En-Cirqueling An Audience With Insight
WORKSHOPS THAT MOVE AUDIENCES
- Developing a C2 Montreal workshop with Cirque du Soleil
- Challenging the audience to “experience” creativity
- Creating content that gets the audience into original thinking
It’s just over a day until a Cirque du Soliel director is set to co-moderate a workshop on creativity at the famed C2 Montreal conference.
And there is yelling.
“We need better music here!,” he challenges, before scrolling through a Spotify playlist.
THE CHALLENGE
Create and curate a workshop worthy of Cirque.
In fact, there’s been a lot of yelling over the six weeks of development.
That’s the way of the director, who puts Cirque’s famed passion on full display.
Together, Cirque and SpeakUp Get Results tackle the challenge – how do you create a transformative experience that causes an audience to become more creative not just for a moment but for a lifetime?
THE APPROACH
Five chapters, infinite thinking.
The process of creating a workshop alongside one of the world’s most esteemed entertainers is an exercise in experimentation and negotiation.
The Director “plays” with ideas, trading initial proposals back and forth until a journey of five chapters emerges.
The first Chapter sets a foundation that causes the audience to think of their own lives. Ensuing Chapters feature insider stories from Cirque’s own development, punctuated by exercises that build on one another.
What comes together is a powerful, original, unforgettable experience for the packed house of attendees.
THE RESULTS
Tears and a very long lineup.
As the final notes of the “better music” wrap around the end of the workshop, a glance out at the audience finds attendees in tears.
The workshop has indeed been an experience (with the personal gift of a Cirque-inspired red pencil). Attendees have learned more about themselves by exploring the ideation and development approach Cirque uses with its own teams.
In the end, more than two dozen attendees wipe tears from eyes as they await their chance to talk with the Director.
