What is Cirque du Soleil?

The literal meaning is circus of the sun. It's a grand name. And it conjures up all kinds of possible images.

But what exactly is it?

There's a history behind the name

To find that history you need to step back to the 1980's. Not that long ago in the grand scheme of things.

It started in a small village in Canada called Baie-Saint-Paul. But this wasn't your average village. It had a group of local entertainers that were actually pretty good at doing things like breathing fire, walking on stilts, dancing, and juggling. They certainly weren't your average local citizens. One of them happened to be Guy Laliberté, the founder of Cirque du Soleil.

So how did a band of local entertainers turn into a global name?

The 450th anniversary of the discovery of Canada in Quebec

Guy Laliberté may have been a local entertainer but he obviously had some more modern networking skills as well. He managed to persuade those behind the 450th anniversary of Canada that his band of local entertainers would be the best way to share the celebration with other citizens of Quebec. They got the green light to go ahead and have never looked back.

The group has continued to grow ever since that first major event and now consists of a band of extremely talented and dedicated artists around the world. The group in Tokyo is just one of the branches that make up Cirque du Soleil around the world.

Enter The Story of Zed

The Cirque Du Soleil group has developed a unique story-based performance for its Tokyo location which is right beside Tokyo Disneyland.

The story of Zed depicts a young man's battle of wills between the two realms of heaven and earth. His goal is to bring them together in harmony, but he must first learn to understand them before he can hope to bridge their differences. It's a pretty good expression of growing up in the world as we know it.

The characters in the story are founded on the mysteries of the Tarot and the world of Aracana, otherwise known as Tarot. Just as the major Arcana characters face challenges in life in order to move forward, so does Zed. The story shows his struggles with different aspects and his development as he learns to overcome each situation.

It's all about the moves

It's an incredible story. As are the acrobatics that are used in its portrayal. It's hard to take your eyes off the action, so make sure you don't need to take a toilet break in the middle of the show. You really won't want to go! If you have the opportunity to see this fantastic show while you're in Tokyo, we can't recommend it highly enough.

For more information and to book tickets for the show visit our tickets to the story of Zed page.

Then think about what else you'll get up to in Tokyo...

...There's a lot to do in the capital city of Japan. Take a look at our Tokyo tours page to see what's on offer and choose which activities you'll include on your Tokyo itinerary.

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