Nathalie Gagné
Makeup Designer
“At Cirque du Soleil, makeup works with the costumes to create the identity of each character. I like that each artist is proud of this second personality that emerges from the makeup.”
Makeup Designer Nathalie Gagné has been fascinated by makeup and its influence on the actor’s craft since her teens. She studied theatre production at Cégep de Saint-Hyacinthe, a community college in Quebec, then went on to become one of the first graduates of the Montreal subsidiary of the famed Paris-based makeup school École Christian Chauveau.
Before joining Cirque du Soleil, Nathalie worked in theatre, film and television. She was twice nominated for a Gémeau award for best makeup, all categories combined. The honor is conferred by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.
Since Cirque performers have to apply their own makeup, Nathalie involves them in the actual creation of their onstage look. “Unlike actors, acrobats aren’t used to studying their own faces,” she says. “One of my goals is to get them to do just that, and help them find within themselves what I call ‘lines of force’ that will serve to build their characters.”
“Makeup is a reflection of the character’s soul. It’s also a magic wand that sweeps away inhibitions,” says Nathalie, who since 1995 has crafted more than more than 1,000 makeup designs for Cirque, choosing her final concepts from over 5,000 sketches.
Nathalie is also responsible for ensuring the integrity of all makeup designs that bear her signature. Since the performers apply their own makeup, workshops in makeup techniques are now part of the general training provided to Cirque du Soleil artists. Nathalie first teaches performers how to do their own makeup, and then writes a step-by-step application guide for each of them.
Nathalie introduced new makeup concepts to the shows Mystère, Alegría and Saltimbanco, which led her to work with director Franco Dragone and costume designer Dominique Lemieux. Following her work on Quidam, “O”, La Nouba, Varekai, ZUMANITY, KÀ, Corteo, DELIRIUM, LOVE, ZAIA and CRISS ANGEL Believe, Viva ELVIS is Nathalie’s 15th contribution to the creation of a Cirque du Soleil show.
"In Viva ELVIS, we’re diving back into the 1950s and 1970s with Stefano Canulli’s costumes,” says Nathalie Gagné. “The makeup highlights eyeliner and false eyelashes in all their variations, from doe eyes to doll’s eyes. I added iridescent colors to conventional black eyeliner to evoke the excitement of the period and make the eyes shimmer in the lights. I pushed the art of removable makeup we established in ZAIA and CRISS ANGEL Believe even further. In Viva ELVIS, this technique is the basis for different parts of the face onto which we can add other materials such as extravagant false eyelashes, lace, jewelry, crystal and even latex prosthetics. This allows a rapid and total change of face – and character – in just a few seconds without having to use glue."
Nathalie Gagné was born in 1963 in Trois-Pistoles, in the Lower St. Lawrence region of Quebec.