Meeting Minutes
Torch Club of the Fox Valley
12 October 2017
Atlas Coffee Mill & Café
Notes taken by: Sofia Wilson, Secretary
Attendees: Karen Bachhuber , Sue Bennett, Mary Flanagan, Paul Frieberg, Jean Hedges, Walt Hedges, Jean Jepson, Barbara Kelly, William Kelly, Jude Kuenn , Mary Poulson, Robert Swain, Helen Thiel, Peter L. Thiel and Sofia Wilson
Guest: None
BUSINESS MEETING
Meeting called to order at 6:35pm.
- Meeting minutes from 9/14/17 were accepted with correction on Nancy’s border collie; motioned, seconded and approved.
- Treasurer’s report: 10/5/17 balance is at $2,718.52. Dues are due by November. The Single membership renewal is $70. Second in household is $45. Membership List passed around for review. Report was accepted, motioned, seconded and approved.
- Old Business:
- A. Speakers for 2017-18 – We are covered for the season. Jude K. is going to speak in November on the Pottawatomie Lighthouse.
B. Donation on Behalf of Janet Cloak – Reviewed types of Poetry books (environmental, local poets, specific poets, etc.) as options for the donation. Barbara will work with the Appleton Public Library Acquisitions on a book they want. Discussed having the Torch logo on the recognition plate as well as identifying Janet as a Poet and Environmentalist.
New Business:
No New Business.
- Announcements:
A. Richard – The Trout Museum of Art currently has an Origami Exhibit, ORIcursion –Original Origami by Robert J Lang showing until December 31, 2017. Robert Lang is speaking on Oct. 25th at 6:30p.
B. Mary – Noonhour Philosophers - latest schedule provided. Oct. 18th is “Progress in Demential Inclusion: A Report from Berlin” by Susan and John McFadden. Oct. 25th is “How do genes work? What can go wrong to cause genetic disease?” by Elizabeth DeStasio
C. Peter – The Appleton Historical Society is hosting a Beer, Wine and Cheese tasting event at the Grand Meridian on Thursday Oct. 19th from 6-9p.
D. Jude – The Fox Cities 2017 Book Festival is going on until October 15th.
Business segment adjourned at 6:55pm for dinner.
Sofia Wilson – Cirque du Soleil
A brief history of Cirque du Soleil:
- It is the concept of Guy Lalibèrte & Gilles Ste. Croix, brought to life with a grant from Canada for the 450th anniversary of Jacques Cartier. Both Guy and Gilles starts as street buskers.
- Founded in 1984, they first visited the United states on a “make it or break it trip” to Los Angeles
- Fortunately it was a huge success; With help and funding to get them through the rough patches, Cirque du Soleil has grown to the size it is now.
Analyzing the Magic of the Show breaks into five components: Story, Sets, Costumes, Acts and Sounds
Story:
- 20 active shows, and 16 retired shows
- Each show is a unique concept and story
- Permanent shows – 7 in Las Vegas, 1 in Orlando and 1 in Riviera Maya (near Cancun)
- The 1st permanent show was Mystère in 1993 (still active)
- 10 Touring Shows – Traveling shows visit over 300 cities and every continent except Antarctica
- Shows perform 270-470 times a year, depending on the type of show (traveling big top, traveling arena or resident show)
- Cirque du Soleil employs over 600 artists (acrobats, actors, singers, etc.) that represent over 50 countries and speak over 25 languages.
- At the Corporate Office in Montreal, there are over 5000 employees.
- Example of cast and crew for the O (Bellagio) – 85 performers and 150 stage tech
- Resident shows average 2 shows a day, 5 days a week
Stage:
- The stage is a major character in the story. It helps transport the audience into the imaginary world presented.
Costumes:
- Costumes help emphasize the characters of the story
- Recruit a lot of the performers from the Olympics (respecting the countries the performers represent, they must wait until they are no longer competing)
- Also recruit from specific regions for specific talents. Examples given, when looking for scuba divers they go to Hawaii. When looking for Contortionists, they go to Mongolia (a regionally specific child’s pastime)
- Typically performers train 12 hrs a week, in addition to performances. They are generally only offered 1-2 year contracts
- Cirque du Soleil is known for an exceptionally good safety record
Acts:
- There are two types of acts, traditional and Modern.
- Traditional acts consist of Gymnastics, Strength, acrobatics and balance.
- Modern acts raise the level of skill bringing in the elements, like water; include ice skating, dancing, climbing, synchronized trampoline, and extreme/daredevil sports with roller and inline skates and biking
Sound and the Complete Spectacle:
- The only way to describe the sound is to show it.
- Played the trailer for the traveling show Luzia
- All shows have live music and singing, along with unique and original composed scores for each show.
Cirque du Soleil Philanthropy:
- Highlight two programs Cirque du Soleil has started and maintained
- Cirque du Monde – Social Circus Program started in 1995, targets at risk youth ages 8-25. They are present in 80 countries. Closest schools to us are in St. Paul, MN and Chicago, IL.
- One of the stories from some of the traveling teachers talked about teaching circus performance without a similar language. The teacher spoke French and the children spoke Zulu.
- One Drop – International Non Profit focused on water initiatives. Focus is in Central America, India and West Africa. Have provided safe permanent water for 340,000 people.
What’s Next:
- Got out of the lounge/night club business – they had 3 in Las Vegas.
- Two new traveling shows, Crystal and Volta. Crystal in in Chicago the second week of November.
- July 2017 – Cirque du Soleil acquired Blue Man Group.
- New Hangzhou, China Permanent Show set for a November 2018 open.
- Cirque du Soleil Theme Park in Neuvo Vallerta, Mexico set to open in the middle of 2019.
- Dubai permanent show in development set to open in 2018.
- New Jersey American Dream Supermall Permanent show set to open in 2018.