The 7 Fingers is an artist collective based in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada. The group is also known by its French name " Les 7 doigts de la main", which is sometimes shortened to "Les 7 Doigts".

History

The 7 Fingers is a collective founded in 2002 by seven circus artists: Isabelle Chassé, Shana Carroll, Patrick Léonard, Faon Shane,

Gypsy Snider Gypsy Snider (born 1970) is a Canadian–American director, choreographer, and former acrobat. She co-founded The 7 Fingers, an artist collective, and choreographed Pippin in 2013. Early life and education Snider's mother Peggy and stepfather Lar ...

, Sébastien Soldevila, and Samuel Tétreault. Since 2003, the collective has been led by Nassib El-Husseini, a political scientist, author, and former advisor to numerous governmental and non-governmental organizations both in Canada and abroad. On July 14, 2016, the collective created The 7 Fingers Foundation. Until the end of 2017, the collective's headquarter was on 225 Roy East st. in

. After 18 months of renovation work, The 7 Fingers moved to their new centre of creation and production, on 2111 Sain-Laurent boulevard, in the quartier des spectacles.

Original and Touring shows

''Passagers'' (2018)

''Passagers'' is a show celebrating the Human and a reflection on the importance and the beauty of interpersonal relationships, mixing dance, physical expression,

acrobatics Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro ...

and projections, gathering six artists from all around the world, and accompanied by original musical compositions. This new creation is directed by Shana Carroll, assisted by Isabelle Chassé. Its premiere will take place at the

Tohu Tohu can refer to: *Tohu Harris, New Zealand rugby league footballer *Tohu Kākahi, New Zealand Māori leader *Tohu, a biblical person (an ancestor of the prophet Samuel; 1 Samuel 1:1) *Another transliteration of the Japanese word "tofu" In Hebrew ...

, in

Montréal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...

, on November 14, 2018.

''Patinoire'' (2011)

The company's first solo show, ''Patinoire'', features The 7 Fingers' co-founder Patrick Léonard. It is directed by Patrick Léonard himself and assisted by Nicolas Cantin. The show was most shown for a month at the

Festival d'Avignon The ''Festival d'Avignon'', or Avignon Festival, is an annual arts festival held in the French city of Avignon every summer in July in the courtyard of the Palais des Papes as well as in other locations of the city. Founded in 1947 by Jean Vila ...

in 2014. In July 2008, Montreal artists from The 7 Fingers, and some Mexican artists from Cirko de Mente, went to the Canadian great north to meet with

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

artists from

Artcirq Artcirq is an Inuit circus performance collective based in Igloolik, Nunavut, Canada. It was co-founded in 1998 by Guillaume Saladin and several circus artists from Montreal and youth from Igloolik, with the financial support of Igloolik Isuma Pr ...

, in order to associate their arts and their talents. After two weeks of creation, the artists gave several shows in

Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...

. A third stopover happened in Montreal in 2008 with the mexican, inuit and montrealer artists. The show continued on mutating. In 2010, Barcelona hosts the residency of The Fibonacci Project for three weeks. The show is composed of seven catalan artists and seven Quebecois artists. In April 2016, The Project sets camp in

Marrakesh Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakes ...

for two weeks. The show is composed of three Quebecois artists, seven Moroccan artists and three Guinean artists.

Past original productions

Temporel (2018)

''Temporel'' is a

multidisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...

show combining the universe of The 7 Fingers and the compan
Lemieux Pilon 4D Art
conceived and directed by Patrick Léonard, Isabelle Chassé,

Michel Lemieux Michel Lemieux (born February 13, 1959, in Indianapolis, Indiana) is a Canadian multimedia artist from Quebec, whose career has incorporated work in theatrical design, installation art, film, video, dance and music."'Technology is a tool' to ar ...

et Victor Pilon, and its choreography was created by Shana Carroll. Its world premiere took place at the

Place des Arts Place may refer to: Geography * Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population ** Census-designated place, a populated area lacking its own municipal government * "Place", a type of street or road name ** Often ...

(Montréal) on January 11, 2018.

''Vice & Vertu'' (2017)

Directed by three of the collective's co-founders – Isabelle Chassé, Patrick Léonard, and Samuel Tétreault – ''Vice & Vertu'' was performed from July 10 to August 6, 2017, at the Société des Arts Technologiques (SAT) in Montreal as part of the city's 375th Anniversary Celebrations. ''Vice & Vertu'' was an immersive, three-hour, promenade-style performance for audiences 18 years and over. The production was a work of fiction heavily inspired by historic figures from 1920s to 1940s Montreal.

Bosch Dreams (2016)

''Bosch Dreams'' pays tribute to the painter Jheronimus Bosch. The show was directed by Samuel Tétreault and coproduced by Theatre Republique (

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

) upon an invitation from the festival Circolo (

Netherland ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

) with the support of Wilhelm Hansen Fonden and the Jheronimus Bosch 500 Foundation. The show was created for the 500 year-anniversary of the painter's death. The show premiered in September 2016 in Copenhagen. The show performed in France for the first time in November 2017 during the festival "Québec à La Villette" before touring there and abroad.

''Réversible'' (2016)

Directed Gypsy Snider, ''Reversible'' was coproduced with the Théâtre du Gymnase-Bernardines (

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

), Thomas Lightburn (

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

), and the Tohu (

''Triptyque'' (2015)

Under the artistic direction of Samuel Tétreault, The 7 Fingers partnered with three choreographers to create a performance composed of three acts: *Anne & Samuel: a duo choreographed by

Marie Chouinard Marie Chouinard OC (born 14 May 1955) is a Canadian dancer, choreographer, and dance company director. Life and work In 1978, Chouinard presented her first work, ''Crystallization''. After 12 years as a solo performer and choreographer, Chouina ...

. *Variations 9.81: a handstand quintet staged by Victor Quijada (Groupe RUBBERBANDance). *Nocturnes: a piece by Marcos Morau (La Véronal). The show was coproduced by

Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-sea ...

Theatre (London), Thomas Lightburn (Vancouver), the Tohu, la Cité des arts du cirque (Montreal), Albourne ( Norwalk), and Danse-Cité (Montreal). The show's official premiere was at the TOHU on October 14, 2015.

''Traces'' (2006 – present)

The show had its world premiere in Montreal in January 2006, shortly before performing at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

in Melbourne, Australia. With ten years and nearly 1900 shows to its name, ''Traces'' is considered one of the collective's biggest successes. In 2011, the show played for one year at

Union Square Theatre Union Square Theatre was the name of two different theatres near Union Square, Manhattan, New York City. The first was a Broadway theatre that opened in 1870, was converted into a cinema in 1921 and closed in 1936.(8 October 1921)Two landmarks to ...

in New York.

Artistic collaborations

''Peter Pan 360'' (2015–2016)

In 2015, The 7 Fingers led the choreography and movement direction of ''Peter Pan 360'' in the United States. Presented in the Threesixty Theatre, a 360-degree stage within a 100-foot high structure, ''Peter Pan'' was directed by Thom Sutherland with original music by Benjamin Wallfisch.

''Pippin'' (2013–2017)

The choreography and integration of circus into the Broadway revival of the musical ''

Pippin Pippin or Pepin may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Pippin'' (comics), a children's comic produced from 1966 to 1986 * ''Pippin'' (musical), a Broadway musical by Stephen Schwartz loosely based on the life of Pepin the Hunchback * Pippin T ...

'' was entrusted to The 7 Fingers. In 2014, the show was performed 420 times at the Music Box Theatre in New York. ''Pippin'' also toured the US.

Special events

* Olympic Games: Sochi 2014, Vancouver 2010, and Turin 2006 * Bench/ The Naked Truth (Manilla, 2014)

Awards and recognitions

*January 2012: Gold medal at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain in Paris for a Chinese pole number (an excerpt from the show PSY) performed by Héloïse Bourgeois and William Underwood.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:7 Fingers Circuses Culture of Quebec Companies based in Montreal Entertainment companies of Canada Canadian artist groups and collectives