Troupe to grow
Cirque du Soleil in capital as part of plan to expand locally
Cirque du Soleil is now in Beijing with Kooza, after a successful tour in Shanghai.
Kooza, which will run in the capital till Feb 11, premiered in 2007 and is a return to the Canadian entertainment company’s origins. The show combines the circus traditions of acrobatics and clowning.
“It’s about human connection and the world of duality — good and bad,” the show’s writer and director David Shiner says.
The title takes inspiration from the Sanskrit word koza, which means “box”, “chest” or “treasure”. An underlying concept of the production is a “circus in a box”, Shiner says.
The show is being brought to Beijing as part of the company’s plan to expand in China.
Street performers Guy Laliberte and Gilles Ste-Croix founded the Montreal-based company in 1984.
Cirque du Soleil will tour seven Chinese cities next year, CEO Daniel Lamarre says.
They include a resident show that’ll debut in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, and a performance in Hainan province’s Sanya of Toruk — The First Flight, which was inspired by James Cameron’s film Avatar and premiered in 2015.
The company also recently opened its first office in Asia in Shanghai to develop its China business.
“Live entertainment in China is growing at a very rapid pace,” Lamarre says in Beijing.
“We are very appealing because of our international footprint. At the same time, we are totally committed to becoming a Chinese citizen.”
Cirque du Soleil’s move into China has been supported by its Chinese shareholder, the Fosun Group, which acquired a 25 percent share of the company in 2015.
A goal is to stage resident shows in various Chinese cities, Lamarre says.
“For the show in Hangzhou, it is going to be hugely influenced by Chinese culture,” he says.
“It will offer content where Chinese culture is going to meet Western culture.”
Fosun Group’s chairman Guo Guangchang is quoted on Cirque du Soleil’s website as saying: “Our partnership with Cirque is a milestone in our company’s cultural-entertainment business ... We believe that Fosun’s superior resources will help propel Cirque’s business growth in China and bring the entertainment company’s world-class performing arts to Chinese audiences.”
Lamarre says his vision has been to diversify and enhance Cirque du Soleil’s international footprint since he joined in 2001.
It acquired the New Yorkbased Blue Man Productions, best known for the Blue Man Group series, in July.
“We realized that goal by increasing the number of shows touring about 150 different cities around the world to today’s 450 cities in the world,” Lamarre says.
“Now, our new priority is to give full commitment to the Chinese market.”
Cirque du Soleil has worked with the China Performing Arts Agency to bring Chinese artists into most of Cirque du Soleil’s shows over the last 30 years.
Yao Dengbo is the only Chinese actor in Kooza. The native of Huainan, Anhui province, joined the company in 2007 and is skilled at balancing on eight chairs.
Lamarre has traveled to China 10 times this year, including a trip to Beijing in early December to attend the second annual prime ministers’ meeting between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.
“I believe that Cirque du Soleil is in the heart of the collaboration between China and Canada,” he says.
“Its cultural and artistic content is a link between the countries. Our artistic content is broader than a circus. In the future, live entertainment is going to be more technological. We are going to have an evolution of live entertainment.”