Cirque du Soleil

A street performer with a fire-stick and a government cheque built the world's most celebrated circus; not a single animal required.

Guy Laliberté, a former fire-breather and accordion player, co-founded Cirque du Soleil with Gilles Ste-Croix on 16 June 1984. The company grew out of Le Club des Talons Hauts, a street performance troupe based in Baie-Saint-Paul, Quebec. Their first production, 'Le Grand Tour', was staged as part of the 450th anniversary celebrations of Jacques Cartier's arrival in Canada, funded by a Quebec government grant. The name, meaning 'Circus of the Sun', was chosen by Laliberté because, as he later explained, the sun symbolised youth, energy, and radiant force. From the start, there were no animals. Just humans, music, and a blue-and-yellow big top.

They flew to Los Angeles on a one-way gamble; the return fare would have to wait.

Laliberté took the company's biggest risk yet: he booked Cirque du Soleil to perform at the Los Angeles Arts Festival with 'Le Cirque Réinventé', but could only afford one-way tickets. If the show flopped, there was no money to get the troupe home. It didn't flop. The show was a sensation, earning rave reviews and launching the company into the American market.

Saltimbanco alone drew over 14 million spectators; a Canadian touring act had quietly become the world's most-travelled circus.

The 1990s marked Cirque du Soleil's transformation from a Canadian touring company into a global phenomenon. 'Nouvelle Expérience' (1990) toured North America, Europe, and Japan, while 'Saltimbanco' (1992) became one of the company's most enduring shows, eventually seen by over 14 million people. The company established its international headquarters in Montreal, a sprawling creative campus in the Saint-Michel district built on a former landfill site.

A show that opened on Christmas Day 1993 outlasted three decades on the Strip before finally taking its bow in 2024.

Cirque du Soleil's first permanent resident show, 'Mystère', opened at Treasure Island in Las Vegas on 25 December 1993. It was a radical departure for a city built on lounge acts and showgirls. Steve Wynn, the casino mogul, had personally courted Laliberté, and the gamble paid off handsomely. 'Mystère' ran for over 30 years, finally closing in 2024, and it fundamentally changed what Las Vegas entertainment could be.

A $92 million production built around a 5.7-million-litre pool; Las Vegas had simply never seen anything like it.

'O', a show performed in, on, and above a 5.7-million-litre pool of water, opened at the Bellagio on 19 October 1998. The production cost an estimated $92 million to create. It became arguably the most acclaimed live show in Las Vegas history, blending synchronised swimming, diving, and aerial acrobatics into something closer to a waking dream than a circus performance. It continues to run today.

London's appetite for Cirque's mix of sport and spectacle made the UK one of the company's foremost European markets.

London had seen touring Cirque productions before, but the company's relationship with the capital deepened through the 2000s. Shows including 'Alegría', 'Dralion', and 'Varekai' played under the big top at venues across the city, from Battersea to the Royal Albert Hall. The UK became one of Cirque's strongest European markets, with London audiences proving particularly receptive to the company's blend of athleticism and theatrical storytelling.

Twenty shows running worldwide, yet the founder's era closed with a single $1.5 billion signature.

In April 2015, Guy Laliberté sold his remaining 90% stake in Cirque du Soleil to a consortium led by American private equity firm TPG Capital, alongside Chinese investment group Fosun Industrial and Quebec's Caisse de dépôt et placement. The deal valued the company at approximately $1.5 billion. Laliberté retained a creative role but the era of founder-led Cirque was over. At the time of the sale, the company was running some 20 shows simultaneously worldwide.

Three-quarters of the workforce gone overnight; the greatest show on Earth had nowhere left to perform.

COVID-19 shut down every Cirque du Soleil show on the planet simultaneously. In June 2020, the company filed for creditor protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, laying off approximately 3,480 of its 4,679 employees. It was the darkest chapter in the company's history. By November 2020, Catalyst Capital Group acquired the company, and the slow process of rebuilding began.

Forty years on and still breathing fire; over 4,000 performers prove the big top never really fell.

Cirque du Soleil celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2024 with multiple shows touring globally and its Las Vegas residencies restored. The company continues to bring productions to London, with shows at the Royal Albert Hall and under the big top at various locations across the capital. Having survived near-extinction during the pandemic, Cirque emerged leaner but with its creative ambition intact, still employing over 4,000 people and performing to millions each year.