Cirque Du Soleil
By Tony Nguyen
July 20, 2000

Guy Caron (left, director of Dralion) is the founder of Montreal’s National Circus School and has worked with a number of circuses around the world. In 1984, he joined forces with Cirque du Soleil as artistic director, creator and actor in the productions of Le Grand Tour, Le Cirque du Soleil, La Magie continue and We Reinvent the Circus.

Since 1991, he has directed many circus shows in Europe and has acted as artistic consultant on many more, including Crescendo in Paris, and Cirque du Soleil’s Pomp Duck and Circumstance in Germany.

Dralion features 54 artists from 8 different countries (Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, France, Ivory Coast, Ukraine and the United States), including a house troupe of 35 Chinese acrobats. The multi-talented performers present a variety of high-calibre acts: ballet on lights, hoop diving, bamboo poles, juggling, teeterboard, double trapeze and skipping ropes.

AsiaXpress had the honors of interviewing Mr. Caron on his thoughts about the Asian influence on Dralion.

His dream of Dralion started two years ago when he envisioned combination of a Chinese dragon and lion dance. His goal was to change an artist’s relationship between a Chinese show and a Cirque du Soleil show. Dralion created a separate animal but the basis of the lion dance is there such as jumping balls and 3 lions on a ball.

Q: What influence does Asian music have on Dralion?

A: We don’t use it. We don’t want to make any kind of reference on the costume and in the music. We don’t want to make an Asian show, it’s Cirque du Soleil totally from beginning to end. What we see on stage is the acrobat's techniques that we transform to the show. If you come to see a Chinese show, this is not it. But you will feel the experience, artistically, of where a Chinese troup can go with us. This is different from a normal Chinese show, the music is not there but you’re going to have some reference in the costumes that they wear or the makeup. China is currently growing at a rapid pace. In the last five years, I’ve been there six to seven times and each year I go there I feel the difference. Right now, the western culture has had a great influence [in China] including fashion, technology, style, and music. Everybody has [an] Armani, Christian Dior, [or] the latest gadgets in technology, the new fashion trends. The only thing that hasn't changed is the system but the people have changed, in that why we have to represent a new image of China and to me, the new image of China is woman in the front. The soul of China’s people on stage without the tradition and you’ll see that that’s very powerful.

Q: Were there any opposition to your ideas of breaking down China’s tradition and culture?

A: The director of the Chinese troup is a woman and they are an army troup so they are very obedient. I am the boss and "you tell me what to do". It was different for the older men to understand my concept but there were no opposition. For example, in an act that might take the older men ten minutes to learn, it only takes 30 seconds for a young kid to figure out.

Q: Does the show change from city to city?

A: The show stays the same. maybe when someone gets hurt you might change a little.

Q: Did you have the certain acts in mind then went to pick the troup or choose the troup and built the show around it?

A: The act was there, the troup was there with the act. We choose the act and we’re going to change the act. I say, we want a lion dance and she says sure we have a lion dance. I say, we want a bamboo act, she says we normally use bamboo so we have to create a new act but with the creativeness of the Chinese artists. They have a diving act, but we transformed the entire choreographic of the act in which to present. It’s why I choose a troup with some act and we choose the acts that we wanted from that troup and we build the show around it. We have only one act that we created for Cirque that they didn’t have. We have two people flying in the air with silk ribbons.

Q: What is the intriguing aspect about blending the traditional chinese culture with your concept of this show?

A:It was a dream at first. I love this culture. I love the people, I love everything they did in the past. Everything that I see in China is wonderful. What I want to [do is] go further with this ... to change the way they move on the stage. To put their soul on the stage. You don’t have to be just an acrobat but to be like an acrobat , actor on a circus. It was the thing that I tried to work so hard. You’re going to see a lot of computer equipment wherever you sit but it’s not where I really want to go. The show you’re going to see , there’s no problem. They’ve made the show for 14 months now but when I started it was so hard to arrive there. For me, the most important thing is to take these people and say give me the real soul that you have on your body and put it on stage.