an overview of the entertainment company Cirque Du Soleil which rejuvinated the circus industry by incorporating art,dance, music, theme based storyline in the entertainment industry..
The performances at Cirque were very innovative and quite different from what people normally saw. It added a certain amount of sophistication to traditional circus and thus carved out a niche market for itself.
In a maturing circus industry dominated by more than a century old giant players like the Ringlings and Barnum & Bailey, Guy Laliberté and Daniel Gauthier founded Cirque du Soleil (Circus of the Sun) in 1984. Cirque was a new entrant in an industry, which was afflicted with falling revenues and profit for a long time. During this time, children, the traditional patrons of the circus, were more attracted towards television, computers and video games compared to animal acts, clowns and jugglers featured in a circus. Rather than sticking to the age-old formula for running a circus, Laliberté and Gauthier built their circus along unconventional lines. After identifying that the three core elements of any circus were the tent, the clowns and the acrobatic acts, they did away with the expensive animal acts and launched shows based on unique themes, soundtrack, costumes and sets. Cirque's 'one of a kind' shows that resembled theatric and ballet performances, targeted adults rather than children. After achieving phenomenal success in a matter of two decades, Laliberté planned to extend the Cirque du Soleil brand to spas, restaurants and resorts. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is an American circus company. The company was started when the circus created by James Anthony Bailey and P. T. Barnum was merged with the Ringling Brothers Circus . The Ringling brothers purchased the Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1907, but ran the circuses separately until they were finally merged in 1919.
Cirque du Soleil broke the best practice rule of the circus industry, achieving both differentiation and low cost by reconstructing elements across existing industry boundaries.