Press Release

Bernard Petiot, Vice-President, Casting and Performance at Cirque du Soleil, and Sylvie Fréchette, synchronized swimming Olympic medallist and former performer, coach and creator at Cirque du Soleil, will represent Cirque during the Montreal leg of the Toronto 2015 Torch Relay on Sunday, June 28. They are among the 3,000 torchbearers participating in the Torch Relay in over 130 communities on a distance of 5,000 kilometres on the road and 15,000 kilometres in the air between May 30 and July 10.

Bernard Petiot will be at 950-978 Rachel Street East at 11:21 am, and Sylvie Fréchette will be at 3815-3819 Calixa-Lavallée Avenue at 11:26 am. The torch relay will make its final stop on July 10 at the Opening Ceremony of the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am Games. Cirque du Soleil is creating and directing the Opening Ceremony.

The Opening Ceremony : an original, large-scale production

Specially created by Cirque du Soleil for the Opening Ceremony of the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am Games, this two-and-a-half-hour, one-night-only performance will be broadcast to hundreds of millions of households throughout the Americas and Caribbean. This production will not only showcase Cirque’s outstanding troupe of performers, but also Ontario artists and volunteers, who have been recruited from local schools as well as artistic and community organizations including The Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Canada’s National Circus School, Canada’s National Ballet School and Toronto Dance Theatre. The show will feature 625 artists in total.

Cirque du Soleil

From a group of 20 street performers at its beginnings in 1984, Cirque du Soleil is now a major Quebec-based organization providing high-quality artistic entertainment. The company has close to 4,000 employees, including 1,300 performing artists from close to 50 different countries. Cirque du Soleil has brought wonder and delight to more than 160 million spectators in 400 cities in 60 countries on six continents. 

For more information about Cirque du Soleil, go to www.cirquedusoleil.com.
To find out more about the ONE DROP Foundation, go to www.onedrop.org.

Media contact :
Marie-Claire Lynn – 45 DEGREES
mc@45degrees.com