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aboslutely in love with your series! last year i started scripting circus shows in eastern europe. your critique provides interesting perspective. thank you. i hope you will continue

This narrator has no experience with basic theatre technology. The stage has a turn table or revolve, not a lazy Susan platform, dummy. Also not a five track tramway, it’s called a téléphérique in Cirque terms and in scenic automation it would be called a set of tracking trolleys or winch trolleys if so equipt. Learn. Your. S***.

I was in Quidam... an amazing experience.

Ah, my people! Nerding on Cirque du Soleil ❤ quidam is SO special to me for so many reasons and now I have a daughter…Zoe 🥲

I didn't know all that information you shared but I totally agree. I have always thought of these shows as the golden age of Cirque du Soleil. I really enjoy watching your videos. Great work and thanks for sharing!

Realmente me encantó el video! Te felicito por todo el estudio y el empeño que has logrado. Desde pequeño que veía los clásicos del Cirque du Soleil, y cuando veía Quidam no era de mis favoritos (pues claramente era un niño hahahah) pero ahora veo el espectáculo con otros ojos, sobre todo a las grandes referencias e inspiración que sacó el director (que lo amo) para hacer este espectáculo, pues claramente como dijiste “cualquier persona de la edad moderna entendería Quidam”. De verdad muchas gracias por el video. PD: tienes mucha razón al final del video, porfavor, que si sacan otra vez Quidam ¡Que sea solo Quidam! No 2.0 😂😂, ya que el nuevo Alegria me decepcionó mucho, sobre todo musicalmente

God save le cirque du soleil. When Nouvelle experience and cirque reinvente episodes?

I hope this show returns one day to the big top.

Would love to know your opinion on the show Varikai. To me it feels like the last true cirque show that ended the golden era of cirque. Just remember watching how the show was made (as it was a documentary show on it) and the levels they went to.

So happy I found your channel. I have adored Cirque Du Soleil, especially O for years and years now. This week, I am finally seeing O in person for the first time and it is so exciting watching this interview in anticipation of that!

Thank you for this incredible amount of research and dissection of the show’s concept! A bonus detail I love on the silks act is that through the show’s history, it was frequently performed by the artist who plays the mom’s character. At the end of the act she falls back into the father’s arms, or in the DVD version, her own. Not to mention every performer’s take on the act like Vaudelle’s hanging illusion. Also another fave is the intermission “Égaré” sequence where the colourful skipping rope characters collapse on stage as Zoe’s balloon flies into a cage target is carrying. After intermission we come back to find them turned into the dark grey banquine characters. Loss of innocence and great example of sequence of movements. Just so much detail you can’t find in new shows like Kurios or Volta. Completely agree an original revamp would fit perfectly in today’s context.

I was waiting for your Quidam vid and was so happy it was the next one. Your series totally encapsulates what I've been feeling about CDS for years now - the shows today are missing that special ingredient. Thanks for packaging all your research, theories, and montages into these eps. I can only imagine how long that takes. Highly anticipating the rest of your series!

WOW 😍 Incredible video!!! 🤩🤩🤩 More videos please… DRALION, ALEGRIA, LA NOUBA, VAREKAI New fan nd subscriber!! 😊😊😊

Finally I wanted to say how someone pointed out to how this is almost like the Yang to Saltimbanco’s Yin: a cold dark society filled with disconnection and suffering in contrast to a warm hopeful society. Sorry if this was too much to point out. You covered a lot of great material in this video. I just wanted to voice my opinions even if I had a lot. Comment 3 of 3.

One thing I wanted to point out about the Banquine act, there was some symbolism that wasn’t touched on in your video. Andrii Lytvak, check out his channel Cirque Arts, previously performed this act and he replied to a question I had regarding the transition of colors for Les Egares: basically at the end of act one there is an explosion and Les Egares fall to the ground. Shortly afterwards they release their souls in the form of heart shaped balloons. When we see them again at the start of act two, their once colorful personas have been replaced with gray tattered versions of themselves, symbolizing that they lost everything, like people post war as you mentioned. The banquine act represents the climax of their story to regain what once was lost: life. On a minor note, when Zoe sees the tragedy before her she release her balloon soul which caught in a cage by Karl: her innocence may have been lost but her soul isn’t completely lost. Comment 2 of 3.

This was a great analysis on Quidam, I really like this show for how different it is from the lighthearted Cirque shows. However, I have to disagree when you called the Bowler Hat a “meaningless plot device”: there’s a saying that wearing another person’s hat is like wearing someone else’s shoes ergo when Zoe put on Quidam’s bowler hat, she found herself in the world that we get to explore throughout the show. Speaking of shoes, John putting on Zoe’s father’s shoes symbolizes him stepping into his role and after the adventure Father has been on, John gives the shoes back knowing that he was ready to fulfill the role that he was meant to be for his daughter. Comment 1 of 3.

Amazing Video, I never knew of what inspired quidam and am fascinated by those artists

Thank you! I have wanted to know more about this show and its creative inspirations for over 20 years! This show has such an impact on my life that I got Quidam tattooed many years ago! 😮 To me it’s the most impactful show cirque has ever made.

I very much appreciate your take on Quidam. I was fortunate enough to watch it live in its early years. Thank you my ballet company. I live in Vegas, and have watched a few Cirque shows. Quidam has always been my number one. I wish they would bring it back. There is a dark beauty about it.

Amazing! Everything is right. The painting, the theme, the colors. You did an amazing work there. Wow I'm impressed. Thank you very much 🙏🏼

Really fantastic job you did! Thank you !

Amazing work you did. #francodragone

Bro really touching what you said about Franco Dragone. I'm the son of Franco

Franco Dragone is the genius behind the golden age of CDS with an amazing team behind also. #francodragone

Fun stuff

I am so happy you talked about the lady in the red silk act. I totally felt all three emotions she was going through during that act. I knew what she was going through because I felt I was going through the same thing at that time. Amazing act, I LOVED every part of this show!! ❤️

thank you. I always thought the original Diabolo's act was a commentary on child labor - the Chinese girls are dressed like clockwork wind up dolls, machines spinning spools and gears - one of several reflections on loss of innocence in the show and oppressed people. like the transformation of the school yard children into the banquine act.

Thank you so much for making this! Never seen the show and will probably never have the chance, so I'm really glad to at least have a second hand perspective. Great work!

Nouvelle experience and le cirque reinvente episodes

I love cirque du soleil. But le cirque reinvente and Nouvelle experience is my favorite show❤❤❤

I know you have a specific theory but as someone who was born in 1995, I'd love to hear you talk about other shows I grew up with and love like Verekai and Corteo. Quidam is one of my all time favorites as well, thank you for such a comprehensive video.

Brilliant! Love the analysis and historical references to artists that influenced the shows!

(so sorry this is so long lmao) I’m so happy you’re doing quidam! Its my favorite cirque show by far even though i never got to see it live. It also has one of my favorite acts in any cirque du soleil show, the red silks. I absolutely love how intense, sad and angry it all is not to mention how I interpret this part of the story it’s really deep and personal to me and it never fails to get my crying lmao. I personally interpret the character doing the silks to be a visual metaphor showing either how the mom has been recently or how she’s currently feeling in the present, and I personally interpret the silks to represent all her intense emotions and desires good and bad swirling around her, tangling her up in everything with no time for rest (though personally If i had to be specific I’d say they mostly represent the desire for death/the desire to be “free”). And the mom and the woman who pick her up at the end i view as the mom finally getting the strength to save herself, pulling herself away from it yet her old self not wanting to let go of it. I would argue that quidam/the hat aren’t entirely “meaningless” to the plot. I think what they add most to the story is what/who they represent, sure quidam himself doesn't actually do much in the show but without him in it zoe wouldn’t have been thrown into the journey she finds herself in. not to mention to me at least i love how they have quidam just walking around the background throughout the show, to me it adds even more of an element to what quidam means, a passerby who you kind of notice don’t really interact with, someone who is simply just there. I love learning more about cirque but especially quidam, unsurprisingly I knew most of this but there was also alot i didnt, really excited to see whats next !

this channel is going places

24:50, the end of the statue act is in my opinion one of the best parts of all the show! I have never seen such a terrific representation of something fading out in real life! Music, lightning, images, just utterly perfect!

19:39, in a later version, can’t remember the performer, there was also a sequence in which it looked liked the woman hung herself. So emotional to see live. I wish they would bring this show back, just the way it was, under the big top!

I have seen all the shows that had came under THE BIG TOP to Spain since Alegria 1998. Quidam is the best of them. It is the creative peek of CDS itinerant shows. Thanks for your amazing videos!

Keep it up with these amazing videos! Can't wait to hear you talk about Saltimbanco or Mystere. I would've liked to hear more analyzing of the themes and imagery of Quidam though.

Wowow what a great analysis on an incredible show. Thank you so much for this one!!! Your insight and knowledge is mind blowing!

This was a great deep dive into the world of O. No pun intended. 😉 I hope you do an analysis of Alegria or Quidam next.

I was totally riveted to every word and agree with the components of a Golden Age show-exactly the deep analysis I seek! Looking forward to more, especially Alegria as it’s my first show (which legit changed my life 😊🥰💜)

Fantastic video! I'm so glad to have stumbled upon this. I perform in an aqua show with royal caribbean that's deeply cirque inspired, but not quite the same caliber - Ive spent so many brain cycles trying to place exactly just what's missing, and really appreciate your insights on cirque. Excellently done video, looking forward to more! Thank you so much!

Thank you for this video; such an interesting and thoughtful critique. I’d love to see/hear more about other golden age shows like La Nouba (my fav). Also, what other eras of cirque are there, and what makes those shows less successful overall than their predecessors? Some food for thought

This man Is Cirque royalty!

Loved this interview amazing stories and damn I would love to be able to see quidam on stage I would pay any amount of money

too good! Thanks for this work, I'm excited to see more.

Yes ! Love the history theory and critique! Thank you Joe!

I honestly love the simple and sometimes vague stories of most cirque shows. I think it leaves it up to interpretation of the individual watching it which ik sounds like a copout or whatever to some but I personally think it makes each show that much more special and unique. also the red lady is by far my favorite character in this show, I love her absurd and jagged movements and dancing. my favorite "image" is her when she pops out of the coffin during the funeral march, its unexpected and kind of jarring/un-nerving in a way. I personally view her as the embodiment of (emotional) freedom: a "mad woman" who doesn't care about what other people or the rest of the world thinks, she express her intense emotions in a pure way most other people could only dream of if that makes any sense lmao and im reallllyyy excited for when (if) you cover quidam, its personally one of my fav shows for so many reasons and I think its the one I relate to the most story wise, especially to Zoe

uughhh im so happy to find someone doing like deep dive/history thing on cirque du soleil. it's been my biggest obsession literally for as long as I can remember. it actually got me into clowning, clown/circus inspired fashio/makeup and some other circus arts (trapeze, juggling and contortion, tho admittedly I rlly only do clowning and the fashion stuff now lol)

Just found your series by chance. I consider myself a Cirque du Soleil “Freak” / “passionate fan” since I saw Alegria back in 98 with 12 years old... so I would look forward to see and comment every episode of your series. Thanks for your work. Last week, after seen Alegria in a new Light, I was discussing with my wife If Cirque had lost it’s “Magic” or it’s just me that I “grow up” and I compare every show with what I consider “Cirque best ages” (form Saltimbanco to La Nouba). As you point in this first video, we talk about the productions, not the artists. I also consider that the only Director who has recovered some of "that magic" and whose shows stand out from the rest after the "Dragone era" is Daniel Finzi Pasca. What do you think?