JohnLennon.

Cirque has made a variety of film and TV productions. Up through ''Kooza'', most were filmed performances of the touring shows, but original efforts derived from the shows and behind-the-scenes documentaries have come to dominate their output in TheNewTens (with no post-''Kooza'' show having been filmed as yet). Several behind-the-scenes books have also been published, such as the 20th anniversary marker ''20 Years Under the Sun'', which helped flesh out this entry.

* LongRunners: ''Mystere'', ''Alegria'', ''Quidam'', ''"O"'', ''La Nouba'', ''Dralion'', ''Varekai'', and ''Zumanity'' have passed the 10-year mark; ''Saltimbanco'' performed off-and-on (mostly on) for a little over 20 years.

** On the other hand, from day to day this trope is averted -- despite the general consensus that the circus will go on stage no matter what the circumstances, Cirque stops its shows if there is an accident involving technology or their personnel. After the fatal fall suffered by a ''Theatre/{{KA}}'' performer on June 29, 2013, not only was the show stopped, but all performances of it were cancelled for several weeks before reopening with the disastrous act in question excised. However, the scene was later readded, albeit with all the performers projected on the wall.

Cirque has made a variety of film and TV productions. Most are filmed performances of the touring shows, but there have been original efforts derived from the shows and many behind-the-scenes documentaries. There's been a concert tour adapting the music of the shows and several books including the 20th anniversary marker ''20 Years Under the Sun'', which helped flesh out this entry.

More tours followed with increasingly ambitious themes, visual concepts, acts, and music (most of the shows have original scores) as more performers joined from other countries. 1992's ''Theatre/{{Saltimbanco}}'' is generally regarded as the first "modern" Cirque show. The following year, casino mogul Steve Wynn had a theatre custom-built at his new Treasure Island hotel-casino in Las Vegas for Cirque, which became home to the troupe ''Theatre/{{Mystere}}''. The company's growth and development progressed to the point that, in TheNewTens, the number of troupes performing somewhere in the world at any given time is in the double digits. Each one is unique, changing acts and performers over time but sticking to an individual thematic/artistic core.

** In 2002, cast members from various troupes [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7_O6l8YwDI performed]] at the AcademyAwards to introduce (naturally) the [[VisualEffectsOfAwesome Best Visual Effects]] category.

** On the other hand, from day to day this trope is averted -- despite the general consensus that the circus will go on stage no matter what the circumstances, Cirque stops its shows if there is an accident involving technology or their personnel. After the fatal fall suffered by a ''Theatre/{{KA}}'' performer on June 29, 2013, not only was the show stopped, but all performances of it were cancelled for several weeks before reopening with the disastrous act in question excised.

----

Cirque du Soleil (French for "Circus of the Sun") is a Montreal-based company. Initially mostly made up of street performers and/or acrobats, and organized by Guy Laliberté and Gilles Ste-Croix, its first troupe toured in 1984 (as part of the 450th anniversary celebrations of the discovery of Canada by the French). It was successful enough that a second tour ran in 1986, and a third, [[Theatre/LeCirqueReinvente ''Le Cirque Réinventé'']] ("Circus Reinvented") the year after that.

* TheEveryman - If the show has a central character, there's a good chance (s)he will be this.

* LongRunners: ''Mystere'', ''Quidam'', ''"O"'', ''La Nouba'', ''Dralion'', and ''Varekai'' have passed the 10-year mark; ''Saltimbanco'' performed off-and-on (mostly on) for a little over 20 years.

** On the other hand, from day to day this trope is averted -- despite the general consensus that the circus will go on stage no matter what the circumstances, Cirque stops its shows if there is an accident involving technology or their personnel. After the fatal fall suffered by a ''Theatre/{{KA}}'' performer on June 29, 2013, not only was the show stopped, but all performances of it have been cancelled until further notice.

* {{Slapstick}}: Whenever the clowns appear, this is bound to be part of their schtick (of course, this is in the great traditions of both circus and clowning).

* UnderTheSea: ''"O"'' is a pun on the French word for water, ''eau'', but to truly see (or sea) this trope in action, there's the "Deep" sequence in ''KA'', the "Octopus's Garden" number in ''LOVE'', "Bridge of Sorrow" in ''Delirium'', and the "fishbowl" in ''Zumanity'' and ''Amaluna''.

** On the other hand, from day to day this trope is averted -- despite the general consensus that the circus will go on stage no matter what the circumstances, Cirque stops its shows if there is an accident involving technology or their personnel.

More tours followed with increasingly ambitious themes, visual concepts, acts, and music (most of the shows have original scores) as more performers joined from other countries. 1992's ''Theatre/{{Saltimbanco}}'' is generally regarded as the first "modern" Cirque show. The following year, casino mogul Steve Wynn had a theatre custom-built at his new Treasure Island hotel-casino in Las Vegas for Cirque, which became home to the troupe ''{{Mystere}}''. The company's growth and development progressed to the point that, in TheNewTens, the number of troupes performing somewhere in the world at any given time is in the double digits. Each one is unique, changing acts and performers over time but sticking to an individual thematic/artistic core.

** In 2008, the cast of ''TheBeatlesLOVE'' teamed up with the cast of ''Film/AcrossTheUniverse'' for the Grammys' tribute to Music/TheBeatles and/or JohnLennon.

* JukeboxMusical: ''LOVE'', ''Viva Elvis'', and the two MichaelJackson projects are all variants on this genre: the original recordings of the performer(s) in question are used and visually interpreted by the troupe through acrobatics and dance.
* LetThereBeSnow: ''Wintuk'' revolved around a boy's quest to bring snow to his city.

* SmallReferencePools: Not everyone in the company is French-Canadian or French, but you'd never know it from the jokes and spoofs tossed around, which also overlap with ShallowParody and NominalParody in that very, very few mockeries acknowledge that the shows have a sense of humor, instead presenting them as strictly parades of pretentiousness.