The Baroque Carnival

In Le Carnaval baroque, Vincent Dumestre and Cécile Roussat revive the enchantment and subversive power of this festival like no other, in a blend of mime, comedy and baroque music.

In the streets of 17th-century Italy, the pre-Lent period was a time for unleashing energy. The crowd, temporarily freed from its yokes, gave free rein to its most inappropriate impulses in a ritualised celebration. With its spirit of jubilation, its taste for the grotesque and masks, and its festival of merriment, Le Carnaval baroque combines juggling, acrobatics, mime, singers and musicians to give the festival its own life and unbridled good humour. From the palace to the street, from the trestles to the banquet, it's all about the telescoping of genres, parody and poetry, laughter and grace, in a day conceived as a long reverie with no rules other than those of fantasy.