“Circus doesn’t rely on words. That’s why it’s international,” observes noted French-Canadian mime and improvisationist François-Guillaume Leblanc, who has arrived in Guadalajara to give three-day workshops and three performances at FiCHo.
Leblanc, who has been compared to Charlie Chaplin, works regularly in Cirque du Soleil and created a well-known character named Ovo (a blue fly) for them. He also founded Theatre Biscornu and created the show “Sinapsis” (Synapse), which hilariously chronicles the lives of three downtrodden office workers who continually escape into fantastic worlds of their own creation.
At FiCHo, he is scheduled to perform “Impro,” an improvisation with his workshop students using ideas suggested by the audience (Saturday, November 21, 5 p.m. at the Alianza Francesa). The following weekend, he will perform twice with his collaborators in “Synapse.” (Saturday, November 28, 7 p.m., and Sunday, November 29, 5 p.m., at the Alianza Francesa)
This is the third time Leblanc has been in Guadalajara. He came for the 2012 Festival de Mayo and twice for FiCHo, which happens every two years. “Guadalajara feels like my Mexican home,” he said. “I have good links here, good friends. FiCHo is a great festival, built by great people, really human people. They come from a part of the world circus community that’s really open. I feel like it’s family. That’s why I come back.”