Origins of Cirque du Soleil and its core values

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Cirque du Soleil was founded in 1984 and is structured around the following management model; the Director creates an environment that brings out the best from the artist. Creation is mining that talent into a show. Workshops are aimed towards getting the best from individuals. The company has three founding principles: transparency; communication; share of power. resistance to change and the perceptions of individuals and can often be an obstacle to this model.

Problems resulting from teams not working together, from working to their own objectives can be solved by following three principles: consultation; information; adherence.

There are many challenges faced when dealing with 8 productions at the same time. It is necessary to manage the logistics yet create new ones at the same time. Need to put multi-media and merchandising at the heart of the organisation with creation overall as the central goal.

Cirque du Soleil have been working with street children in 19 cities training them in circus skills. This training has helped prevent children from burglary, taking drugs and given them confidence.

Cirque du Soleil is building a new head office in Montreal and will continue to work in the community. They will be looking at the integration of art into the daily life of the employee:

• giving workers the opportunity to be involved in the arts and showing them the creative process and motivation.
• inviting artists to hold residencies with the company; the results of which are show to the employees.
• purchasing tickets for art events and giving them to employees.

Patrice Drouin