Corteo


Corteo is a Cirque du Soleil touring production that premiered in Montreal, Quebec, 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. The show's final performance under the big top took place in Quito, Ecuador on 13 December 2015. On November 20, 2017, Cirque du Soleil announced that the show would once again set out on tour, this time in the arena format. The re-staged show premiered March 2, 2018 in New Orleans.
Cortéo—an Italian word meaning "cortège" or procession—is a contemporary circus show about a clown who watches his own funeral taking place in a carnival-like atmosphere. It was partly inspired by The Grand Parade: Portrait of the Artist as Clown on display at the National Gallery of Canada and the movie I Clowns by Federico Fellini.
Directed by Daniele Finzi Pasca, founder of the Swiss clown troupe Teatro Sunil and director of several shows by Cirque Éloize, Cortéo was presented in the round under a large tent. The action took place on a large circular stage consisting of concentric rotating rings. This allowed one area of the stage to rotate while another remained stationary. At times during the performance, the stage was divided by a large curtain illustrated with a painting called the Cortéo Procession. There were entrances/exits at either side of the circular stage.

Set and technical information

During its big top tour, Cirque du Soleil divided the Grand Chapiteau in two by creating a stage that spanned 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 long stage were two turntables with a diameter of. Corteo's set had a special overhead transport mechanism, dubbed the "Patience", which had two rails fitted with four platform-like carts each. Each cart had a lifting capacity of and a top speed of. At its highest point, it was above the stage.
The curtains utilized in Corteo were painted in watercolors and were inspired by a painting from 1885 by Adolphe Willette. The Roll Drop curtains were about in width and 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 was a labyrinth which exactly matches the proportions and size of the one on the floor of Chartres Cathedral.

Cast

The principal characters of Corteo were clowns, as is fitting for a clown's funeral, but 62 artists comprised the full troupe.
The acts in Corteo brought together the passion of acting with the grace and power of acrobatics.
Corteo's costume designer, Dominique Lemieux, utilized "matériaux bruts et des matières nobles" to create a wardrobe that accentuated the artists' 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 included silk, linen, and cotton, which were 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 was around 450 costumes with 284 rotations. During each show day, 12 to 16 hours of ironing was necessary to prepare the costumes.
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 contributions 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.
Listed below are the tracks from the CD, alongside the acts during which they were played.
  1. Funerale '
  2. Ritornare '
  3. Rêve d'un pantin '
  4. Les chevaux à bottes '
  5. Nos dejó '
  6. Klezmer Moment '
  7. Prendersi per mano '
  8. Anneaux '
  9. El cielo sabrá
  10. * Tightwire
  11. * Suspended pole
  12. Fugue '
  13. Volo volando '
  14. Un tierno y dulce '
  15. Balade au bout d'une échelle '
  16. Garda lassù '
  17. Triangle tango '
  18. Che finalone '
;Other Songs

Male baritone

Cirque du Soleil 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 award for Outstanding Picture Editing for a Special. The following day, it also won a Gémeaux for Meilleur montage - humour, variétés, arts de la scène.

Tour

Following Corteo's première in Montreal in 2005, it was 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; its 2000th show in September 2010 in Kazan, Russia, and its 3500th show in March 2015 in Bogota, Colombia.
Corteo began with a North American tour, which was followed by a Japanese tour in 2009. The show did not go on to any other cities in Asia or Oceania, but instead proceeded to a European tour and then a South American tour.
The show's Big Top final performance took place in Quito, Ecuador on 13 December 2015.
The show has been adapted to an arena format and premiered in New Orleans, Louisiana, kicking off a two-year tour across North America in March 2018.

Reception

Reviews of Corteo in the news media were mixed. In 2005, the Toronto Sun found the show "brilliant" but the Oakland Tribune concluded that it merely "settles for being very good". The New York Times gave a lukewarm review in May 2006, stating at best that it "will pass the time pleasantly for those who have seen and enjoyed previous Cirque extravaganzas". Although The Washington Post named it an "Editors' Pick" in November 2006, the headline of its article noted, "Some of the Thrill Is Gone". LA Weekly in 2007 praised the acrobats but criticized the clowns. A March 2008 review in The Oregonian was similarly reserved, stating that there is a "disparity in the quality of the acts" and a "lack of a cohesive ending". Sun Media was enthusiastic about an Ottawa performance of Corteo in September 2008.
In May 2018, The Daily Nebraskan praised the show, saying it left the audience dazzled.