If you want to understand just how important Montreal’s standing is in the world of circus arts, ask Aaron Marquise what happens when he introduces himself abroad at other festivals.
"The second I say I'm from Montreal," says Marquise, deputy director of circus arts programming and development at TOHU and MONTRÉAL COMPLÈTEMENT CiRQUE (MCC), "you can feel this shift in the conversation."
The city has earned its rep, and not because of any single company or style, but an ecosystem: the National Circus School, Les 7 doigts de la main, Cirque Éloize, and decades upon decades of artists who have trained here and since toured the world. The depth and breadth of what circus is and can be goes deeper and wider than you probably think. Not to knock it, but even seeing a show from a household name like Cirque du Soleil is simply one channel on a very large dial. “It's like cinema,” Marquise says. “You have a Martin Scorsese and you have a Wes Anderson. They're all within the discipline of film, but they're making such different work."
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