Fearless Circus Performances by Maroussia Diaz Verbèke: Review and Insights from Marrakech to Paris

2023-11-22 19:00:08
Maroussia Diaz Verbeke, in Marrakech, Morocco, in 2019. HASSAN HAJJAJ

FIQ! (Wake up !). The title in Arabic of the show by Maroussia Diaz Verbèke with the Acrobatic Group of Tangier rings like a trumpet blast in the ears. No question of telling us twice, Thursday November 16. Under the big top of the Grande Halle de La Villette, 700 young people scream the balloons loudly to the point of overwhelming the big rap sounds of DJ Dino. “Wow, wow, wow!” », each somersault is greeted by bursts of amazed screams as the fifteen acrobats perform so hard – we are in the circus and we never forget it! – while competing in finesse in a host of surprises, details, nuances. A lesson in style and writing at the same time as a heat stroke, what a miracle!

Read the review: Article reserved for our subscribers In La Villette, the hairpin turns of the circus performers of the future

When the arts of the track and its exploits also reveal themselves to be the work of a lacemaker, there is only one: it is Maroussia Diaz Verbèke. At 37, this rope and aerobatics expert, at the head of the company Le Troisième Cirque since 2015, belongs to the circle of contemporary circus authors who have imposed their signature, such as Marie Molliens, Mélissa Von Vépy, Chloé Moglia or Raphaëlle Boitel …

The ex-accomplice of Vimala Pons, Tsirihaka Harrivel and Erwan Ha Kyoon Larcher, with whom she founded the Ivan Mosjoukine collective (named following a Russian silent film actor) whose one and only creation entitled Nowadays (Notes on the Circus) was a misfortune from 2012 to 2014, cleared her path all by herself. Between goosebump-inducing feats, visual impact and distribution in abundance of ideas and images, it is showing twice at the end of the year. In La Villette, FIQ! (Wake up !) plays until December 2, while 23 fragments from these last days, at the Silvia-Monfort Theater, from December 12 to 16, takes six Brazilians into the whirlwind of his ardent passion for the circus and its fundamentals – without forgetting “to celebrate together”.

“Ask lots of questions”

When we meet her, comfortably seated in a Parisian café, Tuesday November 7, we immediately see the nervous and supple silhouette of her solo Circus Remix (2017), a thrilling tour de force executed with grace and brilliance. “I was very scared when I performed what I call my “death jump”: I launched myself into the void from a 6 meter high diving board, she slips. I think that the circus artist must respond without fail to the question of fear. As I always say, between the rope and me, the first one to fall is me. She taught me humility. »

After three years of touring, she tackles these two group pieces which attest not only to a turn in his career, but also to his ability to take on board consistent troops. When we know how much large spectacular formats are lacking in the circus and contemporary dance department, the pleasure is all the more intense. “It was the first time I worked with a lot of people on set and it was a challenge, she explains. The two creations were made between 2018 and 2020, partly during the period of crisis linked to Covid-19, in these two polar opposite countries of Morocco and Brazil. This forces you to open up and ask yourself lots of questions. »

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