Cirque du Soleil: A Very Different Vision of Teamwork

A very different vision The magic and creativity that happens every night on a Cirque Du Soleil stage has been more than 25 years in the making. After years of dazzling crowds on the streets of Europe and Quebec as a teenager, Cirque founder Guy Laliberté approached the Quebec government to help sponsor a show called Cirque du Soleil (Circus of the Sun) in 1984. But Laliberté's vision of the circus was going to be very different. He would mix street entertainment with circus arts, acts of athleticism, costume, and music.

After a series of ups and downs, Laliberté took a major gamble by booking an act for the opening of the Los Angeles Arts Festival. He says, "I bet everything on that one night... If we failed, there was no cash for gas to come home." Fortunately, the show was a huge hit. The risk paid off and paved Cirque's path to success.

In 1984, Cirque had 73 employees and a single show. Today, over two decades later, it has 20 shows around the world across five continents, such as Mystère, Dralion, KOOZA, "O", OVO, Saltimbanco, Allegria, Love (based on the music of The Beatles), Corteo, Quidam and a new vaudeville act, Banana Shpeel. A team of 4,000 employees represents 40 nationalities, speaking 25 different languages. Each person brings something new from their own culture to the creative process. Lyn Heward, former president, creative content division, states, "Brazilian percussion and capoeira, Australian didgeridoo, Ukrainian and Africa dancing, Wushu, Peking Opera and Kung Fu have all found their way into our multidisciplinary shows."

There is no "cookie cutter" approach to Cirque--the combined work of the performers, directors, and backstage crew add up to a show that's never been seen before. Multiculturalism, peace, mythology, joy or isolation, power, water, color, burlesque, martial arts, and vaudeville --the endless list of Cirque's themes toys with the imagination.

From concept to stage

The success of Cirque du Soleil, however, is not based on unbridled creativity. The diverse team brings a wealth of creative ideas to the initial development phase, but thereafter it's about discipline and hard work. Taking a production from concept to stage takes years. Kà--showing at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas--took four years and cost $165 million to conceive, cast, design, train, and produce.

First, the theme is created. Sometimes it emerges from the staff themselves; sometimes it's suggested by Laliberté himself. For Kà, Laliberté instructed creator Robert Lepage to craft an epic tale that included martial arts--a form no other Cirque show had yet explored.

When working with artists to develop a concept, the frame of reference can be broad. Acrobat "mentor" André Simard says: "I try to use a personal approach with every artist to bring out his or her own energy ... We can't close any doors. Instead, we let ourselves go and join in the adventure." Once there, though, personal energy is harnessed, used to transform performers into characters on stage. The creativity, theme, music, and costumes provide the context for the visual adventure; the performers provide the "life."

Cirque has more than 20,000 artists in its databank who wish to be performers, and over half of the recruits are gymnasts. But Cirque scouts don't just go after dancers, gymnasts or athletes. Their huge list is said to include "24 giants, 23 whistlers, 466 contortionists, 14 pickpockets, 35 skateboarders, 1,278 clowns, eight dislocation artists, and 73 people classified simply as small." They have even had a 7-foot tall, 400-pound Argentinian opera singer, a septuagenarian Danish husband-and-wife acrobatic team, and an acrobat from Brazil, who stands 3-feet-10 inches tall.

Recruitment

To achieve a combination of athletic and artistic perfection, they often recruit the near-great and accomplished athletes who have competed in the Olympics or World Championships teams. Twenty-one of the approximately 1,000 Cirque du Soleil performers are former Olympians; two won gold medals in synchronized swimming. From this basis, Cirque can transform both the athletes' exceptional tech - nical skill and drive to succeed and create circus magic.

Gathered from around the world, these special performers are pushed to their limits, learning their craft for up to four months before a performance. Although auditions are demanding, people are not hired for who they are, but for what they may become. Transformation is the key. Heward states, "Creative transformation is the most important doorway for us. We're trying to find the ‘pearl,' the hidden talent in that individual. What is the unique thing that person brings?"

At Cirque, it's all about spontaneity, creativity, imagination and risk taking--not always qualities associated with Olympic athletes. Many gymnasts, athletes, and dancers come from competitive environments where individual excellence, instead of team work, is reinforced. Boris Verkhovsky, Cirque head coach and trainer notes, "A lot of athletes come from an environment where they are literally told when to inhale and when to exhale."

Training

Before stepping on stage, performers must complete an intense multi-stage training and immersion program to hone their acrobatics, artistic performance, and, importantly, their team skills.

With new productions constantly being developed and a high annual attrition rate of 20 percent, a key to Cirque's success has been the ability to recruit, train, and replace injured or retiring performers. Scouts from Cirque's recruiting team are constantly on the lookout globally for talent--many of them dedicated to specific skills. Cirque has a trainer who scouts out talent in the Mongolian State Circus where they specialize in contortionists. Athletes who haven't achieved the medal are good targets-- the scouts are constantly at Olympic and World Championship competitions. Talented gymnasts and dancers are being sought from around the world to support the creative machine that is Cirque du Soleil.

At training "boot camps," new recruits are, over the course of many weeks, pushed to their limits. Cirque's mission: "Turn athletes into artists and form a cohesive team of brothers."

The immersion program not only hones performers' technical skills, but also develops their understanding of and connection with their roles. Cirque's long-time stage director, Franco Dragone, aims to get beneath the stereotypes and self-parodies that often dog young performers. It's a visceral exercise to bring forth the raw emotion and discovery of the character, and has been described as being "like peeling an onion to get to the sweet, intense core." Another Cirque analogy is that of Michelangelo's David: the sculptor simply revealed a figure who already existed within the stone.

More than 90 million spectators around the world have seen a Cirque show. In 2008, Cirque had sales of $733 million. In a poll of brands with the most global impact, Cirque ranked twenty-second--ahead of McDonald's, Microsoft, and Disney. Productions have captured the imaginations of children and adults in Japan, Brazil, Canada, China, the US, Barcelona, Russia, Mexico, and Dubai. Live music, costumes, mood, and stunning visuals are used to transcend global boundaries and language barriers to transport audiences to another world.

Through the creativity and vision of the production team, and the grace, strength and flexibility of the people on stage, Cirque continues to enthrall audiences each and every night. And whether the company is recruiting contortionists in Mongolia, martial arts experts in China, or fire jugglers from Brazil, one thing is clear: the way it transforms athletes into performers while continuously reinventing the medium of the circus is nothing short of magic.

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Excerpted from As One: Individual Action, Collective Power by Mehrdad Baghai and James Quigley by arrangement with Portfolio, a member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc., Copyright (c) Deloitte, 2011.