PuSh International Performing Arts Festival

Mission

The PuSh International Performing Arts Festival engages and enriches audiences with adventurous contemporary works in a spirit of innovation and dialogue.^[2]

Vision

PuSh leads as a festival of national importance—artistically respected, greatly anticipated and highly valued as a catalyst for cultural and community development.^[3]

History

In 2003, co-founders Norman Armour and Katrina Dunn envisioned a vibrant, mid-winter place event series where Vancouver artists could forge relationships and opportunities with the rest of Canada and beyond. They saw the potential benefits of a dynamic interplay between seemingly disparate disciplines, between arts patrons, and between the city’s venues and creative communities.

The PuSh Festival has grown exponentially and now enjoys a highly regarded Canadian and international profile. An important animator of new creation, the Festival commissions groundbreaking work while stimulating dialogue and exchange.

PuSh was a major partner in the 2010 Cultural Olympiad. In 2011, together with the City of Vancouver, PuSh launched the official celebrations of the city’s 125th anniversary with an outdoor event in Gastown that drew over 7,000 people.

January 2014 marked the 10th anniversary of the PuSh Festival, which had over 150 performances and events in 15 performance venues over 20 days. Attendance was almost 24,000 with 79% average house capacity, with 37 sellouts.

January 2019 marks PuSh Festival’s 15th anniversary … stay tuned for details.^[4]

Curatorial Vision & Community Role

The PuSh 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.^[5]

Club PuSh

Club PuSh is all about cutting-edge performance with a less formal atmosphere. This is where attendees and PuSh Festival staff and volunteers gather to let loose and catch a show alive with experimental spirit.

Norman Armour

Norman Armour is the Artistic & Executive director of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival. Armour is a co-founder of the PuSh Festival, as well Rumble Productions. Armour graduated from Simon Fraser University (SFU)’s School for the Contemporary Arts in 1986 and in 2010, he was the receipt of SFU's Outstanding Alumni Award.^[6] He has collaborated on over 120 works for the stage and other media. His career includes producer, director, actor and producer, covering a range of creative interests: devised works and new writing for the stage; contemporary and classical adaptations; site-specific endeavours; large-scale interdisciplinary events; dance/theatre collaborations; and live-remote radio broadcasts. He recently directed the premiere of Pauline, an opera by Tobin Stokes and Margaret Atwood on the life and art of Métis poet Pauline Johnson.

2003 Foundation

The PuSh Festival was co-founded in 2003 by Katrina Dunn of Touchstone Theatre and Norman Armour of Rumble Productions.^[1][7][8][9]

2005 PuSh Festival

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]

2008 PuSh Festival

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.

2009 PuSh Festival

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]

2012 PuSh Festival

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. ^[10]

2013 PuSh Festival

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. ^[11]

2014 PuSh Festival

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.^[12] 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.^[12]

The 2014 Accessible PuSh program issued 375 tickets to community groups to attend performances for free.^[12]

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

2015 PuSh Festival

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.^[13]

2016 PuSh Festival

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.^[14]

2017 PuSh Festival

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.^[15]

2018 PuSh Festival

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

The next edition of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival will take place January 17 to February 3, 2019. The Artist-in-Residence is The Biting School.