Nouvelle Expérience


Nouvelle Expérience was Cirque du Soleil's fourth touring circus show, which premiered in 1990.
Before the show's conception, Cirque du Soleil attempted to revive one of its previous shows, Le Cirque Réinventé. The attempt was abandoned after a weak critical reception. Laliberté and Ste-Croix instead created a new show based on the plans that had originally been drawn up by Caron before his departure. Originally intended to be called Eclipse, they renamed the show Nouvelle Expérience and launched it in 1990.
Franco Dragone agreed to return—albeit reluctantly—but only if he had full creative control of the show's environment. One of the first things he did was to remove the curtain that separated the artist from the audience, so that they would both feel part of a larger show. Whereas in a traditional circus the artist could go past the curtain and drop his role, Dragone had created an environment where the artist had to remain in character for the full length of the production.
Although Dragone was given full control over the show, Laliberté oversaw the entire production. He was in favor of Dragone's new ideas. Inspired by Jules Verne's "La Chasse au Météore", Dragone's concept for the show was that the performers were playing the parts of jewels spread around the Earth.
Nouvelle Expérience turned out to be Cirque du Soleil's most popular show up to that point and would continue running until 1993. It spent one of those years at The Mirage Resort and Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, seen by over 1.3 million people during its 3½-year run. By the end of 1990, the company was profitable again and was prepared to start a new show.

Characters

The acts of Nouvelle Expérience blended theatre, music, circus arts and dance:
The costumes of Nouvelle Expérience were designed to complement the wood theme of the set. Dominique Lemieux, costume designer, combined many different styles for the highly theatrical costumes, which makes it difficult to pin them down to any specific period. Surprisingly, some of the costumes worn are lined with upholstery material which make them very heavy. For example. the Flounes' medieval-esque costumes, made of a mix of lycra, velvet, and satin, weigh over.

Music

The show's original score was composed by René Dupéré and performed live by five musicians. The show featured one singer, Cécile Ardail, who sang for the balancing on chairs act as well as played one of the Floune characters. A studio album of the music was released in 1990 and again in 1993, the tracks of which are listed below. It features two singers, Francine Poitras, who sang only for the album, and Cécile Ardail. The track of the Fil de Fer act is the only one which was not recorded on the album. Nouvelle Expérience marked the first time Cirque du Soleil's music used an invented language for the lyrics, a tradition that has persisted in most of the company's subsequent musical scores.
  1. Fanfare '
  2. Méandres '
  3. Boléro '
  4. Bascule '
  5. Fixe '
  6. Ballant '
  7. Baleines '
  8. Havi Vahlia '
  9. Suite Chinoise '
  10. Éclipse
  11. L'Oiseau '
  12. Azimut '
  13. Sanza '
  14. Grosse Femme '
Additional songs in the show not included on the album:
  1. Cinéma
  2. Danse à 3 Jambes
  3. Cloches
  4. La Clarinette
  5. Marche de Fil '
  6. Trapeze
  7. Bars

    Vocalists

Nouvelle Expérience began its grand chapiteau tour of North America in Montreal on 8 May 1990 and ended it in Las Vegas on 21 November 1993. The following colorboxes indicate the region of each performance: North America

Grand Chapiteau tour

1990 schedule