Cirque Du Soleil Before the Cirque Du Soleil became the multimillion dollar industry that it is today, it started off as a shared idea between two Canadian circus performers in the 1980s. Guy Laliberte and Gilles Ste-Croix both became obsessed with combining circus skills with aspects that rooted from theatre. Their inspiration came from previous work that Ste-Croix had partaken in that incorporated papier-mâché animals with stilt-walkers and musicians. They also found inspiration in the European cirque nouveau movement from the 1970s. This movement frowned upon the use of live animals in acts because they wanted to show true talent through the use of acrobats, clowns, and jugglers paired with choreography and theatrical themes (Markels). Laliberte launched the Cirque’s first major show, Le Grand Tour, in 1984. Within two years the show had travelled all over Canada and Laliberte began introducing new shows to large cities across the border and into the United States (Markels). At the time, the public was unsure how to feel about watching a “circus” act that didn’t contain the giant roaring lion and the elephants as entertainment. For Laliberte and Ste-Croix the decision to exclude animals was more practical then creativity. By eliminating animals from their shows, the Cirque would save a fair amount of money because they required care and feeding along with a nice paycheck to their star handlers. Too their surprise, the “whole new circus concept,” drew quite the crowd (Lotozo). It is easy to say, today Cirque Du Soleil is doing exceptionally