5 must-see performances to check out at this winter's 2024 PuSh Festival
PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, the Lower Mainland’s signature mid-winter cultural event, returns for its 20th year of groundbreaking work in the live performing arts.
This year, PuSh is presenting a “manifesto for live art,” with 17 original works from 15 countries from January 18 to February 4.
The highly anticipated works feature personal accounts of resistance and acts of vulnerability, with themes explored including displacement, injustice, and artificial intelligence.
PuSh is just around the corner, and we want to help you make the most of it, so here are five must-see performances to check out at this year’s festival.
The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes — Back to Back Theatre (Australia)
Co-presented with The CULTCH and Neworld Theatre, The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes is an exploration of how we can collectively make decisions in the best interest of a civic society.
Back to Back Theatre takes the audience on a journey that weaves a narrative through human rights, sexual politics, and the projected dominance of artificial intelligence, all with the backdrop of an ever-changing community hall meeting.
When: February 1 to 3, 2024 (York Theatre), February 1 to 4, 2024 (online)
Time: Various times
Where: York Theatre and online
Tickets: Online
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Pli — Les Nouvelles Subsistances – Inbal Ben Haim/Domitille Martin/Alexis Mérat (France)
A circus artist moves through a set constructed entirely out of paper in this awe-inspiring tribute to transformation. Pli by Les Nouvelles Subsistances invites the audiences to discover which is more vulnerable: the suspended body or the paper?
The Canadian premiere is presented with Chutzpah! Festival, Pli showcases the relationship between body and paper while offering a fresh look at the relationship between strength and vulnerability.
When: February 2 to 4, 2024 (Vancouver Playhouse), February 2 to 4, 2024 (Online)
Time: Various times
Where: Vancouver Playhouse and online
Tickets: Online
DARKMATTER — Cherish Menzo/GRIP & Frascati Producties (Belgium/The Netherlands)
Cherish Menzo has created a unique movement language that reinvents the biased way we look at our own and other bodies and the stories we attribute to them. DARKMATTER features two dancers discovering new ways to detach their bodies from the many ways they are perceived, as well as the daily realities that they face.
Audiences will be treated to a show that incorporates tempo remixing techniques from hip-hop music and one that is presented with fragments of community-generated rap anthems. Get ready to expand your vision of the possible.
When: January 29 to 31, 2024 (SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts), January 29 to February 4, 2024 (Online)
Time: 7:30 pm
Where: SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts and online
Tickets: Online
Deciphers — Naishi Wang/Jean Abreu (Toronto, Canada/China/UK/Brazil)
Deciphers sees co-performers and choreographers Naishi Wang and Jean Abreu transform the Scotiabank Dance Centre stage into a blank canvas that spotlights the body’s primal way of communicating as well as carrying meaning.
The two artists from migrant backgrounds will interpret each other and decipher the languages that ground them through the performance that blends elements of Chinese Folk Dance, Brazilian dance styles, ink on paper, and spoken word. Don’t miss the world premiere presented with New Works.
When: January 26 to 28, 2024
Time: 8 pm (Friday and Saturday), 2 pm (Sunday)
Where: Scotiabank Dance Centre
Tickets: Online
Sound of the Beast — Donna-Michelle St. Bernard/ Theatre Passe Muraille (Toronto, Canada)
Donna-Michelle St. Bernard combines storytelling and hip-hop into a unique powerhouse of a show at this year’s PuSh. A subversively funny and urgent perspective on injustice, Sound of the Beast dives into everything from 5 am moments coming home from gigs to dog whistle racism, over-policing, and legacies of slavery in both historical and modern times.
Sound of the Beast is presented with Vancouver Poetry House in association with Rumble Theatre and Pandemic Theatre.
When: January 20, 21 and 23, 2024
Time: 7:30 pm (Saturday and Tuesday), 2 pm (Sunday)
Where: The Revue Stage
Tickets: Online
And don’t miss out on the return of Club PuSh, co-presented by Talking Stick Festival and the Frank Theatre, on January 26 and 27.
The first night will see Talking Stick curate a lineup of enthralling performances that combine Indigenous traditions and contemporary artistry. The second evening is led by Frank and features a powerful lineup of queer, trans, immigrant, and BIPOC creators. Plus, stick around for the dance parties.
PuSh International Performing Arts Festival 2024
When: January 18 to February 4, 2024
Time: Various times
Where: Various venues
Tickets and Passes: $16.75-$39 plus free events and top-tier ticket options available for Pli at the Playhouse. Purchase online
Daily Hive is a proud media partner of PuSh Festival.