LePeTiT CiRqUe returns to enchant visitors during Family Art Day at Festival of Arts
By DIANNE RUSSELL
On any given day or night during the summer, the Festival of Arts (FOA) is a rarified place filled with splendid and imaginative art, and the genius creativity of the Pageant of the Masters.
To add to its already rich allure, this past Sunday during Family Art Day, the FOA grounds were again alive with the sights and sounds of merriment, music, and the mesmerizing artistry of Le PeTiT CiRqUe (LPC).
During the day’s festivities, kids of all ages donned elaborate balloon hats, sported temporary tattoos, participated in crafts and scavenger hunts, and mingled with the technicolor-costumed sprites that make up LPC. And again a capacity audience was captivated by the extraordinary skills of this all-children cirque company.
Does the fascination lessen with familiarity? In this case, the answer is a resounding “no.” The bewitching nature of the troupe is still in full force as evidenced by the “oohs” and “aahs” coming from the spellbound crowd.
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Photo by Jeff Rovner
LePeTiT CiRqUe troupe in front of Jeff Rovner’s booth at FOA
However, this year’s appearance – LBC’s third at Family Art Day – had a nostalgic element to it.
As readers might remember, LPC’s original connection to the Festival is through Haley Rovner, the troupe’s hula hoop master, whose father just happens to be Jeff Rovner, a fine art photographer exhibiting at the FOA for the third year.
Sadly, Sunday’s performances were Haley’s last with the troupe and will end her five year run with LPC. She’ll be heading off to college in August to start a next chapter of her life which no doubt will include more studying than hooping. But, during her time with LPC, oh, the places she’s gone and the people she’s met – a highlight being the appearance of LPC at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway in 2017.
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Photo by Jeff Rovner
Haley Rovner
Haley says, “These last five years have given me the experiences of a lifetime and leaving is really bittersweet. However, I couldn’t have picked a better show to end it on. Performing for some of my closest friends and family at such an intimate show made it really special. I’m going to miss my fellow performers but can’t wait to see where they go in the next few years and how the troupe grows.”
What this company has already accomplished is awe-inspiring. LPC is the only all-kid humanitarian professional cirque company in the world. The troupe consists of kids from 5-16 years of age, who perform as cirque artists, acrobats, karate masters, musicians, singers, hula hoop masters, and dancers.
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Photo by Jeff Rovner
Unbelievable feats on stage
They have performed all over the U.S., Canada and Dubai, and for world leaders including the Dalai Lama, and the Sultan of Brunei. LPC has raised over five million dollars since its launch seven years ago.
Le PeTiT CirRqUe started with a vision that Nathalie Gaulthier, the founder and creator of LPC, had as a seven-year-old girl. “I grew up in Iqualuit, Nunavut, right below Greenland, with Inuits, Eskimos. I was a minority. I grew up with igloos around me and knew there was a bigger world out there. I wrote my first play at age seven, directed it, and it was presented at my school in half English and half Inuit.”
But, it’s one thing to have a vision, it’s another to make it happen.
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Photo by Jeff Rovner
Haley’s last performances with LPC
And that’s just what Gaulthier did. “I launched my full company at age 14 in Montreal, Canada and it grew! We added the circus in 2007 and Le PeTiT CiRqUe was born in 2012.”
Gaulthier says of this experience, “The biggest takeaway for our team was to dream big and believe in their potential to make a difference in the world.”
Although the show is magic, it’s not magically conjured up, and ultimately appears on stage only after a tremendous amount of hard work, perseverance, and creativity by everyone concerned. All the elements, the performers, costumes, music, choreography, and staging, come together to generate the mystique.
Watching a show by LPC is like being part of fairytale that one never wants to end. We won’t soon forget Haley and the hypnotic wizardry of her hooping.
For more information on LPC, go to www.lestudiola.com/le-petit-cirque.
