The Spark

I've been reading a wonderful book called "The Spark" by the creative directors of Cirque du Soleil. Here are some nuggets of information I have found useful for both my personal growth and creative team building.


1) It is important to share the same vision of your organization/church - even if a team disagrees on how to achieve the vision. One could argue about anything, what song, what light, what costume, what prop, what color, what topic etc.. but that's the point: Everything is talked about! At the end, the first idea is never the last, they evolve and become more creative and you really can't say whose idea it was; it doesn't matter.

2) Cross Pollination of information and art is necessary for creative juices to flow. Crossing every field: film, music, painting etc..
It is key to freshness and vitality. Nothing is truly original.

3) Too many rules and regulations; paperwork & politics deaden the magic - the creativity. It cuts of the electricity of inspiration. We stop thinking of what we can do, and begin thinking on what we cannot do. Picasso did not ask for permission from the legal department before painting Guernica

Cirque du Soleil has been successful in combining old circus themes and acts with other artistic fields such as film, live music, comedy, story plots, and much much more. Its a mix of Broadway, Blueman Group and the Ringling Brothers (w/o the animals). They have inspired me to continue creating with excellence. As Christians, we have the greatest story to tell - greater than any Cirque plot, it's a life-changing story! My prayer is that we could one day present God's love story with such passion, creativity and effectiveness.

The Best is yet to come....