The 7 Fingers raised the bar with their energetic and electrifying show presented Thursday night as part of the free event ‘3Géants’ on the Esplanade Place Ville Marie.
The 52-foot-tall, 30-foot-wide structure, at the base of which the Montreal Company’s acrobats perform as part of the Montreal Completely Circus Festival, has the new circus ring and Mount Royal in the background. We’ve seen worse establishments.
MARTIN ALARIE / QMI AGENCY
Each acrobatic arch in the shape of a giant – there are two others of the same size in Parc Vinet in the south-west and in Jardins Gamelin next to the Berri-UQAM metro station – will be animated night after night until July 17, at 6pm and 9.30pm
The Machine de cirque troupe from Quebec entertains the curious in the Parc Vinet, while the Cirque Éloize from Montreal takes care of the giant installed in the Jardins Gamelin.
MARTIN ALARIE / QMI AGENCY
At PVM, a show seen by QMI Agency on Thursday earlier in the evening, The 7 Fingers made less use of the giant than we thought, but the ten athletes on stage didn’t lack confidence and dazzled the crowd. There were balancing acts, jumps, roller blading, in short, the spectators were not disappointed in these tightly packed 30 minutes.
At times, the wind corridors through these skyscraper fauna added a level of difficulty.
The number at 9:30 p.m. must be seen at the PVM – and no doubt also at the other two locations – to take full advantage of the play of light, because as the show progresses, the giant lights up to the rhythm of the music . Triangular prisms used throughout the performance are brought together like poetic touches at the end of the course and heaved into the junk giant’s chest, causing it to thrash to give it life. And a soul!
MARTIN ALARIE / QMI AGENCY
We have a feeling people are happy to get together – despite a seventh wave of COVID-19 – and the magic seems to be happening even more outdoors.
The pleasure now is to visit the three shows until July 17th. To avoid work, there is always public transport, the bike or BIXI.
MARTIN ALARIE / QMI AGENCY
It took teams five months of work to build each giant. With all the challenges, it took nearly 4,000 hours on the shop floor over eight weeks to complete the fabrication, including jigs, welding and adjustments. Another three weeks were needed for the painting phase. Nine 53-foot trucks were requested to deliver each structure from the Scène Éthique workshop.
Listen to the Kulturchronik with Marika Simard on the microphone by Marc-André Leclerc on QUB radio:
The 3Géants event is part of the city’s tourist and artistic recovery strategy, which has been put to the test over the past two summers due to the never-ending pandemic. With the impetus of Montreal Complete Circus and Tohu, 3Géants has, for the first time, enabled the three circus companies to work closely together to deliver the project, bringing together the driving forces of an industry that is Quebec’s pride. Each company ultimately signs their own creation.
The circus in Montréal is in full swing until July 17th. The program is available online.