Gaetan Morency

      Gaetan Morency is Vice President, Public and Social Affairs, Cirque du Soleil. Originally a collection of street performers in Montreal, Cirque du Soleil has become an international success story with its creativity, innovation and dramatic acrobatics. Less well known is the company's strong commitment to social responsibility, especially to youth at risk. Indeed, the Cirque du Soleil donates 1 percent of revenue to programs that help children who live on the streets. Gaetan Morency will share the Cirque story and the dreams its artists and staff have of enriching the lives of everyone they touch. That dream involves infusing new projects with the energy and inspiration that are the essence of their shows and helping young people make their dreams come true.
      In the early 1980s, a group of young street performers, dreamers and self-taught entrepreneurs had the vision and drive to create Cirque du Soleil. Long before they became popular, the first Cirque du Soleil artists performed on the street. Built on boldness, risk and imagination, their dream came to be partly because others believed in the performers regardless of their age, image or status as "just" street performers. The rationale and values behind Cirque's social action are grounded in this history where youth, risk, dreams and eccentricity come together for a better world.