PuSh International Performing Arts Festival

The PuSh International Performing Arts Festival is produced over three weeks each winter on the unceded and traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ first nations, primarily in the territory that was the seasonal and ancestral village of K’emk’emeláy, colloquially known as Vancouver, British Columbia.

PuSh International Performing Arts Festival
LocationVancouver, Canada
Founded2003 as a series, 2005 as a festival
Founded byKatrina Dunn, Norman Armour
Type of play(s)Multidisciplinary (theatre, dance, multimedia, music, film, circus)
Festival dateJanuary–February
Websitehttp://pushfestival.ca/

The Festival, held in January and February each year in the lower mainland remains a place for audiences to encounter work that is innovative and surprising, for artists to showcase for an international audience and for new work to emerge.

The Festival showcases international, Canadian and local artists.[1]

Administration

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PuSh has a collaborative leadership team: Gabrielle Martin is the Director of Programming for PuSh International Performing Arts Festival; Margo Kane is the Director of Indigenous Programming; Keltie Forsyth is the Director of Operations.

Past Festivals

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2003 Foundation

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The PuSh Festival was co-founded in 2003 by Katrina Dunn of Touchstone Theatre and Norman Armour of Rumble Productions.[1][2][3][4]

2005 PuSh Festival

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In 2005, the organization of the Festival was formalized with the creation of a formal board of directors and advisors and by being registered as a charitable organization.[1]

There were 9 productions included in the inaugural 2005 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival:

The Bacchae - an electronic opera Screaming Weenie Production Vancouver, CA
Crime and Punishment Neworld Theatre Vancouver, CA
The Empty Orchestra Theatre Replacement Vancouver, CA
Dances for a Small Stage IX MovEnt Vancouver, CA
The Trigger Touchstone Theatre Vancouver, CA
Final Viewing Radix Theatre Vancouver, CA
Frank Nigel Charnock + Company London, UK
Say Nothing Ridiculusmus London, UK
The Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets November Theatre Edmonton, CA

2006 PuSh Festival

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There were 14 productions included in the 2006 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival:

The Perfectionist Boca del Lupo Vancouver
Sexual Practices of the Japanese Theatre Replacement Vancouver
Nunavut Kronos Quartet with Tanya Tagaq San Francisco, USA/Bilbao, Spain
Famous Puppet Death Scenes The Old Trout Puppet Workshop Calgary, CA
Tempting Providence Theatre Newfoundland Labrador Corner Brook, CA
Compilation Lynda Gaudreau/Compagnie De Brune Montreal, CA
5AM (5 Heures du matin) Pigeons International Montreal, CA
Dances for a Small Stage XII MovEnt Vancouver, CA
Dreams Eye of Newt Vancouver, CA
Studies in Motion: The Hauntings of Eadweard Muybridge Electric Company Theatre Vancouver, CA
Thom Pain (based on nothing) Western Theatre Conspiracy Vancouver, CA
Absence and Presence Andrew Dawson London, UK
Sisters, Such Devoted Sisters Out of Joint London, UK
Six Miniature Tragedies Jean-Paul Wenzel Paris, FR

2007 PuSh Festival

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There were 25 productions at the 2007 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival:

Skydive Realwheels Vancouver, CA
Bioboxes: Artifacting Human Experience Theatre Replacement Vancouver, CA
Copper Thunderbird urban ink/National Arts Centre Vancouver, CA/Ottawa, CA
Brutalis Dame de Pic/Karine Ponties Brussels, Belgium
Aalst Victoria Ghent, Belgium
Famous Puppet Death Scenes The Old Trout Puppet Workshop Calgary, CA
Revisited 2b theatre company Halifax, CA
Attack #15 L'Action Terroriste Socialement Acceptable Montreal, CA
Howie le Rookie Théâtre de la Manufacture Montreal, CA
Dances for a Small Stage 15 MovEnt Vancouver, CA
Projections CABINET Interdisciplinary Collaborations Vancouver, CA
La belle et la bête (Beauty and the Beast) Eye of Newt Vancouver, CA
Symphony at the Roundhouse: All the World's a Stage Vancouver Symphony Vancouver, CA
this riot life and Field Study Veda Hille Vancouver, CA
Beggars Would Ride Wild Excursions Performance Vancouver, CA
Rage Green Thumb Theatre Vancouver, CA
Killing Caesar Rubicon Collective Vancouver, CA
dog eat dog The Only Animal Vancouver, CA
Occupation 1: The Molecules/Michael Vincent Western Front Vancouver, CA/New York, USA/Oakland, USA
my arm News from Nowhere Theatre/Tim Crouch Brighton, UK
an oak tree News from Nowhere Theatre/Tim Crouch Brighton, UK
Scarface Eddie Ladd Cardiff, UK
Exquisite Pain Forced Entertainment Sheffield, UK
Quizoola! Forced Entertainment Sheffield, UK
Sonata for Violin and Turntables Daniel Bernard Roumain w/ DJ Scientific New York, USA

2008 PuSh Festival

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The 2008 PuSh Festival had over 23,000 attendees. Visiting presenters from across Canada and around the world were in attendance for the PuSh Assembly networking event to view performances, network, and experience the Festival.

There were productions at the 2008 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival:

Haircuts by Children Mammalian Diving Reflex Toronto, CA
small metal objects Back to Back Theatre Geelong, AU
Dual Eclipse: Orchestras of Two Worlds Turning Point Ensemble/Gamelan Gita Asmara Vancouver, CA
My Dad, My Dog Boca del Lupo Vancouver, CA
Clark and I Somewhere in Connecticut Rumble Productions/Theatre Replacement Vancouver, CA
My Name Is Rachel Corrie neworldtheatre/Teesri Duniya Theatre Vancouver, CA/Montreal, CA
No Holds Bar South Asian Arts Vancouver, CA/San Francisco, USA/Seattle, USA
The Misfit South Asian Arts/Pull' it Out Theatre Vancouver, CA/Toronto, CA
46 Circus Acts in 45 Minutes Circa Brisbane, AU
The Space Between Circa Brisbane, AU
The Four Horsemen Project Volcano Toronto, CA
Dances for a Small Stage 18 MovEnt Vancouver, CA
The General Eye of Newt Vancouver, CA
Faun Fables Western Front Society Vancouver, CA
Palace Grand Electric Company Vancouver, CA
Old Goriot Western Gold Theatre/Theatre at UBC Vancouver, CA
Août-un repas à la campagne Théâtre la Seizième/A Théâtre de la Manufacture Vancouver, CA/Montreal, CA
fever: Shakespeare Sonnets in Voice, Dance and Music Nigel Charnock, Michael Riessler, Virus String Quartet UK/Germany
Hey Girl! Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio Cesena, IT
Instructions for Modern Living Duncan Sarkies and Nic McGowan Wellington, NZ
Glow Chunky Move Melbourne, AU
Frankenstein Catalyst Theatre Edmonton, CA
The Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets November Theatre Edmonton, CA/Vancouver, CA

2009 PuSh Festival

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The 2009 PuSh Festival took place from January 20 to February 8, and offered works from across Canada, England, Japan and New Zealand. A total of 136 performances took place at 16 venues across the city and the attendance was more than 24,000.[1]

There were 40 productions in the 2009 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival:

The Children's Choice Awards starring The Jury from Surrey Mammalian Diving Reflex Toronto, CA
That Night Follows Day Theatre Replacement Vancouver, CA
Skydive Realwheels Vancouver, CA
The Be(A)st of Taylor Mac Taylor Mac
Transmission of the Invisible Tribal Crackling Wind Toronto, CA
Nanay: A testimonial play Urban Crawl/neworld theatre/Philippine Women Centre of BC Vancouver, CA
while going to a condition + Accumulated Layout S20/Hiroaki Umeda Tokyo, JP
Five Days in March chelfitsch Theatre Company Tokyo, JP
nikamon ohci askiy (song land for/from/of the) Cheryl L'Hirondelle Vancouver, CA
The Invisible Infrarouge Montreal, CA
Billy Twinkle, Requeim for a Golden Boy Ronnie Burkett Theatre of Marionettes Toronto, CA
Dances for a Small Stage 20 MovEnt Vancouver, CA
Live from a Bush of Ghosts Theatre Conspiracy Vancouver, CA
Steve Reich's Drumming Music on Main Vancouver, CA
Assembly Radix Vancouver, CA
Trampoline Hall
Conspiracy Playlist by DJ Buffalo Tim
Robin Holcomb and Peggy Lee
Twenty-Minute Musicals Veda Hille & Geoff Berner
Invisible Atom 2b theatre
ENGLAND news from nowhere Brighton, UK
Siren Ray Lee Oxford, UK
Don McGlashan Don McGlashan Auckland, NZ
13 Most Beautiful… Songs for Andy Warhol's Screentests Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips New York, USA
Bang on a Can All-Stars Bang on a Can New York, USA
Every Time I See your Picture I Cry Daniel Barrow
Hooliganship
Into the Dark Unknown: The Hope Chest Holcombe Waller
DJ Betti Forde
Gunshae
Hank Pine and Lily Fawn
Parenthetical Girls
The Awkward Stage
the beige
The Pascale Picard Band
Vincat
Woodpigeon
The Amazing and Impermeable Cromoli Brother Present: HELLO VANCOUVER!
Twenty-Minute Musicals Juana Molina & nick Krgovich
Monopoly! Tesla, Edison, Microsoft, Wal-Mart and the War For Tomorrow

2010 PuSh Festival

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There were 14 productions in the 2010 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival:

China William Yang Sydney, AU
Clark and I Somewhere in Connecticut Rumble Productions/Theatre Replacement Vancouver, CA
The Edward Curtis Project Marie Clements/Rita Leistner Galiano Island, CA/Toronto, CA
The Passion of Joan of Arc Eye of Newt Vancouver, CA
Best Before (working title) Helgard Haug + Stefan Kaegi, Rimini Protokoll Berlin, Germany/Vancouver, CA
Jerk Gisèle Vienne/Dennis Cooper/Jonathan Capdevielle Grenoble, FR/Paris, FR
The Show Must Go On Jérôme Bel Paris, FR/Vancouver, CA
KAMP Hotel Modern Rotterdam, NL
White Cabin Akhe Theatre St. Petersburg, RU
Sō Percussion plays Steve Reich and David Lang Sō Percussion Brooklyn, USA
Sonic Genome Anthony Braxton Middletown, USA
The Passion Project Reid Farrington New York, USA
Poetics: a ballet brut Nature Theater of Oklahoma New York, USA
Nevermore: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe Catalyst Theatre Edmonton, CA

2011 PuSh Festival

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There were 30 productions in the 2009 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival:

Peter Panties Neworld Theatre/Leaky Heaven Circus Vancouver, CA
Podplays - The Quartet Neworld Theatre/PTC Vancouver, CA
Datamatics [Ver. 2.0] Ryoji Ikeda Paris, FR
La Marea (The Tide) Mariano Pensotti Buenos Aires, AR
46 Circus Acts in 45 Minutes Circa Brisbane, AU
Circa Circa Brisbane, AU
Bonanza Berlin Antwerp, Belgium
Iqaluit Berlin Antwerp, Belgium
Rouge Julie Andrée T. Montreal, CA
Dances for a Small Stage 23 MovEnt Vancouver, CA
Terminal City Soundscape Music on Main Vancouver, CA
100% Vancouver Theatre Replacement/SFU Woodward's Vancouver, CA
Happy Birthday Teenage City Veda Hille and special guests
The Meal Rick Maddocks and the Lost Gospel Ensemble
City of Dreams Peter Reder London, England/Vancouver, CA
Portraits in Motion Volker Gerling
In the Solitute of Cotton Fields Radoslaw Rychcik/Stefan Zermski Theatre Kielce, Poland
Sound Machine Company Drift Zurich-Fribourg, Switzerland
Floating Hugh Hughes/Hoipolloi Anglesey, Wales
Hard Core Logo: Live November Theatre/Theatre Network/Touchstone Theatre Edmonton, CA/Vancouver, CA
Trampoline Hall
Good Gets Better & Looking for Love in the Hall of Mirrors Daniel Barrow
Close at Hand Nervous System System
Dayna Hanson & friends
Fine Mist
Meatdraw
The British Columbians
Weekend Leisure Karaoke
Gloria's Cause Dayna Hanson
Inventions & Mysteries Bro Gilbert

2012 PuSh Festival

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The 2012 PuSh Festival took place from January 16 to February 4, and offered works from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Japan, Lebanon, New Zealand, Argentina, the Netherlands, and Mexico. There were over 160 performances and events across 14 venues, of which 31 were sold out. Attendance was over 23,000.[5]

2013 PuSh Festival

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The 2013 PuSh Festival took place from January 15 to February 3, and offered works from Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany Japan, Scotland, Taiwan, and the United States. There were over 190 performances and events across 16 venues, of which 44 were sold out. Attendance was over 34,000.[6]

2014 PuSh Festival

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The 2014 PuSh Festival took place January 14 to February 2, and offered works from Canada, England, Germany, Ireland, Lebanon, Portugal, and the United States. There were over 150 performances and events across 15 venues, including the Vancouver Playhouse, SFU Woodwards and the York Theatre. Feature events included the 10th Anniversary Opening Gala performance and party; 20 Main Stage shows spanning theatre, dance, music and multimedia performance; 17 PuSh Conversations with artists pre- and post-performances; three weeks of startling, experimental performances at Club PuSh; a film series; the PuSh Assembly for arts industry; Patrons Circle donor events; and dinner/theatre packages with Dine Out Vancouver. In 2014, PuSh Festival hosted two Artists-in-Residence in partnership with grunt gallery and the Contemporary Art Gallery (Vancouver) for the first time. The international visiting artists Rabih Mroué of Lebanon and Tim Etchells of England were invited to present their work which crossed visual, theatre and literary forms.

Total attendance numbers reached almost 24,000, with an average house capacity of 79% for performances and 37 sold-out events.[7] The Festival sold out 400 PuSh passes to loyal PuSh patrons by the end of December and launched its inaugural PuSh Youth Passport program, allowing 266 young people aged 16 to 24 to see select performances for discounted ticket prices.[7]

The 2014 Accessible PuSh program issued 375 tickets to community groups to attend performances for free.[7]

A dedicated roster of over 181 volunteers worked more than 2,400 hours in support of the Festival.

2015 PuSh Festival

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The 2015 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival took place January 20 to February 8, and offered works from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, and the United States. There were over 250 performances and events across 17 venues, of which over 90 were sold out. Attendance was over 28,000.[8]

2016 PuSh Festival

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The 2016 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival took place January 19 to February 7, and offered works from 7 countries. There were 250 performances and events across 17 venues, of which 125 were sold out. Attendance was over 23,000. The Artist-in-Residence was Jordan Tannahill.[9]

2017 PuSh Festival

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The 2017 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival took place January 16 to February 5. There were 200 performances and events across 18 venues, of which 97 were sold out. Attendance was over 22,500.[10]

2018 PuSh Festival

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The 2018 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival took place January 16 to February 4, and featured 96 Canadian artists and 79 International artists. There were 150 performances and events across 18 venues over 20 days.

2019 PuSh Festival

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The 2019 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival took place January 17 to February 3, 2019. The Artist-in-Residence was The Biting School.

2020 PuSh Festival

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The 2020 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival took place

2021 PuSh Festival

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The 2021 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival took place online.

2022 PuSh Festival

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The 2022 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival took place January 20 to February 6, 2022

2023 PuSh Festival

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The 2023 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival took place January 19 to February 5, 2023.

There were 19 contemporary works presented in theatre, dance, music, circus and multimedia in person and online.

afternow nora chipaumire / arktype Zimbabwe/USA
Never Twenty One Smail Kanoute / Compagnie Vivons! France
Lolling and Rolling Jaha Koo / CAMPO Belgium/South Korea
Coloured Swan 3: Harriet's reMix Moya Michael / AnaKu & KVS Belgium/South Africa
The Seventh Fire Delinquent Theatre / Full Circle Vancouver, Canada
A Percussionist's Songbook Joby Burgess UK
LONTANO + INSTANE Juan Ignacio Tula, Marica Marinoni / Compagnie 7Bis France/Argentina/Italy
Le cri des méduses Alan Lake Factorie Canada
Soliloquio (I Woke Up and Hit My Head Against the Wall) Tiziano Cruz Argentina
MANUAL Adam Kinner, Christopher Willes Canada
Red Phone Boca del Lupo Vancouver, Canada
An Undeveloped Sound Electric Company Theatre Vancouver, Canada
Are we not drawn onward to new erA Ontroerend Goed Belgium
Okinum Emilie Monnet / Productions Onishka / AnAku Canada
THIS & the last caribou New Dance Horizons Canada
The Café Aphotic Theatre / ITSAZOO Productions Vancouver, Canada
Soldiers of Tomorrow The Elblow Theatre Vancouver, Canada
O'DD Race Horse Company Finland
Selfie Concert Ivo Dimchev / Something Great Bulgaria

2024 PuSh Festival

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The 2024 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival took place January 18 to February 4, 2024.

2025 PuSh Festival

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The 2025 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival will take place January 23 to February 9, 2025 and celebrates its 20th Festival of Audacious Live Art.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "About the Festival". PuSh Festival. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  2. ^ "Theatre BC's Talent Bank". Theatre BC. Archived from the original on 2010-10-27. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
  3. ^ "This One Goes to Eleven: Katrina Dunn". The Next Stage. 2008-02-29. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
  4. ^ "Daring Festival Makes Room for the World". The Georgia Straight. 2007-01-04. Archived from the original on 2012-10-20. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
  5. ^ http://pushfestival.ca/2015/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/PuSh2012AnnualReport4web.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  6. ^ http://pushfestival.ca/2015/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/AnnualReport.web_v4.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  7. ^ a b c "PUSH FESTIVAL CELEBRATES 10 YEARS OF CROSSING THE LINE". PuSh Festival. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  8. ^ http://pushfestival.ca/2015/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/PuSh15.AnnualReport.WEB_.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  9. ^ "2016 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival Impact Report by PuSh International Performing Arts Festival - Issuu". 12 September 2016.
  10. ^ "2017 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival Impact Report by PuSh International Performing Arts Festival - Issuu". 10 August 2017.