Machine de Cirque

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The circus invades the museum! Seven zany acrobats and an electrifying musician take in a monochrome exhibit. With a creative spark, they set off an explosion of color. In mocking defiance of convention, these wacky and endearing characters eagerly explore the exhibition inside out. Dizzying feats, astonishing discoveries, poetic liberties, and a serious dose of some silly good fun come together to fuel this ode to creativity. Enjoy this exhilarating feast for the senses. Experience La Galerie.

Machine de Cirque was founded in 2013 by six passionate artists, Vincent Dubé, Raphaël Dubé, Yohann Trépanier, Ugo Dario, Maxim Laurin and Frédéric Lebrasseur.

The company launched its very first production in May 2015, a show that would bear the organization’s name. This unique creation was a great success with audiences and critics alike. This maiden production, including its cabaret version, has been performed more than 700 times in Europe, Asia, and North America and it continues to tour to this date.

In 2018, the nomadic show Truck Stop: The Great Journey, recounting the singular journey of an unusual group of campers across the American continent, was created. The show traveled across all of North America and was seen by more than 16,000 spectators.

In 2019, La Galerie was born. In this third touring production, the spectators are invited to the frontiers of art and taken in an absurd exhibition at the museum. Still touring, this show has been presented more than 250 times in Europe, the United States, and Canada.

Ghost Light: Between Fall and Flight, the third touring show of the company, makes its world premiere in 2020 at the prestigious CIRCA Festival du Cirque Actuel in Auch (France). In 2023, the fourth touring show of the company Robot infidèle made its debut at the Spa Festival in Belgium.

The company is currently working on its fifth touring show, Kintsugi, which launches in July 2024.

Machine de Cirque is a Quebec City-based circus company that packs high doses of dizzying feats, powerful emotions, poetry, intelligence, and humour into its innovative and original circus shows. The Company’s ingenious and deeply human creations skillfully blend the highest levels of contemporary circus with musical and theatrical performances. Driven by this unifying vision, Machine de Cirque’s unique approach to the circus arts produces shows that dazzle the mind, touch the heart, and move the spirit.

Join us for more! Stay for a post-show talkback with company members hosted by Jane Kirby. 

Jane Kirby is an aerialist specializing in vertical apparatus. She recently returned from an eight-month tour of the Southern U.S. and B.C. as an aerialist with the Caravan Stage Company’s original production Nomadic Tempest. She began her circus training and performance career with Halifax Circus, has performed frequently across Ontario and Nova Scotia, and has trained with several top coaches in Montreal, Toronto and Vermont. She now mostly creates her own work, often in collaboration with her partner under the name Lowlit Aerial Arts (lowlitaerialarts.ca). Recent works include In Defense of Libraries (Nocturne Halifax 2016), Beneath Our Feet (Kick & Push Theatre Festival 2016) and echolocation (Skeleton Park Arts Festival 2015, In the Soil Arts Festival 2015, Contemporary Circus Arts Festival of Toronto 2014). Jane has been teaching aerial arts since 2011, and has completed Introductory Aerials and Foundation Level Trapeze and Fabric teacher training courses through the New England Centre for Circus Arts. When not in the air Jane is also a non-fiction writer, and published her first book in 2017. She is thrilled to be back teaching and training with the Kingston Circus Arts community! 

Jane was a 2023 Kingston Grand Theatre Local Artist-in-Residence.