MCC 2012 - Séquence 8

I'm tired. I have seen a lot of shows these past two weeks, and I am tired. But more than anything, I'm tired of being disappointed.

Before I say anything else, I want to make one thing perfectly clear: the level of circus in Séquence 8 is superb and beyond reproach. Every single acrobat in the show holds their own and there is never a moment where you think to yourself "That person is just there to be pretty."

 Photo by: Montréal Complètement Cirque

That being said, I found the show to be long, one note, and as a result, kind of boring. The show just seemed so heavy, and life so hard! The artists kept pawing one another as they leaped achingly across the stage. The choreography, while beautiful, seemed like a variation of the same thing every time.

It felt to me that the artists were given very dramatic, emotional choreography, and that they executed it to the best of their abilities. But somewhere there was a disconnect and it didn't seem believable. It seemed like these young artists (they are all recent graduates of the National Circus School of Montreal) lacked the maturity and experience to anchor themselves in the emotional depth needed to really do the piece justice. Whereas previous shows by the 7 Fingers seemed to have some basis in the realities of the artists involves (Loft and Traces come to mind), the content at the core of this show seemed so far removed from the artists asked to interpret it that it felt incomplete.

It's not that they aren't good. Far from it. Every single person in that show is wonderful and does their job well. But as a whole, I have no idea what they were trying to express. And I could not connect with them on a deeper level because I didn't feel like they were connected to whatever it was they were trying to get across. They just aren't there yet.

 

Photo : Ann Pare - Le Devoir

As I mentioned above, the show is heavy. Everything seems like this insurmountable drama. The pace of the show drags on and on because one dramatic number is followed by another. Finally, while installing the Korean plank, the entire mood was lifted by getting the public to do the wave, but that energy plummeted just as quickly as it arrived because the Korean plank number, like pretty much every other number, was serious business. The few comedic moments in the show were definitely like breaths of fresh air, but the rhythm seemed off and I felt like those moments would fall a bit flat and lose their momentum.

By the middle of the show I just wanted to tell the artists to go get some fresh air, grab some ice cream and just get over themselves. I know it's not them, but the show that makes them that way. But seriously guys, lighten up a bit.

Colin Davis did a wonderful job as MC and definitely succeeded in the role of holding everyone together.

The Russian bar act was technically very good, but it was the staging that really made that act shine. Alex Royer danced across the bar and brought an elegance and poetry to a discipline that is typically more technical than artistic.

 Photo: Bernard Brault, La Presse

But the stand out act for me was definitely Eric Bates with his cigar box juggling. It's always a pleasure to see the more obscure disciplines, but it's even better when the person performing that discipline is exceptional. Not only was Eric a joy to watch, but his act brought a much needed lightness and change of pace to the show.

Photo : Pedro Ruiz, Le Devoir

The funny thing is, this is in no way a bad show. I know it sounds like I'm really ripping into it, but it's not a bad show. There are just some seriously long moments, and it needs to have a little more lightness to balance out all that deep dramatic content. And personally, I would like to see the artists step back a little more. There is so much choreography and so many staged moments where all eight of them seem to be manipulating everything and everyone around them that sometimes things seem cluttered and you really just wish you could take a moment to breathe and focus on one person.

This is a brand new show and clearly it has some cutting out and tightening up to do. But I think the biggest challenge will be for these green artists to develop the chops necessary to truly express the world they are trying to convey.