375 Celebration Brings Big Circus: Cirque Éloize Explores Montréal's Neighborhoods - CircusTalk

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375 Celebration Brings Big Circus: Cirque Éloize Explores Montréal’s Neighborhoods

This year Montreal is going above and beyond the usual summer fanfare to celebrate it’s 375th birthday. Just for some context, the usual fanfare is a summer full of weekly fireworks, dozens of festivals (including the Montréal Complètement Cirque Festival, the International Jazz Festivaland the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival.) But the city made it through another deep freeze winter (during which they also celebrate with a festival called Montreal En Lumiere) and is ready to enjoy its ripe old age with some extra festivities during 375MTL. Of course, the cities’ circus institutions could not resist the chance to participate, Cirque Éloize by producing 19 shows over the course of the summer in 19 different neighborhoods, and 7 Fingers with a multi-media walk down the memory lane of St. Laurent during the bawdy era of the 1940s. We had the chance to speak to Cirque Éloize events producer Jean-Philippe La Couture and 7 Fingers co-founder Isabelle Chassé about the role they play in the celebrations. In this two part series, we end with Cirque Éloize.
Kim: What is the Grande tournée and what sorts of shows will there be? Is there a theme?

Jean-Philippe: There is no theme. We are trying to recreate the carnival atmosphere, but to make it a little more modern, a little more 2017. It’s the 375th birthday of the city of Montréal so we are just going into each neighborhood and bringing this event to the people. Usually, people know two neighborhoods, the one they live in and the one they work in. So the purpose of it is also to make them discover other neighborhoods in the city of Montréal. What we are trying to bring here is animation for the whole family. We have different circus workshops, there will be live bands, we’ll have food and beverages and we will do a show every Saturday night around 8:30PM when the sun goes down.

Are the shows different for each park?

It’s basically the same production in each neighborhood. Some of the artists are different, especially in terms of dance lessons and music. But in terms of the show from Cirque Éloize , it will be the same show in every neighborhood.

Photo credit to © Maxime / Brut
Are you attempting to honor the flavor and history of each neighborhood during the performances?

Yes, there is also the McCord Museum that is doing an exhibition. So fifty percent is about the whole city of Montréal and the other fifty percent it about the neighborhood that we are in.

Is being involved in Montréal 375 significant for Cirque Éloize and why?

Oh, of course! We have our creation studios here in Montréal. We really wanted to be part of this anniversary. All the creators that work on this show are from Montréal. So for us, this is where we create the whole show, this is where we live and we really wanted to be a part of the festivities.

Would you say Montréal is the circus capitol of the world?

Definitely, I mean there are all these different companies that emerge from Montréal, and the national circus school that is one of the best in the world. Of course, we have the headquarters of Cirque Du Soleil, Cirque Éloize , 7 Fingers. So yes, Montréal is definitely the circus capitol of the world! Also, it is a vibrant city, and the new circus is about mixing different kinds of art. In Montréal, yes– we specialize in circus– but also in video projection and music. The new circus is all about that and this is why I think Montréal is so strong in circus. We have other great creators that work in different areas that we can bring together and create amazing circus shows.

Photo credit to © Maxime / Brut
Is this your biggest outdoor project to date?

It’s the biggest in terms of repetition. Because we are doing it 19 times over 19 weekends. For Cirque Éloize this is a great opportunity to show people who we are. People know us for our touring show, but we create huge events in Canada, and also everywhere in the world. So for us it is a way to show the people what other services Cirque Éloize can give.

Do you think large scale circus work like this birthday celebration acts as an homage to the street circus past of Montréal?

It’s not based on street circus, but definitely we have some strolling animations and also the circus workshops. So it’s a little whiff of the traditions of the circus artists that usually start in the streets. So yes, there is a little touch of that. But the main theme is not about that, it’s really about carnival, the family fair, but bringing it to 2017.

How many people are involved in this production? How many performers?

For the show we have 8 artists on stage and we have a huge team of technicians to set up the stage (because we have to travel with the stage).Cirque Éloize is in charge of the artistic direction of the whole project but also I told you we have the McCord Museum which is part of it, and the ARRQ which is the association of street food in Montréal. We also have a company that does rallies. So we have different types of promoters that are working with us on this project.

What is your key audience and what will they take away with them?

It’s really for the whole family– we want people to get outside, it’s the beginning of the summer! We want people to come to their park because the show is coming to their neighborhood! I mean, it’s the birthday of Montréal– so let’s all celebrate together!

Photo credit to © Maxime / Brut
Featured photo credit :© Maxime / Brut
Kim Campbell
Writer -USA
Kim Campbell has written about circus for CircusTalk.News, Spectacle magazine, Circus Now, Circus Promoters and was a resident for Circus Stories, Le Cirque Vu Par with En Piste in 2015 at the Montreal Completement Cirque Festival. They are the former editor of CircusTalk.News, American Circus Educators magazine, as well as a staff writer for the web publication Third Coast Review, where they write about circus, theatre, arts and culture. Kim is a member of the American Theater Critics Association.
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Kim Campbell

Kim Campbell has written about circus for CircusTalk.News, Spectacle magazine, Circus Now, Circus Promoters and was a resident for Circus Stories, Le Cirque Vu Par with En Piste in 2015 at the Montreal Completement Cirque Festival. They are the former editor of CircusTalk.News, American Circus Educators magazine, as well as a staff writer for the web publication Third Coast Review, where they write about circus, theatre, arts and culture. Kim is a member of the American Theater Critics Association.