Qantas The Australian Way, National

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1 ID BRIEF CANADA TOU INDEX 1 PAGE 1 of 5 Cirque Eloire show Nebbia haat {star) and (opposite) Tilsa!silk) Hot on the 96 11ANTA APR1

2 ID BRIEF CANADA TOU INDEX 1 PAGE 2 of 5 z W0111:6 MARK I UDDERY More than the home of Cirque du Soleil. Montreal is the thriving creative hub at the heart of the evolution of circus craft itself. N4, hi Hwire 0 CATED IN SOUTH-EAST CANADA, and settled by colonists. Montreal is Nutt h America's must Eunipcan city. Its populace 115aliilly speaks French. but will happili- lapse into English for travellers. This is a LIrrench city passitinate about the arts. Every ivilitresswerns la Iv a du mei- or d ClaSSkal musician in her spare time, and taxi drivers will talk excitedly atiota the cit y's new S('266m (S25(1.3m 1 symphony concest hall, Iv Maisun Symphonique. Montreal is also hum', ka some of the world's most exciting circus acts. You might h,ave seert them. cunt Wyatt haen't visited the city. Contemporary troupe Cirque Elam toured the I :rifted States lam 'lour, real lirv 14.t Sidi.Idary MS a hip-hop shins with Its star. Maria, as a IN tiantlionist and her star-crossal lover. Toff. us u lx-eakdanring MIAMI. In Cernaini. the tn tape Lis 7 Daigts de la Main (literally -The Seven FinRers (II Ilk- /Id rid". after its seven founding per forraus i pri.sented Ls Vir. a show set in purgatory. about losanil Y.!RXII.PW. taxi behaviour. pain and romantic love gone terribly wrong-. ) APR/L 2612 QANTAS 91

3 ID BRIEF CANADA TOU INDEX 1 PAGE 3 of 5 By the end of last year. there were 22 different Cirque du Soleil productions, drawing crowds from Tokyo to Los Angeles. The world's largest circus company employing some 1300 performers and with revenues expected to exceed SUS1b (5931.3m) this year is the Beatles. Elvis and Michael Jackson of circus companies. Indeed, it has shows themed around each of those artists. Although wildly disparate. Montreal's circus troupes are conscious of entertaining the "common man". "Unlike dance or opera, which was very elite, or theatre, which was very intellectual, circus was meant to appeal to the masses." Gypsy Snider, one of the 7 Doigts. says. "Even when you try to do something intellectual or dark or intense, you're still doing these tricks which have this 'wow' factor." Montreal is a city where circus has been transkrmed from family shows featuring elephants and pantaloon-wearing clowns to the avant-garde productions of today. "I have to say, very humbly, that Cirque du Soleil has had a lot to do with it," company spokesperson Chantal COte says. "Because of the high profile of the company, people got interested in circus arts." Sure, the Cirque deserves much credit, but long before it was established in 1982, Montreal was a hub of modern circus. In the 1960s and '70s, a host of influences from modern theatre to dance were all having an impact. Among these influences were French mime artist Marcel Marceau, the Hollywood classic Singh]. In The Rain, other innovative circus troupes (including Australia's Circus Oz), and local choreographer Edouard Lock, whose company La La La Human Steps would begin its athletic and high-powered shows in "Montreal was so isolated in the 1970s that we were instinctive creators," Lock says. "People called my choreography 'punk'. and I got stuck with that label for the next 15 years." Alternative circuses have flourished elsewhere Snider says that there are 300 circus companies in France but Montreal is acknowledged as the capital of circus arts. It is also home to the world's first circus academy. the National Circus School. founded in 1981.

4 ID BRIEF CANADA TOU INDEX 1 PAGE 4 of 5 Wheel of Death in cirque du Soteit's Zarkarw I.oraterlin Montreal's Saint-Michel the elite wilful clam. that 9i per rent.i. ib graduates become eircus profe..,sluna Is. Natural iv. I his requires int ense dodlcat tun. fiddle looper. 21, was alreixty a v4eran when sbe applied. having pert-cloned as a Ehik3 with Australia's Flvh ig Fru ilfly Circus. Hoopir. fmm the north coast at New.South adeepled into the chil i1lcra video audition. She Waleas was also offered a place in tile prestigious National institute of Citrus Arts in Melbourne hut the Montreal facility fian a reputation: It is the Cambridge -cw I iarvard of circus sehools. Hooper aimed to Montreal, mroilod iii.erenchk.s&cs, and is now In 13cr hisi war. I laver cheerfully derrionstrates itun she is already- an trtipre.dve amlalist arid contortionist. Nonetheless. last like ter ail CILLIICOS. she is In kiwe of circus perforromm.. Tin not as fearless as the acrobats.' she says. 7 think they've got 'act lot hardie While the National Circus tic ht-x-il wras ta king its fira. students. a company of stilt.wal ken; called Club des 'I'a Loris Haws trigh-fleeled Club) was performing in the streets in Mont real. Led by Guy Laliberte and Daniel Gauthier, this group MIS the found at ion for Cirque du Soleil. performing its flfst ShOW in Even in. the. carlv ditys. It was clew- rho! ihauimpauv wastaking the circtis innew hungee juntping became an ititernational crime in theca* i 9?() Cirque show NbIJ Ever-Jrk,- performed a irdper.0 show In %chick the leotard-chid acrobats swung gracefully from bungee cords, in circus, there are a million ways to do St] ider 11 'ere are il LnIllion different disciplines. You CUrt invent kat aerial apparatus that never ex Lyted Ixfore. One of Ostia )

5 ID BRIEF CANADA TOU INDEX 1 PAGE 5 of 5 du Soleil's specialties is that they don't just do trapezes. One of the founding members invented an act where she did trapeze moves that involved hanging on chains. It was theatrically very powerful and beautiful. It probably wasn't technically the most difficult act in the world, but it had incredible impact on circus and the way people saw what you could do in the air." The Cirque even speaks fondly about the competition smaller but very successful troupes. Cirque Eloize. founded in 1993 by National Circus School graduates. has toured 34 countries, featured regularly on French television and created shorter. custom-made shows for events such as the 2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony in Turin. An alternative to the growing extravagance of Cirque du Soleil. it was circus fun on a budget. For starters, they cut down on the cast. "Niost of the new circus artists are very multitalented," says head trainer Krzysztof Soroczynski. who started his circus career in 1965 as a child in Warsaw. "They do many different acts. Usually they specialise. but also they are able to dance, do acrobatics. play music." The result: Whatever you do. don't call it "theatrical". Alt hough it explores human drama and emotion, and the performers talk to the audience. Snider insists that the circus is not theatre. "We've just evolved as an art form. It's not as if we're trying to do a play that's really acrobatic, and we're not trying to do a circus that's really theatrical." The best time for circus lovers to pay a visit to Montreal is July. when the La Tohu performing arts centre, also in the Saint-Michel district, holds the annual Montreal Completement Cirque festival. Like Montreal's world-famous festivals of jazz. comedy and other art forms, this attracts international performers to the city. While the visiting performers come from as tar away as the republics of Ireland and Guinea, Montrealers needn't look so far to rind talent. Many other local acts enjoy the festival limelight. 1; Impro Cirque combines circus with another great Canadian invention, Theatresports: Cirque Carpe Diem invites thrill-seekers in the audience to join them on the flying trapeze: Throw 2 Catch returns to street performance. while Vague de Cirque presents circus as cabaret. Apart from astounding circus skills, the only thing they all seem to have in common is a knack for creative experimentation. That... and a keen sense of theatrics! Where can circus go from here? Zoe Beaudry, of the La Tohu performing arts centre, says almost anywhere. The essence of circus arts, she says, is "going beyond your limits. The circus arts will always try to go further and further. Nobody in circus arts just stands still." Whatever direction the circus takes, you can bet Montreal \vitt be the best place to experience it. E3For airfares call Qantas on or visit qantas.com For Canadian holiday packages call Qantas Holidays on