Corpuscule Danse celebrates 25 years of business

The Montreal-based dance studio has been a sanctuary for artists of every age, experience and ability

Fringe ArtsClara Tranquilla — Published October 21, 2025 3 minutes

Ballet bars and mirrors line the bright, open space, while heavy beige curtains cover the opposite wall. Overhead, exposed concrete and vents frame the mounted lights and speakers, and a wooden table with a control board anchors the space.

Instructors Laurence Éthier and Madeleine Bellefeuille set up for the day of classes. Each Saturday, they bring a new set of themed activities and props. For this morning’s children’s class, the theme is safari.

However, on this adventure, the dancers do not act as the explorers; they are the wildlife. Rousing music fills the room as the students slither like snakes, stretch like cats and beat their chest like gorillas.

As Éthier explains, copying different animals helps the kids’ conceptualization of movement. 

“The goal is really to get them to move, to develop a sense of group cohesion,” Éthier says, “and to learn the core concepts of dance; time, space, quality of movement, energy, and weight.” 

Corpuscule Danse is dedicated to inclusivity, bringing together artists with and without visible or non-visible disabilities through creation and research. Throughout all classes, staff members facilitate the artistic experimentation of their students. 

Demonstrator Aliénor Chamoux mirrors that by approaching every lesson “with the notion of inclusion.” 

“We push them within their own limitations,” Chamoux explains. 

“The key is never stopping at the handicap but actually using it as a door to other avenues,” Bellefeuille adds.

This individual-based approach lies at the core of all their classes. 

Joannie Douville, instructor and director of teaching and cultural mediation, has worked with Corpuscule Danse for 15 years. 

“At the heart of it,” Douville says, “is that each person achieves their own potential.”

The company’s mission extends beyond weekly classes. They lead university workshops on the inclusive approach, and co-authored Enseigner la danse selon une approche inclusive, a book that advocates for the professionalization of inclusive dance.

While there have been considerable developments, Douville says barriers remain.

“We have a very ableist perception of dance for many reasons, […] sometimes there is already a preconception in peoples’ minds that, ‘Well, if I want to dance, I have to do it on my hands and feet,’” Douville says. “It’s difficult to find classes that can motivate and incorporate them.”

Breaking this mindset requires openness and adaptation, an idea Bellefeuille highlights.

“I think that in more regular courses, we choose a dominant recipe and then use it,” Bellefeuille says, “but at Corpuscule we don’t have that choice. […] It just takes a bit more time, and accepting that everyone doesn’t function in the same way.”

Working in an adaptive environment has affected how Bellefeuille approaches aspects of her own life, such as school.

“Not everyone does things in the same way, and if the paths I take to get there are different from my classmates’, it’s OK,” she says. “On the contrary, it actually gives me permission to explore my creativity and to learn about myself.” 

The studio encourages students to focus not on the aesthetics, but on the joy of movement. 

“The notion of performance is completely disconnected from the system in which we function, whether it’s school, or just in the overarching system of capitalist productivism,” Chamoux says.

“It’s very easy to disconnect from why you like dance and what makes you feel good […]. If there is no joy, we won’t want to work,” Bellefeuille adds.

Corpuscule Danse is more than a dance company—it fosters a conscious view of the world, one critical of structures and accepting of individuals, always striving for progress. 

“I always tell myself that what I dream of, ultimately,” Douville says, “is that there won’t be any differences between inclusive dance and dance.”

This article originally appeared in Volume 46, Issue 4, published October 21, 2025.