For the past month, circus artist Benoist Hippolyte has been performing with the Montreal street arts company Drôldadon, in front of the balconies of elderly individuals confined to low-income housing (HLM) or long-term care facilities (CHSLD) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Between Sunday night and Monday morning, he had $15,000 worth of circus props stolen, some of which are rare in Quebec, which he nonetheless needed to “create smiles” on the faces of seniors. (…)
This theft occurs while the Drôldadon company is currently the only one employing him, as circus performances have been paralyzed for over three months due to the COVID-19 crisis. My next performance date is scheduled for March 2021 in South Korea
, explains Benoist Hippolyte, who was on tour in Finland when the lockdown was declared in March. (…)
Beyond the misfortune suffered by Benoist Hippolyte, this incident illustrates the problem for circus artists regarding the storage of their props, a problem exacerbated during this pandemic period. (…)
In order to continue working, he has nevertheless decided to launch a fundraiser on the GoFundMe website.