Our mission
The biggest performing arts festival in North America, the Festival TransAmériques is a driving force for the promotion of contemporary theatre and dance. FTA delves deep into artistic disciplines, probing their limits in its quest for bold, outstanding artistic voices.
Its policy is a pact with the present, i.e. to support creative artists by allowing artistic exploration, as well as presenting and co-producing contemporary theatre and dance pieces, works that reinterpret the world we live in, that shed light on our times. Featuring shows from all over the world, FTA mirrors political and social movements of our era, as echoed in striking and essential works of art. With its featured presentations and the FTA Playground series of related activities, FTA is an aspirational force that creates synergies between the arts, communities and festivalgoers.
Who we are
Since the very first edition in 1985, FTA has promoted the inventiveness of artists, the broad scope of their works and the power of art to expand the imagination. A showcase for contemporary theatre and dance, it features works by artists driven by an urgent need to give voice to the present.
With compelling voices, inventive staging, bodies in movement and artists speaking out in the languages of many cultures, the Festival portrays humanity in all its complexity, presenting new ways of being, of performing, of dancing, of re-enchanting the world. Bodies that do not fit the norm brandish their difference. Contemporary art blazes a trail for a diversity of aesthetics, cultures and traditions devoid of hierarchy. Beauty emerges from rupture, in magnificent visions created by artists.
FTA builds futures, conveying hope and strengthening synergies between the arts and communities. Scouting for intriguing performances on international stages, the Festival examines and questions artistic practice here and elsewhere, selecting artists who reflect major social trends in unique, compelling works.
Our festivalgoers are curious, loyal and demanding. They are the sensitive heart of FTA, a mix of different generations of artists and spectators who all share the same feeling of belonging. The Festival provokes encounters that link emotion and consciousness, the stage and life, artists and citizens.
Every spring FTA returns as a festive commemoration of humanity, inviting people to step out and celebrate art that aspires to profound experience, that helps dispel the confusion and chaos of our world.