About

Highlights

+ Festival TransAmériques, or the FTA, is a festival of contemporary dance and theatre.

+ The FTA is a harbinger of springtime in Montreal. Kicking off the summer season in late May, the Festival presents an average of 25 shows in performance venues and in outdoor public spaces over a two-week period.

+ The FTA takes place in some 20 venues, from downtown locales in the entertainment district like Place des Arts and the Monument National, to theatres in other neighbourhoods such as Usine C, Espace Libre and Théâtre ESPACE GO.

+ Founded in 1985 by Marie-Hélène Falcon and Jacques Vézina, the Theatre Festival of the Americas became in 2007 the Festival TransAmériques, an annual event now directed by Sandra O’Connor, Co-Executive Director and Administrative Director, Martine Dennewald, Co-Executive Director and Co-Artistic Director, and Jessie Mill, Co-Artistic Director.

+ Among the artists invited to the Festival are major figures in contemporary theatre and dance, strong voices from here and elsewhere: Marie Brassard, Romeo Castellucci, Olivier Choinière, Mélanie Demers, Catherine Gaudet, Frédérick Gravel, Trajal Harrell, Jaha Koo, Lara Kramer, Benoît Lachambre, Christian Lapointe, Euripides Laskaridis, Louise Lecavalier, Étienne Lepage, Robert Lepage, Daniel Léveillé, Denis Marleau and Stéphanie Jasmin, Richard Maxwell, Dana Michel, Marlene Monteiro-Freitas, Wajdi Mouawad, Alain Platel, Crystal Pite, Alice Ripoll, Nadia Ross, Anne Thériault, Meg Stuart, Ivo van Hove, etc.

+ A hit with audiences! Attendance rates in venues from 2015 to 2024 have averaged 94%.

+ By means of the co-production policy adopted in 2007, the FTA has helped create 168 national and international shows, with an average annual investment of $100,000.

+ An average of 200 performances of FTA co-productions are presented every year in over 50 cities outside Quebec.

+ The FTA programming team sees more than 450 shows per year in Quebec, across Canada and abroad. Its scouting missions include stops in an average of 35 cities in some fifteen countries every year.

+ In 2018 a book celebrating the history of the FTA was published by Éditions Somme toute: FTA : Nos jours de fête.

+ In 2020 the FTA produces its first podcast in four episodes: Inhabiting.

+ Since 2020, FTA Respirations support artistic creation and encourage experimentation as a research and development lab for artistic practices.

+ Four universities offer seminars every spring on shows presented at the FTA: the University of Quebec at Montreal, the University of Montreal, Concordia University and the University of Ottawa.

Awards
and distinctions  

2024: Executive Director David Lavoie receives the Career Award as part of the 2024 Cultural Management Awards presented by the Carmelle and Rémi Marcoux Chair in Arts Management at HEC Montreal.

2023: FTA receives the Event of the Year award by MPI Montréal/Québec, network of event professionals, at the Gala Hommage 2023. 

2021: FTA is awarded the Prix Engagement socio-économique at Les Vivats, the awards for responsible events.  

2018: Artistic director Martin Faucher received the Prix Gascon-Thomas from the National Theatre School of Canada. 

2015: Festival co-founder Marie-Hélène Falcon received the Denise Pelletier Performing Arts Award from the Government of Quebec.

2013: FTA is the recipient of the Grand Prix awarded by the Montreal Arts Council for its unparalleled contributions to enriching the cultural life of Montreal.

2008: FTA is awarded Tourism Montreal’s Prix Ulysse, Festivals et événements touristiques (operating budget of $1M or more), and regional winner of its Grand Prix du tourisme