What is Cirque du Soleil? (1 Viewer)

[MikeEckman]

Im not sure if thats how it's spelled, but I've seen several DVD announcements for this lately. Dvdfile posted some last week I think. And it appears to be some type of play or something. Anyone care to explain what this is?

 

[Paul W]

Cirque du Soleil is a live performance group that mixes Circus bits, acrobatic bits and stuff that will make your jaw drop.
They perform regularly at Vegas, as I understand and have tours all over the world.
These DVDs are filmed productions. I would highly recommend Quidam; maybe Drallion as well. I'm not sure if there are any newer shows coming out.
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Link Removed Paul Warren
Hey fella . . . I bet you're still livin' in your parent's cellar . . . downloading pictures of Sarah Michelle Gellar . . . and posting "Me too!" like some brain-dead AOL-er . . . I should do the world a favor and cap ya' like Old Yeller . . . you're just about as useless as MPEGs [sic] to Hellen Keller.

 

[James Nguyen]

The Cirque is a circus troupe from Quebec, Canada that is known for its highly stylized one ring circus performances. They're famous particularly for the various acts that illustrate extrodinary strength, agility, flexibility or all of the above. The acts are always a artful blend of music, costuming, choreography and skill. Paired with the music, the tremendous sets, and audiences are almost always left in awe.
Though nothing beats seeing them in person, the DVDs do a remarkable job of capturing the feel for the performances. The Quidam show has been touring much longer than Drallion, and it kinda shows in watching the two DVDs. Quidam has a much more polished feel to it and my showing the DVD to multitudes of friends now has gotten every single one of them to be Cirqu du Soleil fans.
The Draillion DVD isn't quite as good. I'm a bit disappointed since they cut several of the acts short and ommited others as well (Quidam is the same case, but the acts cut from Draillion were better than some of the included ones IMO). The inclusion however of multiple camera angles on several of the performances was quite interesting. The Draillion DVD also includes a behind the scenes documentary that was an interesting watch as well for fans. There is a Quidam behind the scenes documentary out there also, but alas, it's not on the DVD.
Currently, Cirque has 3 shows permanently fixed in the US, La Nouba in Orlando , and then two in Las Vegas, O (absolutely AMAZING show, all underwater) stationed at the Bellagio and Mystere at Treasure Island. I know that Drallion is touring around North America currently and Quidam is in Western Europe. What shows are touring the rest of the world I'm unsure of.
Definitely pick up at least the Quidam DVD, you'll love it I'm sure. After that, it's your call on picking up the 5 announced discs (Journey of Man is also coming out soon, which was an IMAX movie on Cirque) or better yet, seeing them in person.

 

[George Cifrancis]

Their website...
http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/
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George Cifrancis
cifrancis.com
jessicasteen.com

 

[Will_B]

Their shows tend to have a theme or story (though you might not notice it amid all the great acts).
They have one DVD, Alegria, which is like a 60 minute short film "inspired" by the story of one of the shows. I found it to be an incredible surprise (I was expecting just a tape of the show). Some find it pretentious, like an "art film" (shudder in mock horror).

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

If I'm not mistaken, TLC airs the Cirque du Soleil performances once per year, but I'm not at all certain on the time period. The are stunning shows that has thing that you swear cannot be true. The contorsionists are my favorite part of the shows.
Bruce
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Welcome aboard the Satellite of Love

 

[ChristopherM]

According to DVD File, Columbia will release five more Cirque du Soleil DVDs on 30 October:
- A Baroque Odyssey,
- Saltimbanco,
- La Nouvelle Experience,
- Le Cirque Reinvente
- La Magie Continue.
Each will be presented in full frame with English 2.0 stereo surround, production notes and promo spots. Retail $24.95 each.

 

[Will_B]

And I really wish they didn't do that (dump five titles out all at once). Not in this economy...