Montréal Complètement Cirque is part of a matryoshka-doll structure of circus organizations in Montreal. The festival is produced by TOHU. The international circus festival includes a plein-air component, bringing acrobats to Saint Denis Street for ten-minute performances.
Since no festival in Montreal is complete without something being performed or projected in the street, there’s also a plein-air component. As artist want to be on the street because the circus came from the street. TOHU claims to have presented over 1,000 circus shows since it opened 12 years ago. On each of the festival’s 10 days, 50 acrobats will assemble on a section of Saint Denis Street, perform there for about 10 minutes, and then lead the crowd to a stage at the Place Émilie-Gamelin for a free, half-hour staged show, going to the circus in Montreal is a regular and extremely varied activity.
Circus in Montreal actually started not in the street but in a purpose-built, permanent theatre that went up near the intersection of McGill and Notre-Dame streets in 1797. Montreal was scarcely more than a village at the time. It had a sky-blue dome adorned with garlanded cherubs, rose-pink boxes for the gentry and a festooned blue stage curtain.
Montréal Complètement Cirque is produced by circus-arts performance complex TOHU, but was co-founded by big circus players including Cirque du Soleil.
The most important thing about the Amphitheatre, however, is that it was the first circus theatre in Canada many participatory activities to choose from, including Aerial Yoga & Fitness.
The scale of its ambition, in a small northern trading town, was an early precursor of the audacious plan for world domination waged since 1984 by Cirque du Soleil. This July, Montréal will celebrate the national and international contemporary circus as it should, with an exhilarating and bold programming.
A swarm of acrobats make Saint-Denis Street resonate! Joining forces by dozens to build human pyramids or play alley cats in each and every corner, these masters take over the street with acrobatics. The skillful performers create a mesmerizing acrobatic wave that no one can resist, and get passersby to join in on the adventure through playful and solemn interactions. The public is invited to join in as the group travels toward Place Émilie-Gamelin spectators gathers around a large circus ring just like a big top and let themselves be captivated by the story of the never-ending cycle of life, told in acrobatics, Cyr wheel, dance, juggling and aerial feats! On a bare 360-degree stage, dozens of acrobats execute movements and lifts in a series of scenes ruled by the body, create multidisciplinary acts combining circus, dance and performance.
Between danced movements and Icarian games, a man and a woman—an acrobat and a dancer—inhabit their playground, combat zone at times, with energetic races, childlike silliness and trickery.
