Watch the trailer A comme Animal © Vanessa Fortin
Dance, theatre and puppetry: shows that explore metamorphosis on stage, under the direction of Marie-Pascale Bélanger
Discover A comme AnimalDiscover A comme Animal
Our next dates:
2027
- January 29, 2027 · 7:30 p.m.A comme Animal · Maison de la culture Janine-Sutto (Montreal, QC)
- March 4, 2027 · 7:30 p.m.A comme Animal · Maison de la culture Claude-Léveillée (Montreal, QC)
Aboutcompany the Under the direction of Marie-Pascale Bélanger, the company’s productions bring together performers from dance, theatre and puppetry, on stage and in interaction. Its works explore the many dimensions of metamorphosis on stage. Learn more
Marie-Pascale
Bélanger
A multidisciplinary artist, Marie-Pascale Bélanger holds degrees in visual arts and in dance performance from the École de danse contemporaine de Montréal. She also holds a master’s degree in dance from UQAM and a graduate diploma in contemporary puppet theatre.
Learn more
On stage and behind the scenes, Marika Karlsson, Elinor Fueter, Rodrigo Rojas, Julie Charrette, Anne Lalancette, Catherine Tardif and Paul Foresto bring the company’s creations to life.
Meet the teamThe team
Press kit
“Coup de cœur du Jury Jeunes” Grand Est (Youth Jury Favourite), World Puppet Theatre Festival, Charleville-Mézières, France, 2025.
“We witness a surprising array of ideas, each more extravagant than the last, thanks to that magical eleventh art: puppetry.”
Sophie Jama, Pieuvre, Montreal (translated from French)
“A spectacle in which puppeteers skillfully blurred the boundaries between the human body and the puppet.”
Petr Broulík, Patriot magazine, Ostrava
ShowA comme Animal
Visual theatre · Available in French and English
Synopsis
An old philosopher is about to share his thoughts, but suddenly stops when he bites into an apple and falls asleep. Like Alice in Wonderland, he is swept into a dream where anything is possible!
Guided and deftly manipulated by three performers transformed into fantastic animal figures, the man comes apart and comes back together as he explores his childhood memories. Woven in the spirit of fables and fairy tales, this visual theatre piece, freely inspired by Gilles Deleuze’s lectures, is an ode to imagination, impermanence and the search for identity. It invites audiences of all ages to be carried away by a unique world that is funny, poetic and delightfully unsettling.
Press kit
The show at a glance
- Concept, direction, set design
- Marie-Pascale Bélanger
- Performers
- Marika Karlsson, Elinor Fueter, Marie-Pascale Bélanger
- Sound design
- Rodrigo Rojas
- Lighting design
- Julie Charrette
- Outside eye, artistic advice
- Anne Lalancette, Catherine Tardif
- Technical direction
- Paul Foresto
Video
Video · A comme AnimalStart the screening
Artistic direction
Marie-Pascale
Bélanger
A multidisciplinary artist, Marie-Pascale Bélanger holds degrees in visual arts and in dance performance from the École de danse contemporaine de Montréal (EDCM). She holds a master’s degree in dance from UQAM, focused on integrating images into the stage space, as well as a graduate diploma in contemporary puppet theatre (UQAM, 2019). Her career has led her to create choreographic works presented in Canada, the United States and Europe.
Artistic approach
Her practice is rooted in interdisciplinary research where dance, visual arts and puppetry meet. Drawing on a visual aesthetic shaped by comics and surrealism, she explores stage devices that blur the line between the real and the fantastic. Driven by a hunger for material and transformation, she designs and builds her own sets and puppets, which she sees as dramaturgical agents in their own right. Each stage object thus takes part in a visual and physical writing that puts body, object and image in tension and shifts perception, inviting the audience into a sensory experience where familiar landmarks move and reassemble.
A comme AnimalCalendar
Upcoming dates:
2027
- January 29, 2027 · 7:30 p.m.A comme Animal · Maison de la culture Janine-Sutto (Montreal, QC)
- March 4, 2027 · 7:30 p.m.A comme Animal · Maison de la culture Claude-Léveillée (Montreal, QC)
Past dates:
2026
- October 29, 2026 · 7 p.m.A comme Animal · Centre culturel et communautaire Henri-Lemieux, Théâtre du Grand Sault (Montreal, QC)
2025
- September 18, 2025A comme Animal · Maison de la culture NDG (Montreal, QC)
- September 26 – 27, 2025A comme Animal · World Puppet Theatre Festival (Charleville-Mézières, France)
- October 3, 2025A comme Animal · Spectaculo Interesse (Ostrava, Czech Republic)
2024
- March 8, 2024A comme Animal · Casteliers International Festival (Montreal, QC)
2023
- February 2 – 3, 2023A comme Animal · Maison internationale des arts de la marionnette, Casteliers (Montreal, QC)
- June 3, 2023A comme Animal · Masqu’alors! Festival (Saint-Camille, QC)
- July 26 – 27, 2023A comme Animal · International Puppetry Arts Festival of Saguenay (Saguenay, QC)
CollaboratorsThe team
Puppeteer
Marika
Karlsson
An artist and puppeteer, Marika Karlsson began her theatre journey in Finland at a very young age. After studying music and drama, she went on to earn a BFA in acting at Concordia University in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal. She completed UQAM’s graduate diploma in contemporary puppet theatre in 2021. Her work draws on somatic and multidisciplinary approaches, and her artistic research explores the temporality of the human body.
Performer · A comme Animal
A 1998 graduate of the Ateliers de danse moderne de Montréal, Elinor Fueter has taken part in many dance projects as well as street theatre, film and improvisation. She has performed in works produced by Danse-Cité and by numerous choreographers, including Lina Cruz, Jean-Pierre Perreault, Catherine Lipscombe, Nathalie Morin, Chantal Wadge, Alain Francœur, Peter James and the Mobile Home company. For about ten years she has been part of the Montréal Danse team. Recently, she has appeared in works by Benoît Lachambre, George Stamos, Caroline Laurin-Beaucage and Karine Ledoyen.
Performer · A comme Animal
Dance
Elinor
Fueter
Music composition
Rodrigo
Rojas
Originally from Chile, Rodrigo trained in classical piano before quickly moving into electroacoustic composition. Deeply moved by the northern landscapes of James Bay when he arrived in Canada, he still carries the impression that wild nature left on him. By playing with and distorting sound, he creates musical worlds that unfold like soundscapes. Alongside his work with the duo Mentasta, his scores have been heard on theatre stages as well as in contemporary dance.
Sound design · A comme Animal
Also on the team
- Lighting design
- Julie Charrette
- Outside eye
- Anne Lalancette
- Artistic advice
- Catherine Tardif
- Technical direction
- Paul Foresto
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