Daryna Dzyba arrived in Montreal three years ago following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She chose to immigrate to Canada, hoping she could thrive here as an immigrant.
However, she found it more difficult to adapt than she’d expected.
Studying in Quebec was expensive, despite finding work in a sandwich factory and in retail. Balancing work with her French-language courses five days a week was also a challenge.
She started to feel less hopeful about her immigration journey as she struggled to make ends meet.
“I was scared that we were not going to have the money to live,” she said.
She never imagined joining a circus would be exactly what she needed. But not just any circus — her troupe, La Troupe d’Ailleurs, is made up of people like her: newcomers who came to Quebec in search of belonging.
The group met through a circus program that brought together immigrants who worked for two months to put on a final performance in front of hundreds of people.
“We absolutely loved the experience, so when the program ended, we didn’t want it to end. So this is when we created La Troupe d’Ailleurs,” Jenny Filo, a troupe member specializing in aerial disciplines, said.
Established last year, the troupe now performs at festivals and practises in parks and skating rinks. The performances make references to the immigrant experience in Quebec.
“It’s not only about the immigrants, but also this connection between immigrants and the people who’ve been living here a long time,” Dzyba said.
She said this opportunity came at a time when she was lost and unsure of what to do with her new life in Quebec.
“It’s the moment when everything changed,” she said. “I started to find myself again.”
Resilience through solidarity
Through circus arts, the troupe says they are able to express their cultural identities with costumes and makeup, all while integrating into Quebec society.
Lysandre Murphy-Gauthier, a Quebecer trained in circus arts who acts as a mentor for the new troupe, says she was surprised to see how the circus became a helpful tool to integrate newcomers into Quebec.
She says that for many, performing in the circus with others is a great way to improve French proficiency and their confidence.
“The resilience is built up through this solidarity,” she said.
La Troupe d’Ailleurs prides itself on its multiculturalism. Filo, the aerial performer, says that in elementary school, she did some trapeze but never saw the circus as something that could be accessible to everyone.
“For me, you have to be extremely good to do any of it,” she said.
Filo works in finance in addition to her performances with the troupe and says that the circus is a great tool to break isolation and collaborate.
For Dzyba, the troupe became a safe space where she made lifelong friends and felt heard and understood by like-minded people who had also experienced the immigration process in Canada. She said the troupe also helped her avoid burnout from her other jobs.
Haydee Naomi Cortes Garcia, a member of the troupe, said when she first met Dzyba, she was impressed by her French proficiency and how she managed to learn the language in under six months.
Murphy-Gauthier described Dzyba as a great talent on stage and highly resilient.
“She told me, ‘You know Lysandre, in Ukraine, with where things are at, humour has always served us well to keep going.'”
She said Dzyba is the type of person “who puts a smile on, keeps a good mood and doesn’t make us feel like her life is more dramatic than others, but you can see she’s carrying something heavy.”
La Troupe d’Ailleurs is hoping to register as a non-profit and continue to perform at festivals and hopefully one day, have their own space to practise.
Dzyba said she hopes to continue to spread awareness about Ukraine, get into a theatre school and keep performing with the troupe as it expands.
Their next performance will be at a Montreal festival from May 29 to June 1.
