经济学人339:马戏团商业

　　Business

商业报道

The circus business

马戏团商业

Sunstroke

日射热

Cirque du Soleil may be struggling, but the cluster around it is thriving

太阳马戏团或许正处于苦斗之中，但围绕其四周的星团正熠熠发光。

No lions, no bearded ladies

没有狮子，没有胡子的女士

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IN THE deconsecrated church of Saint-Esprit, jugglers toss fluorescent 1 orange clubs in front of the former altar, trapeze artists soar under the gaze of stone saints and wobbly unicyclists use two lines of repurposed pews as handrails.

在蓬圣埃斯普里神圣的教堂里，杂耍艺人们在从前的祭坛前抛掷橙色荧光棒，高空表演者在石像圣人的凝视下飞来飞去，摇摆的骑独轮自行车表演者用两条赋予了新用途的教堂长凳作为扶手。

Declared surplus to requirements after Quebeckers deserted 2 Catholicism in droves, the church is now the ecole de Cirque de Quebec, through which 20,000 aspiring 3 entertainers pass each year.

在魁比克人成群结队地公然宣布放弃天主教后，教堂被余下来，通过每年录取20000多个有抱负的艺人，成为了现在的魁比克马戏团学校。

The school's director, Yves Neveu, says only half-jokingly, Someone said the archbishop should be jealous because I'm filling my church.

学校的主任，伊夫?奈芙，半开玩笑地表示，有人说大主教应该嫉妒，因为我正填满我的教会。

Nearby Montreal boasts an even bigger school for circus performers.

而在不远的蒙特利尔，还有一间更大的杂技表演学校。

Although only a handful of students go on to a career in the circus, the popularity of the programmes offered to would-be acrobats 4,

尽管仅有少数学生会继续在马戏团的职业生涯，但为想要成为杂技演员的人提供了普及课程，

local children and even tourists off cruise ships is the visible manifestation 5 of the circus craze that has gripped Quebec.

当地的孩子，甚至游轮中游客的狂热程度都明显表示马戏团的热潮已经席卷整个魁北克。

At its heart is the privately 6 owned Cirque du Soleil, started in 1984 by a troupe 7 of stilt-walkers from nearby Baie-Saint-Paul.

浪潮的核心正是由圣保罗湾附近的一个踩高跷戏班子1984年开创的太阳马戏团。

It is now one of Canada's most important cultural exports, employing 5,000 people at eight permanent shows in Las Vegas and at 12 others that tour the world.

现在，太阳马戏团是加拿大最重要的文化输出产业之一，员工达5000人，有八场在拉斯维加斯的固定演出和十二场世界巡演。

In 2012 its turnover 8 was about C1 billion—it does not reveal its profits.

2012年其营业额约1000000000加元-其利润并未透露。

In 2005 this newspaper asked whether Guy Laliberte, majority owner of the circus, could keep it flying.

2005年杂志向马戏团创始人盖?拉利伯特问道，能否保持马戏团风光下去。

That question was raised again early last year when the company laid off 400 employees, mainly at its head office in Montreal.

去年年初，蒙特利尔公司总部裁员400人时，这个问题再次被提出。

The company has blamed the strong Canadian dollar and the after-effects of the global recession, which hit sponsorship income.

太阳剧团将此归咎于加币走强和全球经济衰退的后续效应，削弱了赞助收入。

It has launched a cost-cutting drive but insists it is not in crisis

虽然剧团开始削减成本，但坚称并未面临危机。.

However, the company that reinvented the circus by eschewing 9 traditional acts such as lion tamers and bearded ladies, and by targeting adults rather than children, is certainly finding it tougher going these days.

然而，避开马戏团的狮子驯兽师、大胡子女士们等传统表演方式，将目标人群定位在成年人而非儿童，重新改造了的马戏团，现在的处境一定是艰难的。

It enjoyed early and rapid success because it had created an uncontested blue ocean in which to swim, according to two management strategists from INSEAD business school in France.

两位法国INSEAD商学院的战略管理专家表示，剧团能够享受到早期快速的成功，是因为其建立了一个没有竞争的蓝海。

That ocean is now full of sharks, says Gilles Ste-Croix, one of the original stilt-walkers, who is now the company's artistic 10 guide.

现如今那片海满是鲨鱼。最初的高跷步行者之一,现公司年代艺术指导，吉尔斯圣克鲁瓦如是说。

Competition comes not just from older circuses that have updated their acts, such as Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, but also from a trend in the arts to merge 11 various disciplines, for instance by bringing acrobats into operas.

剧团的竞争压力不仅来源于更新表演内容的旧有马戏团,如林林兄弟巴纳姆贝利马戏团,而且也来自于在多种学科融合的一个艺术趋势，比如让杂技走进歌剧。

Smaller rivals have also emerged from the large shadow Cirque du Soleil casts in Quebec.

小型竞争竞争者也在太阳马戏团投射在魁北克巨大的阴影下崛起。

A troupe called Les 7 doigts de la main set a box-office record at the Broadway theatre where they performed a show called Pippin.

剧团七指马戏团在百老汇剧院表演彼平正传，创造了票房纪录。

Flip 12 FabriQue, formed by a group of friends just two years ago, is now travelling the world.

由一群朋友就在两年前创立的FabriQue也开始世界巡回。

And Cirque Alfonse toured Europe, Asia and America in 2013 with a truly Canadian spectacle called Timber!, which features chainsaw-juggling lumberjacks.

阿尔冯斯马戏团2013年带着真正的加拿大表演伐木乐园游历了欧洲、亚洲和美国，该剧充分展现电锯杂耍伐木工人的特点。

These newer outfits 13 are both a source of competition and collaboration 14 for Cirque du Soleil, with performers moving back and forth 15.

表演者来来去去，这些新的组织既是太阳马戏团的竞争者也是合作对象。

It also collaborates 16 with notable local talents, such as Robert LePage, a director, playwright 17 and actor whose company Ex Machina is based in Quebec City.

此外，马戏团与当地的知名人才合作，如罗伯特-勒帕热，一位公司总部位于魁北克市的导演，演员和剧作家。

This has reinforced what has become a Quebec entertainment cluster.

强化魁北克的娱乐产业。

Mr Neveu, a Cirque du Soleil alumnus, thinks that rather than serving a spell with his former employer, many of the students at his school will go straight to work in one of the many smaller troupes 18, which he sees as a healthy trend.

太阳马戏团的校友奈芙先生认为，学校的很多学生将直接在新的小团中工作而不是为其前雇主轮流演出，他也相信这是一个好的趋势。

Even so, Cirque du Soleil remains 19 the sun around which all the others are orbiting.

即便如此，太阳马戏团仍是其他团体围绕旋转的太阳。.

1.go on to 进入；持续

Around half of german high-school students go on to dual 20 training in one of 344 trades, from tanner to dental technician.

在344个行业中，从鞣革工人到牙科技师，几乎一半的高中生都会去参加双规培训。

Xiao says teaching methods heavily influence the subjects students go on to select.

肖宇说教学方法很大程度上影响到学生继续选择的一些学科。

2.offer to 提供

President ali abdullah saleh's offer to form a unity 21 government failed to quell 22 the unrest.

总统阿里阿卜杜拉萨利赫提出建立联合政府的方案并没有平静动荡的局势。

If you offer to help people you'll eventually be rewarded.

如果你主动帮助别人，你最终会得到回报。

3.such as 例如；譬如；诸如

What about future steps such as euro bonds?

诸如欧元联盟之类的未来计划怎样？

Imaginary problems such as these are usually hiding real ones.

像这样的臆想的问题通常隐藏真实性的。

4.according to 根据，按照

Again this is according to recently declassified 23 information.

这也还是根据最近解密的信息得知的。

It did not go according to plan.

这个妥协方案并没有按计划执行。