Programming

Come celebrate the opening of our long-awaited 16th edition—an occasion for reconnecting and sharing wonderful experiences with each other again.

Re:Incarnation is an ode to the richness of Nigerian culture—it brings to life the cycle of birth, death and rebirth, and celebrates Africa’s powers of reinvention in a show that draws on Afrobeats, Afro dances and black aesthetics.

Costumed or naked living models stand motionless or strike a series of poses in a welcoming atmosphere.

Presiding over a captivating techno-shamanist ceremony and eco-feminist fable, Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha celebrates the life of Brazil’s Xingu River with a concert of deeply resonant voices, sounds, and images.

Two towering voices of Burkinabe theatre bring to life La plus secrète mémoire des hommes, a literary high-wire act by Senegalese novelist Mohamed Mbougar Sarr.

Six dramaturges will meet with Montreal artists and their work processes through one-on-one dialogue.

In the company of Découverte journalist Binh An Vu Van, Jan will share his environmental concerns and discuss the new knowledge that has enhanced his work Holoscenes.

This event brings together artists, activists, and academics to discuss protecting the St. Lawrence River and its ecosystems.

Sharing an open, grateful and expansive spirit with humans and non-humans alike, multidisciplinary artist Lindsay Katsitsakatste Delaronde mediates a conversation with members of her Kanien’kehá:ka community on the impacts of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Drawing on their informative experiences, artists from various backgrounds propose actions to change our modes of consumption and create differently.

In this piece addressed directly to a politician, writer and intellectual Pierre Lefebvre highlights all the social diseases that undermine the equality of opportunities in our neoliberal world.

The FTA Clinics are back for a seventh edition! A special opening in the Festival, this “unproductive” space/time is devoted to activities that support the local artistic community.

With her ripened artistic language, Catherine Gaudet surrounds herself with her loyal collaborators to explore the false pretenses of the show business apparatus.

Motivated by the mad dream of making concrete all that is not, Ellen Furey and Malik Nashad Sharpe get very playful—with a touch of mischief.

Filled with infectious joy, the male quintet of L’homme rare, as orchestrated by the fiercely humane Nadia Beugré, takes delight in challenging a certain vision of the world.

Alix Dufresne and Étienne Lepage shake up social and theatrical conventions, and allow us to observe complex, fascinating beings who transform the empty space of the stage into a universe filled with possibilities.

One of the great thinkers of our time, Senegal’s Felwine Sarr moves among various fields: economics, philosophy, literature, and music. 

Come twirl to Prince’s greatest hits and celebrate this beautiful flood of artistic projects!

A partner dance for two men, Save the last dance for me revives the traditional polka chinata in a touching, compelling performance. 

This year’s edition features six choreographers and offers a plunge into their approach to dance creation.

Help save the polka chinata! Dancers Gianmaria Borzillo and Giovanfrancesco Giannini will introduce you to this traditional dance from the Bologna region.

Propelled by a wind turbine, strange creatures led by the fabulous Euripides Laskaridis take the spectator into a burlesque tale where chaos reigns supreme.

Playful and thunderous, Lavagem addresses racial issues through the ritual of washing. A poetic and political performance with wild contagious energy.

In her documentary theatre, Adeline Rosenstein focuses on representations of anti-colonial struggles.

Linguists predict that between 50 and 90% of the world’s roughly 7,000 languages will have disappeared until the end of the century, and Indigenous languages are the most endangered. A talk by Barbara Filion (UNESCO).

Three artists from theatre, music, and the visual arts share their thoughts on the languages they use in creating their works.

Intent on working toward new, equitable structures, choreographer Emily Johnson seeks a path of self-determination for Indigenous artists.

“In my basement I listen to France Gall, Robert Charlebois, the Rolling Stones… and Madonna, too. Come dance with me. You’ll be my mirror ball.”

A tidal wave of body politics prepared to make the Western gaze quiver sweeps over a subversive runway led by Andrew Tay and Stephen Thompson.

At dawn or at sunset, political discourse is transformed into a historical, poetic epic about belugas, a poignant reflection on our connection to living things.

Following the irresistible Cuckoo, Jaha Koo probes in this piece the shadows of childhood and the blind spots of history to create from the ruins of the past a form of theatre that responds to the present.

A man, with the dignity and power engendered by revelations, declares how Africa will emancipate itself to become the origin and engine of a more humane future world.

Maryse Goudreau’s sonic and tactile work, Dans le ventre de la baleine, grants entry to a unique world, one spectator at a time.

In a relaxed atmosphere, focaccia in hand, come and discuss the question of engaging with communities, which is more essential than ever in the cultural sector

Between the walls of these residence sites, festivals, and cultural centres, artists are rethinking their practices in response to the realities of their communities and professionals are developing different ways to engage them in dialogue.

With Them Voices, Lara Kramer excavates a world where stories come together to assess the consequences of our actions on future generations.

In this first draft, co-authored with Vinnie Karetak, the prodigious Inuk artist Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory address the forced displacements that uprooted their ancestors and colour their collective memory.

This extraordinary creator will talk about her career with archival materials, excerpts from shows, and testimonials from her collaborators.  

Written by Catherine Lavoie-Marcus and Michel F. Côté and designed by graphic artist Frédérique Gagnon, Danses à venir is a collection of 161 proposed dances that speculates about the art of choreography and invents its future with no concern for feasibility. 

A poem about communication and the countless pathways taken by our bodies to express ourselves, Face to Face draws inspiration from body language to create a gentle yet profoundly intense duet.

To start off the day, the Festival opens with an activity to waken the body and mind: yoga, dance, or meditation.

This political work by Dieudonné Niangouna links Africa to America through the fists of Muhamad Ali. Théâtre de La Sentinelle offers an oratorio for dignity to nine Afrodescendant performers.

A lively, inclusive analysis of our collective memory of resistance movements and the means appropriated by History to separate the treasonous from the righteous.

Angélique Willkie, on whom Mélanie Demers shines a light, offers up her mysteries, beautiful and ugly, with tremendous strength and just as much vulnerability.

A group of artists apply themselves to the task of rewriting the journals and notebooks of the U.S author and activist Susan Sontag in this free performance-installation. A vibrant and mischievous declaration of love to literature.

Apparently, moving your body before the show will make you more receptive to seeing it, so an hour before the performance, artists will lead a physical warm-up. 

A great team of DJs with diverse musical backgrounds make the Festival Bar come alive. Get ready—things will heat up!

Two party spaces, two distinct atmospheres. The electrifying Andrew Tay followed by Rhythm & Hues in the main hall and guilty pleasures by Fruit défendu in the smaller space.