Beauty is without compromise

23 dance and theatre performances + a cycle of readings + an online program

Montreal, Tuesday, April 27, 2021—In these troubling times, the Festival TransAmériques is a unifying event that dares to embark on new paths, to find light and beauty where we least expect it. For the 15^th edition of the FTA, to be held from May 26 to June 12, we hope that Montrealers will be able to attend 23 performances in theatres and public spaces, as well as a cycle of 3 readings. The Festival will also offer a virtual program for the first time.

“Developed by a courageous and dedicated team in an atmosphere of uncertainty and anxiety, with an unwavering resolve to persevere, this 15^th edition of the FTA still has question marks regarding the form it will take. There, in front of you, so that we can be tantalized together in the same space? Through a screen that will allow us to reach you everywhere, at any time of the day or night? Whatever may or may not be possible in May and June, we are ready to meet you. Our desire to share the dreams and doubts of all these artists from Montreal and around the world is deep and unbounded.” — Martin Faucher, Artistic Director

This celebration of dance and theatre gives a voice to artists of all generations, who boldly point out where we have run aground. Their imaginations, filled with fantasy, insight and emotion, give us the courage and energy to continue our path with intelligence and love.

The return to the Festival stages of such emblematic figures as Louise Lecavalier and Marie Brassard with Stations and Violence will certainly enchant festivalgoers. Many new creations by artists with strong signatures are also slated: Mélanie Demers and La Goddam Voie Lactée, 2Fik and Romance ain’t dead, 2Fik!, as well as Dog Rising by Clara Furey, La jamais sombre by Catherine Tardif, Michel F Côté and Marc Parent, The door opened west by Marc Boivin and Sarah Chase, Anything Whatsoever by Katie Ward, SIERRRANEVADA by Manuel Roque, and Public|Private Parts ou L’Origine du monde by Gerard X Reyes. PHOSPHOS, a fascinatingly illuminated performative space designed by Paul Chambers, will allow us all to meditate on the madness of the world.

New territories in the heart of the city will be explored by artists addressing questions of identity: Rhodnie Désir will present BOW’T-Tio’tia:ke in Old Montreal, while Soleil Launière’s Meshtitau and Lara Kramer’s Them Voices will unfold in the garden of the Musée d’art contemporain. Sarah Dell’Ava will unveil O₂, a choreographic oasis in which 25 amateur and professional performers invite us to fully savour the present moment. Thanks to projections designed by HUB Studio for La ville, des artistes, large-scale portraits of FTA 2021 artists will hover over the Quartier des spectacles. Theatre highlights include Laurence Dauphinais and Maxime Carbonneau’s Dans le nuage (First Draft); the trio of Syrian artists Omar Abusaada, Mohammad Al Attar and Bissane Al Charif with the poignant testimonies of Aleppo. A Portrait of Absence; French artist Marion Siéfert, who will offer us the free show _jeanne_dark_ on Instagram; and Toronto artist Jordan Tannahill, who will give an augmented reading of Declarations, a vibrant ode to his terminally ill mother. Three shows are returning to our stages: the theatrical-audio gem Aalaapi by a collective from Nunavik and Montreal; the invigorating Anima / Darkroom by 7Starr and Lucy M. May; and Sovann Rochon-Prom Tep’s Un temps pour tout, brilliant representations of street dance at FTA. In these painful times we are all going through, demolition and reconstruction is among the themes of this 2021 edition. With Worktable, Wellington-born Kate McIntosh offers us a formidable solitary experience that is at once playful, liberating and creative, wherein the course of things can be tangibly changed. The Port-Royal Readings question the power relationships that have defined us since the beginnings of New France, through the voices of Innu poet An Antane Kapesh, mythical writer Réjean Ducharme and essayist and playwright Pierre Lefebvre. Their texts Je suis une maudite sauvagesse, La fille de Christophe Colomb and Le virus et la proie all confront the mechanisms of oppression. The pandemic must not prevent us from meeting our faithful audiences, who hunger for novelty and creativity. For the first time, the FTA is therefore offering a virtual program consisting of the Port-Royal Readings and the productions Un temps pour tout and The door opened west. For the 15^th edition of the FTA, 17 world premieres, 2 North American premières, and 14 FTA co-productions and 3 productions will be presented in 16 venues from May 26 to June 12. Read the full release

Beauty is without compromise

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