Saltimbanco was a touring show by Cirque du Soleil. Saltimbanco ran from 1992 to 2006 in its original form, performed under a large circus tent called the Grand Chapiteau; its last performance in that form was in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on December 10, 2006. A new adaptation of the show started touring North America on July 31, 2007, with its first stop in London, Ontario, Canada. The new version was staged in arenas with fewer performances in each city it visited. The new version closed at the end of 2012. The show was described by Cirque du Soleil as a celebration of life. Its creators say they developed it as an antidote to the violence and despair prevalent in the 20th century.

Etymology

English has lost the word saltimbank from current usage; but it is still familiar in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian as saltimbanco, and in French as saltimbanque, meaning street acrobat or entertainer. According to the company's site, the word "saltimbanco" comes from the Italian "saltare in banco", which means "to jump on a bench." The etymology of the word reflects its acrobatic associations. A salto means a jump in Italian; banco in this connection is a trestle holding a board, set up as a temporary stage for open-air performers. 'Saltimbanchi' were thus those who performed somersaults on a temporary platform—wandering acrobats, performing as buskers in the open air, the platform giving their audience a better view.

History

Saltimbanco was Cirque du Soleil's longest running production when it closed at the end of 2012. In 2011 it was the first show by Cirque du Soleil to be presented in Turkey, and Ukraine, in 2012 the first show in Slovakia and in Amman, Jordan. Saltimbanco's last performance took place in Montreal on December 30, 2012 after 6,000 big top and arena appearances before 14 million spectators in 200 cities worldwide.

Set and technical information

Saltimbanco's set played on opposites and contradictions located within a cityscape. A rosace made of metal rings suspended over the stage allowed light to filter through like leaves on a tree. The lighting was cinematic in effect due to the usage of different colored gels. The facts listed below applied to the arena format of Saltimbanco, although some of these were also applicable to the grand chapiteau tour as well.

Cast

The 51-member performance troupe included multiple musicians, singers, acrobats, and characters. Characters mentioned in the show's promotional literature included: Numerous performers had portrayed the Baron and Eddie over the years, including René Bazinet (1992–1996), Gordon White (1993–1994), Julien Cottereau (1994–1997, 1998, 2000, 2004-2005), Frédéric Volovitch (1995-1997), Lee Ross (1999–2001), Jesko von den Steinen (2002–2005, 2006), Amo Gulinello (2005–2011), and Martin Pons (2011–2012). The 1993 Costa Mesa cast of 36 included; With Miguel Arias, Dimitrii Arnaoutov, Rene Bazinet, Alain Berge, Pawel Biegaj, Witek Biegaj, Martin Boisvert, Jean-Paul Boun, Jenny Clement, Andrea Conway, Vincent Cotnoir, Nicolas Dupere, Joscelyn Drainville, Alain Gauthier, Nui Guishan, Sun Hongli, Miguel Herrera, Galina Karableva, Guy Kaye, Brigitt Larochelle, Isabelle Larose, Jean-Francois Lemieux, Marco Lorador, Paulo Lorador, Daniel Olivier, Francois Dumais, Francine Poitras, Mathieu Roy, Karyne Steben, Sarah Steben, Sonia St-Martin, Zhang Shengli, Anton Tchelnokov, Nikolai Tchelnokov, Neomi Tamelio, Guennadi Tchijov, Huang Zhen.

Acts

The acts in Saltimbanco were a mix of traditional circus acts with more modern acts.

Rotational acts

Retired acts

Costumes

The costumes in Saltimbanco were bright and vivid in color to accentuate the dynamism of the urban city. The colors used in the costumes were all primary colors: cyan, yellow, magenta, and green. The Baron, clad in black, red, and white, wore a cape, length-arm gloves, and tights. The Multi-Colored Worms wore jumpsuits that covered everything but their faces. The Urban Worms's masks were made of a polyester resin base which was both hypoallergenic and permeable to air.

Music

The Saltimbanco score was written and composed by René Dupéré, and was released as a studio album on October 9, 1992. The music has a range of musical influences from the classical to the modern. The original soundtrack features the vocal work of Canadian vocalist Francine Poitras. In 2005, Cirque du Soleil re-recorded and released the soundtrack to update its music. Some songs were completely re-recorded, while others had new instrumentation added and included Poitras's original vocal track. Additional and new vocals were provided by Laurence Janot, a French singer who was touring with the show at the time. Every track was slightly edited in some form from the original CD. Several other limited editions of the album have been released. In 2001 Cirque du Soleil Musique released a limited edition of the original 1992 soundtrack featuring two additional tracks, "Arlequin" and "Adagio" (performed by Laur Fugere). Another limited edition of the CD, Saltimbanco Live in Amsterdam, was created and distributed exclusively to staff members of Saltimbanco. The employee special edition features a live, in-house recording of an entire performance and is considered a collector's item. Below is the list of tracks featured in the 2005 re-release of the album and alongside are the acts during which each song was performed. Other songs

Filmography

Saltimbanco's Diary

Cirque du Soleil Presents: Saltimbanco

The show was filmed and released as a 78-minute VHS in 1994, though the show's acts continued to change significantly after it was filmed.

Saltimbanco 20 ans Pour Toujours / Forever 20

In 2012, just before the show's retirement, a behind-the-scenes documentary was filmed, titled Saltimbanco Forever 20 (directed by Eric Chaussé; director of photography: Miguel Henriques; editor: Julie Bouffard). This documentary has thus far remained unreleased, although a short clip was leaked in October 2013. In 2014 another excerpt was leaked featuring an interview with boleadoras performer Adriana Pegueroles; another clip, about the show's music, was published in 2019.

Tour

Saltimbanco toured around the world several times during its original 14-year tour under the Grand Chapiteau. It played its final show in the Royal Albert Hall in London on 1 February 1997. Saltimbanco was revived the following year on 14 October 1998, and went on to tour the Asia-Pacific region. The show played for another nine years, becoming the first Cirque du Soleil show to tour South America, with visits to Santiago, Chile (March 2006); Buenos Aires, Argentina (May 2006); and São Paulo (August 2006) and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (October 2006). That tour's final performance took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 10 December 2006. Following its closure in December 2006, Saltimbanco was configured into an arena show format, and re-launched in July 2007 to commence an extensive North American tour, visiting cities and areas that Cirque du Soleil had previously been unable to visit. The tour started in London, Ontario and subsequently toured Canada and the United States. Saltimbanco’s three-year tour of North America ended in Columbus, Ohio. In 2009 the show embarked on its third tour of Europe. Between 2011 and 2012, it visited over 50 cities in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Eastern Europe, and North America. Saltimbanco's final performance took place in Montreal on 30 December 2012. Saltimbanco has been to many different regions, here is the list of all of them. The following colorboxes indicate the region of each performance: Europe North America South America Asia/Pacific Oceania Africa

Arena tour

1996 schedule

London, UK (Royal Albert Hall)- From 5 Jan 1996 to 28 Jan 1996

1997 schedule

London, UK (Royal Albert Hall) - From 2 Jan 1997 to 1 Feb 1997

2003 schedule

London, UK (Royal Albert Hall)- From 7 Jan 2003 to 6 Feb 2003

2007 schedule

2008 schedule

2009 schedule

2010 schedule

2011 schedule

2012 schedule

Grand Chapiteau tour

1992 schedule

Montréal, QC - From 23 Apr 1992 to 2 Jun 1992 (show première) Québec, QC - From 13 Jun 1992 to 28 Jun 1992 San Francisco, CA - From 14 Jul 1992 to 16 Aug 1992 San Jose, CA - From 27 Aug 1992 to 27 Sep 1992 Santa Monica, CA - From 8 Oct 1992 to 20 Dec 1992

1993 schedule

Costa Mesa, CA - From 30 Jan 1993 to 14 Mar 1993 New York, NY - From 30 Mar 1993 to 6 Jun 1993 Toronto, ON - From 18 Jun 1993 to 11 Jul 1993 Chicago, IL - From 28 Jul 1993 to 29 Aug 1993 Boston, MA - From 9 Sep 1993 to 3 Oct 1993 Washington, DC - From 14 Oct 1993 to 7 Nov 1993 Atlanta, GA - From 18 Nov 1993 to 19 Dec 1993

1994 schedule

Tokyo, JP - From 11 Mar 1994 to 11 Sep 1994 Montreal, QC - From 02 Nov 1994 to 08 Jan 1995

1995 schedule

Amsterdam, NL - From 9 Mar 1995 to 13 Apr 1995 Munich, DE - From 19 May 1995 to 9 Jul 1995 Berlin, DE - From 21 Jul 1995 to 3 Sep 1995 Düsseldorf, DE - From 15 Sep 1995 to 17 Oct 1995 Vienna, AT - From 10 Nov 1995 to 17 Dec 1995

1996 schedule

(Saltimbanco played in the Royal Albert Hall in London, UK during this time) Hamburg, DE - From 8 Feb 1996 to 10 Mar 1996 Amsterdam, NL - From 5 Apr 1996 to 19 May 1996 Stuttgart, DE - From 31 May 1996 to 14 Jul 1996 Antwerp, BE - From 26 Jul 1996 to 1 Sep 1996 Zurich, CH - From 13 Sep 1996 to 20 Oct 1996 Frankfurt, DE - From 11 Nov 1996 to 22 Dec 1996

1997 schedule

(Saltimbanco played in the Royal Albert Hall in London, UK during this time)

1998 schedule

Ottawa, ON - From 14 Oct 1998 to 1 Nov 1998

1999 schedule

Sydney, AU - From 7 Jan 1999 to 7 Mar 1999 Melbourne, AU - From 18 Mar 1999 to 16 May 1999 Brisbane, AU - From 28 May 1999 to 8 Jul 1999 Adelaide, AU - From 21 Jul 1999 to 25 Aug 1999 Perth, AU - From 9 Sep 1999 to 17 Oct 1999 Singapore, SG - From 25 Nov 1999 to 8 Jan 2000

2000 schedule

Hong Kong, HK - From 25 Jan 2000 to 19 Mar 2000 Portland, OR - From 11 May 2000 to 25 Jun 2000 Seattle, WA - From 6 Jul 2000 to 3 Sep 2000 Tokyo, JP - From 12 Oct 2000 to 28 Jan 2001

2001 schedule

Fukuoka, JP - From 9 Feb 2001 to 8 Apr 2001 Nagoya, JP - From 20 Apr 2001 to 3 Jun 2001 Osaka, JP - From 10 Jun 2001 to 9 Sep 2001 Yokohama, JP - From 20 Sep 2001 to 25 Nov 2001

2002 schedule

Amsterdam, NL - From 14 Feb 2002 to 14 Apr 2002 Barcelona, ES - From 26 Apr 2002 to 26 May 2002 Vienna, AT - From 10 Jul 2002 to 4 Aug 2002 Brussels, BE - From 4 Sep 2002 to 19 Oct 2002 Madrid, ES - From 31 Oct 2002 to 26 Dec 2002

2003 schedule

(Saltimbanco played in the Royal Albert Hall in London, UK during this time) Bilbao, ES - From 26 Feb 2003 to 6 Apr 2003 Geneva, CH - From 18 Apr 2003 to 25 May 2003 Cologne, DE - From 5 Jun 2003 to 29 Jun 2003 Oostende, BE - From 24 Jul 2003 to 17 Aug 2003 Zurich, CH - From 19 Sep 2003 to 26 Oct 2003 Valencia, ES - From 28 Nov 2003 to 21 Dec 2003

2004 schedule

Seville, ES - From 16 Jan 2004 to 22 Feb 2004 Lyon, FR - From 5 Mar 2004 to 18 Apr 2004 Milan, IT - From 29 Apr 2004 to 6 Jun 2004 Gijon, ES - From 25 Jun 2004 to 31 Jul 2004 Frankfurt, DE - From 20 Aug 2004 to 25 Sep 2004 Rome, IT - From 7 Oct 2004 to 31 Oct 2004 Lille, FR - From 25 Nov 2004 to 26 Dec 2004

2005 schedule

Manchester, UK - From 6 Jan 2005 to 27 Jan 2005 Birmingham, UK - From 24 Feb 2005 to 13 Mar 2005 Paris, FR - From 8 Apr 2005 to 17 Jul 2005 Monterrey, MX - From 4 Aug 2005 to 11 Sep 2005 Mexico City, MX - From 22 Sep 2005 to 6 Nov 2005 Guadalajara, MX - From 17 Nov 2005 to 1 Jan 2006

2006 schedule

Mexico City, MX - From 13 Jan 2006 to 5 Feb 2006 Santiago, CL - From 15 Mar 2006 to 22 Apr 2006 Buenos Aires, AR - From 5 May 2006 to 11 Jun 2006 São Paulo, BR - From 3 Aug 2006 to 22 Oct 2006 Rio de Janeiro, BR - From 2 Nov 2006 to 10 Dec 2006 (final show under Big Top)