We cannot grasp the importance of the circus community in Quebec. We cannot see it, because its artists live from 90% to 95% of the export, according to the outgoing director of En Piste, Christine Bouchard. Between the arrival, in 2014, of Mme Bouchard to the national circus arts group and his departure, last week, there was the sale of Cirque du Soleil to foreign interests, a master plan for the circus, a pandemic. Among others. A look at the challenges of the Quebec circus in 2023.
There are acts, shows that have never been presented in Montreal.
“The pandemic has made it possible to realize the extent of the circus community here”, when artists and artisans were forced to return home, explained Christine Bouchard to the Duty on her last day as director of En piste, February 24. “We could see everything. There was, when I arrived at En piste, and there is still today, an issue of perception in the circus sector. We do not see its richness or its diversity. »
“In the circus, we have a high placement rate: the artists, on leaving school, are hired. They go on tour around the world, sell their acts abroad. We don’t see them here. And that’s what gets in the way of understanding the size and wholeness of the community. “There are acts, shows that have never been presented in Montreal. »
The monolithic vision that sticks to the circus is the ransom of success. “When you have successes in an environment like those that we have known, throughout the world, from large companies and even a multinational, it is certain that it gives the impression that the circus sector is entirely like that. While it’s a fairly complex ecosystem—yes, it’s the only performing arts sector in Quebec that has a multinational in its field. And it is also diversified, which we conceive much less, “says Mme Bouchard.
turn to the circus
A great catch-up on the conditions of practice in the middle has been made in the last eight years, estimates Mme Bouchard. “A lot of basic things were missing when I arrived, if only CNESST protection for artists during their training, which has existed in dance for several years. The circus won it in 2018, while the dancers have been covered since 2006, for supervised training.
En Piste has added other direct services for its members: continuing education; group insurance programs; and, in 2021, a distribution assistance measure, called Destination cirque, to develop the circus with multidisciplinary presenters across the province, so that it can be seen elsewhere than in Quebec and Montreal.
“It is not normal, in my opinion, that we cannot see a circus show a week in Montreal, again,” thinks the outgoing director. One of the problems remains the lack of dissemination. And the persistent idea that you still need special rooms, with technical capacities and exceptional ceiling heights to receive the circus. “It’s not just air! continues Mme Bouchard. There are now small forms, youth circus, etc. »
By increasing services to members, En piste was able to increase member engagement and grow from more than 250 members in 2014 to 600 last December. The next challenges? Diffusion, still to be cleared. And the funding. “There are very few companies that are supported in operation. The non-renewal of the $10 million post-pandemic stimulus brings government funding for the circus back to 2019 levels.”
For Christine Bouchard, it is also “fundamental to develop the preparatory training sector, that it continues at university. We have two recognized schools, in Montreal and Quebec, but at the college level only. Then there’s not a lot of development, and that’s a major problem. You have to develop critical thinking, the history of the circus, etc. We are better than we were, in the circus, but there is still a long way to go. »
Nadia Drouin is acting general manager of En Piste.