PuSh Youth Assembly 2023

Produced in partnership with

The 2023 PuSh Youth Assembly is a FREE, one-day performing arts conference for youth 16-24. Held on January 28th at SFU Woodwards, it will include talks and workshops with professional artists and producers.

This year will include panels and workshops on diverse creation methods, producing in the performing arts, new media integrations, and more. Whether you are pursuing a career in the performing arts or simply curious, this is an opportunity to share ideas, network, and build community with emerging and established arts professionals – and to be part of the PuSh Festival!

When: Saturday January 28, 2023 from 9:00am to 5:30pm 
Where: SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre (149 W Hastings St). The World Art Centre is wheelchair and scooter accessible. Please note this event is a scent-free space.

Schedule

9:00am-9:30am

Welcome to the Youth Assembly

9:30am-10:30am

Embodiment Workshop
Presented by Talking Stick 

The objective of this morning workshop is about being open to sending and receiving energy. Through a series of activities theatre practitioners use to get ready for a performance, we will focus our attention toward the physical and mental aspects of embodiment. To be truly present and ready to respond with confidence to whatever comes our way, we will be prepared for the rest of what the day has in store!

Facilitator: Joshua Jackson (Talking Stick)

10:30am-11:00am

Break

11:00am-12:00pm

Panel: Centring Community Arts
Presented by Medley & Solid State Community Industries

Featuring guests from The Black Art Centre (Olumoroti Soji-George and Arshi Chadha), this panel will focus on careers in the arts, as well as the importance of artist-run centres for emerging creatives. Discussing their work and practices, panelists will discuss how they’ve navigated the arts scene in the Lower Mainland, as well as the challenges and rewards of running a community art space that focuses on Black folks and their stories. Through the guests’ lived experience and knowledge, the group will gain insight into the arts and be inspired by BIPOC-run spaces and the available opportunities to make a difference in their communities. 

Moderator: Ogheneofegor Obuwoma (Medley)

12:00pm-1:00pm

Catered Lunch

1:00pm-2:00pm

Producing 101 Workshop

Do you have an idea for a project but have no idea how to bring it to life? This short workshop will outline the process for producing independent theatre, dance, and performance. From budgeting and fund development to contracting and workflow, this workshop will help you with your first steps to being a successful performing arts entrepreneur. 

Facilitator: Tom Arthur Davis (PuSh International Performing Arts Festival)

2:00-2:30pm

Break

2:30pm-4:00pm

Bodies Virtual, Bodies Real

Chloe Payne and Alex Dault of Single Thread will lead a ‘movement in virtual reality’ workshop where participants will be on their feet practicing the movement and gestural techniques used by the Single Thread ensemble to puppeteer avatars before getting an opportunity to leap into VR and put those skills into practice. Single Thread uses the emerging medium of XR (augmented, virtual and mixed reality) as a means of telling immersive stories to a global audience through research and development projects as well as PXR, Canada’s annual conference on Live Performance in Extended Reality (www.performanceandxr.com). The company recently piloted Canada’s first remote VR theatre ensemble, Collider VR, a live video game-type environment where audiences have the freedom to move around and interact with characters.

4:00pm-4:15pm

Break

4:15pm-5:15pm

Panel: Intersections of Contemporary Performance Creation

For decades, SFU’ School for the Contemporary Arts has graduated artists who have gone on to redefine performance practices both in this city and internationally. The school’s focus on new practices and interdisciplinarity between the disciplines of theatre, dance, film, sound and visual art has resulted in a program that is unique to Canada, and we intend to keep evolving. The faculty from SFU’s School for Contemporary Arts Theatre & Performance program will provide a platform for Youth Assembly participants to connect their curiosities and obsessions to the study and practice of contemporary performance. What new forms of performances need to be found right now? What needs to be shouted out? Join us for a bite and playful imagining of what the future of performance making might look like in the contemporary context.

Facilitators: James Long (Theatre Replacement); Erika Latta (WaxFactory); Ryan Tacata (For You).

5:15pm-5:30pm

Closing Remarks

5:30pm-7:30pm

Free Time

7:30pm-9pm

Performance: Soliloquio at Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre (optional / purchase with Youth Pass)

9:00pm

Performance: afternow dub night at Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre (optional / Free Event)