In 1984, Guy Laliberté and Daniel Gauthier, two former street performers, founded the amazing Cirque du Soleil entertainment empire in Baie-Saint-Paul in Quebec. Cirque du Soleil, “Circus of the Sun” in French, is now based in Montreal as an entertainment empire. Gauthier left the company back in 2001, as he currently operates Le Massif, a ski area on the St. Lawrence River near Quebec City.  Laliberté guides KÀ Cirque du Soleil today.

Every production of Cirque du Solieil feautures an original performances and music. The group is popular for the Grand Chapiteau (tent of blue-yellow stripes), which is brought to every performance. Unlike the abstract colorful visuals of most Cirque du Soleil productions, KÀ Cirque du Soleil deviates fron the normal Cirque format with a straight-forward story. The production has several touring and resident troupes, which draws severely from the tradition of the circus.

The only Cirque du Soleil show to lack the traditional stage, KÀ relies heavily on platforms that float, rotate and even move with performers atop. The floating stage twists horizontally and vertically, sprouting climbing poles for Cirque performers, and can even be covered with sand for the actors to hide.

Conflict and Love on Stage

The shows of KÀ Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas normally contain a story of conflict and love. In the storyline, imperial twins are separated at the prime of youth and undergo the self discovery rite of passage. Their encounters with KÀ has the dual power to illuminate or destroy. Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas can alter somewhat between performances, as they usually evolve over time.

The creators of Cirque du Soleil borrow from several of the earliest forms of the circus—teeterboard and banquine acts—but normally introduce an apparatus that’s new.  KÀ Cirque du Soleil, unlike other Cirque du Soleil performances, has three preshows.  Twenty minutes prior to curtain, two performers enter the lobby and climb two stringed instruments designed for KÀ Cirque du Soleil and integrated into the production architecture.

Ten minutes prior to the start of the show, theatre actors appear in the framework of metal to the left and right of stage, as they perform leaps and flips with the assistance of the ropes to scare the audience with a dive into the crowd. Five minutes before KÀ showtime, a staged act comes together demonstrating how no wireless telephone usage or flash photography is permitted.

KÀ Cirque du Soleil has an orchestra off stage, which accompanies acrobatics, acting and singing that occurs on stage. During assorted portions of the production, various musicians make show appearances, performing directly on stage in costume.  KÀ Cirque du Soleil combines pyrotechnics, puppetries and automation of complexity, along with multimedia projections that afford the audience to engoss in the story.