February 14th, 2021 – Les 7 doigts de la main were awarded the Prize for the Best Canadian and US Tour, a recognition given by Yvan Gauthier, Executive Director of the CALQ, at the Bourse Rideau conference in Quebec City. This new biennial award includes a cash prize of $10,000 and is designed for professional organizations who are eligible for CALQ programs and are producing live shows.

Les 7 doigts de la main were granted this honor for the United States tour of TRACES. Between October 26, 2010, and September 30, 2011, TRACES was presented 237 times, in five US cities, in front of nearly 100,000 spectators. It was a major tour which required several years of organization.
Chicago, Los Angeles, Denver, New York, Philadelphia—everywhere it went, TRACES won the heart of both the audience and the critics.

“We are deeply touched by this recognition. That the CALQ, who had the audacity to support seven artists out of the fridge door ten years ago, is continuing to follow our path, is truly heartening,” commented Les 7 doigts de la main Executive Director Nassib El-Husseini, who accepted the award on behalf of the company.

To achieve this project, a new team was put together specially for the US TRACES tour. The show was originally created in 2006 under the artistic direction of Les 7 doigts de la main, with five graduates of the National Circus School of Montreal. TRACES will return to Quebec soil in the spring, at the next Carrefour International de Théâtre de Québec, and this summer at the Place Nikitotek in Sherbrooke.

TRACES is showing at the Union Square Theatre in New York through at least January 2013. This presence in New York not only represents a dream come true for Les 7 doigts, but is also a first for Quebec culture, as no other show created in Quebec has played for such an extended period in the Big Apple.

Les 7 doigts de la main are currently working on a new creation which will be launched in June. Shows PSY, LA VIE, and PATINOIRE are continuing to tour. The Fibonacci Project will reach a new stage of creation this May. And just this week, a new version of Loft, mounted with a new cast of
artists, is heading to Berlin for a year-long run at the Chamaleon.

Bringing art closer to people, and reaching them in a world that so urgently needs it: this is the Collective’s wish here on the eve of our ten years.