Favourite Moments of the 2010 PuSh Festival

March 17, 2010

We asked the staff at PuSh to share some of their favourite moments of the 2010 Festival. Here is what they had to say!

“My favourite moment was the opening night of the Festival. In the lobby of SFU Woodwards, following the performance of The Show Must Go On—the excitement, energy and sense of jubilation was extraordinary. It felt like a wedding.”
– PuSh Festival Executive Director Norman Armour

“Some of my favourite moments of the 2010 PuSh Festival included: singing along to Simon and Garfunkel’s The Sound of Silence in the brand new Fei and Milton Wong Experimental theatre at SFU Woodward’s, seeing the PuSh Festival on the cover of the Georgia Straight and opening it up for the first time to our insert, hearing So Percussion playing the teacup movement of David Lang’s so-called laws of nature, and listening to the talkback for Clark and I Somewhere in Connecticut with my parents.”
– PuSh Festival Communications Manager Kara Gibbs

“Lindsay and I were in the lobby of Christ Church Cathedral before The Passion of Joan of Arc, madly stuffing programs in order to keep up with the demand of the crowds, and we overheard one patron say to another ‘PuSh is really organized this year!'”
– Managing Director Minna Schendlinger

“My favourite time would have to be when I asked William Yang, after the opening of China (which included the reference to Sun Yat-Sen), if he’d been to the Sun Yat-Sen garden in Vancouver. He hadn’t, and on Feb 3 I treated him to a visit to the gardens. It was a grey day, and we both took our Nikons. I noticed a professional photographer setting up in one of the alcoves, and poked my nose in to see what was up. The person being photographed turned out to be Don Montgomery (from Asian Heritage Month) who had been at the opening the evening before! As we were talking about how unusual it was to run into each other two days in a row, William came around the corner and they both smiled and hugged. Wondering if they’d met on another of Williams’ visits to Vancouver, no, they said, we became friends on Facebook just a week ago!”
– PuSh Festival Publicist Ellie O’Day

“My favourite moments were: 1) When the DJ played “Imagine” during The Show Must Go On and the audience fired up their lighters, cameras and cellphones in unison. 2) Watching William Yang’s China and realizing that our lineage traces back to the same small town in rural China. And when I told him about it at the Wrap Party, we exchanged a knowing look at each other and clinked plastic wine cups. 3) While playing the Best Before‘s avatar game, I realized that I was 46, female, lived in a democratic society called Bestland with a respectable ruler, owned a house, had a great job, never done drugs, never been married or divorced, no children, no criminal record, wealthier than 98% of the population, and could travel freely and died at a respectable age 96. When I walked out of the show, I realized I just lived the perfect life through a PuSh Festival show.” – PuSh Festival Volunteer Coordinator Carolyn Yu

“One of my festival highlights came about three quarters of the way through Poetics: a Ballet Brut. As each movement continued to build on the next, the simple moves became more complex and intricate as the music was mounting to a cheesey climax. It could have been the weariness of the second week of the festival getting to me, but I’d like to think it was the clumsy grace of the dancers that turned my constant smile into a giggle fit that would not cease. After that, the surprise dancers and chair spinning choreography brought on an elated feeling of pure joy. Surrounded by festival patrons, and coworkers come friends, I felt a strong sense of community and shared satisfaction as we shuffled out the theatre beaming.“
– Audience Services Manager Jenn Upham

“Being the last one into the theatre and clamouring up to the back row of the Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre for the open dress rehearsal of The Show Must Go On was a big moment for me. It was the opening show of the first Festival I had ever worked on, and it was a show that was special to PuSh and Vancouver. Not only that, but it was the first show in a brand new theatre space that was many years in the making. My nerves were high, but I quickly relaxed and enjoyed the show, watching a cast I had helped pull together perform a piece created on the other side of the world.”
– Associate Producer Dani Fecko

What was YOUR favourite moment of the 2010 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival? Post a comment and let us know!

Photos above taken at PuSh Festival Wrap Party by Thomas Goorden