To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the death of Félix Leclerc, the Terra Karnaval presented its annual parade in his honour, “Le petit bonheur... en parade", as part of the 31st Juste Pour Rire Festival.
The internationally renowned artist Danielle ROY and the company ROY BOXcreated a series of tableaux vivants regarding the life of Félix Leclerc, based on a contemporary reinterpretation of the work of this great artist, using Félix’s original voice.
This time round, Danielle Roy called upon Luc Petit as artistic consultant, in order to maximise the implementation of this new creation.
With a brushstroke and black ink, Danielle Roy set the scene and established the characters, as well as providing the artistic direction for the whole event.
In every participating district, citizens worked with choreographers to create a tableau associated with one of Félix Leclerc’s songs and the scenario in question.
More than 1,000 participating citizens learnt the various songs of Félix Leclerc, either to the rhythms of Africa, marching bands, a fiery tango or wild gumboots; in a Circassian or contemporary classic version, or even an Italian version!
The black and white parade ended in colour on the Place des Festivals with video projections.
For eight nights, this parade was staged in the form of a huge urban show, with renowned performers and artistic groups. Performers and citizens alike shared this great urban stage.
This new Montreal Carnival has been part of the Juste Pour Rire Festival under various names for the past six years : from the Parade Blanche to the Grand Charivari, not forgetting the Pinkarnaval, the Parade inspired by the work of Jean Paul Gaultier.
This great event became rapidly an unmissable date in terms of tourism and cultural mediation, by inviting the citizens of Montreal to work with renowned artists.
Danielle Roy and her company ROY BOX have worked with Luc Petit since the very beginning of the adventure.
