Le Cirque de Quatre Frères was a circus operating in Canada from 1902-1986. It was begun by four brothers: Jacque, Guillome, Francois and Albert Cotillard, who came to Canada from France in 1896.

In France, the brothers had a juggling and acrobatic act, working in various Parisian circuses and theatres before relocating to Canada. It was the dream of Jacque and Guillome to start a small circus that focused on the performance art of people rather than animals. Although, some of their earliest acts did include animals to please circus goers of the day, who expected exotic animal acts, the Cotillard brothers were more interested in pushing the limits of the human body.

Due to a drastic decrease in ticket sales and mounting debt, the circus was forced to shut down in 1986. Remnants of the Le Cirque de Quatre Frères can be found in cafés and parks all over Quebec. In 1992, there was a reunion of surving Le Cirque de Quatre Frères performers in Quebec. Those performers and employees of the circus who were still living came to celebrate the life and timesof the Cotillard’s circus. Acrobats such as Julia Harris, Coleen Leblanc, James Bouchard-Caspin, and Jacques Poulin attended along with former horse trainer and dancer Azar Nahim-Rachlin. Members of the Cotillard family included a young Jacqueline Cotillard, now Jacqueline Cotillard-Gleason, the famous ballet dancer and the great-granddaughter of Francois Cotillard, as well as the grand-children and great-grandchildren of Jacque and Albert. Guillome never married and some believed he was homosexual, though such claims were never proven. He was rumored to have had a long-time relationship with animal trainer Remy Cloutier that lasted until Cloutier’s death in 1922, when he was mauled by a lion during a training exercise. Guillome was said to have banned all such acts from the circus until his brothers talked him into seeing reason. However, never again did Le Cirque de Quatre Frères have a lion-taming act.

In recent years, Jacqueline Cotillard-Gleason has discussed the possibility of reorganizing and reopening the circus again. With the increasing popularity of boutique circuses such as Cirque du Soleil, that focus on performance arts such as acrobatics, clowning and contortionism, she believes her family’s circus has a future again. Cotillard-Gleason believes she can return Le Cirque de Quatre Frères to its past glory while honoring the names of her great-grandfather and great-uncles.