Cirque du Soleil Trivia Quiz Questions With Answers

Trivia quiz questions with answers about Cirque du Soleil.

Cirque du Soleil Trivia Quiz Questions With Answers

At age 18, interested in pursuing some kind of performing career, what did Guy Laliberté do?
A: He quit college and left home.

He toured Europe as a what?
A: A folk musician and busker.

By the time he returned home to Canada in 1979, he had learned the art of what?
A: Fire breathing.

Although he became "employed" at a hydroelectric power plant in James Bay, his job ended after how long?
A: Only three days due to a labor strike.

He decided not to look for another job, instead supporting himself how?
A: On his unemployment insurance.

He helped organize a summer fair in Baie-Saint-Paul with the help of what pair of friends?
A: Daniel Gauthier and Gilles Ste-Croix.

Gauthier and Ste-Croix were managing a what?
A: A youth hostel for performing artists named Le Balcon Vert at that time.

By the summer of 1979, Ste-Croix had been developing what idea?
A: Turning the Balcon Vert and the talented performers who lived there into an organized performing troupe.

As part of a publicity stunt to convince the Quebec government to help fund his production what did Ste-Croix do?
A: He walked the 56 miles (90 km) from Baie-Saint-Paul to Quebec City on stilts.

The ploy worked, giving the three men what?
A: The money to create Les Échassiers de Baie-Saint-Paul.

Employing many of the people who would later make up Cirque du Soleil, what did Les Échassiers do?
A: He toured Quebec during the summer of 1980.

Although well received by audiences and critics alike, Les Échassiers was a what?
A: A financial failure.

What did Laliberté spend that winter doing?
A: Plying his trade in Hawaii.

Ste-Croix stayed in Quebec to set up what?
A: A nonprofit holding company named "The High-Heeled Club" to mitigate the losses of the previous summer.

In 1981, they met with what?
A: Better results.

By that fall, Les Échassiers de Baie-Saint-Paul had done what?
A: Broken even.

Where did the success inspire Laliberté and Ste-Croix to organize a summer fair?
A: In their hometown of Baie-Saint-Paul.

When did this touring festival, called "La Fête Foraine", first take place?
A: In July 1982.

La Fête Foraine featured workshops to teach what?
A: The circus arts to the public, after which those who participated could, take part in a performance.

Ironically, the festival was barred from its own hosting town after what?
A: Complaints from local citizens.

Laliberté managed and produced the fair over the next couple of years, nurturing it into a what?
A: A moderate financial success.

In 1983 the government of Quebec gave him a $1.5 million grant to host a production the following year as part of what?
A: Quebec's 450th anniversary celebration of the French explorer Jacques Cartier's discovery of Canada.

What did Laliberté name his creation?
A: "Le Grand Tour du Cirque du Soleil".

The duration of each touring show was traditionally split into two acts of how long separated by a 30-minute interval?
A: An hour each.

As of 2014, due to cost cutting issues, the shows have now been reduced to a shorter 50-minute first act followed by a what?
A: 60-minute second act, still including a 25-minute interval.

Permanent shows are usually how long without any intermission?
A: 90 minutes in length.

This excludes Joyà (the permanent show in Riviera Maya, Mexico), which is how long?
A: Only 70 minutes in length.

Typically touring shows as well as resident shows perform how many shows a week?
A: 10.

Touring shows usually have one 'dark day' (with no performances) while resident shows have how many?
A: Two.

Originally intended to only be a one-year project, Cirque du Soleil was scheduled to perform in 11 towns in Quebec over the course of 13 weeks running concurrent with what?
A: The third La Fête Foraine.

The first shows were riddled with what?
A: Difficulty, starting with the collapse of the big top after the increased weight of rainwater caused the central mast to snap.

The problems were only transient, however, and by the time 1984 had come to a close, Le Grand Tour du Cirque du Soleil was a what?
A: A success.

Having only $60,000 left in the bank, Laliberté went back to the Canadian government for what?
A: To secure funding for a second year.

While the Canadian federal government was enthusiastic, the Quebec provincial government was what?
A: Resistant to the idea.

It was not until whom intervened on their behalf that the provincial government relented?
A: Quebec's premier, René Lévesque.

Where can the original big top tent that was used during the 1984 Le Grand Tour du Cirque du Soleil tour can now be seen?
A: At Carnivàle Lune Bleue, a 1930s-style carnival that is home to the Cirque Maroc acrobats.

After securing funding from the Canadian government for a second year, Laliberté took steps to do what?
A: Renovate Cirque du Soleil from a group of street performers into a "proper circus".

To accomplish this he hired whom?
A: The head of the National Circus School, Guy Caron, as Cirque du Soleil's artistic director.

Laliberté and Caron wanted strong emotional music that was played when?
A: From beginning to end by musicians.

They wanted to emulate the Moscow Circus' method of what?
A: Having the acts tell a story.

Why did they want performers, rather than a technical crew to move equipment and props on and off stage?
A: So that it did not disrupt the momentum of the "storyline".

Most importantly, their vision was to create a circus with what?
A: Neither a ring nor animals.

What was the rationale?
A: That the lack of both of these things draws the audience more into the performance.

To help design the next major show, Laliberté and Caron hired whom?
A: Franco Dragone, another instructor from the National Circus School who had been working in Belgium.

When he joined the troupe in 1985, he brought with him his experience in what?
A: Commedia dell'arte techniques, which he imparted to the performers.

Although his experience would be limited in the next show due to budget restraints, he would go on to do what?
A: Direct every show up to, but not including Dralion.

By 1986, the company was once again in what?
A: Serious financial trouble.

During 1985 they had taken the show outside Quebec to a what?
A: A lukewarm response.

In Toronto they performed in front of a 25% capacity crowd after what?
A: Not having enough money to properly market the show.

Gilles Ste-Croix walked through downtown Toronto dressed in a “what” as a desperate publicity stunt?
A: Monkey suit.

Several factors prevented the company from what?
A: Going bankrupt that year.

What did the Desjardins Group, which was Cirque du Soleil's financial institution at the time do?
A: Covered about $200,000 of bad checks.

Also, a financier named Daniel Lamarre, who worked for one of the largest public relations firms in Quebec, represented the company for free, knowing what?
A: That they didn't have the money to pay his fee.

The Quebec government itself also came through again, granting Laliberté what?
A: Enough money to stay solvent for another year.

In 1987, after Laliberté re-privatized Cirque du Soleil, it was invited to perform where?
A: At the Los Angeles Arts Festival.

Although they continued to be plagued by financial difficulties, Normand Latourelle took the gamble and went to Los Angeles, despite only having enough money to do what?
A: Make a one-way trip.

Had the show been a failure, the company would not have had enough money to do what?
A: To get their performers and equipment back to Montreal.

The festival turned out to be a what?
A: A huge success, both critically and financially.