The Cirque du Soleil: a unique creative and production unit

At any one time the Cirque du Soleil produces more than twenty performances somewhere in the world, and presents one or two totally new performances every year. They are all the result of short-lived collaborations between external creators (such as directors, costume designers, lighting technicians and choreographers) hired for a specific performance with all the necessary production means at their disposal. The Cirque du Soleil is a superb creative entity: it brings together exceptional artists recruited from all over the world; it has its finger on the pulse about artistic forms of expression and new ideas; and it has an extraordinary capacity for execution. At the Cirque du Soleil, creators can discover an unexpected field of possibilities. These discoveries are one of the strengths of the Cirque, but they are also a source of numerous challenges. It is not easy to manage a creative team which is constantly changing, or maintain efficient production processes and not stifle creativity, or even to strike a balance between the contradictory logic of creation and production.