Internal logic of the “crescendos” in the numbers of the shows by Cirque du Soleil (1986-2005)

Abstract

Objective: The aim is to analyze how the contemporary circus company Cirque du Soleil progressively increases the dramatic intensity of the scenes ine. its creations in order to transfer its form of composition to other creations, and also to propose the criteria used, in a pedagogical context that uses circus as an educational resource. The methodology used is observational, through the application of a field format, applied to the study of the ten shows of the company premiered between 1986 and 2005. This instrument was made by applying the lenses of the motor action science, the motor praxiology. Results and discussion: The results show various forms of accentuation of dramatic intensity, linked to the components of the internal logic of the circus show: to colleagues, increasing the number of people involved in carrying out motor actions; to the space, varying the figures, increasing their difficulty and risk, increasing the height in which they are made, or reducing the support surface; at the time, prolonging the flight times, maintaining the execution time of various figures, or increasing the execution speed; and to objects, increasing the number of objects involved in the numbers. The conclusions indicate that the exhaustive knowledge of the components of the internal logic of the circus will allow to recreate crescendos in the dramaturgy of the circus numbers. As final considerations indicate that these forms of crescendo are used in the progression of the numbers of a professional company, but they are equally applicable to the composition of circus scenes in an educational context.