The PuSh International Performing Arts Festival is one of Vancouver’s signature events. Produced over three weeks each January, the PuSh Festival presents groundbreaking work in the live performing arts.
The PuSh Festival expands the horizons of Vancouver artists and audiences with work that is visionary, genre-bending, multi-disciplined, startling and original. The Festival showcases acclaimed international, Canadian and local artists and mixes them together with an alchemy that inspires audiences, rejuvenates artists, stimulates the industry and forges productive relationships around the globe.
The Festival is a broker of international partnerships, a meeting place for creative minds, a showcase of Canada’s best and an incubator of brilliant new work. The PuSh Festival puts Vancouver on the world stage and brings the world to Vancouver.
The PuSh International Performing Arts Festival Society is a not-for-profit charitable organization. Registration Number: 82954 9948 RT0001
Vision
PuSh aims to be a festival of national importance—artistically respected, greatly anticipated and highly valued as a catalyst for cultural and community development.
Mission
The PuSh International Performing Arts Festival engages and enriches audiences with adventurous contemporary works in a spirit of innovation and dialogue.
What we do:
• Present the very best in contemporary performance,
• Develop new, groundbreaking and extraordinary works through innovative partnerships and collaborations,
• Tap into new and existing audiences for the performing arts,
• Stimulate audience and performing arts industry engagement through interactive forums, outreach and ancillary activities that generate dialogue and exchange,
• Showcase the innovations of leading Canadian artists and their work,
• Encourage cultural export by linking Vancouver with a national and international network of presenters.
What we value:
• Transformative experiences
• Risk-taking
• Respectful collaboration and dialogue
• Relevant and engaged practices
• Leadership
• Inspiration
• Innovation
• Diversity in arts and peoples
History
Since its launch in 2003, as a joint venture of Rumble Productions and Touchstone Theatre, PuSh has been enthusiastically welcomed as a long-awaited breath of fresh air for Vancouver audiences, artists and media. Initially a modest series of theatre presentations curated by Norman Armour and Katrina Dunn, the Festival took on a new life as a stand-alone entity in June 2005, with charitable status and its own administrative operations.
January 2009 marked the 5th installment of the PuSh Festival. There were 19 works in the main program and the launch of Club PuSh—a unique multi-disciplinary platform at Granville Island’s Performance Works that put the spotlight on indie bands and other cutting-edge performing artists of the Cascadia region. There were a total of 136 performances, involving 16 venues across the city. Audience attendance topped 24,000.
Curatorial Vision and Community Role
The PuSh International Performing Arts Festival is unique among the region’s festivals. Curated, multidisciplinary, international in scope—the Festival stands alone in its commitment to bring together critically acclaimed work from different disciplines under the umbrella of a single festival. The PuSh Festival highlights new ways of storytelling, new forms of staging, new approaches to combining disciplines, and new views on contemporary themes and issues.
PuSh envisions its leadership role as a catalyst and animator. We foster connections between existing audiences and artists, while providing an occasion for dialogue and exchange between like-minded communities. Premieres by local artists are presented alongside shows that have garnered national and international acclaim. Together, audiences are afforded an inspiring view of trend-setting innovations from across Canada and around the world.
Professional development opportunities at the Festival take many forms and forums. A highlight is the PuSh Assembly: a performing arts industry initiative that offers global networking opportunities through its specialized programming for the Canadian performing arts.
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The 2010 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival Annual Report is now available!
