A frying pan, jazz music, and acrobatic dance might not sound like the most obvious combination for a circus performance. Yet, at La TOHU on October 17, that was all these performers had to work with, with only moments to decide what to do.
I was there for L’Impro Cirque, a show by Montréal-based Les Improduits that combines circus arts with improvisational theatre. Rather than following a rehearsed routine from beginning to end, performers were given new challenges throughout the evening. The themes, circus disciplines, and time limits appeared on a screen above the stage, leaving the teams to figure out how to turn them into a performance.
The whole thing replicated the energy of a sporting event.. There were two teams, one red and one blue, referees in striped shirts, a scoreboard, and even a live band. Before the show, we were given two coloured cards to vote for our favourite team after each round, making the audience part of the competition.
Some of the challenges were pretty unusual. One round combined aerial rope with an arachnophobia theme, challenging the performers to turn a fear of spiders into an aerial performance. Another challenged performers to represent endangered animals through movement using a Cyr wheel. Then there was the frying pan challenge, where one performer narrated while the others acted out ingredients cooking in a pan, with one playing pepper and another an onion. The second team then had to perform the same scene backwards. Seeing these combinations appear on the screen was entertaining in itself and watching the performers figure out how to interpret the challenges was even better.
I found the aspect of anticipation, of not knowing how each round would turn out, to be the most exciting part of the show. It made me think about why watching something improvised can be so entertaining in the first place. We usually go to a circus expecting to be impressed by what the performers can do. In a large production, the music, choreography, and timing have generally been worked out long before the audience arrives. At L’Impro Cirque, we were also watching the process of creating the art.
The 2018 study called The Improvisational State of Mind, gives a little insight on why I, like many others, had such a positive reaction to the show. The study looks at how audiences responded to improvised and prepared performances and it found improvised performances as more emotionally engaging and convincing. The study suggests that watching something being created in the moment can be a different experience from watching a rehearsed performance.
Thinking back to La TOHU, I can see why it might. When a new challenge appeared on the screen, I wasn’t just waiting for an impressive trick; I wanted to know what the performers would come up with. Would the scene turn out funny, impressive, or strange? Some combinations worked better than others, but that was the best part of the experience. It felt different from watching a performance where every movement had already been decided.
Montréal is already well known for its circus culture, especially through companies such as Cirque du Soleil. The evening at La TOHU introduced me to something quite different from the large productions I usually associate the circus with. It was smaller and much less predictable. La TOHU made for a memorable night. While I may not remember every routine or joke, I will remember the anticipation of looking at the screen as each new challenge appeared, wondering how the performers could possibly pull it off.
