Montreal, June 10, 2025 – September marks the start of new projects, the return to school, a time of fresh ideas and buzzing minds. The air softens, the light turns golden, and dance takes over Montreal — in theatres, but also in public spaces, surprising and delighting passersby, audiences, and the simply curious.
From September 4 to 14, 2025, Montreal asserts itself as the capital of contemporary dance with the 23rd edition of Festival Quartiers Danses (FQD). More than thirty choreographers and companies from Quebec, across Canada, and around the world will take part, with performances at La Cinquième Salle at Place des Arts, The Studio-Théâtre des Grands Ballets, the McCord Stewart Museum, and the NFB with dance-themed films — and even under the open sky, all the way up to the Mount Royal lookout!
The film and outdoor programming will be unveiled next month.
This year, the festival celebrates Indigenous art from Quebec, with Barbara Diabo and Ghislain Picard serving as its ambassadors. Among other highlights, the program features iconic figures of contemporary dance such as Jane Mappin and Denise Clarke, Grands Ballets Canadiens dancer and choreographer Étienne Delorme, Willow Seeds — who rose to fame through the TV show Révolution — as well as choreographer Janusz Orlik and the Wrocław Opera Ballet as part of a special Poland Focus. Also on the program: the surprising Cai Glover and the explosive energy of krump with 7Starr. Young audiences will also be invited to expand their horizons with FQD Mini — a program designed especially for children.
« In these times marked by turmoil — globally, and sometimes even within our own homes — it is essential not to forget how to dream, to feel deeply, and to connect with one another through what is most precious in humanity: our ability to create beauty that transcends time. I invite you to join us in our theatres to discover the works carefully curated by our artistic team. But also, all across Montreal, wherever dance emerges freely, without concern for cost, to offer everyone a moment of escape, grace, and togetherness » — Rafik Hubert Sabbagh, Artistic Director and Founder of Festival Quartiers Danses.
The 23rd edition of FQD gives a place of honour to Indigenous art, with a series of powerful works led by artists deeply rooted in their culture and territory. Kicking off the festival on Thursday, September 4 at 8:00 p.m. at La Cinquième Salle at Place des Arts, Ghislain Picard will deliver a powerful address to launch this celebration.
Whether outdoors or on stage, these events embody a vibrant meeting of tradition and modernity, showcasing the richness of Indigenous voices from Quebec and beyond. Through dance, words, and presence, these artists reaffirm their land and their worldview.
On Saturday, September 6 at 12:30 p.m., as part of the free urban programming, the Kondiaronk lookout on Mount Royal will come alive with a series of free outdoor performances featuring, among others, Marshall Kahente Diabo, Simik Komaksiutiksak, Ryleigh Mayo, and concluding with a Powwow.
On Monday, September 8, the Alanis Obomsawin Theatre at the National Film Board will host a screening of short films by Indigenous artists, followed by a roundtable discussion.
A highlight of this 23rd edition, on Saturday, September 13 at 8:00 p.m at the Studio-Theatre of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, FQD will present an evening dedicated to the diversity of Indigenous voices. Featured artists include Victoria Hunt, an interdisciplinary artist of Māori, Kanak, and Native Hawaiian (Kanaka Maoli) heritage, who explores embodied memory and spiritual connections to ancestry; Nina Segalowitz, an Inuk and Dene artist renowned for her powerful throat singing; Marshall Kahente Diabo, a Mohawk choreographer from Kahnawà:ke committed to cultural transmission through movement; and Lou Lou la Duchesse de Rière, the first internationally recognized Mohawk burlesque performer. Simik Komaksiutiksak, an Inuk dancer based in Montreal, will also take part. A’nó:wara Dance Theatre, led by Barbara Kaneratonni Diabo, will round out this powerful program.
These moments, at the intersection of territories and traditions, reflect a vibrant creativity and a shared will to connect memory, identity, and contemporary expression.
This year, FQD explores the vitality of the Polish choreography scene with a bold Poland Focus. On Saturday, September 6 at 8:00 p.m. at La Cinquième Salle at Place des Arts, choreographer Janusz Orlik will present III Symfonia, an intense 65-minute solo blending physical rigor and emotional depth. The Wrocław Opera Ballet will take the stage with several short creations premiering in North America, presented on Thursday, September 11 and Friday, September 12 at 8:00 p.m. at the Studio-Theatre of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, engaging in dialogue with the local and Canadian scene. And on Friday, September 12 at noon at Place d’Armes, Agata Życzkowska will unveil Blue Gold, a wildly humorous solo addressing social and political issues.
This program is enriched by the presence of invited international creators such as Linus Jansner (Sweden) with What Falls Doesn’t Always Land, presented on Monday, September 8 at 12:30 p.m. at Place des Festivals and Saturday, September 13 at the Atrium of the Studio Theatre of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens. Lene Boel (Denmark) will showcase her works of Popping, Electro, and Break Dance — WAR – GREED and TRANSHUMANIST — respectively on Sunday, September 7 at La Cinquième Salle and Sunday, September 14 at the Studio-Theatre of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens.
This international opening highlights FQD’s ambition to be a platform for artistic exchange, fostering dialogue between emerging and established scenes in contemporary dance creation.
From September 4 to 14, the stages of La Cinquième Salle at Place des Arts and then the Studio-Theatre of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens will host powerful, sensitive, and striking works every evening.
Before the shows at the Studio-Theatre of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, FQD will also offer short dance performances in the Atrium, presented in a more informal setting that allows the audience to discover the artists differently: in an intimate and friendly atmosphere, these Preludes will offer a chance to briefly immerse oneself in their universe and share a moment of exchange and relaxation.
The opening night, on Thursday, September 4 at 8:00 p.m., will launch the festival with flair. At La Cinquième Salle, audiences will discover Vif, a solo by Étienne Delorme, dancer and choreographer with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens; Landback Waackers from A’nó:wara Dance Theatre; and Charles Brecard, who will present Il pleut, il plaint, il rage, a very physical, melancholic, and emotional work.
Among the upcoming highlights: WAHSIPEKUK: Beyond the Mountains by Ivanie Aubin-Malo, as well as Honey Never Spoils by Zachary Bastille and Auf Wiedersehen by Pauline Gervais — a second festival evening that promises to be vibrant, engaged, and energetic (September 5). Kyra Jean Green will offer Happy to be Home (September 6) at La Cinquième Salle, a piece both playful and touching. Thoughts and Prayers by Andrew Skeels, in collaboration with recent graduates from the École de danse contemporaine de Montréal and the École Supérieure du Ballet du Québec (September 7); Oh Mother, Oh Brother by Cai Glover, a duo both delicate and visceral (September 11); COWORKER, a moving solo by Nicholas Bellefleur, and Late Bloomer by Hélène Simoneau, as well as a new creation from the Wrocław Opera Ballet (September 12).
Dancer and choreographer of FQD, Charles Brecard, will form an electrifying duo in collaboration with Montreal krump pioneer 7Starr around the piece SKLTR (September 13). The latter will also present his solo Retraced (September 14), a work where the power of krump dialogues with body memory and resilience.
Cai Glover_A Fichu Turning_©️Melika Dez
The indoor program also highlights major figures: Jane Mappin will present Étude 3: Fleeting Moments (September 12), an introspective solo on the fragility of time. Denise Clarke, an icon of Canadian contemporary dance, will deliver Praying Solo (September 13 at 1:30 p.m. at the McCord-Stewart Museum), a magnetic piece full of humanity.
A unique event: on Friday, September 5 at 4:00 p.m., choreographer Charles-Alexis Desgagnés will offer Ouvre mes yeux at 312 Avenue des Pins West, in the intimacy of a studio (Chez Personne). This piece will be reprised on September 9, 10, 11, and 12 at 4:00 p.m., and tickets will be available soon.
And what about the kids? They have their own event: FQD Mini! On Sunday, September 14 starting at 10:30 a.m. at the Atrium of the Studio-Theatre of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, imagination and movement take centre stage with Chemin aux mille pousses, a 40-minute participatory performance presented by Alexandra Caron and Emmanuelle Lizière.
From intimate solo pieces to large-scale choreographic frescos, from krump to dance-theatre, and from established artists to emerging voices, each evening promises a true overview of contemporary creation.