Cas Public Is Preparing Its Projet Pinocchio

This year marks the 35th anniversary of the dance company Cas Public, which is making an eagerly awaited return to Quebec's stages this fall with a tour including performances in Montreal, Gaspé, Alma, Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivières, and Victoriaville. Project Pinocchio, Hélène Blackburn's new creation for all ages will first stop in Europe with a world premiere in France on April 30 before its Canadian premiere in Montreal in October 2023.

Pinocchio Revisited

Despite the tale's enduring popularity, there have been very few adaptations of Pinocchio for contemporary dance. Projet Pinocchio builds upon Cas Public's unique approach and choreographer and artistic director Hélène Blackburn's desire to deconstruct our vast repertoire of fairy tales and legends into stunning new creations.

To bring the famous wooden puppet to life, the choreographer combines dance with a cinematic framework that blends the playful animations of French illustrator Marjolaine Leray, a long-time collaborator of Hélène Blackburn and winner of the Saint-Exupéry 2020 prix du livre vert, and the original music of Vincent Legault, composer and member of Montreal trio Dear Criminals. Projet Pinocchio revisits the archetypal tale through the prism of metamorphosis, which through its whimsical transformations evokes the torments of the body, the reversals of the soul, and the changes we all face.

European Tour

Cas Public will present the world premiere of Projet Pinocchio at the Centre André Malraux / Scène(s) de territoire / Hazebrouck, in France, on April 30, 2023 as part of the 20th edition of the Festival Le P'tit Monde, before beginning a series of performances in schools across Europe.

Considered today as a leading international ambassador in children's and youth creation, the company is on the road several months out of the year and is regularly invited to prestigious theaters, including the Royal Opera House in London, the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York, and the Opéra national de Paris.

This new European tour thus continues Cas Public's goal of making contemporary dance accessible to all audiences and promoting Quebec on the international scene.