Interview: 7 Fingers' Shana Carroll on the PIPPIN Circus Troupe's City Center Show

Les 7 Doigts de la Main, the Montreal troupe known in New York for its circus contributions to the recent Pippin revival and for its 2011-12 off-Broadway hit Traces, is currently playing its biggest NYC venue yet. Les 7 Doigts have brought Séquence 8 to City Center after touring it to more than a dozen countries since 2012. The show (running at City Center through April 26) is choreographed and directed by Sébastien Soldevila and Shana Carroll, the husband and wife who are two of the company's seven founders--hence the name Les 7 Doigts, which translates in English to 7 Fingers. Carroll, who co-directed Traces with another of the "Fingers," Gypsy Snider, spoke with BWW by phone last week. She and Les 7 Doigts are also represented on the New York stage by Queen of the Night, the immersive supper-club production that opened at the Paramount Hotel on West 46th St. on New Year's Eve 2013. In addition to Soldevila and Snider, Carroll's partners in the circus collective are Samuel Tétreault, Isabelle Chassé, Faon Shane and Patrick Léonard.

7 Fingers have had a presence in New York theater for five years straight now. Did you have a theatrical experience in mind when you started the company?
It was circus-oriented in the sense that we were all circus performers and had been working in Cirque du Soleil and other major contemporary circuses. After having been performers for 15 years or something, we wanted to create our own company on a smaller scale--we often say a "human scale"--something that was more intimate, in theaters, where we're closer to the audience. I started circus when I was 18, but I grew up doing theater. That was my first interest, so when I started circus I was kind of drawn to the theatrical elements and the artistic aspects. I liked the storytelling and the little bit of hybrid there already was in contemporary circus, and Gypsy also had that dual interest. She started in circus because she's the daughter of the founders of the Pickle Family Circus, but in her teen years decided to branch off and do theater. The two of us wanted to bring it back to our theater roots. All of us, for different individual reasons, had combined interests and wanted to put that into a show. Sam was always fascinated with contemporary dance. Me as well--I think one of the reasons I fell in love with trapeze is I fell in love with dance through trapeze. I'd never been a dancer, and as soon as I started learning trapeze and felt like I could actually move with grace in the air I developed this love for movement. There's already such a large definition with contemporary circus; it's not as strict a mold of what is circus and what isn't.

What's different about Séquence 8 compared with other 7 Fingers shows?
We have all sorts of disciplines that not only had we never had in our shows but are very rare. Like, there's a guy who does cigar box juggling, which is pretty much an obsolete discipline, and he just revived it and is really the best cigar box juggler ever and has completely reinvented it. So that's fun and exciting. And then we have Russian bar, which we haven't had in any of our other shows. It does exist in other circus companies, but the approach to it is much more choreographic, which hasn't really been done. So the uniqueness of the show has a lot to do with our approach to certain unique disciplines--doing them in a way that hasn't been seen before.
The other thing I'd say is that when we created it, it was really rare if it was a solo number to see the ensemble involved. Now it's done a little bit more [by other circuses], but because the concept of the show was all about our interactions and our relationships, we always had each solo act in relation to the group, and I think that's one of the things that gives the show its flavor.

What does the title refer to?
A few things. There are eight performers; also, it was our eighth creation. For a while we were just calling it 8, and then we thought that was a little bit too simple, so we decided Séquence 8--the way you'd say "Opus 21" or whatever.

How would you describe the narrative of Séquence 8?
When we created it, it was a show that we wanted to be less literal, like less of a storyline. A little bit more like a dance show: variations on a theme, more abstract. We started creation with a complete blank piece of paper and said, Let's see what comes out of the exploration of creation. We decided to really base it on what comes out of the performers naturally in terms of their energy and their relationships and their style of movement. They were a very young cast. We wanted to use that young energy--sort of rebellious, urban, the kids on the street doing skateboard. And with this cast there was something very tender about their extreme intimacy as friends, and even kind of blurring the lines beyond friend. We remembered how when you're in your 20s, especially your early 20s, your friendships are so incredibly intimate. So we liked this idea of building the show around these extremely close friendships at that age, and then from there it was really exploring all aspects of human relationships: Some choreography is based on mirroring; the trapeze number, there's the whole group trying to pull the one guy down--it's about ambition and trying to rise above "the masses"; some are kind of the chain reaction, echoing each other, cause and effect. We used all of these themes. The final number, which is our banquine act, is really just purely magnetic--on an almost comical level--where their hands are all sticking to each other, using that idea of attraction and taking it to a physical level.
On top of that, we wanted to use the element of the audience is our "other"--you know, if you're talking about your search of self through another person, being defined through and against them. As a performer, there's this feeling that you don't exist if that audience isn't sitting there in the theater. Of course, the audience wouldn't be sitting there if there wasn't something to watch on stage. Unlike the videos on YouTube and blah blah blah, what continues to make live theater so essential is there's an actual genuine exchange that happens, and an audience's presence will define the show, the performers will feed off the audience's energy and the show will actually be transformed by the audience's energy. On another level, how the audience interprets it also defines the meaning of it. It really only is what they see it as at that moment, which means it changes from night to night. We kind of play with that theme as well throughout the show--there's a lot of interaction with the audience.

Don't you usually perform in smaller spaces than the 2,000-plus-seat City Center?
We've performed in almost any and every size. There are venues that are more suited to our shows--the smaller theaters are best, I think, just because we do like that close-up, intimate feeling. Séquence 8 is a little more aesthetic than the rest of our shows--the images and the choreography and the lights. Something like Traces, you just really want to be close to the action; with Séquence 8, though that's exciting too, there is a different beauty in seeing it from afar.

Are all the cast members new to the company?
Now it's been three years the show's been running, so at this point they're not at all new. When we began the creation, they had just finished circus school; they hadn't performed in our other shows. However, I had directed one of the circus school's end-of-the-year shows and had worked with many of them. Séb and myself would teach at the school: He was coaching a few of these students, and I was what they call an artistic adviser to a few of them. One summer we did shows at the Old Port in Montreal--these on-the-street, tourist events--and we used this group. In fact, that was why we realized we wanted to create a show with them. They were in their first year of school, it was a summer job for them, and they were so great to work with--so talented and they had such a great rapport between them. We said, "Okay, you guys have three more years of school to do, but when you're done we would love to do a show with you."

Which school is that?
The national circus school, École Nationale de Cirque Montréal. It's the big circus school in Montreal. It has government funding and has an academic program--not only do you have the extensive professional training, you also have dance and acting and circus history and French classes and all that stuff. I'd say 90 percent of our performers come out of that school, and we all went as well--I attended from '91 to '93--and continue to teach and direct there. It's actually helped us to have some forethought into our casting, because we see who's coming up in the school.

What's it like having so many collaborators in creating and directing the productions?
We're family in the literal sense--Séb and I are married, Gypsy and I have known each other for 30 years, Gypsy and Pat were married, we've all known each other forever--so I think the dynamic is different than if we were a bunch of directors who have a completely professional relationship. We've figured out where certain people's strengths are, and I feel we wisely use our strengths, like taps on a faucet.
I have to say, it's not easy being a collective and having so many directors. Its really isn't easy for the people who work with us--I think that's the bigger issue. For new performers or people in our office, not knowing who to go to and "Oh, they have to consult each other..." I think people like having hierarchies and understanding the "organogram" and knowing who's the person on top. We don't have that, and that can be confusing for people, understanding our dynamic. I think we have figured out how to make it work, and I like having that sounding board that's always there. It's more on a company development level, like before we take any major decisions we all have to consult. Sometimes it's the best of putting all our minds together and really finding the best solution, sometimes you feel like the compromise leads to a solution no one is passionate about.

Was Traces what launched your company internationally?
Definitely in the United States Traces was the one. Our very first show where we, the founders, performed was called Loft, and that made a big impact in Montreal and was what made the company what it is. At the time, which was 2002, it was so radically different from what people were used to in the circus experience, especially Cirque du Soleil, which was so prominent in Montreal. It took place in a loft; people in the audience came in through the refrigerator, which was on the stage; we would serve them coffee and make them take off their shoes; we were wearing our underwear. We performed Loft all over the world but rarely in the United States--we performed in San Francisco, and that's because Gypsy and I come from San Francisco. So Loft was the one that put us on the map, but then Traces has played more and reached more audiences. In the United States and London as well Traces had a big impact. But in Montreal it was more Loft that did it.

Is success in New York the pinnacle for circus performers as it is for actors?
For circus that's not so much the case. I think for me and Gypsy, it means a lot for us culturally; we're the two Americans, so we put a lot of importance on how we're received in New York. The audiences in New York have high standards and have seen a lot, so there's that feeling that if we're well received it's some sort of attestation to quality. Not necessarily that the career of our company is going to take off in a different way; I think there's other countries [where that's the case]...for instance, Paris has been really critical to us because we tour so much in France that when we have a good run in Paris, it really assures all of our touring in France. New York is similar, I guess: Touring in the United States becomes easier if you've been successful in New York.

Photos from top: a sequence from Séquence 8; Shana Carroll; Eric Bates (center) and the company of Séquence 8; Maxim Laurin (standing) and his castmates in Séquence 8; Devin Henderson (left) and Colin Davis in Séquence 8; the cast of Séquence 8 having fun on Governors Island during their City Center run. [Photo credits: Lionel Montagnier; Olivier Tétreault; Vassillis Triantis; Yann Boyenval (2); Jordan Matter]