PuSh International Performing Arts Festival 2023 Presents a Vibrant and Dynamic Line-up of Experimental Artists
PHOTO: Selfie Concert ©Ivo Dimchev
The 18-day festival presents an emotionally honest, politically daring program of spell-binding dance, eclectic music, groundbreaking theatre, innovative multimedia, and cutting-edge circus extravaganzas
January 19 to February 5, 2023
Various Vancouver Venues and Select Programming Online
Tickets on Sale Now!
Vancouver, BC — PuSh International Performing Arts Festival (PuSh) presents its 19th annual edition from January 19 to February 5, 2023 at various venues across the Lower Mainland and select programming online. PuSh is Vancouver’s signature, mid-winter cultural event, taking place each January in theatres and venues across the city. PuSh delivers groundbreaking, contemporary works of theatre, dance, music, multimedia, and circus by acclaimed local, national, and international artists.
Featuring 20 original works, three of which feature LGBTQ2Si+ community creators (listed below), the festival line-up is dedicated to creative risk-taking and dynamic interdisciplinary collaboration. The 2023 PuSh Festival includes six world premieres, one North American debut, along with six Canadian and two Western Canadian openings and one Vancouver premiere. In addition to a strong Canadian presence, PuSh will also present works from Zimbabwe, Belgium, South Africa, South Korea, France, Argentina, Bulgaria, India, Italy, United Kingdom, Finland, and the United States.
International companies/artists being presented for PuSh 2023 include: Ontroerend Goed (Belgium), Race Horse Company (Finland), Ivo Dimchev (Bulgaria), Tiziano Cruz (Argentina), nora chipaumire (Zimbabwe/US), Cie 7bis (Argentina/France/Italy), Smaïl Kanouté (France), Moya Michael (South Africa/Belgium), Jaha Koo (South Korea/Belgium), Rakesh Sukesh (India/Belgium), Joby Burgess (UK).
Canadian companies/artists being presented include; Émilie Monet/Onishka (Montreal), Alan Lake Factorie (Montreal), Boca del Lupo (Vancouver), Electric Company Theatre (Vancouver), The Elbow/Itai Erdal (Vancouver), Delinquent Theatre/Lisa Ravensbergen (Unceded Coast Salish Territory, MST), Marcus Youssef (local collaborator with Rakesh Sukesh - Vancouver), Christopher Willes & Adam Kinner (Toronto/Montreal), New Dance Horizons (Regina), Itsazoo Productions & Aphotic Theatre (Unceded Coast Salish Territory, MST).
We are excited to be working alongside long-standing and new partners including Talking Stick, The Dance Centre, Music on Main, Touchstone Theatre, Anvil Theatre, plastic orchid factory, SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs, School for the Contemporary Arts at SFU, UBC Department of Theatre & Film, Boco del Lupo, Living Things Festival, Vancouver Public Library, the frank theatre co., The Black Arts Centre, Solid State Community Industries, Vancouver Civic Theatres, Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre, and Granville Island Theatre District.
In July, PuSh announced the permanent appointment of cultural producer and performance curator Gabrielle Martin in her role as Director of Programming and member of the Collaborative Leadership Team with Keltie Forsyth, Director of Operations, and Dr. Margo Kane, Director of Indigenous Initiatives.
“I was inspired by what can be achieved within community, as our partners were fundamental in connecting Festival artists to new and returning audiences,” Martin says of her time with PuSh over the past year. “We returned to our mandate of facilitating transformative experiences through live performance and, buoyed by this experience, it has been an honour to curate the 2023 Festival. We are prioritizing innovative works that have a sense of necessity; that wake us up or offer new dreams for the disenchanted. Delivering a festival takes a community, and PuSh continues to centre collaboration.”
This year the always anticipated Club PuSh, the festival’s platform for outside-of-the-box work and intimate cabaret experiences, runs from February 2-4 at 9pm at Performance Works. The three nights of Club PuSh will be curated by Vancouver collaborators: the frank theatre company, Talking Stick, and The Black Arts Centre.
For Festival Goers looking to keep the festival vibes going into the night, this is the place to be. Club PuSh is a spot to enjoy drinks, connect with our artists, and party with fellow PuSh-goers. It’s also the venue for fantastic performances in a relaxed, casual atmosphere, with each evening curated by a different company of artists.
The PuSh Industry Series returns, in partnership with Talking Stick to stimulate dialogue with the national and international performing arts community. Expect Industry Series programming that aims to bring us back into community with each other after so much time apart. After two years of digital convening, the Industry Series is back and in-person! Programming will include workshops, artist talks, curated pitches, walks with local artists, and social events. This week-long series is an opportunity for professional artists, cultural workers, and arts enthusiasts to connect with one another, engage in thought-provoking discussion, and experience transformative performances together.
PuSh also continues to offer Youth Programming, in partnership with Solid State Community Industries, for participants aged 16-24.This is our way to engage, support, and uplift a whole new generation of arts enthusiasts by providing greater access to the performing arts via discounted tickets, educational opportunities, and stimulating conversation.
PuSh 2023 is a poignant reminder of the power the arts have in bringing communities together to effect change.
PuSh Passes and single tickets for the 2023 PuSh Festival are on sale at pushfestival.ca
PUSH FESTIVAL LGBTQ2Si+ PERFORMANCES
A complete list of performances can be found on the PUSH website
Soliloquio (I woke up and hit my head against the wall) — Tiziano Cruz (Argentina)
PERFORMATIVE LECTURE
Jan 27–29 (Jan 27-28 at 7:30pm + Jan 29 at 2pm) | Roundhouse Performance Centre
Post-show talkback: Jan 29
Presented with the frank theatre co.
Canadian Premiere
Tiziano Cruz’s performative monologue is based on a series of letters he wrote to his mother in 2020; he uses them as a starting point for a critique of economic, racial and institutional oppression in contemporary Argentina and, by extension, elsewhere as well.
The Café —Aphothic Theatre / ITSAZOO Productions in partnership with The Cultch’s RE/PLAY Digital Playground (Unceded Coast Salish Territory, MST)
IMMERSIVE THEATRE: LIVE or DIGITAL
In-Person Immersive Experience: Jan 27-29 | Kaftka’s Coffee and Bakery + Digital Immersive Experience: Feb 2-5
Presented with The Cultch
This is your invitation to eavesdrop on private conversations, and to witness intimate relationships up close and personal. The Café invites audiences to explore seven vignettes by nine playwrights of various ethnicities, ages, beliefs, sexual orientations and gender identities. With content performed in various languages, The Café is a day-in-the-life exploration of the cultural mosaic in a Vancouver coffee shop.
By joining in-person at Kafka’s Coffee and Bakery, audience members are free to stay at one table and watch a scene reach its conclusion, but they can also take a journey around the coffee shop and experience other scenes–it’s a theatrical Choose Your Own Adventure. The live production has also been transformed into an online immersive experience that also allows audience members to choose to be a digital fly-on-the-wall and wander through the virtual Café from home, using only a web browser.
Selfie Concert — Ivo Dimchev (Bulgaria)
MUSIC
Feb 2-3 at 7:30pm | Left of Main
Presented with plastic orchid factory
Canadian Premiere
The concept is simple: no stage, no hierarchy and no performance from camp crooner Ivo Dimchev unless people are taking selfies with him. The singer-songwriter comes equipped with a synth, an ethereal voice, and a desire to spread communion. You may come for the beautiful ballads and stay for the selfies, or vice versa; either way, this concert is revelatory.
the frank theatre co. @ Club PuSh (Canada)
February 4 at 9pm | Club PuSh at Performance Works
CLUB PUSH
This venerable company, long-time collaborators with PuSh, plays a major role in the city’s artistic ecosystem. This season, they follow their co-presentation of S oliloquio with a cabaret featuring immigrant and queer artists of colour. Provocative and radically creative, this program features drag, music and performance art, all of it designed to provoke, to challenge and to help lay down the groundwork for resistance.
afternow
Jan 28-Feb 5 at the Roundhouse Exhibition Hal
nora chipaumire (Zimbabwe / USA)
Loud, proud and militant, this installation features three video portraits, one contemporary opera and one booming stereo system. From those ingredients, nora chipaumire builds a bridge between African spirituality and contemporary art forms. afternow is a model for resistance and reclamation.
Presented with: The Black Arts Centre
Supportedby: Roundhouse Theatre
PUSH PASSES
PuSh Passes are the best way to experience the PuSh Festival. Pass holders save up to 25% off single tickets and receive free admission to all Club PuSh nights. Limited quantities.
Four-Show Pass: $120
Six-Show Pass: $180
Youth Pass: Four-Show Pass: $20 (16 to 24 years old)
Digital Pass: $100 (includes 5 of the streaming performances, with The Café being offered as PWYC via The Cultch).
TICKETS
Single tickets start at $34 in-person, $25 online, plus PWYC and FREE events. To buy tickets, visit pushfestival.ca or call the PuSh Festival Audience Services info line at 604.449.6000.
INDUSTRY SERIES
January 29 to February 5
PuSh Industry Series events and access Industry Pass: $60
MORE INFORMATION
Please see the comprehensive 2023 program guide that will be available at pushfestival.ca starting on November 23. You can also reach us at info@pushfestival.ca or 604.605.8284.
About the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival ( pushfestival.ca)
The PuSh International Performing Arts Festival is Vancouver’s signature, mid-winter cultural event, taking place over three weeks each January in theatres and venues across the city. PuSh presents groundbreaking, contemporary works of theatre, dance, music, multimedia, and circus by acclaimed local, national, and international artists.
