The new crown epidemic continued to spread, and the Cirque du Soleil, known as the “National Treasure of Canada,” also encountered a full suspension of performances, which led to the company’s dilemma.

Editor’s note: This article is from the WeChat public account “Blowfish Cultural Travel” (ID: hetunwenlv) , author: Mark Lee.

On March 19, Cirque du Soleil announced that affected by the epidemic, the Group will launch a new round of layoffs. After the layoff is completed, Cirque du Soleil will have 4679 employees laid off, accounting for 95%.

“This is the biggest crisis and the hardest day in the company’s history, but to ensure the health and safety of all audiences, employees and performers, we have no choice.” Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group President Daniel Lamar So helplessly said.

Cirque du Soleil, formerly known as Solarium Art Square, is an entertainment company and performance group headquartered in Montreal, Canada. It is also the world’s largest theater production company.

With a subversive interpretation of traditional circus performances, Cirque du Soleil has the highest performance in the international performing arts industry, including Emmy Awards, Bambi, and so on. >

Since its establishment for more than 30 years, it has performed for 160 million audiences in more than 300 cities in nearly 50 countries, and has formed a world-class cultural brand comparable to the US Disney.

The “National Treasure of Canada” was hit hard by the epidemic

As of 1:00 on the 24th, Beijing time, 334,981 cases of new coronary pneumonia have been diagnosed worldwide, and 14,510 have died. New crown pneumonia cases have occurred in 189 countries.

Affected by the continuous spread of the new crown epidemic, 5 days ago, Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group announced the start of the second round of layoffs.

It is worth mentioning that after this round of layoffs was completed, the number of layoffs in Cirque du Soleil reached 4,679, accounting for 95%. At present, the Group has only left some key employees to maintain the basic operations of the enterprise.

In this regard, Daniel Lamar, President and CEO of Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group, said in a related statement: “This is the most difficult day in Cirque du Soleil history, but unfortunately, this is our only choice . “

95% of Cirque du Soleil's layoffs, domestic

In addition, Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group also emphasized in the statement thatEmployees are only temporary decisions, and retrenched employees will be included in the support plan. Once the business is back on track, recruitment will begin immediately.

As we all know, Cirque du Soleil’s series of performances are real-life performances. The resident performance venues include Las Vegas, Florida, New York, Mexico, Japan, and Macau. concert tour.

But in the event of an outbreak, countries around the world have issued regulations restricting public gatherings one after another, which has caused difficulties in Cirque du Soleil operations. On January 24, 2020, in response to China’s fight against the epidemic, Cirque du Soleil suspended performances in China.

Permanent suspension of performances, confused suppliers, change of practitioners

The overseas live entertainment market led by Cirque du Soleil is suffering from the new crown epidemic, and the domestic market has already pressed the pause button.

In the evening of February 2, Songcheng Performing Arts Development Co., Ltd. issued an announcement saying: “At the beginning of the new year, the sudden epidemic caused a major blow to the Chinese cultural travel industry. From January 24, 2020, the company’s tourism performing arts projects All parks have been closed, and the financial impact on the first quarter is inevitable.

95% of Cirque du Soleil's layoffs, the domestic

Wuyishan Scenic Area also issued an announcement during the Spring Festival, stating: “The performance of the Impression Dahongpao originally scheduled to be repeated from January 26 (the second day of the first month of the first month) was suspended. The first Fantasy Light Festival event operated by its Impression Cultural Tourism Service was in the same period As a result, Wuyi Tea Research Institute will be closed from now on. “

95% of Cirque du Soleil's layoffs, domestic

On the same day, scenic spots such as Datang Ever Sleeping City Pedestrian Street, Datang Furong Garden, and Xi’an City Wall also issued announcements. According to the needs of new coronavirus infection pneumonia epidemic prevention and control work, related activities will be stopped and the park will be closed temporarily. Performances such as “Back to Chang’an” were stopped.

95% of Cirque du Soleil's layoffs, domestic