The company

Un Loup pour l'Homme

The circus company ‘Un loup pour l’homme’, through its approach of acrobatic hand to hand balancing, aims at defending a vision of humanity made up of social individuals, as different as they are dependent from each other. Enamored of power and freedom, the acrobat appears relentlessly grappling with his own limits; standing the strain of his relation to the other, man reveals his greatness and weakness, the complexity of his human nature.

The origins of Un loup pour l’homme lie in the encounter between two acrobats, the French carrier Alexandre Fray, and the flying crobat Frédéric Arsenault from Quebec. Triggered by two shows created under the direction of Guy Alloucherie, they decide in 2005 to initiate a specific research on their approach of hand to hand balancing. To them, these acrobatics are not only a raw material to give shape to, but primarily a strong relationship between two men.

For Un Loup pour l’Homme, more than a material to give shape to, hand-to-hand balancing is a language and a way to study human relations. The company believes that acrobatic art is about action rather than demonstration. It is an art form where the virtuosity of artists enables to understand mankind in a sensitive way. The group dynamic is always triggered by a voracious curiosity and the wish to put into question what seems to be taken for granted, not really to push one’s limits but rather to open the range of possibilities.

With nearly 750 performances of Appris par corps (2006), winner of the Prix Jeunes Talents Cirque Europe), Face Nord (2011), Rare Birds (2017), and the female revival of Face Nord (2018), Cuir (2020), Projet grand-mère (2021), Dans l’Espace (2022) and Passing Swiftly (2023), the company’s influence is now national and international.

Un loup pour l’Homme, which likes to define itself as a “contemporary, itinerant, humanist acrobatic company”, has taken a new turn with the acquisition of a big top for the creation of Rare Birds. This mobile equipment, the company’s real home, engages its members in a collective adventure and enables another form of integration and action on the ground. After Ride&Camp in 2019, which took the company on the roads of the Balkans for several months on the road, the company has been experimenting since 2021 with a long set-up format (lasting several weeks), combining performances, rehearsals, cultural activities, the use of the big top and festive events. In 2024, the company will launch the first edition of Des Jours Heureux, an itinerant circus festival in the Hauts-de-France region !

In 2020, Arno Ferrera and Mika Lafforgue created the duo Cuir, based on human traction and attraction. Initiated in 2003 by Alexandre Fray, it was in 2021 that Le Projet Grand-Mère (or J’aurai toujours des rêves, maman) came a participative triptych involving local senior women.

Since November 2022, Dans l’Espace, a circular big-top show for 4 acrobats and 2 live musicians, has continued to tour.

2023 was the year of 2 light creations : Passing Swiftly, directed by Špela Vodeb and Christine Daigle, and Moi Aussi ! directed by Alexandre FRAY and Špela VODEB with 2 apprentices from the Académie Fratellini.

The company is subsidized by the DRAC Hauts-de-France, receives support for its activities from the Région Hauts-de-France, and is associated with Prato, Pôle National Cirque in Lille.

Team

The team of Un Loup pour l’Homme, led by Alexandre Fray, is now inter-national. Every member is bringing his/her energy, building the team by nurishing the dynamics of the group.

Circus tent

With a circus tent, Un Loup pour l’homme is chosing mobility.

Even if we still perform in theaters, this mobile equipment, genuine home of our company, is bringing us into a collective adventure. It also enables another way to inhabit cities and provokes new meetings.