Inaugurated in 2004 with Loftthe first show of the very young 7 Doigts, the Tohu celebrates its twentieth anniversary this year. Many performances and tours from all over the world have passed in two decades; many movements, which have transformed the landscape of circus arts here. Review of twenty years with Stéphane Lavoie, general director.
It is the circus arts that are the most seen, the most twirling of the Tohu. Because the performance hall was the first completely round in North America, entirely designed for the circus and dedicated to it.
Initially inspired by one of Montreal’s cultural centres, the Tohu was to be a 400-seat venue. “Then the architects went to Europe to visit,” says Stéphane Lavoie.
“They came back and said, ‘Well, it has to be round… It would be stupid to start a circus arts city with a traditional theater.’” […] “It was a strong gesture: in Montreal, the capital of circus arts, there would be a permanent circus. Then, it would take a 13-meter track. And while we were at it, we would also have to do trapeze there…” said the director with a smile.
“…and the project grew, and today, we have to bring to life a round room with eight hundred and fifty seats. We have to take responsibility for it. It’s a vocation.”
The mission of the place, continues Mr. Lavoie, is also to rehabilitate the Saint-Michel Environmental Complex and revitalize this Montreal neighborhood. In the early 2000s, “we were at the very beginning of the definition of sustainable development through culture,” recalls the director.
The Tohu building was the first LEED building in Quebec, this system for qualifying buildings with “high environmental quality”. “At the time, no one believed that we would succeed in doing it. We forget that the building itself is a statement “, recalls the director, with his pieces recovered from the bumper cars of La Ronde or the shops Angus, its passive geothermal energy, its water retention basins, its green roof, its organic vegetable garden above the former Miron dump and quarry.
Today, the environmental side of Tohu is revealed mainly through education and awareness. “We receive nearly 6,000 people per year with our guided tours,” says Mr. Lavoie.
On the importance of receiving
When La Tohu was born, Cirque du Soleil, still entirely Quebecois, was at its peak of glory. Cirque Éloize was taking off; Les 7 Doigts was arriving. However, in the Quebec circus, 90% of revenues come from abroad, and most of the work is to go and perform elsewhere.
A situation that raises the question of reciprocity. “Tohu is there to counterbalance our circus companies that travel so much, by inviting foreign companies.”
Also, what can a Quebec circus hall present when local companies are always on tour? “Our jobit is to show the richness, all the forms that are made,” thinks the director.
In Montreal, the public is extremely demanding, says Stéphane Lavoie. “And that’s the fun“Other countries don’t put on shows as strong. And their artists didn’t always go to circus school. Here, we’re condemned to excellence,” Mr. Lavoie says with a laugh.
“We therefore need to break the mold, to show that in the circus, there is also poetry, gentleness, sometimes theater. That it can be very danceable or very musical. That there are other ways of doing it.”
Among past programs, the director is proud to have been able to have James Thierrée perform — who, in 2010, came to Montreal for the first time with Raoul —, the Australians of the Circa troupe, the Swiss Zimmermann & de Perrot in 2013, and recently, the SLAM! signed Robert Lepage.
Conversely, what aesthetics escape the Tohu? “The cabaret. The show for eighteen-year-olds and over, which we sometimes do through the festival Complètement cirque, with [soirées] Dirty Laundry, for example. It’s amazing that Montreal, an open city, with its history from the 1940s and 1950s, its red light districtdon’t get involved in this.”
Also, small forms, duets and solos, these personal proposals born of the pandemic, nourished by playwrights or choreographers, sometimes texts, are in the blind spot. “It takes a small room for that,” emphasizes the director, who mentions in the process that he can only present in Montreal roughly half of the shows he would like to show there.
Pursue
And the hopes of the Tohu from the 2000s that were not realized? Access to the venue, and attendance. “We overestimated the power of attraction. And in terms of mobility, it’s an incredible challenge. All our studies show that the further away the spectator lives, the easier it is to access the Tohu. From Repentigny, it’s 20 minutes. From Laval, it’s great. But when you come from the Plateau, or when you go back to the city centre…”
Relations with the neighborhood, too, are always to be rebuilt, “because there is a high turnover rate: immigrants arrive in Saint-Michel, but as soon as things are going well, they leave.” Because it is the Tohu that serves as the Maison de la culture for Saint-Michel, also offering free outdoor programming.
What do we wish for as a birthday wish? Money. “We had a lot of support, we still have some,” says Stéphane Lavoie. “But it’s frustrating to see every day the potential that there is here, that we can’t develop. What we present, it works.”
And when the three missions of the Tohu intertwine, as they did a few days ago during the Lumières de Saint-Michel, an event that brought together 1,200 people who came to observe or parade with their lanterns, “it’s magical. And I see the pride among the employees.”
“But we could do so much more and better. We are really being held back by rising costs.”