Inside The Mind Of Daniele Finzi Pasca: The Creator Of Cirque Du Soleil’s Corteo

Tell me about your background in the circus industry and how you ended up joining Cirque du Soleil. 

When I was young, I was a gymnast, then I fell in love with clowns. I discovered theatre while working in Pondera with Jerzy Grotowski. For forty years, I’ve been directing a theatre company that has developed a very personal aesthetic language. Guy Laliberté, after attending one of my shows, invited me to Las Vegas and, after a wonderful dinner, asked me to direct one of their productions. That’s how I became part of the Cirque du Soleil family, and after all these years, I still feel at home.

Do the performers ever get to improvise during the show, or is everything planned out? 

In a musical score, there are the notes and the pauses between the notes; in a poem, there are the words and the silences between the words. Performers must follow the score precisely, and at the same time, they must give volume, depth, and meaning to the transparent spaces that connect each fragment of a performance. Everything is precisely defined, and this precision is refined with each performance. We look for performers with very specific talents: they are acrobats, musicians, dancers, clowns — extremely virtuosic artists capable of interpreting the spaces between one breath and the next. They learn to breathe with the audience, to respond to gusts of wind, and they know how to move in harmony with each other on stage.

Where do you usually start when coming up with a new show idea, and how does it all come together to create a cohesive world? 

There are dreams — small, silent, almost intangible — that I have kept for years like sleeping butterflies in a secret drawer. And then there are my grandmother’s recipes, an old scent that smells of home and whispered stories. They are part of a tradition that feels like an embrace, a gentle way of comforting friends when we gather around the table for dinner in the evening. But I also learned to dance on the edge of madness, to chase after novelties that are sparks, surprises revealing new horizons and possible revolutions. Ideas? Ah, those. I often go looking for them in warm, humid places, where the air is thick with possibilities. When the soul ripples with doubt, I immerse myself in long, hot baths, and there — in the water that wraps around me like a memory — I let elusive intuitions rise from a point both precise and secret, a hidden pocket inside me, like soap bubbles that shine for an instant and then float away. With Jean Rabasse, we decided to change the “morphology” of the big top — this was the first insight when we began thinking about what would become the show Corteo. We imagined a procession that could glide past the audience’s eyes, so we devised a double-sided view of the stage.  An idea that marked a revolution in the circus world, and perhaps only a Cirque du Soleil production could bring it to life.

What inspired the stories, characters, and acts in Corteo? 

The dreams I have at night, the stories my grandmother used to tell me, my homeland, the desire to create beauty, the longing to surprise and move the audience. There are artists and thinkers who continue to inspire me and whom I carry with me as travel companions: Martin Luther King for his courage, Gandhi for his determination, Tarzan for his physical form, Buster Keaton for his sense of humour, Dante for his sharpness of mind, Shakespeare for his sense of drama, Johan Cruijff for his ball control, and Julie Hamelin for her ability to always smile.

How do you balance creative vision with safety and logistics? 

It’s an issue we approach with extreme care and meticulousness in our shows.  For each aerial act, there are specialists, and together we study the right solutions for every crazy idea that arises around a creative table. There is obsessive attention to safety-related matters — we think the way the best mountaineers do.  We never leave anything to chance and continuously reflect, improving every detail related to safety.

Have you ever had to deal with something going wrong mid-show? 

I focus on perfection.  There’s always something imperfect — a slightly flawed note, the rhythm of a scene, an oversight, an inelegant solution. We are immersed in a universe where entropy reigns. The secret in our craft is trying to grasp the hidden rules that govern perfection — that’s what I focus on. There are moments when an artist, a musician, or a technician steps off stage and senses that something perfect has just happened.  I try to concentrate and reflect only on those moments of grace, when every element is in its place, in perfect harmony.  Every day, we go on stage hoping to interpret the show in a “perfect” way… Among us, there are artists and technicians who have performed Corteo more than 5,000 times.  The pursuit of beauty is what gives meaning to these 20 years of touring.

What’s been the most nerve-wracking act you’ve ever helped bring to life? 

There are risky acrobatic sequences — sometimes I close my eyes and hold my breath. My hands get sweaty, and my heartbeat quickens every time I watch certain moments of the show.

What’s your favourite thing about working with Cirque du Soleil? 

The harmony we’ve managed to create between the production team and the creative team, and the feeling of being at home, with family, every time I join the show on tour.In Montreal, it’s possible to gather around creative tables, surrounded by extraordinary people in an atmosphere of great collaboration — a true wonder.

What’s something the audience never sees but is integral to the performance? 

So many things, countless details — the little superstitious gestures before going on stage, the hugs at the end of the show, the training sessions with different coaches, the tension before a premiere.

What can we expect from the upcoming Brisbane shows of Corteo? 

I hope for emotion, delight, and above all, surprises for the audience in Brisbane.

Tickets to Corteo are now available for purchase here.

Answers have been translated from Italian.