Quidam

Quidam
Logo for Cirque du Soleil's Quidam
CompanyCirque du Soleil
GenreContemporary circus
Show typeTouring production
Date of premiereApril 23, 1996 (Montréal, QC)
Final showFebruary 26, 2016 (Christchurch, NZ)
Creative team
Writer and directorFranco Dragone
Director of creationGilles Ste-Croix
Senior artistic directorRichard Dagenais
Artistic directorFabrice Lemire
ComposerBenoît Jutras
Costume designerDominique Lemieux
Set designerMichel Crête
Lighting designerLuc Lafortune
ChoreographerDebra Brown
Sound designerFrançois Bergeron
Make-up designerNathalie Gagné
Artistic guideGuy Laliberté
Other information
Preceded byAlegría (1994)
Succeeded byO (1998)
Official website

Quidam (/kiːˈdɑːm/ kee-DAHM) was the ninth stage show produced by Cirque du Soleil. It premiered in April 1996 and has been watched by millions of spectators around the world. Quidam originated as a big-top show in Montreal and was converted into an arena format beginning with its 2010 tour in North America. It then changed back to the Big Top for a 3-month run in Seoul, South Korea before returning to an arena show for its tour to Oceania. The show performed for the final time in Christchurch, New Zealand on February 26, 2016.

The entire show is imagined by a bored girl named Zoé who is alienated and ignored by her parents. She dreams up the whimsical world of Quidam as a means of escaping the monotony of her life.

The show's title refers to the feature character, a man without a head, carrying an umbrella and a bowler hat. Quidam is said to be the embodiment of both everyone and no one at the same time. According to Cirque du Soleil literature "Quidam: a nameless passer-by, a solitary figure lingering on a street corner, a person rushing past... One who cries out, sings and dreams within us all."

Set and technical information

The minimalistic stage was designed by Michel Crête to represent a monolithic structure such as an airport or train station where people are always coming and going. The major set element includes the five, all-aluminum, 120-foot (36.57-meter) arches above the stage, known as the téléphérique. These allow performers to be transported onto and off the stage from above. Each rail of the téléphérique has two trolleys: one to raise and lower the performer or equipment, and the second to transport it onto or off the stage.[citation needed]

The stage floor is made of aluminum decks with a perforated, rubber-type mat. The perforations, of which there are over 200,000, allow light to pass through from below the stage, creating visual effects.

The original Quidam stage was redesigned and incorporated into the Bazzar (Cirque du Soleil) grand chapiteau tour. The show premiered in November 2018.

Cast

The cast of Quidam has a cast of 45 acrobats, musicians, singers, and characters, some of which are detailed below.

Acts

Quidam combines a mix of acrobatic skills and traditional circus acts:

Acts in rotation

  • Juggling: Up to five balls fly through the air, with additional manipulation of a briefcase, umbrella, and bowler hat.
  • Dance Trapeze: A solo trapeze artist twirls over the stage on a trapeze strung from the telepherique.

Retired acts

  • Cyr wheel: An acrobat performed tricks within a large metal ring. This act replaced German Wheel between 2012 and 2013.
  • Manipulation: Three performers used warped metal sheets to juggle and manipulate a red ball that they each had; later in the act, they got rid of the metal sheet and juggled the red balls as well as many other red balls and a bowler hat each. This act was removed in 1998.
  • Solo Aerial straps: A male single artist grasped cords that dangled from the overhead rails; sometimes he performed on the ground, sometimes in the air. This act was in rotation, and was performed in 1997 in replacement of the German Wheel act in very rare circumstances.
  • Duo Aerial straps: Two artists grasped cords that dangled from the overhead rails; sometimes they performed on the ground, sometimes in the air. This act was performed during the Asia Pacific tour of 2004 - 2005.
  • Hoops: A performer spun and manipulated up to 20 spinning hoops all over her body. This act was performed in place of Handbalancing in 2002 and 2008.
  • Cloud swing: A unique combination of swinging trapeze and Spanish web techniques. This act was dropped from the show in 2012 due to issues with finance, and a single trapeze act temporarily replaced it. The cloud swing act returned to the show from 2012 to 2013 and during the Seoul, South Korea tour in 2015 because the promoter wanted to make the show as close to the original as possible during its final run under the Grand Chapiteau.
  • Duplex trapeze: A performer did tricks on a two tiered trapeze. This act was a temporary replacement for the cloud swing act in 2012.
  • Macloma: The Macloma interact with the audience.
  • Montgolfiere: The Macloma play in hot air balloons.
  • Balloon Song: The Macloma play a song with balloons and a broken violin.
  • Hose: Alosha performs tricks with a long rubber hose.
  • Ribbon: Alosha performs a comical parody of rhythmic gymnastics.
  • Dance: Kotini Jr. performs an energetic breakdance with a chair.

Awards

Quidam's diabolo act won a Gold Medal at the 1995 Festival du Cirque de Demain. The show's banquine act won the Golden Clown at the 1999 International Monte Carlo Circus Festival.

Costumes

Quidam's costume designer, Dominique Lemieux, drew inspiration from Surrealist art, particularly the works of René Magritte and Paul Delvaux. The costumes convey the alienation of the characters and represent an urban landscape through the use of painted textures and fabrics. The dominant color is grey but is supplemented by deep, rich, warm colors and embellished with metals. Quidam was the first Cirque du Soleil show to use everyday clothing for the outfits, although those in the acrobatic acts are modified. The fabric chosen for Quidam is primarily stretch linen, but also includes leather, jute, linen crepe, wool, velvet and 42 types of cotton.

Quidam has approximately 249 costumes, 500 costume accessories, and 200-300 shoes: Each artist has anywhere from 2 to 7 costumes, of which there are at least 2 spares. The costumes, although washed every day, can last anywhere from 6 months to 2 years.

Music

Quidam’s music was composed by Benoît Jutras and has been released in three album editions featuring additional songs, alternative new cover designs, and higher quality sounds. The first CD was produced by Carl Marsh. It was co-arranged by Marsh and Jutras and released on January 14, 1997. (ASIN B000003G5M) The album features the voices of Audrey Brisson-Jutras and Mathieu Lavoie, with the exception of two bonus tracks sung by Brisson-Jutras and Richard Price on the extended CD released in 2001 (recorded live in Amsterdam, 1999).

Below is a list of tracks as featured on the original 1997 release, alongside each of which is listed the act that the track accompanies. The two tracks on the 2001 extended album are also included at the end: "Misère" and "Enfants d'Acier".

Additional songs in the show not included on the album:

Tour

Quidam started as a Grand Chapiteau touring show before being fully converted to an arena touring show in 2010. For a short time in 2009, Quidam toured the UK and IE in arena format before switching back to the Grand Chapiteau for its South America tour. After this, in 2010, Quidam was converted into the arena format where it began a North American, European and Asia-Pacific tour. However, during its run in Seoul in 2015, Quidam was temporarily reconverted to play under the Grand Chapiteau for three months before continuing its farewell tour in the arena format for its run in Australia and New Zealand. The show's 20-year tour visited 241 cities in 42 countries before it ended on February 26, 2016 in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Cirque du Soleil started using a customized tour bus as a method of helping to advertise Quidam during its tour in northeastern North America during the fall of 2011. During the show's stops in cities, the tour bus makes appearances at local merchants, allowing people to meet part of the crew.

The following colorboxes indicate the region of each performance:  EU   Europe  NA   North America  SA   South and Central America  AP   Asia/Pacific  OC   Oceania  AF   Africa

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Quidam Press Kit" (PDF). Cirque du Soleil (Press Kit). Retrieved 2011-03-03.[permanent dead link]
  2. 1 2 "Quidam performers adapt to the arena". Montréal Gazette. 2010-12-11. Retrieved 2011-03-03.[permanent dead link]
  3. ↑ "Quidam Characters". Cirque du Soleil (Press Material). Archived from the original on 2010-10-24. Retrieved 2011-03-03.
  4. ↑ "About Debra Brown". debralynnbrown.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-09. Retrieved 2011-03-05.
  5. ↑ Lawler, Christa (May 3, 2012). "Emotions behind 'Quidam' story run deep". Duluth News Tribune. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 "Quidam Acts". Cirque du Soleil (Press Material). Archived from the original on 2010-10-24. Retrieved 2011-03-03.
  7. ↑ "Quidam Acts". Cirque Tribune. Retrieved 2011-03-03.
  8. ↑ Clément, Ronald (2009). Cirque du Soleil 25 Years of Costumes (in Chinese, English, French, and Japanese). Canada: Dépôt légal, Bibliothèque et Archives Canada. pp. 40–45. ISBN 978-2-9803493-4-8.
  9. 1 2 "Music – Quidam". Cirque Tribune. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
  10. ↑ "Quidam Road Trip". Cirque du Soleil. Archived from the original on 2012-01-09. Retrieved 2011-12-19.