Cirque Alfonse's Animal takes circus back to the farm, complete with tractor tires and mechanical bulls
The company based out of a barn north of Montreal keeps its funny, glitz-free act down-to-earth, even though the tricks are superhuman
Cirque Alfonse takes its inspiration from the Quebec farm where its cofounders grew up.
Animal is at the Vancouver Playhouse from September 20 to 24, presented by The Cultch and the Vancouver International Children’s Festival
THESE DAYS, the idea of contemporary circus conjures Vegas-style glitter makeup, shiny bodysuits, and towering, fantastical sets.
We’re here to tell you that Quebec’s beloved Cirque Alfonse is not that kind of circus—and its cheeky new Animal, which is coming to Vancouver, is not that kind of spectacle.
For good reason—it was actually created in a repurposed log barn north of Montreal—the raucous new show is based on a farm, and brought to life with live, rollicking Quebec folk music, complete with punk-edged jigs and spoon-playing. Props for gravity-defying acrobatic tricks include a tractor wheel with a teeterboard, an unruly mechanical bull, and humble wheelbarrows and milk pails. Far from the unearthly madeup creatures of Cirque du Soleil, the performers have wild lumberjack beards and costumes that feel a bit like a vintage store exploded.
“We want to have our own colour and be way less glittery, with less makeup,” asserts affable acrobat and cofounder Antoine Carabinier Lépine, over a call with Stir. “We are really down-to-earth. We want to be close to the audience so people see what we are as humans. We have to keep it simple so that people can see what we’re really doing.”
It’s not that Lépine or any of his castmates are strangers to the glitzy world of “new circus”. In his case, he left his small-town Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez for the acclaimed École nationale de cirque de Montréal as a teen, while his sister-cofounder, Julie Carabinier-Lépine, studied contemporary dance at Les Ateliers de danse Moderns de Montréal. But after years of touring abroad (him with Cirque Éloize, Cirque du Soleil, and Cirkus Cirkör; her with the likes of Swiss circus company Salto Natale) they found themselves coming full circle, returning to their parents’ farm in the woods 15 years ago. That’s when they decided to bring back some of their circus friends and put on a show in the barn for their dad’s 60th birthday. It was such a blast that it sparked the idea for a company, now based in that barn.
“We grew up on a little farm with sheep and ducks and goats and chickens, so for us this was a way to go back in time and explore what our parents were doing,” Lépine says. Recalling being surrounded by music as a kid, often played by his grandparents, he adds: “We wanted the shows to be a little party like back in the day. We always use traditional Quebec folk music–what we call ‘agricol-funk’. We wanted it to be really Quebec-ish!”
In another moving touch, the Lépine patriarch, now 75, has a regular role in the show. “My dad always wanted to be onstage ever since he was young–and there were a lot of circuses travelling around when he was growing up,” Lépine explains.
Animal is totally rooted in that farm upbringing—most notably for the crazy livestock that appears in the show. Lépine explains that his crew tries to give the feel of each animal without being too literal. “Each artist had an animal in the back of his head already,” he says.
As laugh-filled as the show is—reviews from as far away as the Edinburgh Festival Fringe assure that Cirque Alfonse is a blast for all ages—make no mistake: this circus company takes its tricks seriously, and has the legit chops to pull off jaw-dropping feats of juggling, balancing, and flying through the air.
“We try to push ourselves to the max, but if we fail some tricks it doesn't matter for us,” Lépine explains. “Cirque du Soleil is sometimes so slick it doesn't feel dangerous. Here, we’re sweating, we’re shaking, and tricks are going to fail sometimes. That shows people the difficulty as well. And that feeling makes it authentic and fun for everybody.”
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