Like the thread on which Antino Pansa practices in his garden, the future looks unstable for students leaving the prestigious national circus school in Montreal. They fear becoming a “ghost promo” because of the coronavirus.
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Head upside down, feet pointed to the sky, the future acrobat Antino Pansa contracts his muscles to keep balanced on the wire for a few seconds. In the courtyard in front of his home, the student hung between two trees, a few meters apart, a wire stretched a good meter above the ground. The DIY installation allows this 20-year-old artist to stay in shape despite the school's closure in early March, due to the pandemic. "Several months without training, that's a lot," admits Antino Pansa. "My only solution was to install a wire between two trees" .
"Several months without training, that's a lot," laments Antino Pansa. Sebastien St-Jean / AFP.
"I have a lot of constraints: I can't do all my tricks on it ... There are trees around, there is the staircase, there are a lot of things that prevent me from training properly but I always keep in shape, ”he explains to AFP, proud to have imagined this system which he considers safe. To earn a living, the student accepted a job as a security guard. He was to join a troop in Switzerland for about six months, upon leaving school at the end of June, but the contract was postponed to 2021.
"No one will be able to see what we are capable of"
In a few weeks, the pandemic has showered the plans of the sixty students of this internationally renowned school. A rite of passage and a veritable "visiting card", the presentation of the number which marks the end of three years of study and allows them to be assessed under the eyes of professionals from around the world has been canceled.
"It is a big loss, it is a big mourning to do too because it serves as an assessment and it greatly helps professional integration , " recognizes school director Eric Langlois. "We laugh by saying that we are the ghost promo because nobody will be able to see what we are capable of," smiled sadly Joaquim Verrier. "It is also very demoralizing to say that the culture and entertainment industry is at a standstill and completely stopped," explains the young Frenchman.
It is a big loss, it is a big mourning to do too because it serves as an assessment and it greatly helps professional integration.
Eric Langlois, director of the school.After 15 hours of training per week at school to three or four hours in his apartment, the cigar box juggler recognizes that it is "very difficult to motivate" but considers himself "lucky" to be able to continue to practice his discipline.
Others cannot do it and worry about it. "I worked so, so hard to be able to be at my level" , regrets Joel Malkoff, fildefériste. The 25-year-old American, who used to train every day, is alarmed by the idea that he may not be able to practice his discipline again on a professional level: "that's what scares me ” .
A recovery market within two years
A flagship cultural Canadian who is now fighting for his survival, the emblematic Cirque du Soleil, based in Montreal, had to cancel 44 productions worldwide and lay off 4,679 acrobats and technicians, 95% of its employees. Aware of the new realities of the job market, the school has set up an entrepreneurship training course intended to support students.
While the hiring rate for graduates of the school is "95% normally" , its director notes a "completely closed market" and expects a recovery within "the next 18 to 24 months" . Graduates usually join circus companies in Quebec or abroad, cabarets in Europe or cruise ships.
I was trained for five years to become a circus artist. (...) I don't think this pandemic will stop me in my desire.
Joaquim Verrier, student.The 2020 class, made up of 21 students, is "sacrificed" , but Mr. Langlois expects an "uplift" for those who will graduate in 2021: "I remain optimistic, it will start again," he says. According to a survey carried out in April, conducted with 561 workers and organizations in the sector, 66% of those questioned envisage a "career transition" , according to "En Piste", the national group of circus arts.
At 23, Joaquim Verrier brushes aside the idea of reorienting himself and above all of renouncing his passion. “I was trained for five years to become a circus artist and I would find it a shame not to be or to taste this experience. I don't think this pandemic will stop me in my desire ” .
