Guy Laliberté was
born in
Quebec City in 1959. An accordion player, stiltwalker and fire-eater, this daring visionary founded Quebec's first internationally renowned circus. With the
help of a small
band of
kindred spirits, Laliberté recognized and groomed the talents of
the street entertainers from the Fête foraine de
Baie-Saint-Paul and created
Cirque du Soleil in 1984.
Already a multitalented artist,
Guy Laliberté
quickly dove into the
business world to
plan and
maintain the growth of the
young company. Despite the group's lack of experience, he managed to convince financial institutions to back the project, winning them over with the originality and audacity of youth. He also developed a network of
partners around the world to
help Cirque du Soleil make a
name for itself abroad.
Guy Laliberté was the first to orchestrate the marriage of
cultures and artistic and acrobatic disciplines that is
the hallmark of
Cirque du Soleil. Since 1984, he has guided the
creative team through the
creation of every
show and contributed to elevating the circus arts to the
level of the great artistic disciplines.
Thanks to its founder's
vision and
talent for bringing
people together,
Cirque du Soleil has become an
international organization, as much in terms of its makeup as in the scope of its activities and influence.
Guy Laliberté now heads an organization with activities on
five continents.
In 1997,
Guy Laliberté received the Ordre
National du Québec, the highest distinction awarded by the
Government of Quebec. In 2001, he was named a Great Montrealer by the Acadé
mie des
Grands Montréalais. In 2003, he was honoured by the Condé Nast group as part of the Never Follow Program, a tribute to creators and innovators.
; "Guy Laliberté")
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