Cirque Du Soleil (“Circus of the Sun”): All round excellence.

Last weekend (reason for self missing the post) I managed to see Cirque du Soleil perform in Mumbai.  End of the show only one word reverberated in my mind “Excellence”

Just as one is about to be convinced that performance arts are dying, one comes across Cirque Du Soleil. Tailor made for the globalized world with global ticket prices (coming down now in Mumbai) the show just blows one over and envelopes with an experience of flawless performances.

Founded in 1984 by Giles Ste-Croix & Guy Laliberte, a self professed clown with a dream, an expert poker player (career winning more than $ 7 million) Cirque du Soleil employs more than 4000 people from across the world. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada with the performance troupe travelling across the world and few permanent performance arenas in various countries (Oldest in Las Vegas, while newest coming up in China) the revenues have hit more the 200 Million in 2017.  In the same year TPG capital took a dominant stake and since then the firm has been developing as an entertainment group, expanding its activities into digital content, theme parks, immersive experience and special events.

Here is why I called the performance in Mumbai to be all round excellence:-

1.      Personal and collective journey

The show performers not only excelled in their part of the show but managed to convey a collective journey the show was taking the audience through.  So while each one excelled in their performance the handover to the larger canvass was always the inbuilt theme.  However small the performance, its importance to the centrality was never in question.

2.    Universal language

The performers spoke some French and English to convey a gist, but largely the show was driven by the expression and emotions, global in nature, making it easy for the audience to understand the flow with the show.  In India this may not look like a challenge, but in other places this would aid in better understanding amongst the larger community of audience.

3.     Punctuality

I know this may not sound like a big item in global terms, but having seen this as a constant problem in India, it was almost virtuous for the show to start and finish on time.

4.    Performers

Central to the show were the world class performers, at ease with their complex performance, making it look like a cake walk. They managed to show what the human body is capable of achieving, with adequate practice and guidance.

I would recommend you to take some time off and see the show in Mumbai and Delhi.

  

Why Fintech professionals should watch Dunkirk?

Absolute mastery over movie making is hallmark of Christopher Nolan’s magic, with his ability to add dimensions in storytelling, the experience transcends the normal. All the components mash up together in a visual symphony leading to a user journey with little to deviate focus.  At times it feels akin to hypnotism exercised over senses. Left to lesser hands this approach would be a disaster but in hand of this master it turns out as a symphony.

Dunkirk is perfect example of how to get complex & grand canvas stories (User journeys) right and yet keep it right sized & feasible. Let look at the canvas being addressed: To show 300,000 or more evacuated army personnel, navy and civilians were working in loose coordination, Germans closing down & each protagonist given screen time to be etched for maximum clarity and/or empathy.  Nolan masterfully weaves it together and does justice to all involved, without stretching time or more than necessary emotions.

At all points the narration is clear with minimal ode to convention, sorry sir no place for huge crowds , no heroics in air, no lip service to dying for the country( far better to live for country) and no silly sides on romance and back stories. Focus is clearly on evacuation and how all protagonists go about doing their job with minimal drama. Understated but always sounding in control with the fear being built up by noise of German planes zooming in from far away and artillery in background.

Fintech is similar in nature, the perfect mash up is required to get it right, anything more than required is liable to create problems and lose focus from the solution. Like film making presence of multiple dimension and context are important to be addressed, for example a wealth manager and his customer within a system, one looking to maximize the return while other monitoring and participating in it and at same time another set of users looking to control both of them. How does one make the experience complete for all these competing but complementary narration. Like the movie, it all depends on getting the right output from components (domain, tech, people & design) and keeping it feasible.

 Visual is another key in scalable Fintech especially when dealing with calculations and charges, Nolan addresses this with a combination of IMAX and 65 MM cameras. Taking IMAX up in the air fixed on planes wing (never done before) to shoot dog fights and build up close and real experience for the audience. The lessons from movie are spot on, deep invasive visual simulation and presentation allows for closer interaction and understanding.

It is my belief that Christopher Nolan and his team would be equally good at Fintech as they understand engagement canvas and its stitching for audience really well

Some useful references

http://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/2017/08/02/dunkirk-part-1-straight-to-the-good-stuff/

http://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/2017/08/09/dunkirk-part-2-the-art-film-as-event-movie/

http://mentalfloss.com/article/526894/10-fascinating-facts-about-dunkirk