the side of the traveling semi that announces this wonderful production. For the last 6 years on every year I have taken my partner to this event as his annual birthday treat. This was last year performance of "Totem" here in San Francisco. I had to wait a couple of minutes or as patrons milled about taking their shots with their families and loved ones in front of this semi. My partner, forever patient waited on the sidelines until I got the shot that I wanted, I also want to thank the photography staff here at rendo for the nomination for photographer of the year. That itself is an honor. Cirque du Soleil (English: Circus of the Sun) is a Canadian entertainment company, self-described as a "dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment." Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy Laliberté and Gilles Ste-Croix. Initially named Les Échassiers, they toured Quebec in 1980 as a performing troupe and encountered financial hardship that was relieved by a government grant in 1983 as part of the 450th anniversary celebrations of Jacques Cartier's discovery of Canada for Europe. Le Grand Tour du Cirque du Soleil was a success in 1984, and after securing a second year of funding, Laliberté hired Guy Caron from the National Circus School to re-create it as a "proper circus". Its theatrical, character-driven approach and the absence of performing animals helped define Cirque du Soleil as the contemporary circus ("nouveau cirque") that it remains today.