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| Tour group at Cirque du Soleil. |
Cirque du Soleil is a Montreal, Quebec-based company recognized worldwide for high-quality, artistic entertainment. Since its founding in 1984, Cirque du Soleil has sought to evoke the imagination, invoke the senses and provoke the emotions of people around the world. Here are some fun facts about the company:
- In 1984, 73 people worked for Cirque du Soleil. Today, the business has 5,000 employees worldwide, including more than 1,300 artists. The Montreal International Headquarters alone has nearly 2,000 employees.
- There are eight Cirque shows in Las Vegas, NV, and one in Florida. The U.S-based permanent shows have a safety manager. For the traveling show, safety is handled by staff in Montreal. They work to share best practices.
- More than 100 occupations can be found at Cirque.
- The company’s employees and artists represent more than 50 nationalities and speak 25 different languages. Employees at the La Nouba location in Florida speak 14 languages.
- More than 100 million spectators have seen a Cirque du Soleil show since 1984. Close to 15 million people saw a Cirque du Soleil show in 2013.
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| Rob Pooley explains a safety improvement on a prop up on the grid. |
During ASSE's Safety 2014, a group of attendees took a backstage technical tour of Cirque du Soleil La Nouba at Downtown Disney. I selected this tour because I participated in the Cirque Love technical tour last year, and I was fascinated. Also, I work for Walt Disney World, and although I have seen La Nouba, I have never had the chance to take a technical tour. The tour was as fascinating as the final product (the show).
Our group was divided into three smaller groups for safety and for ease of communication. My group was paired with Rob Pooley, head of automation. He has been in the business all of his life, came from Europe to join Cirque 16 years ago, and spoke with a thick Scottish accent.
Cirque performers typically come from a long lineage of circus families, or are world-renowned Olympic gymnasts. Some current performers are the 7th generation of performers in their families. This type of performing is in their blood. Even in light of these lifelong affiliations, Cirque provides training on CPR, emergency response, bloodborne pathogens, fall protection, rope access, and provides OSHA 10-hour course to all performers. Additionally, emergency medical technicians are always present on set, in costume during performances. You wouldn’t know them unless you knew what you were looking for. I’ve seen La Nouba and I had no idea the folks dressed in white chicken costumes were performing the duties of EMTs. Impressive.
Our group was divided into three smaller groups for safety and for ease of communication. My group was paired with Rob Pooley, head of automation. He has been in the business all of his life, came from Europe to join Cirque 16 years ago, and spoke with a thick Scottish accent.
Cirque performers typically come from a long lineage of circus families, or are world-renowned Olympic gymnasts. Some current performers are the 7th generation of performers in their families. This type of performing is in their blood. Even in light of these lifelong affiliations, Cirque provides training on CPR, emergency response, bloodborne pathogens, fall protection, rope access, and provides OSHA 10-hour course to all performers. Additionally, emergency medical technicians are always present on set, in costume during performances. You wouldn’t know them unless you knew what you were looking for. I’ve seen La Nouba and I had no idea the folks dressed in white chicken costumes were performing the duties of EMTs. Impressive.
The safety culture was apparent. Each day begins at 8 a.m. with inspections. At noon, 4-hour rehearsals begin. This location has an elaborate training room with free weights, nautilus equipment, trapeze equipment, various props, a ballet barre, trampolines, bike ramps and a host of other areas for the performers to perfect the show. Not only was the backstage area immaculate, I repeatedly heard sentiments such as: “Everyone takes safety into their own hands, they are responsible for their own safety as well as everyone else’s.”
Rob took great pride in sharing some of the safety improvements that have been made over the past 16 years. Here are just a few:
Rob took great pride in sharing some of the safety improvements that have been made over the past 16 years. Here are just a few:
- Moving reset buttons to the front of the PLC panels for the winches (used to fly performers) so they don’t need to open the cabinets to reset them.
- Improving the ability for performers to climb into their prop, then be lowered from the grid (which is a permeable working surface present at the top of many fly lofts that is used to support and provide access to many of a rigging system's components) instead of having to climb down a ladder from the grid to their props.
- Replacing lighting units with lights that are accessible from a fixed area so maintenance can be completed on solid ground instead of while hanging.
- Adding innumerable ladders and sets of stairs to provide easy access to the hundreds of platforms on the multitiered stage.
- The installation of rescue ladders so a rescuer and a gurney to be transported easily to an injured performer or one needing rescue from a suspended state.
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| Heather tests out the German Wheel (I couldn't spin it for safety reasons). |
It was a fantastic, informative, educational tour. We are very appreciative of ASSE for hosting technical tours at the annual PDC, as well as the host location companies that volunteer their staff’s time to share knowledge and further the education of attendees.
A quote from Rob sums up how important everyone’s role is at La Nouba: “Sometimes we are asked, 'Do you get bored doing the same thing over and over again?' Every time you push a button around here someone could be injured or killed. If you are bored, you need to go work someplace else.”
A quote from Rob sums up how important everyone’s role is at La Nouba: “Sometimes we are asked, 'Do you get bored doing the same thing over and over again?' Every time you push a button around here someone could be injured or killed. If you are bored, you need to go work someplace else.”
