In this special article, we unveil the programme for the CINARS Biennale 2026.
From 9 to 14 November 2026, the CINARS Biennale will bring together artists, presenters, producers and professionals in the contemporary performing arts from the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Africa for a week of discoveries, exchanges and life-changing encounters in Montreal. More than just a performing arts market, the CINARS Biennale is a space where world views, artistic practices and diversity converge. It is founded on the belief that the international circulation of works, artists and ideas is an essential collective responsibility.
The CINARS Biennale 2026 programme reflects this vision by bringing together artists, companies, agencies, programmers and cultural delegates that embody the vitality and diversity of the performing arts. Our official programme will enable delegates to discover talented artists from across the world, including Alexandra Stréliski (Canada), Cirque Le Roux (France), Cirque Baobab (Guinea) and Hung Dance (Taiwan), among many others. With nearly one hundred OFF-CINARS performances covering all disciplines, the Biennale attracts more than 1,300 professionals from nearly 50 countries, who gather to network and develop international tours alongside major institutions such as the Sydney Opera House, Lincoln Center, the Festival Internacional Cervantino and the Théâtre National de Chaillot. The week will also be filled with networking opportunities through conferences, workshops and professional meetings.
If the Biennale finds a natural home in Montreal, it is because the city is built on dialogue and encounters. A crossroads of languages, cultures and influences, it offers a vibrant landscape where heritage and the avant-garde, local and international perspectives, can coexist without one overshadowing the other.
The programming for the 2026 Biennale is a direct reflection of this multifaceted ambition. It does not seek to present a consensus-driven catalogue. On the contrary, it embraces the complexity of the contemporary world, its hybrid forms and its unexpected beauties.
Contemporary dance occupies a prominent place in the programme, alongside contemporary circus arts that celebrate the body’s virtuosity and poetry of movement. Object theatre, technological forms and contemporary puppetry – practices united by their fascination with the material world – each brings a distinct language to the Biennale.
Contemporary music unfolds in hybrid, theatrical, immersive and narrative formats, while maintaining refined forms. As for new dramaturgies, these works by a rising generation of artists transform practices, as theatre enters into dialogue with other disciplines to redraw the contours of the performing arts.
Artist ambassadors
Performing artists are much more than creators of shows. When a contemporary dance company from Montreal performs in Seoul, when a European puppet theatre troupe enchants an audience in Shanghai or Amsterdam, it is humanistic values that travel with them. These artists are true ambassadors, and their international mobility deserves to be supported with the same conviction as we support trade or diplomacy.
The CINARS Biennale makes this mobility possible. By bringing together producers and presenters from around the world in a single meeting space, it creates touring opportunities for artists. Every partnership formed during this week of networking helps spread works and ideas to new audiences around the world.
