They are pure products of Montreal’s contemporary circus. Brin Schoellkopf and his comrades (of American, South African and Australian origin), all graduates of the National Circus School of Montreal (ENC), chose to settle in the metropolis following their training.
These adopted Montrealers took their first professional steps with local companies, including Les 7 Doigts, which trained them and featured them in several of their shows (they are also dramaturgical advisors on Play Dead).
Brin Schoellkopf, for example, who grew up in Vermont and specialized as a tightrope walker at ENC, starred in the play. Passengers of the 7 Fingers. Same for Sabine Van Rensburg, born in South Africa, graduated from the ENC in 2018 (like Brin), who was recruited for this touring show, until the pandemic led to the closure of the venues.
It was during this period of isolation, in 2020, that Brin, Sabine and their friends – first the American Natasha Patterson and the Quebecer Jérémi Lévesque; then the Australians Jarrod Takle and Ruben Ingwersen – formed the collective People Watching.
“We would meet in my loft, and every day we would improvise things,” says Brin Schoellkopf. “Of course, we each have a specialty, but we had a common interest in acrobatic dance, we could dance up to six hours a day. We created a lot of material, including several duets, it was very intimate, but we also created a surrealist universe.”
None of these young performers really wanted to do their specialty act in a cabaret-type show, even with a story.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Brin Schoellkopf, member of the People Watching collective
What interests us is to break down barriers, to encourage crossovers between dance and acrobatics, but in an organic way, through dramaturgy. We realized that good ideas were often pushed aside in favor of our circus apparatus… It forced us to question the direction we want to give to contemporary circus.
Brin Schoellkopf, member of the People Watching collective
Play Dead is the result of this reflection, says Brin. “What connects us is acrobatic dance, but we still tried to integrate our skills in a creative way. For example, I have a specialty in wire, but instead of doing a number by stretching a wire, I use my balancing skills to walk on champagne bottles…”
The group of artists quickly realized that this fusion work, as demanding as it was, offered them many possibilities.
The collective built their piece on the theme of the absurdity of human experiences. Inspired by the friendly relationship between the six performers. “We are very close to each other, so there is a lot of affection between us. But like when you are at a party, as the evening progresses, the masks fall and you access the true face of each one.”
In the design of its lighting and the visual atmosphere it favors, with its tableaux vivants imbued with absurd humor, the People Watching collective clearly has cinematographic references, notably with the Swedish filmmaker Roy Andersson or the Greek Yórgos Lánthimos.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Artists Brin Schoellkopf, Jérémi Lévesque, Jarrod Takle, Ruben Ingwersen, Sabine Van Rensburg and Natasha Patterson
Several circus and dance companies are also references for People Watching. Brin Schoellkopf mentions the Cirque Le Roux – also made up of ENC graduates – but also the Brussels troupe Peeping Tom or the Greek choreographer Dimitris Papaïoánnou. “These are companies that have created their own rules.”
How can these children of 7 Doigts, a company that promoted a human-scale circus and which, for the first time 20 years ago, featured artists without costumes, who could be heard breathing, how can these young twenty-somethings push the intimate circus experience even further?
“It’s true that Les 7 Doigts influenced us a lot,” Brin replies. “But we’re interested in what contemporary circus can become. Today, there’s a real movement of breaking down barriers with other disciplines like dance or music, and we’re trying to see how circus can mix with that. There’s a work of deconstruction to find the essence of what we want to show and that’s what we’re working on.”
By the way, what does People Watching refer to? he is asked. “Precisely, I think that by observing people, through their gestures, we can learn a lot about them. We are in observation mode.”
Starting Wednesday, the Montreal public will have their eyes riveted on these emerging artists. And will learn more about this collective. And about the future of contemporary circus.
Play Dead, from July 10 to 14, at TOHU
Check out the show page