MPower Summit

Inspired by the words of Pablo Picasso “Art is chaos taking shape” Isabelle Chassé, in collaboration with Samuel Tetreault, artistic director of LAB 7, created this original work for the MPower Summit.

Acrobatics, music, and real-time generative visuals intertwine to bring this constantly evolving kinetic piece to life. On stage, dancers and acrobats engage in a dynamic movement dialogue with artificial intelligence, balancing control and unpredictability.

Using an infrared capture system, the artists movements shape the abstract projections unfolding across a monumental screen, creating a living exchange between performers and technology.

A pivotal figure in Quebec’s circus history and a highly accomplished contemporary artist, Isabelle Chassé entered the National Circus School of Montreal as a child. She is among a group of core artists who contributed to the success of Cirque du Soleil. The recipient of numerous awards, including the gold medal at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain in Paris and at the International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo, Isabelle toured internationally from a young age, performing hundreds of shows with an innovative and dynamic contortion quartet.

As a young adult, she left a mark with her memorable performance on the aerial Tissu in Cirque du Soleil’s Quidam. Isabelle has also participated in several film projects including the film Martyrs and the Grammy-nominated short film Satie and Suzanne.

A co-founder of The 7 Fingers, Isabelle co-directed and performed in Loft, La Vie, and Temporel. She also co-directed Vice & Vertu and the third segment of Tryptique as well as the movie Out of Order. She served as assistant director on Passengers, Reversible, Amuse, and Psy, and was a collaborating artist in the Fibonacci Project on multiple occasions.

In 2015, Isabelle co-directed the acrobatic performances of Moby Dick, directed by Dominic Champagne. In 2018, she created Cubes au Carré for the City of Montreal, which was later brought back in 2020 in Montreal and again in 2021 at the St. John's Circus Fest. Isabelle directed one of the first post-COVID events open to the public, Summer Tale, programmed in Toronto in 2021. In 2019, Isabelle worked on the staging of Soul of the Ocean with Moment Factory for the Ocean Park in Hong Kong. In 2022, she co-directed the show on one of the three Giants at the Montreal Complètement Cirque Festival. In 2023, Isabelle created Éclats, a tailor-made show presented at La Malbaie Casino in Quebec and recreated in 2024 for Tremblant Casino.

Isabelle has served on several juries, including the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and has played a leading role in the realization of the collective's Creation and Production Center, sitting on various decision-making committees.

Samuel is an artistic director renowned for his creative versatility. His interest in interdisciplinary creation has led him to direct a wide variety of works combining circus with dance, theater, visual arts, video, and new technologies.

With Les 7 Doigts, Samuel has directed the shows RIOPELLE Grandeur Nature (NUMIX award 2024), Carry Me Home (NUMIX award 2024, HUB award 2023), Geysers, Vice & Vertu, Bosch Dreams, Triptyque (CAM Grand prize 2015), Projet Fibonacci and Intersection. His creations are presented around the world in prestigious theaters and festivals including Sadler's Well, Les Nuits de Fourvière, Melbourne Arts Festival, La Villette, Hong Kong Arts Festival and Place des Arts.

In 2020, interested in the exploration of new dramaturgical languages, Samuel contributed setting up LAB7, a prototyping studio dedicated to the encounter between the performing arts and new technologies. As Artistic Director of LAB7, Samuel directs and accompanies numerous creative projects linking the performing arts with motion capture, augmented and virtual reality, interactive systems, and generative artificial intelligence. His creation Carry Me Home, which combines circus performance and music concert into a mixed reality experience won the NUMIX 2024 award for Best XR Experience.

For the past twenty-five years, Samuel has been passionately invested towards the development of the contemporary circus arts. He was Chairman of the Board of En Piste (the Canadian circus arts association) from 2013 to 2019, as well as a member of several juries and advisory committees for the Quebec and Canada Arts Councils (CALQ, CAC). Since 2012, he has also been involved with the Centre for Circus Arts Research of the National Circus School (CRITAC), collaborating with university researchers and numerous leaders in the techno-creative industry.

A native of Montreal, Samuel is a graduate of the National Circus School. In 1996, he began a remarkable career as a hand-balancing artist, winning a silver medal at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain in Paris, before joining Cirque du Soleil's Alegria tour, with which he performed in over 1,500 shows. In 2002, Samuel became one of the 7 co-founders of Les 7 doigts de la main. Within the collective, he has performed in the productions of Geysers, Projet Fibonacci, Triptyque, Le Murmure du Coquelicot, La Vie and Loft.

Crédits

Production
Les 7 Doigts

Artistic Direction
Samuel Tétreault, Les 7 Doigts
Isabelle Chassé, Les 7 Doigts

Performers Mathis Machuré, Justine Méthé-Crozat, Téo Le Baut, Jérémy Saint-Jean Picard, and Valérie Doucet

Interactive Designer and Digital Artist Raphael Dupont
VJ and Video System Operator Vincent Noël
Interactive GenAi System Operator Pierre Schmidt
Music Colin Gagné

ARTISTIC DIRECTORS

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