This week marks the 25th birthday of Cirque du Soleil, the extraordinary circus for adults, whose mission is to invoke the imagination, provoke the senses and evoke the emotions of people around the world.

If you’re not among the 90 million who’ve been, what are you waiting for?

I’ve got a clip for you, from the show Alegría. Alegría is Spanish for Joy, but I chose this clip because the theme of this show is the abuse of power and the subsequent struggle for freedom. It’s a story of hope and perseverance, and a haunting elegy in light of the bloodshed unfolding this week in Iran.

Cirque was founded in June 1984 by college dropout, folk musician and fire-eater Guy Laliberté. In the quarter century since, Laliberté has built his troupe of stilt-walkers into an $800 million empire with 4,000 employees from 40 countries. He’s now one of Canada’s richest men, and a regular on the Forbes billionaire lists.

Along the way, he bought out his co-founder and has rejected numerous buyout offers in favor of keeping control over his singular vision. The company remains independent and privately owned today.  That has meant scrapes with bankruptcy and risk-taking that would make most investors quiver. He remains the company’s controlling shareholder, reportedly still owning 95% of the shares.

Now only 49, Laliberté remains the guiding visionary in charge of every show. As he puts it:

“I am blessed for what I have, but I believed in it from the beginning. Today, the dream is the same: I still want to travel, I still want to entertain, and I most certainly still want to have fun.”

Laliberté’s reign at Cirque someday will come to an end. He’ll decide to sell, or he’ll just plain get tired. That juncture will be a true test for the company.

Meanwhile, we’ll continue to revel in the magic, shouting, Vive le Cirque!