Sometime in early April, I went through my Google calendar deleting, well, everything. I found myself thinking that it was the opposite of a Marie Kondo purge. I was discarding everything that sparked joy for me: rehearsals, teaching, outings with friends, shows I was meant to see. One of those shows was Fierce 5 by Raphaëlle Boitel, choreographer and director of L’Oublié(e). Raphaëlle and I spoke back in February about the show, her company and what she believes contemporary circus brings to audiences.

Raphaëlle Boitel: My story — there is many things about it — it would be a bit long to tell you everything… I trained at the Fratellini school in Paris. Annie Fratellini was the first female clown; she’s an important woman, and she did a lot for me. She invited me to come to Paris and to go to the circus school. This is a long story, a bohemian story. With all my family, we came to Paris in a truck. My mother just left everything in the south of France, and we went to the capital. We came for circus with no money, with nothing, just passion. My mother always taught me that everything is possible, but you have to work for it. All my life is around this kind of proverb… I worked with James Thierrée, the grandson of Charlie Chaplin, when I was very young, 13 years old.  This is a long story, a bohemian story. With all my family, we came to Paris in a truck. ...