Montréal, June 11, 2026 – From September 9 to 19, 2026, Festival Quartiers Danses (FQD) returns for its 24th edition, bringing together more than 30 choreographers and companies from Québec, Canada, and around the world. Presented in several Montréal venues and soon to expand into public spaces, this new edition will spotlight artists with bold and distinctive practices, including Margie Gillis, Lina Cruz, Sonia Gómez, Béatrice Larrivée, Hélène Blackburn x Cai Glover, Liam Francis, and Andrea Peña, while also offering a remarkable Asia Focus featuring creators from Japan and Hong Kong, whose work is still rarely presented on Québec stages.
Embracing the theme of resistance, this 24th edition celebrates dance as a force for transformation, resilience, and dialogue. Through works that explore questions of identity, memory, territory, and coexistence, the festival reaffirms the power of artistic expression in the face of the political, social, and environmental upheavals shaping our times.
In a world marked by division and uncertainty, dance remains a unique space for encounter, listening, and resistance. This program brings together artists who challenge our relationship to the world while opening pathways toward sensitivity, hope, and new perspectives. »
Bringing together 24 choreographers and companies, the indoor program of Festival Quartiers Danses offers a rich journey through the many facets of contemporary dance. Urban dance, neoclassical dance, and interdisciplinary approaches come together in a program where intimate narratives intersect with broader collective reflections.
On September 10, 2026, at the Cinquième Salle of Place des Arts, the festival will open with Jeunehomme, an iconic work by German choreographer Uwe Scholz, performed by Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, followed by Lyre Liar, a solo work by British choreographer Liam Francis.
Renowned for his highly physical and theatrical creations that explore the mechanisms of perception and identity, Liam Francis has collaborated with leading figures in contemporary dance, including Merce Cunningham, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, and Kate Prince. Presented in Montréal as part of the festival, Lyre Liar will then continue its international journey with a performance at Théâtre de la Ville in Paris in November 2026.
Jeunehomme by Grands Ballets Canadiens – Photo: Sasha Onyshchenko
On September 11, 2026, the program Mutations and Incarnations offers a distinctive artistic journey through the strength and grace of a solo performance by Margie Gillis, whose influence on several generations of performers remains undeniable; the sensitive and quantum-inspired universe imagined by Nicholas Bellefleur in Sacred Disaster; and the immersive, introspective experience created by Liam Francis. Together, these works create a vibrant dialogue between generations and choreographic voices.
On September 12, 2026, Montréal-based Colombian-born choreographer Lina Cruz will present 1+1 Miniatures. Founder of Fila 13 Productions, she is renowned for a distinctive choreographic universe where humour, physical precision, and multicultural influences converge.
The evening will also feature ELK by Spanish artist Sonia Gómez, an award-winning figure on the contemporary Catalan dance scene. Trained at the internationally acclaimed P.A.R.T.S. school in Brussels, this internationally recognized creator has toured her works throughout Europe, China, and the Americas.
Sonia Gómez
On September 13, 2026, Béatrice Larrivée will return to Festival Quartiers Danses with Maintenant, nous as part of the Montréal / Hong Kong: Gazes, Voices, and Bodies program. The evening will also offer a rare opportunity to discover Hong Kong’s choreographic scene through The Moment 刻, a solo work by KT Yau Ka Hei that explores the territories of stillness.
From Montréal to Hong Kong, these two performances engage in a dialogue through distinctive choreographic languages, where theatrical embodiment and feminist expression intersect to shape identities that are raw, sensitive, and resolutely free. Together, they create a bridge between two distinct artistic scenes, united by a shared quest for expression and presence.
On September 14, 2026, the program Remembering and Soaring will bring together three distinctive performances by El Gao, Meggie Cloutier-Hamel, and Janelle Hacault, where personal histories and collective imaginaries meet in a choreographic dialogue infused with poetry and humour, inviting audiences to reconsider their relationship to identity.
Cuban choreographer Niosbel Gonzalez, founder of the Québec-based company El Gao and a leading figure in his country’s contemporary dance scene, will present FE, alongside new creations by Meggie Cloutier-Hamel and Janelle Hacault. Together, these artists offer a sensitive and inventive journey in which the body becomes a vehicle for memory, transformation, and momentum.
On September 15, 2026, Suzanne Miller & Allan Paivio Productions will present What Belongs to Us, while David Rancourt (PPS Danse) will offer the solo Just. Vancouver-based artists Livona Ellis and Rebecca Margolick will complete the evening with the duet Fortress. Across these works, a choreographic journey emerges in which the writing of movement engages in dialogue with bodily intuition, revealing forms of sensitive and embodied resilience between Montréal and Vancouver.
A highlight of this 24th edition, the Asia Focus will offer Montréal audiences the opportunity to discover artists whose works are still too rarely presented in Québec.
Following KT Yau Ka Hei, it will be the turn of Japanese choreographer Yasushi Kurotaki to present Moonrise on September 16, 2026, at Cinquième Salle, a creation rooted in a sensitive exploration of memory, perception, and the invisible traces that shape human existence.
Trained in mime under Hiroyasu Sasaki and influenced by the approach of renowned choreographer Saburo Teshigawara, Yasushi Kurotaki develops a highly refined physical language in which the body becomes a meeting point between imagination, memory, and presence. His work, which explores notions of gravity, silence, and transformation, earned him First Prize at the SAI Dance Festival in 2023.
Yasushi Kurotaki at SAI DANCE FESTIVAL – Photo by Bozzo
The evening will also feature Recursion by Hong Kong choreographer and performer Ji Jie. Enriched by an artistic journey that bridges choreographic traditions from both China and the West, Ji Jie develops a practice deeply rooted in human experience and healing processes. Through her creations, she transforms the stage into a space of encounter where the body becomes language and emotions flow beyond words. Inspired by an intimate reflection on traumatic memory and self-reconciliation, Recursion invites audiences into a sensitive universe where silent dialogues are woven between vulnerability, resilience, and transformation.
Recursion by Ji Jie
Montreal-based artist Naomi Gwynn will also present LADY, a work for five performers that explores, with humour and lucidity, the contradictions of femininity and the passage into adulthood. Through a series of scenes blending movement, dialogue, and tragicomedy, the piece offers a critical and offbeat perspective on contemporary female archetypes. The evening will conclude with BODY / STRUCTURE by Jason Martin, a solo in which a constantly transforming body oscillates between presence and disappearance, maintaining a fragile balance between form, tension, and instability.
On September 17, 2026, several leading creators from Québec will come together for the program 100% Québec: Geometries of Vertigo. Owen Montagne and BD Projet Danse will present Une solitude, while Zachary Bastille will unveil the duet Que la beauté nous décapite.
The evening will also feature two new creations from the company Cas Public, co-choreographed by Hélène Blackburn and Cai Glover. A major figure in Québec dance for more than thirty years and founder of the company, Hélène Blackburn continues here her artistic dialogue with Cai Glover, a choreographer and performer recognized for his exploration of identity, accessibility, and transformation.
Together, they extend a shared artistic inquiry where athletic precision, musical sensitivity, and an exploration of perception converge, giving rise to a new work that is both raw and poetic, at the heart of movement.
On September 18 and 19, 2026, Festival Quartiers Danses (FQD), in co-presentation with Usine C, will present REPLICA by Andrea Peña & Artists. Performed each evening at 7 p.m., REPLICA stands as one of the major highlights of this edition.
Based in Montreal, Colombian-Canadian choreographer and designer Andrea Peña has established herself on the international stage through immersive works that sit at the intersection of dance, installation, and design. REPLICA offers a powerful continuation of her artistic research, bringing together embodied experience and spatial exploration.
REPLICA by Andrea Peña & Artists
The free outdoor program of Festival Quartiers Danses will be unveiled in early August. From Place d’Armes to Marché Atwater, as well as Kondiaronk Lookout on Mount Royal and Sainte-Catherine Street, the festival will once again take over Montréal’s public spaces, bringing dance to a wider audience.
Tickets for indoor performances are now on sale. To mark the unveiling of this 24th edition program, Festival Quartiers Danses is offering an exclusive launch promotion: from June 11 to June 24, all tickets are available at a special rate of $24 (taxes included) for performances taking place from September 11 to 17, 2026. To take advantage of this offer, audiences simply need to use the promotional code OFFRE24 when purchasing tickets.
Festival Quartiers Danses wishes to extend its heartfelt thanks to all of its partners and funding bodies, whose commitment makes this 24th edition possible. Presented by Québecor, the festival benefits from the invaluable support of Canadian Heritage, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the City of Montréal, and Tourisme Montréal.
Thanks to their trust and continued support, Festival Quartiers Danses continues its mission of presenting, creating, and promoting contemporary dance for audiences both locally and abroad.