2012年2月2日星期四

In the heart of Cirque du Soleil

Put the name of Quebec billionaire Guy Lalibert, the mercurial founder of Cirque du Soleil, into YouTube, and the first result isn’t circus-related but a six-and-a-half-minute clip from a high-stakes game of Texas Hold ’em.

A few minutes in, Lalibert has poker pro David Benyamine up against a wall. Benyamine is all-in with an extremely weak hand, and Lalibert has a 2:1 chance to win and walk away with $600,000 of Benyamine’s money. All he has to do is let the hand play out. But Lalibert, worth $2.5 billion,The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, is feeling charitable. Perhaps it’s because the money would increase his net worth by just one ten-thousandth of one percent,Husky Injection Mold Systems designs and manufactures a broad range of or maybe it’s because Benyamine is French.

“I know this is a lot of money for you,” Lalibert says in his slight French-Canadian accent as he waves his hand dismissively. “It’s more important [for you], that pot, than it is for me.

“I know I’m very favorite, so I’ll make you a deal. I’ll take the middle [pot, maybe $100,000] and forget it.”

It’s an incredibly unorthodox move by Lalibert, completely out of left field and completely unnecessary,FIRMAR is a Malaysia Injection Moulding Manufacturer and Plastic Injections Components Manufacturer, and it’s extremely generous. There’s no crying in poker, after all. Benyamine, who had the trembling look of a guy about to be executed, instantly takes the deal. Instead of potentially losing $600,000,Omega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists. he loses $50,000.

Lalibert doesn’t play by any rulebook, be it in poker or in the performing arts. He loves to travel. He spent $35 million to visit space.

Cirque du Soleil, his life’s work, is far from conventional; he has taken the traditional circus, pumped it with steroids and mescaline, and created a billion-dollar company. When he plays poker, you get the feeling it’s not about the money, it’s about play, about the challenge, maybe even having fun. And what kind of jerk lets a little thing like half a million dollars ruin a good time?

Lalibert’s company employs 5,000 people, including more than 1,300 artists. Two thousand of them work at the beating heart of Cirque du Soleil’s global, extremely profitable operation, the company’s 118,Smooth-On is your source for Mold Making and casting materials including silicone rubber and urethane rubber,000-square-foot headquarters in Montreal. It’s where, in addition to the expected corporate duties, top brass create new shows, train performers, make costumes, mold athletes into artists and more. The building is also home to a massive costume workshop, where Cirque employs artisans and fashion designers to make the elaborate costumes, headpieces, shoes and wigs that make the Cirque shows so visually appealing.

I got a chance to see the headquarters up close and personal after Cirque du Soleil invited me to see Dralion, coming to the 1stBank Center in Broomfield Feb. 8-12, in Montreal. They flew me out to Canada, set me up in a hotel downtown and gave me a tour of the headquarters and costume workshop. I got a rare glimpse at a side of Cirque du Soleil most never get to see — the unsung workers who keep the costumes shiny and clean, the artisans who make them, and the studios where the acrobats and performers perfect their craft.

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