Wednesday, June 15, 2022, 15.30-16.30 hours
Haus der Wissenschaft, Sandstr. 4/5, Bremen, Olbers-Saal
Abstract
With its billion-dollar annual revenue stream, its international touring shows and its striking cultural presence in such destination-cities as Las Vegas, Cirque du Soleil has greatly contributed to the image of Québec as a world-renowned capital of the circus arts. This talk offers an exploration of this brightly shining figure by anchoring it in historical and cultural specificities that helped shape the development of Québec’s highly influential cirque nouveau. The presentation examines ways in which we can see that Québec’s cirques is not just Cirque du Soleil, as Québec’s circus worlds find significant expansion beyond any one enterprise and beyond provincial and national borders.
Bio
Charles R. Batson is Professor of French and Francophone Studies at Union College, Schenectady, NY, and immediate Past President of the American Council for Québec Studies. He has published widely on Québecois, French, and Francophone cultural production and performance, including as co-editor, with Louis Patrick Leroux, of a compendium of essays on Québec’s contemporary circus called Cirque Global: Québec’s Expanding Circus Boundaries (McGill-Queens University Press, 2016). He is co-leading a series of research encounters in the new field of inquiry currently called Circus and Its Others.
Organized as part of the teacher training day “Kanada und Québec | Canada and Québec | le Canada et le Québec.” Inquiries and registration welcome: Dr. Paula von Gleich (bikqs@uni-bremen.de)