Cindy Schwartz and Les Muses: a stage for artists with disabilities

What they do

Les Muses: Centre des arts de la scène is a non-profit performing arts school in Montreal for adults with an intellectual disability or autism, with or without physical or sensory limitations. Students train in theatre, dance and singing, and the goal is professional work, not just a pastime. The Governor General’s office describes its program as Canada’s first full-time professional performing arts training for neurodivergent adults.

The training runs full-time, Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., for at least five years, with sessions in the fall and winter. Students are grouped by level and reassessed each session. When a student is called for a professional project, the school supports and supervises them. The school is on rue Saint-Hubert and is working on a move to the rue de Gaspé area.

How it started

Les Muses grew out of the work of Cindy Schwartz, a dance performer. The Canadian Jewish News reports that she began adapting dance for people with different disabilities part-time in 1991. She founded Les Muses in 1997, and the professional training program followed in 2001.

Graduates have gone on to stage and screen. The best known is Gabrielle Marion-Rivard, who won the 2014 Canadian Screen Award for Best Actress for Gabrielle. CBC reported that director Louise Archambault found her lead through Les Muses. Other graduates work with Montreal theatre and dance companies.

Schwartz retired at the turn of 2026, after leading the school for nearly three decades. In the honours list announced on December 31, 2025, she was named a Member of the Order of Canada. The citation credits her with a key role in championing diversity across arts and media, and says her work has widened representation and opened up cultural life to neurodivergent people. CTV News Montreal covered the honour in February 2026. Les Muses says Maxime Savard became general director on July 5, 2026, after serving as interim director since January.

Why it matters this December

December is when Montreal goes out to shows: holiday concerts, a play on the Plateau, a night at a little theatre. Most of us rarely see performers with disabilities on those stages. Speaking to the CJN in January 2026, Schwartz said “progress has been made, but it’s slow,” and that the school has trouble finding agents for its artists. She also said arts funding for people with disabilities is a bigger struggle, and that Les Muses needs its own space and multi-year funding.

That makes this school’s new chapter, under new leadership and with a move in the works, a good moment to pay attention.

How to help

• Donate. Les Muses takes gifts through a Zeffy form that supports its artists’ projects. You’ll find the link on lesmuses.org.
• Follow and share. Subscribe to the newsletter or follow the school on social media to hear about public performances.
• Hire and cast. If you work in theatre, dance, film or TV, contact the school about its trained performers.

Les Muses hasn’t listed any December 2026 performances. Its year-end public exercises usually happen at the end of the school year, so watch for spring dates.

Official website lesmuses.org