Shana Carroll is co-founding artistic director of the Montreal-based contemporary circus company Les 7 doigts de la main (The 7 Fingers). Since it’s founding in 2002, Shana first performed and created (alongside the collective) their shows Loft and La Vie, then went on to direct, write and choreograph (often in partnership with fellow “Fingers”) their shows Traces, Psy, Sequence 8, Feriamuse, Le Murmure du Coquelicot, Cuisine & Confessions, Passengers, Duel Reality (for Virgin Voyages), Dear San Francisco, and Mon Ile Mon Cœur. 

Outside of The 7 Fingers, Shana directed Cirque du Soleil’s first-ever ice show Crystal, in addition to their performance at the Academy Awards in 2012. Also for Cirque du Soleil, Shana was acrobatic designer and choreographer for their shows Iris (Los Angeles) and Paramour (Broadway). Other collaborations include: Queen of the Night (World Wide Variety); Soul of the Ocean (Moment Factory); Temporel (Lemieux-Pilon), Cité Mémoire (Lemieux-Pilon); and the Sochi Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies. In 2023, Shana worked as co-choreographer and circus designer for Water For Elephants the Musical with Pigpen Theatre Co..

Shana has also created many world-renown circus acts, her work receiving 6 gold medals at international circus festivals through the years. In 2023, Shana became a member of the Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec in tribute to her remarkable contribution to development and reputation for excellence of Quebec's arts and letters here and abroad. Shana is professor and artist-in-residence at Concordia University.

Born and raised in Berkeley, California, and daughter of beloved San Francisco Chronicle columnist Jon Carroll, Shana began her career as a trapeze artist with San Francisco’s Pickle Family Circus. She went on to a 20-year career in the air, including 7 years as original solo trapeze artist for Cirque du Soleil’s Saltimbanco.

She currently lives in Montreal, Canada.

Directing Credits

My Island, my heart (The 7 Fingers and France Film, 2022)
Dear San Francisco (The 7 FIngers, Club Fugazi, 2021)
Duel Reality (Virgin Voyages, 2020)
Passengers (The 7 Fingers, 2018)
Crystal (Cirque du Soleil, 2017)
Cuisine & Confessions (The 7 Fingers, 2014)
Queen of the Night (WorldWide Variety, 2014)
Le Murmure du Coquelicot (The 7 Fingers, 2013)
Feriamuse (The 7 Fingers, 2013)
Séquence 8 (The 7 Fingers, 2012)
Cirque du Soleil performance at Academy Awards (2012)
Cabaret à l’Olympia (The 7 Fingers, 2010)
Il Fait Dimanche (École nationale de cirque, 2010)
Psy (The 7 Fingers, 2009)
La Vie (The 7 Fingers, 2007)
Traces (The 7 Fingers, 2006)
Loft (The 7 Fingers, 2002)

Acrobatic Design & Choreography

Water for Elephant, The Musical (Broadway, 2023)
Temporel (The 7 Fingers & Lemieux-Pilon 4DArt, 2017)
Paramour (Cirque du Soleil, 2016)
Cité Mémoire (Lemieux-Pilon 4DArt, 2017)
Sochi Olympics Games - Opening Ceremony (2014)
America’s Got Talent special performance, Traces (2012)
Iris (Cirque du Soleil, 2011)
Québec 400ieme, ciel de trapèze (2008)
Paris Masters tennis tournament, special televised performance (2007)
Circumstance (Pickle Family Circus, 2002)

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.

Direction and Codirection

Éclats (The 7 Fingers, 2023 and 2024)
3 Géants  (The 7 Fingers, 2022)
Summer Tale (The 7 Fingers, 2021)
Out of Order (The 7 Fingers, 2020)
Soul of the Ocean (The 7 Fingers & Moment Factory, 2019)
Temporel (The 7 Fingers, 2018)
Cubes au Carré (The 7 Fingers, 2018)
Vice & Vertu (The 7 Fingers, 2017)
Nocturnes (Tryptique, The 7 Fingers, 2015)
La Vie (The 7 Fingers, 2007)
Loft (The 7 Fingers, 2002)

Direction Assistant

Passagers (The 7 Fingers, 2018)
Réversible (The 7 Fingers, 2016)
Amuse (The 7 Fingers, 2012)
Un Dia (The 7 Fingers, 2013)
Psy (The 7 Fingers, 2009)

Acrobatic Design and Choreography

Opening of the Vitrine Culturelle, (Montréal, 2015)
Moby Dick (Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, Montréal, 2015)

Patrick Léonard expresses his acrobatic and clowning talents with an intrepid, daredevil style. Trained as a chemist, this four-time champion figure skater, a graduate of the National Circus School of Montreal, began his career as a diabolist and clown at the Montreal Casino, then in German cabarets such as Pump Duck and Circumstances, the Wintergarten and the Freidrichbau, with the Swiss circus Knie, at the Teatro ZinZanni in San Francisco, and with the Cirque du Soleil. He won the Nicouline prize at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain.

His ecological and social commitment leads him to contribute to benefit shows such as the Dans la rue organization in Montreal or Square Circle which he directed in 2018 and 2019 in Toronto. He also serves on the board of directors of Productions Carmagnole.

Patrick enjoys artistic collaborations. In 2015, he co-directed the acrobatic performances of Moby Dick, directed by Dominic Champagne at the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde. Between 2019 and 2024, he directed the shows Looping for Comic Opéra (Switzerland), the new creation of the Gypsy Kumbia Orchestra (Canada), and L'Étranger for Cirque de la Pointe-Sèche (Quebec). He has regularly traveled to the Canadian Arctic to develop projects with Inuit communities, which led him to co-direct Unikkaaqtuat, a multidisciplinary creation co-produced by Artcirq and Taqqut Productions, notably presented in Ottawa in January 2020.

Since 2018, Patrick has been collaborating with the Research Chair in Emergency Medicine at Laval University and the Research, Innovation, and Transfer Center in Circus Arts. Together, they have created a knowledge transfer artwork based on the results of a scientific study on rural emergencies in Quebec. Since 2021, the film of the show Urgence Rurale 360 has been regularly screened at numerous conferences and training sessions.

As a co-founder and co-artistic director of Les 7 Doigts, Patrick co-directed Temporel, Vice & Vertu, La Vie, and Loft, shows in which he also performed. He created his first solo show, Patinoire, in 2011, which he still tours today. Played for a month at the famous Avignon Festival in 2014, this show mixes acrobatics and crazy prowess with a whimsical humor flirting with the absurd. In 2013, he played the main character in Un dia alongside his two eldest daughters in Mexico. In 2022, he played the comic character in the ice show Cadence.

He is now working on the next phase of this project, a Quebec-wide presentation, supported by a new AUDACES Plus grant from the Quebec Research Fund (FRQ).

Recently, he wrote and directed the summer show L’Étranger for Cirque de la Pointe-Sèche in Kamouraska.

Direction
L'Étranger (Cirque de la Pointe Sèche, Kamouraska, QC, 2024)
3 Géants (The 7 Fingers, 2022)
Iro, Fable Urbaine (The 7 Fingers, Sorel-Tracy, Qc, 2021)
The Edge of the World Cabaret (Wonderbolt, St John, Qc, 2021)
Urgence 360 (The 7 Fingers, 2020)
Benefit Show (Square Circle, 2018 & 2019)
Unikkaaqtuat (The 7 Fingers, 2019)
Looping (Comic’opera, 2019)
Temporel (The 7 Fingers, 2018)
Vice & Vertu (The 7 Fingers, 2017)
Patinoire (The 7 Fingers, 2011)
La Vie (The 7 Fingers, 2007)
Loft (The 7 Fingers, 2002)

Acrobatic Design and Choreography
Gypsy Kumbia Orchestra (Montreal, 2020, 2022)
Coaching, Commedia Dell’Arte, Théâtre du Nouveau Monde (Montreal 2020)
Moby Dick (Montreal, 2015)

Performance
Cadence (The 7 Fingers, 2021)
Made in Kouglistan (Throw 2 Catch, 2019)
Temporel (The 7 Fingers, 2018)
Vice & Vertu (The 7 Fingers, 2017)
Un Dia (The 7 Fingers, 2013)
Patinoire (The 7 Fingers, 2011)
La Vie (The 7 Fingers, 2007)
Loft (Les 7 Doigts, 2002)

Co-founder and artistic director of The 7 Fingers Gypsy Snider wrote and directed Geante!, Dear San Francisco, SisterS, Réversible, Intersection,  Amuse, Un Dia, Traces, and Loft.

Constantly branching out into new mediums, Gypsy has choreographed televised feature performances for America’s Got Talent, Her Majesty’s Royal Variety Performance, the illusionist Darcy Oake’s Edge of Reality, and several large scale fashion shows for Bench in the Philippines. In 2013, working with director Diane Paulus on a new vision of Pippin, she choreographed and wove circus into the revival of the Broadway musical. Gypsy’s work on Pippin earned her a Drama Desk Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award.

Gypsy began her circus career at the age of 4 when her parents founded The Pickle Family Circus. She grew up touring the West Coast with the company. In 2002, she returned to the Pickles to write and direct the show, Circumstance. Gypsy has now come full circle back to her home town of San Francisco. The 7 Fingers have moved in to the iconic North Beach theater, Club Fugazi where Gypsy is co-writer/director of Dear San Francisco.

Adding to her diverse range of projects, Gypsy wrote and directed Ships in the Night, a gender blending contemporary musical dance revue for Richard Branson’s new Virgin Voyages cruise line. In 2020 Gypsy created and choreographed the televised EUFA Draft opening dedicated to the 12 participating cities  the European Football league. During the darkest time of the pandemic lockdown, she wrote and co-directed her first film Out of Order (En Panne). 

Gypsy is also a guest teacher and guest director at the National Circus School of Montreal. In 2015, she received the Evolving Circus Award in New York City presented by Diane Paulus. She was invited to speak at the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington DC in 2017 on the evolution of Circus Arts in the United States.

Directing Credits

Géante! (The 7 Fingers, Montréal, 2024)
Dear San Francisco (The 7 Fingers, Club Fugazi, 2021)
Ships in the Night (Virgin Voyages, 2020)
Out of Order, The movie (The 7 Fingers, 2020)
Sisters (The 7 Fingers, 2018)
Reversible (The 7 Fingers, 2016)
Edge of Reality (Darcy Oake, 2015)
Intersection (The 7 Fingers, 2014)
Amuse (The 7 Fingers, 2012 & 2013)
Crime (National Circus School, Montreal, 2009)
La Vie (The 7 Fingers, 2007)
Traces (The 7 Fingers, 2006)
Undercover Montréal National Circus School Immersive performance (2006)​
Typo (Cirque Eloize 2005)
Loft (The 7 Fingers, 2002)
Circumstance (Pickle Family Circus, 2002)

Acrobatic Design & Choreography

EUFA Draw Ceremony 2019 (Romania, 2019)
Bench Denim and Underwer Fashion Show (2014 & 2017)
Canada Day performance for Justin Trudeau (Canada, 2017)
Pippin Tony Awards Performance (2013)
Pippin, The Musical (Broadway, 2013)
Canada Day performance for Prince William and Kate (2011)
America’s Got Talent (USA, 2011)
Peter Pan 360 (ThreeSixty Enternaintement, 2015)
Moulin Rouge, The Musical (Broadway, 2019)
Royal Variety Performance (UK, 2009)

A five-time French champion in acrobatic gymnastics, Sébastien Soldevila studied biochemistry before starting circus in 1998 on a whim. During a three-year tour with Cirque du Soleil’s Saltimbanco, he met the six other founders of The 7 Fingers. An expert in both diabolo and partner acrobatics, Sébastien is the recipient of multiple awards at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain in Paris, including the gold medal for his hand-to-hand duet with Émilie Bonnavaud and the Nikouline Prize for his diabolo act with Patrick Léonard. Sébastien currently oversees the acrobatic training on most of the shows at The 7 Fingers.

Co-founder and artistic co-director of The 7 Fingers, he’s played leading roles onstage, including the flamboyant host of purgatory in La Vie, of which he was also co-creator, and in Loft, the collective’s first show. With his partner Shana Carroll, he co-directed Cuisine & Confessions, Sequence 8, and the play Le Murmure du coquelicot. Also with Shana, he co-directed Crystal, Cirque du Soleil’s first show on ice.

Sébastien has acquired production-making expertise over the years through multiple large-scale projects. He conceived and directed the first segment of the opening ceremony of the Sochi Olympic Winter Games, as well as 1001 Nights: The Last Chapter, an extensive multimedia production commissioned for the celebrations of UNESCO’s 2019 World Book Capital in Sharjah.

As a full-fledged musical director, he has contributed to the creation of original music for 17 years and has worked with renowned symphony orchestras,  conductors, composers, and musicians. A skilled writer, he is the author of the play Le Murmure du coquelicot, and of an reimagined sequel to the tales of Scheherazade, which formed his script for 1001 Nights: The Last Chapter. Upon the invitation of the prestigious Moscow Musical Theatre in 2016, Sébastien wrote the libretto and directed the staging of The Circus Princess, an operetta since presented 300 times and nominated for four Golden Mask awards in Russia. He directed Prime Time, a new musical, staged in early 2020 in Moscow.

Sebastien is currently working as the director of "Pub Royal," the musical of Les Cowboys Fringants that was released in Quebec in the fall of 2023.

Directing Credits

Pub Royal, The Musical of Les Cowboys Fringants (The 7 FIngers & La Tribu, 2023)
Narratives of the place (The 7 Fingers and Multiple International, 2022)
Cadence, Ice Show (The 7 Fingers, 2022)
Prime Time (The 7 Fingers , 2020)
The Last Chapter (The 7 Fingers, Multiple International et AIM, 2018)
Crystal (Cirque du Soleil, 2018)
Spectacle extérieur (Festival Juste pour Rire, 2018)
The Circus Princess (The 7 Fingers, 2016)
Cuisine & Confessions (The 7 Fingers, 2014)
Le Murmure du Coquelicot (The 7 Fingers, 2013)
Séquence 8 (The 7 Fingers, 2012)
La Vie (The 7 Fingers, 2007)
Loft (The 7 Fingers, 2002)

Acrobatic Design and Choreography

Sochi Winter Olympic Games Opening Ceremony (2014)
Performances for the Quebec Pavilion at the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games (2010)
Acrobatic partnering consultant for Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, Olympic medalists and world champions (2019-2020)

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, Carry Me Home (Innovation award - HUB 2023), Geysers, Vice & Vertu, Bosch Dreams, Triptyque (Grand prize - CAM 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, is shortlisted for 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.

Showreel

Directing Credits

Carry me home - LiViCi (The 7 FIngers - 2022)
Fibonacci Project (The 7 Fingers, 2020 – 2007)
Rengeteg – Looking Out (BIAK Budapest, 2018)
Vice & Vertu (The 7 Fingers, 2017)
Bosch Dreams (The 7 Fingers, 2016)
Triptyque (The 7 Fingers, 2015)
Intersection (The 7 Fingers, 2014)
Luces Fugaces (The 7 Fingers, 2014)
Qualia (The 7 Fingers, 2012)
La Vie (The 7 Fingers, 2007)
Loft (The 7 Fingers, 2002)

Performer

Geysers (The 7 Fingers, 2022)
Fibonacci Project (The 7 Fingers, 2007 – 2019)
Triptyque (The 7 Fingers, 2015 – 2017)
Le Murmure du Coquelicot (The 7 Fingers, 2013 – 2014)
La Vie (The 7 Fingers, 2007 – 2012)
Loft (The 7 Fingers, 2002 – 2013)
Cirque Orchestra (Cirque Éloize, 1999 – 2001)
Apollo Variété (Roncalli, 1999)
Alegria (Cirque du Soleil, 1996 – 2001)

Speaking Experience

Siggraph - Podcast « Seeing the Circus in Real Time » (2021)
Siggraph Production Session - Conference « Live from the Metaverse» (2021) 
Panel  « The Hybridity of Contemporary Circus » Concordia University, Montreal (2019)
Panel « Creation and Ownership in Circus », Montreal National Circus School (2014)
Conference « Dexterity in the circus arts in traning and performance», Symposium International Progress in Motor Control (Mc Gill University) (2013)
Multiple presentation about Contemporary Circus within the En Piste annual Forum (2013-2019)

Committed to exploring the horizons of human creativity in all its complexity. Nassib El-Husseini has charted a singular and eclectic course.

Following studies in public administration and international relations at the American University of Beyrouth (AUB), he obtained a Ph.D. in political science from l’Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) in 1996, and published L'Occident Imaginaire (Éditions PUQ) in 1998. After leaving his native Lebanon in the 1980s, Nassib worked as an advisor and volunteer with numerous Quebecois, Canadian, and international governmental and non-governmental agencies. 

In the 90s, Nassib put his conflict resolution and international business development expertise at the service of Canadian Crown corporations as well as other actors from the private sector in Quebec and Canada, mainly in the postal and telecommunications sectors.  

Nassib El-Husseini's trajectory took a major turn in 2003, when his path crossed that of seven artists determined to make their mark on the world of contemporary circus. With their first show just created, a clear-eyed ally was all the troupe needed to conquer the world. Nassib placed his experience and his passion for art and innovation at the service of the nascent troupe that would become one of the jewels of artistic expression.

As Chief Executive Officer of the company, Nassib has brought his resolutely avant-garde, innovative vision and has turned towards a vast exploration of possibilities. Propelled by these ideas, The 7 Fingers have become a major player in the world art scene.

Involved in his community, Nassib El-Husseini has served on numerous boards of directors including those of the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership, the Montreal Arts Council, the National Theatre School of Canada, the Société des Arts Technologiques (SAT), as well as the organizing committee for the 2019 Canadian Arts Summit and the Advisory Committee of the National Creation Fund of the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. He also served for 13 years on the board of directors of CINARS (International Conference of Performing Arts), including 10 years as president, and is a founding member of the Movement Arts Creation Studio in Boston.

Nassib is Laureate Cèdre et Érable of La Chambre de Commerce et de l’Industrie Canada-Liban. In 2013, he was awarded the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)’s Prix Reconnaissance in recognition of his exceptional career. In 2014, he received the Artists for Peace Award on behalf of The 7 Fingers. In 2019, he received the Carmelle and Rémi Marcoux Chair in Arts Management’s Cultural Manager Award from HEC Montréal. Shortly after, he was named Knight by L’Ordre de Montréal. In 2022, he received the Charles Biddle Award in the international section. In 2023, Nassib was awarded the Ordre du Québec, the highest distinction awarded by the Quebec government.

Vice President of Creation at The 7 Fingers, Tina Diab oversees the alignment of the collective’s project and show content with its strategic orientations. She ensures sustainability through multiple initiatives including broad market diversification.

After extensive experience in the tourism, communications and advertising sectors, working with agencies in New York, Toronto and Beirut, Tina was conquered by the unique artistic style of The 7 Fingers.  She joined the collective in 2003, and quickly focused on its international development, touring and special events. She was the collective’s Director of Touring and Development for many years before being offered the position of Vice President of Creation and Executive Producer in 2019.

As brand custodian of The 7 Fingers, Tina supports the artistic directors’ visions and acts as a link between the company’s various departments. Highly aware of advancements and trends in the arts and entertainment fields, she stimulates and guides artistic research and development within the creative team.

A specialist in cultural management, Lynne counts over 20 years’ experience in business management and in public and private finance. Passionate about international relations, she began her career in the non-profit sector and later turned to international development, working on bilateral partnership projects with Canada Post, Teleglobe, and SNC-Lavalin, among others. In 2001, Lynne obtained an Executive MBA from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), where she was able to explore the IT industry, with a particular emphasis on knowledge management. In 2003, Lynne attended the 7 Fingers’ first show in L’Assomption, Quebec. Shortly after, she took on the mandate to develop a merchandising product line for the company while also undertaking its public funding initiatives. Over the years, she’s assisted the collective in many areas – prior to her current role as Finance Director, she handled tasks in departments as varied as marketing, communications, touring, and production.

Francisco Cruz began circus at the age of 7 in San Francisco, CA. In 2005, Francisco joined Les 7 Doigts as an original cast member of their show Traces, touring internationally for over 6 years. Francisco is now an Associate Artistic Director at Les 7 Doigts, as well as the resident filmmaker for their social media visuals. Outside of circus, Francisco has a BA degree in Early Childhood Elementary Education from Concordia University.  Francisco currently resides in Montreal with his wife and two daughters.