Down That Trail in the Woods is a wildly imaginative musical where theatre, dance, and live music intertwine. Under the direction of Kìzis, 19 performers carry a new story forward, passing through love, loss, and the traces that endure.
Within a sentient forest an unexpected bond forms between Boy, a young human looking for direction, and Horse, a creature who appears to move with confidence and charm. Weesay, a forest god inspired by Indigenous cosmology, interferes, mentors and provokes in equal measure. Farmer, guardian of tradition, attempts to restore order in a sideways spinning world where love defies the laws of nature.
The piece honours land and the unseen forces within it. A vibrant tribute to the cycles of the world, to ancient magic, and to the dance and theatre that dare to stretch bodies, conventions, and the limits of reality.
Kìzis
" The catalyst for creating this musical traces back to childhood. One night his parents returned home after seeing The Phantom of the Opera. He watched them in an unfamiliar state of happiness together and held onto that moment. In the years that followed he repeatedly asked to see a Broadway show. The request was never granted, despite the paper cutout masks he left under their pillows. The refusal left imagination to operate without reference points. We have his parents to thank for the conception and realization of this work.
Credits
Artistic Direction: Kìzis
Choreography: Kìzis, Matthieu Hérard
Co-director: Adam Capriolo
Actors: Drew Bathory, Emma-Kate Guimond, Luigi Luna, Maxine Segalowitz, Mulu Tesfu, Nien Tzu Weng
Dancers: Be Heintzman Hope, Rony Joaquin, Jossua Satinée, Nate Yaffe
Music Direction: Daniel Kruger, Matthew Rogers
Musicians: Chris Edmonson, Thanya Iyer, Eli Kaufman, Daniel Kruger, Carmen Mancuso, Pompey, Matthew Rogers, Julian Rice, Eliana Zimmerman
Lighting Design: Nien Tzu Weng
Costume design: Kìzis
Costume Creation and Consulting: Kate Ray Struthers
Costume Support: Stéphane Christinel
Technical Support: Stéphane Christinel, Michael Martini
Rigging: Max Green
Coproduction
Danse-Cité, Kìzis
Co-presentation
Agora de la danse + Danse-Cité
Support
Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Canada Council for the Arts
Creation Residencies
Agora de la danse
Production Management
Danse-Cité, Emile Pineault
About the artist
Kìzis is the creator and composer of Down That Trail in the Woods. He is a Montreal-based interdisciplinary artist working across music, theatre, and choreography.
The catalyst for creating this musical traces back to childhood. One night his parents returned home after seeing The Phantom of the Opera. He watched them in an unfamiliar state of happiness together and held onto that moment. In the years that followed he repeatedly asked to see a Broadway show. The request was never granted, despite the paper cutout masks he left under their pillows. The refusal left imagination to operate without reference points. We have his parents to thank for the conception and realization of this work.
Born Michael Thomas Cota, he began composing on piano at the age of three. At sixteen he released his first album Some Words I Think Should Exist (2006) while living independently in Perth, Ontario. The album circulated locally and helped support him through high school, establishing an early pattern of self-led creation and persistence.
After moving to Montreal in 2009 he co-founded the experimental ensemble Archery Guild with his then-partner Marshall Vaillancourt. The project expanded into a large rotating collective and reached a defining moment with the album DIN, which involved over forty performers and became a reference point within Montreal’s independent music scene. Kìzis led the band on national tours, and recorded Manitòk and Inward Fear, works that shaped his interest in layered musical structures.
From 2018 to 2020 he worked with choreographer Antonija Livingstone (Chaud), applying his compositional methods to movement research and performance. During this period he also trained privately with the late Tedd Robinson, whose mentorship influenced his attention to precision, pacing, and balance.
His solo work Branches (2015) explored interior and environmental landscapes.
Kijà / Care (2018) introduced more deliberate structure and clear songwriting.
Tidibàbide / Turn (2021) expanded these ideas through a 36-track project created with more than fifty collaborators across multiple cities, combining orchestral performance and electronic production with song and spoken word.
His opera Wàsakozi (2019), presented at MAI Montréal arts interculturels, brought together his practices of live music and performance to the stage for the first time.
Identity remains part of his process in a grounded and ongoing way. Kìzis has transitioned and detransitioned twice and now describes himself as being in a tertiary phase of masculinity. This experience reinforces the belief that an individual contains multiple characters and voices which form the self.
Down That Trail in the Woods continues this exploration of multitudes within the self and their interrelations. The work creates a world of mythological storytelling rooted in emotional logic, imagination, and musical architecture.
Kìzis was the winner of the 2018 Indigenous Voices Award for Musical Selections in the category of Most Significant Work in an Alternative Format by an Emerging Indigenous Writer, and was later named a finalist in 2019 for Wàsakozi. He has also been recognized by the Recording Academy (GRAMMY) as an artist reshaping contemporary electronic music. Earlier in life, Kìzis received a high-school award for being Most Unique, complete with a sash.
Practical Informations
Dates:
February 4, 2026 – 7:00 PM
February 5, 2026 – 7:00 PM*
February 6, 2026 – 7:00 PM
February 7, 2026 – 4:00 PM
*Artist Talks on February 5, 2026, after the performance
Venue:
Agora de la danse
Espace Orange, Wilder Building
1435 De Bleury Street
Montréal, QC H3A 2H7
Place-des-Arts Metro StationPricing
$20 · $29 · $40 · $60
Danse–Cité and Agora de la danse have partnered to give everyone the possibility to choose the ticket price that best fits their situation. This allows for voluntary redistribution so that all audiences can attend the performances. No proof or justification is required to benefit from these prices.