Staff
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Gabrielle Martin
Artistic Director | ext 101 | Pronouns: she/her/hers
Gabrielle Martin is a cultural producer and live art curator practicing transformative experiential design in one of society’s few remaining ritual spaces. Her work prioritizes embodied criticality, imagination, pluralism, and risk. It centres the body, and is framed by social and political urgencies.
Gabrielle has a BFA in Contemporary Dance from Concordia University (Montréal), a Certificate in Dramaturgy from the Centre National des Arts du Cirque (Châlons-en-Champagne), and an MA in Arts and Cultural Management from Rome Business School.
Recently, Gabrielle has participated on curatorial and selection juries for Denmark’s CPH Stage International Days, England’s Horizon Showcase, and Canada’s Governor General’s Performing Arts Award in Dance. Before joining PuSh in 2021, she worked as Festival Manager with the Vancouver International Dance Festival. Prior to working in arts management, Gabrielle performed over 1,400 shows internationally with Cirque du Soleil’s TORUK – The First Flight and Cavalia, participated in choreographic residencies in Belgium, Sweden and France, and presented her work in the UK, US, and across Canada.
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Keltie Forsyth
Director of Operations | ext 102 | Pronouns: she/her/hers
Keltie is a arts administrator and theatre director of settler ancestry based out of the traditional and unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Keltie began her career in Amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton) as General Manager of Workshop West Theatre and co-curator of their Canoe Theatre Festival. Since completing her MFA at the University of British Columbia, Keltie has worked as an arts manager, freelance director, instructor, grant writer, and associate artistic director of both Pi Theatre for their 2016-2017 season and Ensemble Theatre Company from 2020. She also worked with C-Space as Operations Manager at Progress Lab 1422.
Keltie is thrilled to be joining Margo, Gabrielle, and the team at PuSh to support the next phase of the Festival’s development.
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Tricia Knowles
Marketing & Communications Manager | ext.201 | Pronouns: she/her/hers
Tricia Knowles (she/her) is a queer, Mi’kmaq settler who has been exploring identity through a pre-colonial lens, within the arts and the natural spaces and places where branches of her ancestry intersects.
As an arts promoter and cultural curator, Tricia has a passion for creative placemaking and for crafting interactive, immersive events which inspire residents to be part of the change they want to see in their community. She holds a certificate in Cultural Planning and Development from UBC and a diploma in Radio and Television Arts (Broadcast Journalism) from NSCC, and is the Artistic Director and lead creator of Calliope Collective.
With more than 20 years of experience in media, marketing, and promotions she has worked on several festivals such as Kingston WritersFest, Skeleton Park Music & Arts Festival, Kick & Push, Harvest Festival, KNIPD, and Wavelength Music. As a producer she has been involved with WWF’s Earth Hour, Ottawa’s Music and Beyond and the award-winning performance-based immersive haunt experience Fort Fright, among others.
She is a lover of both old-timey and contemporary circus and is a stiltwalker and costumer. Other joy practices include swimming, bicycles, foraging, dancing, live music (especially big brass jazz bands), and getting lost in a book.
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Alex Grigg
Manager of Development & Engagement | Pronouns: he/him
Alex Grigg is a veteran music industry professional with over 25 years of experience in
the for-profit and non-profit sectors of the music and live events business. He started
out as a promoter in Southern Ontario and then moved to Vancouver where he was an
Agent for the Feldman Agency for 11 years. In 2009 he joined (VANOC) Vancouver
Organization Committee for the Winter and Paralympic Olympic Games to take on the
role of Manager, National Touring Program & Contemporary Music Programmer for the
2009/2010 Cultural Olympiad & Live Sites.In 2010 Alex was hired as a consultant for the Coastal Jazz & Blues Society, the non-
profit producers of the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival and soon made
Associate Director. In 2014 Alex was given the opportunity to become the Manager of
the Ambleside Live Concerts Series, a 20,000-capacity temporary outdoor concert
facility at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver. There he produced two shows, Ed
Sheeran in 2014 & Kenny Chesney in 2015.2016 saw Alex be appointed Executive Director, Music BC Industry Association leading
the lobbying efforts for the $7.5 Amplify Music Fund & administering $2.8m of funding
for the industry. In 2019 MRG Group appointed Alex as Director of Events (formerly
John Donnelly Events & Atomique Productions) Producing / Co-Producing 10+ large
scale public events throughout BC. In 2020 Alex began as an Adjunct Instructor (Music
Business) for Metalworks Institute (Toronto) and currently at Capilano University
(Festival Management) and at SAE Institute (Music Business). Alex also runs his own
consulting company and has done work for various organizations, individuals and
municipalities. -
Lindsay Nelson
Producer | ext 113 | Pronouns: she/her/hers
Lindsay is an arts administrator and theatre performer, with a wide range of experience in the event industry.
She first got involved with PuSh in 2019 as an intern for Accessible PuSh, learning all she could about making theatre accessible. For the 2022 festival, Lindsay shifted to Volunteer Coordinator, and this year she is enjoying her second year in the role of Festival Producer.
As a performer, Lindsay holds a Theatre Arts diploma from McEwan University, and an MA in Classical Acting from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts.
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Luka Kawabata
Patron Services and Administration Manager | ext 104 | Pronouns: he/him
Luka Kawabata 川端ルカ is a queer, Nikkei-Canadian artist living and working in the unceded lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh people. As a baritone and producer, he strives to push the boundaries of representation in opera through the creation of new works.
Luka is a graduate of the Yulanda M Faris Young Artist Program with Vancouver Opera and the Beth Morrison Projects: Producer Academy, having performed with companies spanning the continent, including Edmonton Opera, Manitoba Opera, Saskatoon Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria and Opera on the Avalon.
He is the creator of ‘The HAFU ハーフ Project’, a semi-autobiographical musical exploration of the history of Japanese immigration and internment in North America and the social navigation of identity.
Luka is an avid language enthusiast, traveler, coffee lover and recently started to understand the fun of lifting weights! -
David Kerr
Production Manager | ext 111 | Pronouns: I celebrate and honour all pronouns, my preference is DK
DK (David Kerr) would like to acknowledge that he was born and raised on Treaty 6 Territory, the Homeland of the Métis. He pays his respect to the First Nation and Métis ancestors of that place and reaffirms our relationship with one another.
DK has been a fixture in the Vancouver Festival world for the past 30 years, more than half of that in various management positions. He is well versed in the presentation of large-scale indoor and outdoor projects. Aside from PuSh, he is the Production Manager for the Vancouver International Children’s Festival and the Vancouver International Burlesque Festival. He is also the Site Manager for the Vancouver Folk Music Festival and a Production Consultant for the Talking Stick Festival
DK has consulted on several other projects as well including the Canada 150+ Indigenous Production Assistant Program and landscape planning for Bard on The Beach.
Prior to moving into Production Management DK Stage Managed for numerous Vancouver theatre companies and toured the world with LaJoye Productions’ “Snowflake”.
He was also the Second General Manger of Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan back in the good old days.
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Frankie Brave
Digital Communications Coordinator | Pronouns: they/them
Frankie is a professional musician, an audio engineer, producer, mixer, and editor of music, a video editor, and a social media manager. Frankie plays guitar and sings in the local Indie Rock band Parlour Panther, who recently released an album called BLOOM. Frankie has worked for Coastal Jazz as the Marketing Assistant for the past three Vancouver International Jazz Festivals. Aside from shredding guitar solos and doing social media for Festivals, you can find them walking their Bernedoodle named Bigsby, deadlifting 300lbs at the gym, or cooking up elaborate vegan recipes.
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River Huckleberry Kero
Box Office Coordinator | Pronouns: he/him
River Huckleberry Kero (he/him) works and lives on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations. He writes off the side of his desk and makes comics when he can. He loves working in the local festival scene. He lives with his husband and his two cats.
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Chipo Chipaziwa
Youth Program Coordinator | Pronouns: she/her
Chipo Chipaziwa (she/her) is a performance artist based on the traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ Nations (Vancouver, Canada). Her practice considers the performativity of her Black female body within the context of North America, whilst investigating the power dynamic of performer and audience. She has received her BA in Visual Arts at the University of British Columbia in 2019.
Chipaziwa has performed at The Polygon Gallery (2023); The Surrey Art Gallery (2022); and with the City of Vancouver (2021). Chipaziwa is a recipient of Canada Council for the Arts’s Concept to Realization Grant (2024); The BC Art Council’s Early Career Development Grant (2023); Canada Council for the Arts’s Research and Creation Grant (2023); the City of Vancouver’s Communities and Artists Shifting Culture Grant (2023); the City of Vancouver’s Cultural Learning and Sharing Grant (2022); and The BC Art Council’s Early Career Development Grant (2022).
She has been nominated for the Philip B. Lind Memorial Prize (2024), and her first artist book is scheduled to be released in November 2024.
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Andrea Cownden
Accessible PuSh Coordinator | ext 204 | Pronouns: she/her/hers
Andrea Cownden (she/her) is an independent dance artist and emerging audio describer of european ancestry living on the unceded lands of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations. Since completing training at Modus Operandi, she has been honoured to dance for artists such as Naomi Brand, Sasha Kleinplatz, Alexa Mardon and Erika Mitsuhashi, and to facilitate accessible dance classes for All Bodies Dance Project.
In 2019, Andrea had the pleasure of working as a sighted guide in Translations, a dance performance for the non-visual senses created by All Bodies Dance Project and VocalEye. Since this rich introduction to the creative potential of integrated access in the performing arts, she has grown as an audio describer through the creation of descriptions for All Bodies Dance Project, Company 605, Arts Assembly, and a number of independent artists. She is grateful for these opportunities, as well as consultation and feedback from friends and community members, as she continues to learn about accessibility and the arts.
As a long-time audience member, Andrea is thrilled to be joining the PuSh team!
Photo by K Ho
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Brian Postalian
Industry Producer | Pronouns: any pronouns
Brian Postalian (Բրայն Փոսթալյան) is a performance creator, educator, and producer born and raised in Toronto/Tkaronto by way of Armenia (via Turkey and Lebanon), Ireland, UK, and the Czech Republic. With their company Re:Current Theatre, they make work that reconsiders how we share space together in communal places, blurring the divide between audiences and performers. Their work extends beyond traditional stages and uses the communal form as an intervention of the private self in public space. Their work New Societies used immersivity and interactivity with a focus on game theory and social engagement to create idyllic societies.It has been presented across Canada and Internationally; where it has been translated into Mandarin with the National Theatre of Taipei. Brian’s recent work co-creating the Dora Award nominated Access Me with the Boys in Chairs collective was published by Playwrights Canada Press as part of Interdependent Magic: Disability Performance in Canada.
Brian holds a Master of Fine Arts at Simon Fraser University’s School for the Contemporary Arts in Theatre Game Design and Interdisciplinary Performance Studies. They are a certified facilitator of liz lerman’s Critical Response Process. In their spare time, Brian likes to host board game nights, ride their bicycle, play with their dog Amie, and recently started Lindy Hop swing dancing. Brian currently lives on the unceded Coast Salish territory of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam Nations (also known as Vancouver, BC).
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Rose Senat
Volunteer Coordinator | Pronouns: she/her
Rose is a multidisciplinary artist based from Hamilton with over a decade of community engagement experience. Her artistic work is autobiographical, informed by her lived experience as a Black woman in Canada and the U.S. with roots in Haiti.
She is passionate about creating safe and welcoming spaces and opportunities for racialized communities to access the arts. She is a serial hobbyist and in her spare time you can find her running TAKEUPSPACE, photographing those around her on film, and caring for her calico Xena and over 50 house plants.
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Steve Chow
Graphic Designer | Pronouns: he/him/his
With a 250 lb. bench press and multiple tournament wins, Steve is arguably pound-for-pound Vancouver’s strongest graphic designer. His unpredictable technique was cultivated in early stints at The Western Front, Ricepaper, and indie music labels; and later refined with LolaDance, Wen Wei Dance, and The Holy Body Tattoo — leading to an undisputed, record-breaking 10-year run as Communications Manager of The Cinematheque.
In addition to PuSh, Steve’s current training partners include the Vancouver International Film Festival, DOXA, the National Film Board of Canada, Vancouver New Music, the Criterion Collection, and independent filmmakers in Canada and around the world.
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Trevor Battye Advertising Sales
Sponsorship and Advertising Consultant
Trevor Battye Advertising Sales provides client-driven advertising and monetization strategies for print and digital publications, festivals, and events for over 15 years. Clients include The Alberta Teachers Association, The Vancouver Writers Festival, The Vancouver Film Festival, and The Tyee among others.
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Denim & Steel Interactive
Website Designers & Developers
Through digital strategy, design, and custom development, Denim & Steel is behind the online presence for leading artistic and cultural producers like PuSh. Our work brings innovation and reliability to producers and connects audiences with new, memorable experiences through the web and mobile apps.
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Jodi Smith
Publicist | Pronouns: she/her/hers
Managing Director of JLS Entertainment
Jodi Smith, executive director of JLS Entertainment has been working in the entertainment industry in various capacities for over twenty-five years. Throughout her career, Jodi has produced live events, is involved in artist management, entertainment coordination (including PNE, Harmony Arts Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, First Night & Vancouver Olympics) and has been a freelance publicist for festivals, musical concerts, dance, special events, theatre and literary fests.
JLS Entertainment’s past and present publicity clients include Vancouver Opera, MusicFest Vancouver, Ballet BC, CelticFest Vancouver, Vancouver International Flamenco Festival, Dance In Vancouver, Dancing on the Edge, Carousel Theatre for Young People, Toronto Dance Theatre, DTES Heart of the City Festival, Chutzpah! Festival, and the Alcan Dragon Boat Festival.
Jodi Smith has sat on various boards throughout the years and has taught publicity and marketing at the Trebas Institute.