I spent the evening on the edge of my seat, biting my nails, clapping hysterically, laughing, tearing up at some point and left totally charmed by the 7 Fingers, a Montreal-based troupe (Les 7 Doigts de la Main) who just took over the Union Square Theatre. It was the big premiere of their spectacular show TRACES last night and they totally won the crowd over. I was not expecting to be transported in such a roller coaster ride of emotions. After all, in New York you’re supposed to have seen it all (Zarkana, Spider-Man, Sleep No More, Fuerza Bruta).
TRACES fits with New York’s energy. The experience is more intimate (the theater has 500 seats), the show has a soul, you can’t help but having a crush on each of the performers. They take you on a 90-minute journey of high-risk circus stunts, performing art, skateboarding, dance, music, humor. It all revolves around the theme of time.
The seven acrobats are all in their twenties. They come from Quebec, the USA, China and Switzerland. It seems there is nothing they can’t do, aside from acrobatics, they play music, sing, draw and push the human body to its limits. I left wondering how they do it all over again every night. Big bonus to the music score (Blackalicious!)
-The troupe performed on reality juggernaut America’s Got Talent at the end of July, hence a new craze at the box office.
-Snippet from the Wall Street Journal review: “I was surprised to find that after 90 minutes, I had rather enjoyed the acrobatic stunts and cool, youthful spirit of this zero-percent body-fat spectacular. But why was the show more appealing than Cirque or the traditional circus, both of which I consider forms of torture? “Traces” is mercifully free of Cirque’s nonsense warbling, goofy costumes, overdone visuals and pseudo narratives”.
-Union Square Theater, 100 East 17th Street. Directed by Shana Carroll and Gypsy Snider. Performers include Mason Ames, Valérie Benoît-Charbonneau, Mathieu Cloutier, Bradley Henderson, Phillipe Normand-Jenny, Xia Zhengqi, and Florian Zumkehr.
The troupe on America’s Got Talent a few weeks ago.
Pictures courtesy of The 7 Fingers and Marie-Joelle Parent