Cirque du Soleil Saudi Show Will Go On, Despite Spat With Canada
- Troupe to perform special show for Saudi National Day Sept. 23
- Saudi spat with Canada began after critical tweet last month
Artists of the Canadian entertainment company "Cirque du Soleil" perform in Mexico on Aug. 30.
Photographer: Ulises Ruiz/AFP via Getty Images
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Saudi Arabia’s spat with Canada may have affected the currency, maple syrup imports and thousands of Saudi students abroad, but there’s at least one Canadian business untouched: Cirque du Soleil.
The Montreal-based troupe will perform a customized show for Saudi Arabia’s National Day on September 23 in Riyadh, Cirque du Soleil said in an emailed statement. The hour-long show will feature more than 80 artists -- men and women -- wearing 250 costumes on a 300-foot stage, "making it one of the largest productions ever created for a single performance by Cirque du Soleil," the company said.