Blizzard features a flurry of circus arts
For its first trip to B.C., Quebec’s FLIP Fabrique brings together two things its home province is famous for: circus and snow. Formed largely by breakaway members of Cirque du Soleil, the troupe plays with all things winter in its aptly named Blizzard, channelling the same kind of excitement thousands of Lower Mainland school kids had on their recent snow day.
“We’re Quebeckers; we know what snow is,” declares Bruno Gagnon, the executive and artistic director of FLIP Fabrique from its home base in Quebec City. “The snow used to pile incredibly high, so much we were jumping from rooftops. And through visual poetry, we take a crazy journey into the idea: what if winter has taken over—even inside houses and under clothes?”
Flurries abound as the troupe uses everything from hoop dances to straps acts and Russian cradle swinging to celebrate winter. And imagine the possibilities of snowballs for elaborate juggling sequences, Rollerblades for ice-skating tricks, or long scarves for a jump-rope spectacle.
The biggest draw is the trampoline routine, which the company has become famous for elsewhere in the world. Here, a physics-defying act known as the “tramp-wall” features acrobats flying off and back up to a towering platform.
What sets FLIP Fabrique apart, Gagnon explains, is that it was created eight years ago by acrobats looking to push the contemporarycircus art form.
“I was working with Cirque du Soleil the last few years, and I had thousands of shows—I did everything I could do in my show to go forward,” Gagnon reflects. “With this, we’re bringing the spotlight on our own colour to the show. There’s new, strong acrobatics that are really energetic, really fresh, and really new. What’s different is the energy we give to the audience.”
That energy isn’t just about gasps and cheers; FLIP Fabrique occasionally tries for something more profound.
Blizzard’s final act, for instance, plays out in a huge prism, with snow falling delicately and composer-performer Ben Nesrallah’s piano playing softly. “Many people cry,” Gagnon remarks. “It’s very fragile.”
The formula seems to be working: Gagnon reports that FLIP Fabrique now has over 40 artists, eight full-time employees, and six technicians. It’s travelled to 22 countries, from Mexico and Brazil to Australia, Italy, and China.
And, unlike in B.C., where we’ve just had a whiteout, in many of the places FLIP Fabrique goes, the idea of a blizzard is completely alien. “To many countries that don’t have snow, the coldest they feel is to put their hands in a freezer,” Gagnon says. “So for them it is exotic.”
We’re Quebeckers; we know what snow is.
– Bruno Gagnon, FLIP Fabrique
Circus3 presents FLIP Fabrique’s Blizzard at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Thursday (January 23).