Implementation of Calf Endurance Training in a Touring Group of Professional Circus Performers: A Feasibility Study

BACKGROUND: Demanding performance schedules in modern professional circus can result in less time for injury rehabilitation and strength and conditioning for injury prevention. Lower limb injuries are a common injury presentation in Cirque du Soleil touring show performers. OBJECTIVE: To examine the feasibility of introducing a calf raise exercise program in an established professional touring circus show over a 9-week period. METHODS: Twenty-nine professional Cirque du Soleil circus performers were recruited (mean age 31.28 [SD 4.99] yrs). Performers completed the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Centre Overuse (OSTRC) questionnaire each week for 18 weeks. In the second 9-week period, performers completed one set of single-leg calf raises to fatigue on each limb, once per day, every workday. Health problems between each 9-week period were compared. Feasibility was measured via program adherence and an end-of-study survey. Calf endurance was assessed by measuring the number of single leg calf raises to fatigue. RESULTS: Adherence was high throughout the program, with 93.5% of all exercise sessions completed. Endurance increased by a mean of 22.62 (SD 27.99) calf raises. No significant changes in the prevalence of self-reported soreness and injury were found: 51.9 (95%CI 44.4, 57.5) of the population reported lower limb injuries during the pre-intervention period and 52.5 (95%CI 49.2, 55.8) during the intervention. Similarly, no significant changes were found in severity scores: 20.7 (95%CI 17.7, 23.7) pre-intervention and 20.9 (95%CI 19.4, 22.4) during intervention. CONCLUSION: A single-leg calf raise exercise program can be feasibly introduced into a touring, performing professional circus show without increasing injury numbers or self-reported soreness. Furthermore, gains in calf raise endurance can be obtained during a 9-week intervention period.

Lógica interna de los “crescendos” en los números de los espectáculos de Cirque du Soleil (1986-2005)

El objetivo es analizar cómo la compañía de circo contemporáneo Cirque du Soleil aumenta progresivamente la intensidad dramática de las escenas en sus creaciones para poder trasladar su forma de composición a otras creaciones, y asimismo llegar a proponer los criterios utilizados, en un contexto pedagógico que utilice el circo como recurso educativo. La metodología utilizada es la observacional, mediante la aplicación de un formato de campo, aplicado al estudio de los diez espectáculos de la compañía estrenados entre 1986-2005. Este instrumento se realizó aplicando las lentes de la ciência de la acción motriz, la praxiología motriz. Resultados y discusion: Los resultados muestran diversas formas de acentuación de la intensidad dramática, vinculadas a los componentes de la lógica interna del espectáculo circense: a los compañeros y compañeras, aumentando el número de personas implicadas en la realización de acciones motrices; al espacio, variando las figuras, aumentando la dificultad y riesgo de las mismas, elevando la altura en la que se realizan, o disminuyendo la superficie de apoyo; al tiempo, prolongando los tiempos de vuelo, manteniendo el tiempo de ejecución de diversas figuras, o incrementando la velocidad de ejecución; y a los objetos, aumentando el número de objetos implicados en los números. Las conclusiones señalan que el conocimiento exhaustivo de los componentes de la lógica interna del circo permitirá recrear crescendos en la dramaturgia de los números de circo. Como consideraciones finales indicar que estas formas de crescendo se utilizan en la progresión de los números de una compañía profesional, pero son igualmente aplicables a la composición de escenas de circo en un contexto educativo.

Motives of circus attendees in South Africa: The case of Cirque du Soleil Dralion

The purpose of this research was to determine the motives of attendees to Cirque du Soleil’s Dralion production in a developing country. The results revealed five key motives, namely uniqueness, enchantment and aesthetics, fun and entertainment, socialisation and social status and act affiliation. Clustering based on these motives revealed three distinct clusters namely Enthusiasts, Novices and Observers. These clusters show that attendees are not homogeneous in terms of their socio-demographic and behavioural profiles. While the Enthusiasts and Observers displayed similar characteristics to other clusters found in previous research, this research made a clear contribution in identifying Novices as a new emerging segment and suggesting the implications of retaining and expanding this market. The findings of this research can greatly assist marketers of these types of production to expand interest in the arts and increase accessibility to a larger audience.

From the safety net to the injury prevention web: applying systems thinking to unravel injury prevention challenges and opportunities in Cirque du Soleil

ObjectiveWe undertook this qualitative study within an international circus company—Cirque du Soleil—to explore the narrative of artists and the artistic team in regards to injuries and their prevention and to describe the prevention of injuries from a systems thinking lens.MethodsFocus groups (FG) with artists and semistructured individual interviews with the artistic team were conducted in six selected shows. The structure of the interviews and FGs concerned the themes: ‘injury’, ‘injury-related factors’ and ‘injury prevention’. Data were analysed through comparative data analysis based on Grounded Theory. Concept mapping and systems thinking approaches were used to design a map of participants’ views on how to prevent injuries.ResultsInjury was mainly described based on performance limitation. The factors mostly mentioned to be related to injury occurrence were physical load factors. Many of these factors were said to be connected and to influence each other. Injury prevention was mapped as a multilevel system, composed by artist-related factors (eg, technique and life style) and extrinsic factors (eg, touring conditions and equipment) that integrate different strategies and stakeholders.ConclusionOur study reinforces the importance of multilevel injury prevention approaches with shared responsibility and open communication among stakeholders.

Breathing for Peak Performance

“Breathing is essential to our survival, it is necessary for energy production, and it is something we do about 20,000 times a day,” says Franklin, who has taught at various universities and ballets and coached world champions and Cirque du Soleil artists in his Franklin Method. “We stand to benefit if we improve our breathing.” In Breathing for Peak Performance, you will learn how to improve your own breathing and the breathing of those you coach and work with. “To improve your breathing or to coach someone who needs to improve, first you need that solid understanding of anatomy,” Franklin says. “And you need to understand the habits that can hinder efficient breathing—tension, poor posture, and negative thinking, among others.”

Markets changing, changing markets: Institutional work as market shaping

There is increasing interest in the marketing discipline to adopt an institutional perspective when examining markets. This requires seeing markets as complex systems that evolve through time, rather than as preexisting, stable structures. Using a historical, longitudinal case study, we integrate the “institutional work” framework as a lens to understand the process of market change in the novel, historic case of circus in North America through the 20th century. We explore the decline of the market for traditional American circus, and the emergence, in the 1970s, of the adjacent market for new circus, with a specific focus on the world’s preeminent new circus company, Cirque du Soleil. Theoretical contributions of the article include a “market-shaping activities” framework that illustrates market shaping involves considerably more actors than the dyad of producer and consumer. Market-shaping occurs through an interdependent process involving institutionalized practices, beliefs and expectations, and the intentional activities of market actors at any institutional level. Market change is shared, iterative, and recursive, that is cocreated, and undertaken by market actors both formal and informal. Market shapers do not necessarily work in an orchestrated fashion; nevertheless, vibrant networks of complementary actors contribute positively to the construction of shared identities and normative networks. From a managerial perspective, we find implications for policy makers, funders, strategists, and marketers.