Creating experiences worth talking about: Cirque du Soleil

Summit: nyc14


Length: 08:38

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This talk is presented by

Gillian Ferrabee - Director, Creative Lab at Cirque du Soleil Media (Canada)

Gillian Ferrabee wrote and directed her first play at the age of 10 –an updated version of Snow White. She chose to play Dopey, and in her version Snow White went into the audience at the end of the play to choose her prince, or princess (both options were equally encouraged). 

She has been fascinated with storytelling, and with the connection between creativity and our bodies for as long as she can remember. Her first professional career was as a contemporary dancer. Later she became an actor for TV and film. And in 2004 she joined Cirque du Soleil’s casting team. As an artistic casting advisor, she travelled the world finding extraordinary talent, and scouting new trends in performance and design. She was on the team that cast the Beatles LOVE show, as well as others in the company’s repertoire. In 2012 she was named Director of the Creative Lab at the new company, Cirque Du Soleil Media. She now leads a team in developing projects destined for the International TV, film and new media markets, including projects with partners such as Google Chrome, Fox studios and most recently the VR Occulus project ‘Inside The Box: Kurios’ for Samsung.