Staff
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Gabrielle Martin
Artistic Director | ext 101 | Pronouns: she/her/hers
Gabrielle Martin is an artistic director, curator and choreographer whose practice is grounded in more than twenty years of embodied performance and international arts leadership. As Artistic Director of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, she curates embodied, visual and post-dramatic work that engages contemporary social and political conditions. She holds a BFA in Contemporary Dance from Concordia University, a Certificate in Dramaturgy from France’s Centre National des Arts du Cirque, and an MA in Arts and Cultural Management from Rome Business School.
Gabrielle is a recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts’ 2025 John Hobday Award in Arts Management. She has served on international curatorial and selection juries including Music Theatre Now, Performance Art Hub Norway’s CINARS selection, CPH Stage International Days and England’s Here & Now Showcase. Before joining PuSh, she was Festival Manager at the Vancouver International Dance Festival. Her leadership is informed by more than 1,400 performances as a dance and aerial artist on international tours with Cavalia and Cirque du Soleil.
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Boomer Stacey
Interim Managing Director | ext 102 | Pronouns: he/him/his
Boomer Stacey (he/him) is a mixed-blood settler/immigrant with roots extending to Cornwall (England), Sri Lanka, and the Nederlands. He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from York University, with a focus on photography, painting and drawing. Boomer has served as the Executive Director of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (PACT) as well as an Artistic Advisor at the New Victory Theatre in New York City. He has also provided leadership for the International Performing Arts for Youth (IPAY) in Philadelphia, PA, as Executive Director, and for the Milk International Children’s Festival of the Arts at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto as Artistic Director. Boomer exhibits nomadic tendencies, is a social introvert, loves to cook, excels at gazing into campfires, loves a good IPA or single malt, and lives to explore the coastlines of the world.
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Annie Clarke
(Parental Leave) Managing Director | Pronouns: she/her/hers
Annie Clarke (she/her) is a third generation settler, born and raised in Vancouver on the unceded territories of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), and xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam) peoples. Annie has recently returned to Vancouver after spending much of her career in Tkaronto (where the trees meet the water) on the ancestral territories of the Anishinaabe, including the Mississaugas of the Credit first nation, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat.
From 2022-2024 Annie worked on more than twenty productions as Producer at Toronto’s Soulpepper Theatre. She was also the lead producer for Soulpepper’s new play development program and Slaight Music residency program, and led the company’s Compassion Fund pilot with Theatre Direct’s Balancing Act initiative. Previously, Annie spent four years working at Generator, including as Interim General Manager, and was the General Manager of Groundling Theatre Company. Annie also worked as an independent producer and marketing consultant, and has collaborated in various capacities with Discord and Din Theatre, Shakespeare in the Ruff, One Little Goat, Studio 180 Theatre, and Native Earth Performing Arts, as well as Vancouver’s F-O-R-M (Festival of Recorded Movement).
In addition to Toronto, Annie has lived and worked in Montreal, New York, and Paris, and holds a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University.
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Tricia Knowles
Marketing & Communications Manager | ext.201 | Pronouns: she/her/hers
Tricia Knowles (she/her) is a queer, neurodivergent artist with mixed Mi’kmaq and settler ancestry. A marketing strategist, arts promoter, and cultural producer, Tricia has 25 years of experience across media, festivals, and interdisciplinary performance. She has led marketing and communications for a wide range of cultural organizations and festivals, including Wavelength Music, Kingston WritersFest, National Indigenous Peoples Day, Skeleton Park Arts Festival, Kick & Push Theatre Festival, and Harvest Fest, and has contributed to large-scale public events as a producer with Ottawa’s Music and Beyond, the WWF’s Earth Hour, the Pan Am Cultural Festival, and Fort Henry’s award-winning Fort Fright.
Tricia is also the Founder and Artistic Director of Calliope Collective, an evolving platform for site-specific performance and ecological storytelling. She holds a certificate in Cultural Planning and Development from UBC and a diploma in Broadcast Journalism from NSCC.
A stiltwalker, costumer, and lifelong circus enthusiast, her joy practices also include dismantling the patriarchy, swimming, foraging, dancing, and disappearing into the forest—or into a good book.
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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, Calgary 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! -
Bronwyn Carradine
Interim Producer | Pronouns: she/her
Bronwyn (she/her) is PuSh’s Interim Producer. As an arts administrator, she has worked with Green Thumb Theatre Company, Arts Club Theatre Company, Raincity Theatre, Pacific Theatre, Motion 58 Entertainment Inc, and Zee Zee Theatre where she is currently the Artistic Managing Producer.
Also, an accomplished playwright, Bronwyn currently has works in development with Arts Club Theatre Company, Carousel Theatre for Young People and Zee Zee Theatre. In her spare time, you can find her either on the couch with her partner and their cats watching Below Deck, or running very long distances in the mountains.
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Anati Manzoul
Marketing and Outreach Coordinator | Pronouns: she/her/hers
Anati Manzoul (she/her) is a first-generation North Sudanese creative professional based in Vancouver.
With a background in Media Studies and Film from the University of British Columbia, Anati has worked across marketing, content creation, and creative strategy with organizations including the University of British Columbia, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, and Ethos Lab. As a co-founder of a media cooperative, she is committed to building meaningful stories that inspire connection, creativity, and social impact.
Passionate about amplifying the voices of racialized communities, Anati believes authentic representation is essential in media and creative spaces. Her work focuses on creating meaningful narratives that connect with diverse audiences while supporting community and cultural visibility.
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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.
While his mother insists that he has two remarkable given names she continues to call him, Bob.., Bill…, Don…., Boh….., Johnny……, David Cameron.
DK has been a fixture in the Vancouver Festival world for the past 30 years. Aside from being with PuSh, for all but its inaugural season, he is also the Production Manager for the Vancouver International Children’s Festival, and the Vancouver International Burlesque Festival, as well he is the Site Manager for the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, and a Production Consultant for the Talking Stick Festival
Back in the good old days he was the Second General Manager of Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan.
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Andrea Cownden
Accessibility and Community Outreach Coordinator | ext 204 | Pronouns: she/her/hers
Andrea Cownden (she/her) is a cultural producer and accessibility advocate based on the unceded lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations colonially known as Vancouver.
With a background in dance and audio description, Andrea has worked with artists such as Lee Su-Feh, Naomi Brand, and Sasha Kleinplatz and collaborated on choreography and accessibility initiatives with organizations like All Bodies Dance Project. Her experience in integrated access and creative audio description has deepened her commitment to inclusive programming.
Passionate about fostering meaningful artistic experiences, Andrea brings a keen eye for innovative performance and audience engagement. She is excited to continue shaping dynamic and accessible programming in the performing arts.
Photo by K Ho
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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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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.