In Montreal, the significantly developed circus scene is still misunderstood by many.
Montreal, the birthplace of the prestigious Cirque Du Soleil, is one of the leading cities in the world for circuses. The city has multiple circus schools, including the prestigious National Circus School, which combines professional training with the regular school curriculum.
For some athletes, the physical aspect of circus arts is overlooked. Youssef Frigon, 18, has been practicing circus arts since he was three years old and is currently enrolled at the Verdun Circus School.
“People think circuses are big shows with elephants, clowns, and odd magic tricks,” said Frigon. “This is far from the truth, especially in the Montreal scene. Circus is very physical.”
Loïc Desjardins, 19, is enrolled at the National Circus School in Montreal. To him, there are many stereotypes surrounding circus arts.
“For those who know nothing about it, they make clown jokes, are confused, ask if I can juggle, if I work with animals, or if I’m at Cirque du Soleil,” Desjardins said.
He added that even frequent spectators have trouble understanding the physical effort needed for specific disciplines.
“They generally understand what’s hard to do, but they still struggle to realize how much physical training is necessary to accomplish it,” Desjardins explained.
Aerial skills, hand balancing, trapeze, and poles all require physical strength. Circus performers are athletes — many of their abilities are similar to callisthenics, the art of moving one’s weight, or capoeira, the art of flexibility with one’s weight.
Some disciplines, such as hand-to-hand, involve moving someone else’s weight, marking differences between athletics in each discipline. While hand-to-hand requires strength and explosivity, aerial skills require more flexibility and endurance. Each discipline has its own needs, meaning the circus athlete must adapt.
Even though they are physical, these practices are very different from traditional sports.
Circus arts must be adequately integrated with entertainment, visual arts, and self-expression. At the same time, they need to emphasize grace and the illusion of effortlessness. Every move is crafted to be visually engaging, honouring these disciplines as performance arts. There’s a clear focus on artistry and presentation, differing heavily from traditional sports, where accomplishments measure performance.
Circus arts do not have winners or losers. The athlete’s primary goal is to connect with their audience and put on a spectacular visual performance. This lack of competitiveness is rarely seen in any other traditional sport.
“I’m a hand-to-hand artist, a discipline that consists in carrying and throwing people up in the air and making them do acrobatics,” said Frigon.“Therefore, I have to be very strong physically to handle the weight of another person and more.”
Frigon said that he trains his upper body muscles heavily to handle human weight and his stabilizing muscle groups to perform stunts such as throwing people up in the air while staying static.
“In hand-to-hand, I have to work on my strength and explosivity, which may not be the case for every simple discipline,” he said.
Desjardins specializes in monocycling and emphasized the skills needed for this discipline.
“Monocycling needs precision and balance. Having a strong core is vital to control the stunts well,” said Desjardins. “During my training sessions, the specific exercises I need for my discipline are weight jumps, joint reinforcement, and explosive movements in my lower body and core and muscle reinforcement.”
Montreal’s circus scene continues to thrive despite the stereotypes, and it shows that athleticism and artistry aren’t just compatible; they create the essence of the show itself.
