Corteo
Encyclopedia
Corteo is a Cirque du Soleil
touring production that premiered in Montreal
, Canada
on April 21, 2005. As of May 24, 2005, Cirque du Soleil had broken its record of spectators for the première location in Montreal; more than 200,000 people had viewed the production, far outpacing the prior record of 180,000 tickets sold for Varekai
during its première.
Cortéo—an Italian word meaning "cortège," or funeral procession—is a contemporary circus
show about a clown who watches his own funeral
taking place in a carnival
-like atmosphere. It is partly inspired by The Grand Parade: Portrait of the Artist as Clown on display at the National Gallery of Canada
.
Directed by Daniele Finzi Pasca, founder of the Swiss clown troupe Teatro Sunil and director of several shows by Cirque Éloize
, Cortéo is presented in the round
under a large tent. The action takes place on a large circular stage consisting of concentric
rotating rings. This allows one area of the stage to rotate while another remains stationary. At times during the performance, the stage is divided by a large curtain illustrated with a painting called the Cortéo Procession. There are entrances/exits at either side of the circular stage.
The curtains utilized in Corteo have been painted in watercolors and were inspired by a painting from 1885 by Adolphe Willette
. The Roll Drop curtains are about 58 feet (17.7 m) in width and 40 feet (12.2 m) in height. The inner curtains were constructed in Canada and sent to France to be painted. Each of the four inner curtains took nearly two weeks to be individually painted.
The design on the center stage is a labyrinth which exactly matches the proportions and size of the one on the floor in the aisle in Chartres Cathedral.
Corteo’s score was originally composed by Philippe Leduc
and Maria Bonzanigo. Additional composers including Jean-François Côté and Michel A. Smith subsequently reworked several pieces. Show director Daniele Finzi Pasca contributed lyrics. Cirque du Soleil Musique released an album of music from Corteo on 23 September 2006 in Canada, and 7 October 2006 in the US. Corteo was one of the first Cirque du Soleil CDs to feature multiple composers.
The album features the contribution of 61 musicians and singers, a 16-piece choir and a 13-piece string section. Corteo’s lyrics are sung in Italian, French, and Spanish.
The tracks from the CD are listed below and alongside are the acts during which they are played.
for Outstanding Picture Editing for a Special. The following day, it also won a Gémeaux (Gemini Award
) for Meilleur montage - humour, variétés, arts de la scène (best editing - humor, entertainment, performing arts).
, Denver, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Portland
, Seattle, Vancouver
, Calgary
, and Ottawa
. The show finished its North American tour in Miami and began an Asian tour in 2009, premiering in Tokyo
on February 4, 2009, then moving on Nagoya, Osaka
, Fukuoka
, and Sendai.
Since Corteos première in Montreal in 2005, it has been seen by more than 5 million spectators. Corteo celebrated its 1000th show in January 2008 in San Diego; its 1500th show in June 2009 in Nagoya, Japan; and its 2000th show in September 2010 in Kazan
, Russia.
The following colorboxes indicate the region of each performance:
Europe North America South and Central Americas Asia/Pacific Oceania Africa
Quebec, QC - From 30 June 2005 to 24 July 2005
Toronto, ON - From 4 August 2005 to 11 September 2005
Minneapolis, MN - From 23 September 2005 to 23 October 2005
San Francisco, CA - From 11 November 2005 to 8 January 2006
Phoenix, AZ - From 16 March 2006 to 9 April 2006
New York, NY - From 25 April 2006 to 2 July 2006
Chicago, IL - From 14 July 2006 to 27 August 2006
Boston, MA - From 8 September 2006 to 15 October 2006
Washington, DC - From 26 October 2006 to 26 November 2006
Atlanta, GA - From 15 December 2006 to 28 January 2007
Houston, TX - From 22 March 2007 to 29 April 2007
Columbus, OH - From 11 May 2007 to 10 June 2007
Denver, CO - From 22 June 2007 to 5 August 2007
Los Angeles, CA - From 23 August 2007 to 28 October 2007
Costa Mesa, CA - From 8 November 2007 to 23 December 2007
Portland, OR - From 4 March 2008 to 13 April 2008
Seattle, WA - From 24 April 2008 to 1 June 2008
Vancouver, BC - From 12 June 2008 to 20 July 2008
Calgary, AB - From 31 July 2008 to 7 September 2008
Ottawa, ON - From 24 September 2008 to 26 October 2008
Miami, FL - From 13 November 2008 to 28 December 2008
Nagoya, JP - From 21 May 2009 to 12 July 2009
Osaka, JP - From 29 July 2009 to 18 October 2009
Tokyo, JP - From 4 November 2009 to 24 January 2010
Sendai, JP - From 21 April 2010 to 6 June 2010
St Petersburg, RU - From 26 June 2010 to 8 August 2010
Kazan, RU - From 21 August 2010 to 26 September 2010
Moscow, RU - From 9 October 2010 to 12 December 2010
Vienna, AT - From 10 February 2011 to 20 March 2011
Madrid, ES - From 2 April 2011 to 5 June 2011
Valencia, ES - From 16 June 2011 to 17 July 2011
Alicante, ES - From 28 July 2011 to 28 August 2011
Sevilla, ES - From 7 September 2011 to 16 October 2011
Paris, FR - From 4 November 2011 to 31 December 2011
Amsterdam, NL - From 23 March 2012 to 22 April 2012
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil , is a Canadian entertainment company, self-described as a "dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment." Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy...
touring production that premiered in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
on April 21, 2005. As of May 24, 2005, Cirque du Soleil had broken its record of spectators for the première location in Montreal; more than 200,000 people had viewed the production, far outpacing the prior record of 180,000 tickets sold for Varekai
Varekai
Varekai is a Cirque du Soleil touring production that premiered in Montréal in April 2002. Its title means "wherever" in the Romani language, and the show is an "acrobatic tribute to the nomadic soul"....
during its première.
Cortéo—an Italian word meaning "cortège," or funeral procession—is a contemporary circus
Contemporary circus
Contemporary circus, or nouveau cirque , is a genre of performing art developed in the later 20th century in which a story or a theme is conveyed through traditional circus skills. Animals are rarely used in this type of circus, and traditional circus skills are blended with a more character-driven...
show about a clown who watches his own funeral
Funeral
A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...
taking place in a carnival
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
-like atmosphere. It is partly inspired by The Grand Parade: Portrait of the Artist as Clown on display at the National Gallery of Canada
National Gallery of Canada
The National Gallery of Canada , located in the capital city Ottawa, Ontario, is one of Canada's premier art galleries.The Gallery is now housed in a glass and granite building on Sussex Drive with a notable view of the Canadian Parliament buildings on Parliament Hill. The acclaimed structure was...
.
Directed by Daniele Finzi Pasca, founder of the Swiss clown troupe Teatro Sunil and director of several shows by Cirque Éloize
Cirque Éloize
Cirque Éloize is a Quebec-based nouveau cirque troupe. It was founded in 1993 by Jeannot Painchaud, Daniel Cyr and Julie Hamelin. Having created seven original productions so far, it has presented more than 3000 performances in more than 375 cities and 30 countries...
, Cortéo is presented in the round
Theatre in the round
Theatre-in-the-round or arena theatre is any theatre space in which the audience surrounds the stage area...
under a large tent. The action takes place on a large circular stage consisting of concentric
Concentric
Concentric objects share the same center, axis or origin with one inside the other. Circles, tubes, cylindrical shafts, disks, and spheres may be concentric to one another...
rotating rings. This allows one area of the stage to rotate while another remains stationary. At times during the performance, the stage is divided by a large curtain illustrated with a painting called the Cortéo Procession. There are entrances/exits at either side of the circular stage.
Set and technical information
Cirque du Soleil divided the Grand Chapiteau in two by creating a stage that spans the diameter of the tent, thus allowing the audience to face one another as well as giving a performer's perspective to them. Built into the 104 feet (31.7 m) long stage are two turntables which have a diameter of 41 feet (12.5 m). Corteos set has a special overhead transport mechanism, dubbed the "Patience", which has two rails which are fitted with four platform-like carts each. Each cart has a lifting capacity of 1000 pounds (453.6 kg) and a top speed of 4 feet per second (1.2 m/s). At its highest point, it is 41 feet (12.5 m) above the stage.The curtains utilized in Corteo have been painted in watercolors and were inspired by a painting from 1885 by Adolphe Willette
Adolphe Willette
Adolphe-Léon Willette was a French painter, illustrator, caricaturist, and lithographer. Willette ran as an "anti-semitic" candidate in the 19th arrondisement of Paris for the 1889 elections.-Biography:...
. The Roll Drop curtains are about 58 feet (17.7 m) in width and 40 feet (12.2 m) in height. The inner curtains were constructed in Canada and sent to France to be painted. Each of the four inner curtains took nearly two weeks to be individually painted.
The design on the center stage is a labyrinth which exactly matches the proportions and size of the one on the floor in the aisle in Chartres Cathedral.
Cast
The principal characters of Corteo are clowns, as is fitting for a clown's funeral, but 62 artists comprise the full troupe.- Mauro: The central character of Corteo, and the one being honored in this funeral procession. He is also referred to as the dead clown or the dreamer clown.
- Clowness
- Giant clown
- Little clown
- Loyal whistler: His origins come from the classis role of "Mr. Loyal", the ringmaster of a traditional circusCircusA circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
. - White clown: A PierrotPierrotPierrot is a stock character of pantomime and Commedia dell'Arte whose origins are in the late 17th-century Italian troupe of players performing in Paris and known as the Comédie-Italienne; the name is a hypocorism of Pierre , via the suffix -ot. His character in postmodern popular culture—in...
. - Little angel: Watches over Mauro and guides him.
- August clown: The White clown's antagonist.
Acts
The acts in Corteo bring together the passion of acting with the grace and power of acrobatics.- Chandeliers (aerial acrobatics)
- Bouncing beds (trampolineTrampoliningTrampolining is a competitive Olympic sport in which gymnasts perform acrobatics while bouncing on a trampoline. These can include simple jumps in the pike, tuck or straddle position to more complex combinations of forward or backward somersaults and twists....
act) - Mauro's flight
- Cyr wheelCyr wheelThe Cyr wheel is an acrobatic device invented and popularized in the early 21st century...
- Little horses
- Cortege
- Tightrope
- Golf (clownClownClowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by the grotesque image of the circus clown's colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, unusually large footwear, and red nose, which evolved to project their actions to large audiences. Other less grotesque styles have also...
act) - JugglingJugglingJuggling is a skill involving moving objects for entertainment or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling, in which the juggler throws objects up to catch and toss up again. This may be one object or many objects, at the same time with one or many hands. Jugglers often refer...
- Living marionette
- Culbuto
- Helium dance
- TeeterboardTeeterboardThe teeterboard is an acrobatic apparatus that resembles a playground seesaw. The strongest teeterboards are made of oak . The board is divided in the middle by a fulcrum made of welded steel. At each end of the board is a square padded area, where a performer stands on a 45-degree incline before...
- Paradise (aerial cradle)
- Crystal glasses and Tibetan bowls
- Duo adagioAdagio (circus skill)Adagio is the performance of partner acrobalance poses and associated movements that involve stationary balances by a pair of performers. It is performed in professional circus, in various dance disciplines including acro dance and ballet, in pair skating, and as a hobby in university circus...
- Freestanding ladder
- Aerial strapsAerial strapsStraps, also known as aerial straps, are a type of aerial apparatus on which various feats of strength and flexibility may be performed, often in the context of a circus performance. It is a cotton or nylon web apparatus that looks like two suspended ribbons...
- Magical flight
- Tournik (horizontal barHorizontal barThe high bar, also known as the horizontal bar, is an apparatus used by male gymnasts in Artistic Gymnastics. It traditionally consists of a cylindrical metal bar that is rigidly held above and parallel to the floor by a system of cables and stiff vertical supports. Gymnasts typically wear leather...
act on a cube-shaped frame)
Costumes
Corteos costume designer, Dominique Lemieux, utilized "matériaux bruts et des matières nobles" (French for "raw and luxury fabrics") to create the wardrobe for this Cirque du Soleil production in order to accentuate the artist's natural beauty. The finer details of the outfits were inspired by European styles between 1890 and 1930. The color palette chosen was soft in nature, including blue, pink, and fuchsia along with copper and gold hues. In order to create a worn-in, hand-me-down style of clothing, the costumes were airbrushed and dyed. Common fabrics throughout the wardrobe include silk, linen, and cotton, which are adorned with beaded lace, sequins, and gemstones. In total, more than 900 fabrics were utilized to create the 184 costumes. If back-up and rotational costumes are to be taken into account, the total costume count grows to around 450 costumes with 284 rotations. During each show day, 12 to 16 hours of ironing is necessitated in order to prepare the costumes.- The performers in the Paradise act are clothed in silk georgette, crêpe de Chine, and satin.
- The musicians have pleated ruffs along the neckline in addition to engageanteEngageanteEngageantes are false sleeves worn with women's clothing in the 18th and 19th centuries.In the 18th century, engageantes took the form of ruffles or flounces of linen, cotton, or lace, tacked to the elbow-length sleeves then fashionable....
s. - The White clown is dressed to represent classic commedia dell'arteCommedia dell'arteCommedia dell'arte is a form of theatre characterized by masked "types" which began in Italy in the 16th century, and was responsible for the advent of the actress and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. The closest translation of the name is "comedy of craft"; it is shortened...
characters. The fabric is gathered at both the hips and shoulders by cartridge pleats, and the bibs are covered in honeycomb stocking.
Music
Philippe Leduc
Philippe Leduc, born in Montréal, Québec, Canada, is a Québécois composer, conductor, author and arranger.- Albums :* Diginada * The Wings of Fire, Volume II : Toil * The Wings of Fire, Volume I : Blood...
and Maria Bonzanigo. Additional composers including Jean-François Côté and Michel A. Smith subsequently reworked several pieces. Show director Daniele Finzi Pasca contributed lyrics. Cirque du Soleil Musique released an album of music from Corteo on 23 September 2006 in Canada, and 7 October 2006 in the US. Corteo was one of the first Cirque du Soleil CDs to feature multiple composers.
The album features the contribution of 61 musicians and singers, a 16-piece choir and a 13-piece string section. Corteo’s lyrics are sung in Italian, French, and Spanish.
The tracks from the CD are listed below and alongside are the acts during which they are played.
- Funerale (Opening pt. 1)
- Ritornare (Opening pt. 2)
- Rêve d'un pantin (Marionette)
- Les chevaux à bottes (Little horses)
- Nos dejó (Cortege)
- Klezmer Moment (Helium dance)
- Prendersi per mano (Aerial straps)
- Anneaux (Cyr wheels)
- El cielo sabrá (Tightwire)
- Fugue (Chandeliers)
- Volo volando (Chandeliers)
- Un tierno y dulce (Planche)
- Balade au bout d'une échelle (Freestanding ladder)
- Garda lassù (Planche)
- Triangle tango (Rhythmic gymnastics)
- Che finalone (Tournik)
Filmography
Cirque released their film adaptation of Corteo on April 11, 2006. It was filmed in Canada in 2005. During the Creative Arts ceremony on September 8, 2007, it won the Emmy awardEmmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for Outstanding Picture Editing for a Special. The following day, it also won a Gémeaux (Gemini Award
Gemini Award
The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...
) for Meilleur montage - humour, variétés, arts de la scène (best editing - humor, entertainment, performing arts).
Tour
Corteo's 2008 North American tour began on December 18, 2007, in Atlanta, with stops in Dallas, Houston, ColumbusColumbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
, Denver, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, Seattle, Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, and Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
. The show finished its North American tour in Miami and began an Asian tour in 2009, premiering in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
on February 4, 2009, then moving on Nagoya, Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
, Fukuoka
Fukuoka
Fukuoka most often refers to the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture.It can also refer to:-Locations:* Fukuoka, Gifu, a town in Gifu Prefecture, Japan* Fukuoka, Toyama, a town in Toyama Prefecture, Japan...
, and Sendai.
Since Corteos première in Montreal in 2005, it has been seen by more than 5 million spectators. Corteo celebrated its 1000th show in January 2008 in San Diego; its 1500th show in June 2009 in Nagoya, Japan; and its 2000th show in September 2010 in Kazan
Kazan
Kazan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,143,546 , it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. In April 2009, the Russian Patent Office granted Kazan the...
, Russia.
The following colorboxes indicate the region of each performance:
Europe North America South and Central Americas Asia/Pacific Oceania Africa
2005 schedule
Montreal, QC - From 21 April 2005 to 19 June 2005 (show première)Quebec, QC - From 30 June 2005 to 24 July 2005
Toronto, ON - From 4 August 2005 to 11 September 2005
Minneapolis, MN - From 23 September 2005 to 23 October 2005
San Francisco, CA - From 11 November 2005 to 8 January 2006
2006 schedule
San Jose, CA - From 19 January 2006 to 5 March 2006Phoenix, AZ - From 16 March 2006 to 9 April 2006
New York, NY - From 25 April 2006 to 2 July 2006
Chicago, IL - From 14 July 2006 to 27 August 2006
Boston, MA - From 8 September 2006 to 15 October 2006
Washington, DC - From 26 October 2006 to 26 November 2006
Atlanta, GA - From 15 December 2006 to 28 January 2007
2007 schedule
Dallas, TX - From 9 February 2007 to 11 March 2007Houston, TX - From 22 March 2007 to 29 April 2007
Columbus, OH - From 11 May 2007 to 10 June 2007
Denver, CO - From 22 June 2007 to 5 August 2007
Los Angeles, CA - From 23 August 2007 to 28 October 2007
Costa Mesa, CA - From 8 November 2007 to 23 December 2007
2008 schedule
San Diego, CA - From 11 January 2008 to 17 February 2008Portland, OR - From 4 March 2008 to 13 April 2008
Seattle, WA - From 24 April 2008 to 1 June 2008
Vancouver, BC - From 12 June 2008 to 20 July 2008
Calgary, AB - From 31 July 2008 to 7 September 2008
Ottawa, ON - From 24 September 2008 to 26 October 2008
Miami, FL - From 13 November 2008 to 28 December 2008
2009 schedule
Tokyo, JP - From 4 February 2009 to 5 May 2009Nagoya, JP - From 21 May 2009 to 12 July 2009
Osaka, JP - From 29 July 2009 to 18 October 2009
Tokyo, JP - From 4 November 2009 to 24 January 2010
2010 schedule
Fukuoka, JP - From 11 February 2010 to 4 April 2010Sendai, JP - From 21 April 2010 to 6 June 2010
St Petersburg, RU - From 26 June 2010 to 8 August 2010
Kazan, RU - From 21 August 2010 to 26 September 2010
Moscow, RU - From 9 October 2010 to 12 December 2010
2011 schedule
Brussels, BE - From 4 January 2011 to 30 January 2011Vienna, AT - From 10 February 2011 to 20 March 2011
Madrid, ES - From 2 April 2011 to 5 June 2011
Valencia, ES - From 16 June 2011 to 17 July 2011
Alicante, ES - From 28 July 2011 to 28 August 2011
Sevilla, ES - From 7 September 2011 to 16 October 2011
Paris, FR - From 4 November 2011 to 31 December 2011
2012 schedule
Barcelona, ES - From 20 January 2012 to 11 March 2012Amsterdam, NL - From 23 March 2012 to 22 April 2012