Patrick Leonard
When Is Tomorrow?
Circus
Friday 29 August 2025, 20 h 30
DesPrés — 57 Principale Nord Street, Sutton, QC
Under four immense willow trees serving as a living stage, a family of artists explores, in nature, the big questions of the world to come. Play, clowning, acrobatics, and childlike reflections intertwine in this family laboratory where the trees become partners, supports for elevation, balance, and gentle insubordination in the face of tomorrow’s uncertainty. Come share a unique and convivial moment at the festival! This performance awaits you for a memorable experience.
Biography
Co-founder and co-artistic director of Les 7 Doigts, Patrick Leonard has been shaping a bold vision of contemporary circus blending poetry, commitment, and humanity for over twenty years. A clown, acrobat, and creator, he has performed internationally (Cirque du Soleil, Knie, ZinZanni) and directed numerous works, including L’Étranger à Kamouraska. Deeply engaged socially, he directs Square Circle in Toronto, collaborates with northern communities, and creates works based on scientific research. His creation Urgence Rurale 360, born from a partnership with CRITAC and Université Laval, is currently touring in Quebec. In his spare time, he also creates living art works in nature, across all disciplines.
Approach
At the crossroads of contemporary circus, physical theatre, social research, and environmental art, my artistic practice explores the body in movement as a vehicle for emotion and meaning. Nourished by an unconventional journey, I create living works rooted in concrete human realities and often inspired by the very place of their presentation. My collaborative, transdisciplinary practice summons the absurd, the poetic, the documented, and the instinctive. I believe in the power of imbalance, laughter, and silence to disarm, awaken, and touch. For me, creating means making resonate what cannot be said otherwise.
