dealt with abuse of power and the quest for freedom.
Quidam(pr. 1996) portrayed the imagination of a
world-weary young girl. In 1993, the company cre-
ated its first resident show,Mystère, for the Treasure
Island Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The show was
a mystical depiction of life, drawing on multicultural
mythologies and sung in an imaginary language.
Dralion(pr. 1999) returned to a lighter theme filled
with energy and fun but was sung in an imaginary
language as well as in French and Italian.
Impact Cirque du Soleil transformed the concept
of the circus. Banishing the circus ring and animal
acts, the company blended acrobatic acts, dance,
music, exotic costumes, technical effects, and philo-
sophical commentary into performances that sur-
passed any one form of entertainment. Through in-
novative techniques, the creators drew the audience
into the performance and provided a total enter-
tainment experience.
Further Reading
Babinski, Tony, and Kristian Manchester.Cirque du
Soleil: Twenty Years Under the Sun—An Authorized
Histor y. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2004.
Bacon, John U., and Lyn Heward.The Spark: Igniting
Creative Fire That Lives Within Us All. New York:
Currency, 2006.
Vial, Veronique.Wings: Backstage with Cirque du Soleil.
San Francisco, Calif.: Tondo Books, 1999.
Shawncey Webb
See also Ballet; Canada and the United States; Las
Vegas megaresorts; Music; Theater in Canada; The-
ater in the United States.
Civil Rights Act of 1991
Definition Federal legislation that outlawed
employment discrimination practices based on
disparate impact
Date Signed on November 21, 1991
The Civil Rights Act of 1991 returned the burden of proof to
employers to defend job practices challenged as discrimina-
tor y. The law left it to courts to determine what constituted
“business necessity” when justifying portended discrimina-
tor y practices. The law also opened the way for challenges to
affirmative action.
President George H. W. Bush signed the Civil Rights
Act of 1991 on November 21, despite having vetoed
similar legislation in 1990 for fear of creating too
many inducements for hiring quotas. Invoking the
undesirability of quotas, the U.S. Supreme Court
had effectively undone disparate impact inWards
Cove Packing Company v. Atonio(1989).Major Provisions Title I of the 1991 Civil Rights Act
prohibited unlawful employment practices based on
disparate impact, in which a policy or practice seems
neutral but has an adverse effect on a particular
group. A complaining party could (1) show that use
of a particular employment practice causes a dispa-
rate impact on the basis of race, color, religion, sex,
or national origin and the employer failed to dem-
onstrate that the challenged practice is job-related
for the position in question and consistent with busi-
ness necessity, or (2) identify an alternative employ-
ment practice that an employer refused to adopt.
For example, recruitment through employee refer-
rals would not be permitted if the majority of em-
ployees were white males and this practice resulted
in the disproportionate hiring of white males. Race
norming—the use of test scores, whether adjusted,
with different cutoffs, or otherwise altered—was
prohibited in connection with selection or referral
of applicants or candidates for employment or pro-
motion. Workers challenging a seniority system as
discriminatory were permitted to wait until the ad-
verse impact was felt to bring a lawsuit.
Title I also prohibited all racial discrimination in
the making and enforcement of contracts. It pro-
vided the right of recovery of compensatory and
punitive damages for unlawful intentional discrimi-
nation, including disability as specified in the Reha-
bilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Dis-
abilities Act of 1990. Title I capped compensatory
and punitive damages, varying by company size, and
permitted jury trials.
Title II of the Civil Rights Act, known as the Glass
Ceiling Act of 1991, addressed the underrepresenta-
tion of women and of minorities in management
and decision-making positions in business. It estab-
lished the Glass Ceiling Commission to study how
businesses fill management and decision-making
positions, the practices used to foster the necessary
qualifications for advancement into those positions,
and the compensation programs and reward struc-
tures used in workplaces.184 Civil Rights Act of 1991 The Nineties in America