Flip FabriQue envisages a last hurrah
“What if this was our last show together, ever?” Flip FabriQue artistic director Bruno Gagnon said. “What would we want to accomplish?”
The Quebec City circus troupe’s newest creation, Transit, has its pre-world première under the Eugene Chaplin big top at the Festival International de Cirque VaudreuilDorion, June 24.
The festival officially kicks off the day before with a circusthemed parade Mosaïk, at 7 p.m. The amusement park set up at the town’s arena opens the same day, at 4 p.m.
The four-day festival also features a program of free, live music performances, the 30th edition of the municipality’s annual fireworks and circus-themed play areas and family activities.
Flip FabriQue’s Transit is, in fact, Transit 2.0. The company created the original version four years ago.
“The first Transit was about where we were in our lives at that point,” said Gagnon, 28. “We wanted to continue that story and look at where we might be and how we might be thinking if we were reaching the end of our careers — that bitter-taste-in-the-mouth moment when you realize you’re 30 years old and it’s time to decide what to do next.”
Gagnon said most circus artists peak at around 24 and can choose to continue, depending on their particular discipline, until 35.
“Then things shut down, really quick,” he said. “By that point you’ve been travelling the world for 15 years or so, and you just want to stay put.”
Gagnon is still performing as an acrobat, juggler and trapeze flyer.
Gagnon performed 1,500 shows with Cirque du Soleil before pushing himself to leave the security of the world-famous company.
“I was at a turning point,” he said. “I had to leave to go further.”
The six members of Flip FabriQue met while studying at the École nationale de cirque from 2005-2008. They dispersed after
graduating to perform with Cirque du Soleil, Cirque Éloize and cabarets in Europe, then reunited to form Flip FabriQue in 2011. Their first show was in 2012 and they’ve been busy touring ever since. Shows are booked through 2019.
“When producers hear we are from Quebec, they trust us,” Gagnon said. “There is an aura around circus performers from Quebec. We have Cirque du Soleil, Cirque Éloize, the circus school, street performers everywhere and we have the Festival complètement cirque.”
Transit’s official world première is at TOHU, July 7, as part of the Festival complètement cirque.
Audiences in Vaudreuil-Dorion get a chance to see the show in its pre-première mode and for a reasonable ticket price.
“We (company members) aren’t at the beginning and we’re not at the end, we’re somewhere in the middle,” Gagnon said. “But we wanted to play with the concept that this could possibly be our last show. If that were the case, we’d want to do something pretty terrific, yes?”