The colossal human-like structure designed by Michel Otis and built by Scène éthique is back on the PVM esplanade at Place Ville Marie for a third summer. Presented free of charge as part of the Montréal complète cirque festival, this year’s show is called Giant! Signed by Gypsy Snider, co-founder and artistic director of 7 doigts, the creation features eleven dancers and acrobats.
Even before it has begun, the vision is enchanting! Behind the almost 16-metre-high steel figure hangs the 30-metre-diameter ring designed by Claude Cormier. All around rise the skyscrapers of downtown. And in the background, the ultimate splendour, a sample of the verdant mass of Mount Royal. If you attend the 6 p.m. performance, you will have the chance to take in so much beauty in a single glance. If you are there for the 9:30 p.m. performance, you will be able to fully appreciate Julie Basse’s lighting, which is barely visible before sunset.
Full of urbanity, as if impregnated with the neighborhood where it takes place, with all that implies in terms of individualism, hustle and bustle, suits and screen addiction, the 30-minute show revolves around a child who embodies the future and hope, a little girl who will have no choice but to make herself a giant to overcome the colossal challenges that the world will certainly pose to her. The story is thin, supported by a pre-recorded bilingual narration, but that is not the main point.
At the heart of the show is a real gem: Adeline Cruz, who plays the lead role. Aged 10, the dancer is a fan of krump, an urban dance from the African-American communities of Los Angeles. On Jr Maddripp’s choreographies, the child burns the boards. Faced with such physical commitment, such expressiveness, not to mention her singing voice, whose richness and astonishing maturity can be appreciated live, we take our hats off very high! To give you an idea of the fascination that Cruz provokes, think of Maddie Ziegler, the extraordinary little girl discovered in a few Sia clips.
Although it is essentially there to link the circus acts together, the dance — frenetic, visceral, captivating — is by far the most exciting part. On the irresistible music of Colin Gagné, where the voices of Sarahmée and Frannie Holder sometimes appear, surrounded by the entire troupe, which the costumes of Camille Thibault-Bédard complete in constituting a community, Adeline Cruz and Wh!mz, the true stars of the show, captivate from beginning to end.
Performed in the tiered scenography designed by Ana Cappelluto, surprisingly much more so than in the steel character that overlooks the stage, the circus acts are rigorously accomplished, but not very memorable, apart from a few exceptions such as the breathtaking performance of Nathan Sterchi, Léonard Meylan, Lily-Claire Major-Varallo and Clara Laurent on the Korean board. In the final scene, which is absolutely beautiful, Adeline Cruz seems to float above the clouds. When the curtain falls on Giant!we swear to follow from now on wherever she goes, this artist promised a brilliant future.