裁員之後 太陽劇團風光不再？
摘錄自：天下雜誌 經濟學人電子報 2014/2/28
2014-02-19 Web
only 作者：經濟學人
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| 圖片來源：flickr.com/photos/srgblog/ |
魁北克的天主教徒大幅減少後，這間位於聖埃斯普里的教堂現在已經變成魁北克馬戲學校，每年吸引了2萬名學生。校董奈夫（Yves Neveu）半開玩笑地表示，有人認為大主教應該要嫉妒，因為他讓教堂坐滿了人。而在不遠處的蒙特利爾，還有間更大的馬戲表演學校。
雖然只有少數學生會成為馬戲表演者，課程的熱門程度依舊顯示了魁北克對馬戲表演的狂熱程度。這股狂熱的核心，正是1984年由一群高蹺表演者創立的太陽劇團。現在，太陽劇團是加拿大最重要的文化出口產品，員工人數達5000人，在拉斯維加斯有8場固定表演，還有12場全球巡迴表演，其2012年營收約為10億加幣。
《經濟學人》曾在2005年問道，太陽劇團的主要擁有者拉利伯提（Guy Laliberté），是否能讓劇團繼續風光下去。去年太陽劇團裁員400人之時，此疑問也再次浮上水面。太陽劇團將裁員歸疚於加幣走強和全球衰退的後續效應，但強調劇團並未面臨危機。
不過，重新定義馬戲表演、將目標放在成人而非兒童的太陽劇團，現在的處境一定比過去困難。INSEAD商學院的管理策略專家認為，太陽劇團在初期能快速成功，是因為它創造了沒有競爭的藍海；太陽劇團共同創立者桑科瓦（Gilles Ste-Croix）表示，現在，那片大海中已滿是鯊魚。
除了改變表演內容的舊有馬戲團外，結合諸多學科的藝術潮流，例如將特技帶進歌劇等，也帶來了不少競爭。小型競爭者亦在太陽劇團的巨大陰影之中崛起；例如，名為Les 7 doigts de la main的團體在百老匯創下票房紀錄，2年前由一群朋友創立的Flip FabriQue現在也開始世界巡迴。
表演者來來去去，對太陽劇團來說，這些比較新的團體既是競爭者也是合作對像。此外，太陽劇團還會與魁北克的當地表演者合作，進一步強化魁北克的娛樂產業。曾為太陽劇團成員的奈夫認為，許多學生會加入較小的表演團體而非太陽劇團，也相信這是件好事。即使如此，太陽劇團仍舊是顆眾團體環繞的恆星。（黃維德譯）
©The Economist
Newspaper Limited 2014
The Economist
The circus business
Sunstroke
By The Economist
From The Economist
Published:
February 19, 2014
Feb 15th 2014 |
QUEBEC CITY | From the print edition
Cirque du Soleil
may be struggling, but the cluster around it is thriving.
IN THE
deconsecrated church of Saint-Esprit, jugglers toss fluorescent orange clubs in
front of the former altar, trapeze artists soar under the gaze of stone saints
and wobbly unicyclists use two lines of repurposed pews as handrails. Declared
surplus to requirements after Quebeckers deserted Catholicism in droves, the
church is now the École de Cirque de Québec, through which 20,000 aspiring
entertainers pass each year. The school's director, Yves Neveu, says only
half-jokingly, "Someone said the archbishop should be jealous because I'm
filling my church." Nearby Montreal boasts an even bigger school for
circus performers.
Although only a
handful of students go on to a career in the circus, the popularity of the
programmes offered to would-be acrobats, local children and even tourists off
cruise ships is the visible manifestation of the circus craze that has gripped
Quebec. At its heart is the privately owned Cirque du Soleil, started in 1984
by a troupe of stilt-walkers from nearby Baie-Saint-Paul. It is now one of
Canada's most important cultural exports, employing 5,000 people at eight
permanent shows in Las Vegas and at 12 others that tour the world. In 2012 its
turnover was about C$1 billion ($900m)—it does not reveal its profits.
In 2005 this
newspaper asked whether Guy Laliberté, majority owner of the circus, could keep
it flying. That question was raised again early last year when the company laid
off 400 employees, mainly at its head office in Montreal. The company has
blamed the strong Canadian dollar (which has since weakened) and the
after-effects of the global recession, which hit sponsorship income. It has
launched a cost-cutting drive but insists it is not in crisis.
However, the
company that reinvented the circus by eschewing traditional acts such as lion
tamers and bearded ladies, and by targeting adults rather than children, is
certainly finding it tougher going these days. It enjoyed early and rapid
success because it had created an uncontested blue ocean in which to swim,
according to two management strategists from INSEAD business school in France.
"That ocean is now full of sharks," says Gilles Ste-Croix, one of the
original stilt-walkers, who is now the company's "artistic guide".
Competition comes
not just from older circuses that have updated their acts, such as Ringling
Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, but also from a trend in the arts to merge
various disciplines, for instance by bringing acrobats into operas.
Smaller rivals
have also emerged from the large shadow Cirque du Soleil casts in Quebec. A
troupe called "Les 7 doigts de la main" set a box-office record at
the Broadway theatre where they performed a show called "Pippin".
Flip FabriQue, formed by a group of friends just two years ago, is now
travelling the world. And Cirque Alfonse toured Europe, Asia and America in
2013 with a truly Canadian spectacle called "Timber!", which features
chainsaw-juggling lumberjacks.
These newer
outfits are both a source of competition and collaboration for Cirque du
Soleil, with performers moving back and forth. It also collaborates with
notable local talents, such as Robert LePage, a director, playwright and actor
whose company Ex Machina is based in Quebec City. This has reinforced what has
become a Quebec entertainment cluster.
Mr Neveu, a Cirque
du Soleil alumnus, thinks that rather than serving a spell with his former
employer, many of the students at his school will go straight to work in one of
the many smaller troupes, which he sees as a healthy trend. Even so, Cirque du
Soleil remains the sun around which all the others are orbiting.
©The Economist
Newspaper Limited 2014
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