The greatest show on earth turns 30
It is a colourful story of how humble beginnings can lead to remarkable things. For 30 years after a group of street performers founded Le Club des Talons Hauts (the High Heels Club) in Quebec Canada, Cirque du Soleil, the multinational circus troupe they became, employs 5,000 people and has a turnover of £600,000,000 per year.
Street performers at La Fête Fontaine in 1983
Cirque du Soleil, meaning Circus of the Sun, does things diff erently, as these images reveal. Unlike many 1980s circuses there were no performing animals. Instead, it made its trademark style of artistic acrobatics the star of the show. And the public loved it. On this, its 30th anniversary, the artists are gearing up for a worldwide tour, and despite occasional fi - nancial hardships and the tragic death of a performer in Las Vegas, Cirque is keeping the daredevil spirit of the Big Top alive in the 21st century.
Left: Some of the Cirque du Soleil performers outside London’s Royal Albert Hall last year. Right: The trapeze duo
Cirque du Soleil: Quidam is at the Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, London SW7, from 4 January to 16 February: www.cirquedusoleil.com
Street performers at La Fête Fontaine in 1983Cirque du Soleil, meaning Circus of the Sun, does things diff erently, as these images reveal. Unlike many 1980s circuses there were no performing animals. Instead, it made its trademark style of artistic acrobatics the star of the show. And the public loved it. On this, its 30th anniversary, the artists are gearing up for a worldwide tour, and despite occasional fi - nancial hardships and the tragic death of a performer in Las Vegas, Cirque is keeping the daredevil spirit of the Big Top alive in the 21st century.
Left: Some of the Cirque du Soleil performers outside London’s Royal Albert Hall last year. Right: The trapeze duo Cirque du Soleil: Quidam is at the Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, London SW7, from 4 January to 16 February: www.cirquedusoleil.com