2023 Industry Series Schedule
WELCOME BRUNCH
11AM – 1PM | World Art Centre at SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts (MAP)
With so many of our industry delegates traveling great distances to attend the Festival this year, we’re taking the opportunity to gently kick off our Industry Series week with a Welcome Brunch and Reception. Pick up your Industry Pass, connect with your fellow delegates, and have a bite to eat.
PARTNER EVENT: LEFT OF PUSH
4:30 – 5:30PM | LEFT OF MAIN (MAP)
Left of PuSh is a platform for experiments-in-process by local and national artists, showing in and around the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival events. As PuSh’s unofficial “off festival”, LoP is intended to connect the hosted artists with the National and International delegation visiting Vancouver, in a relaxed setting.
Featuring works by Avery Smith + Savage and Samuelle. More information on the Left of Push website.
INDIGENOUS MUSIC CIRCLE: FORGING NEW TRAILS
6 – 7:30PM | World Art Centre at SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts (MAP)
Indigenous music community members and allies are invited to gather for a free-flowing circle conversation. With the industry changing rapidly, we’ll have a chance to check in on the state of music venues and festivals – locally, nationally, and internationally. Participants will be invited to engage and ask questions with circle mentors.
DAILY RECOMMENDED SHOWS
PROTOCOLS & WELCOME
10AM – 12:30PM | ROUNDHOUSE COMMUNITY ARTS & RECREATION CENTRE (MAP)
Often in our Land Acknowledgements, we are quick to acknowledge whose land we are on without acknowledging or knowing anything of the rich culture of the People of the Host Nations. To deepen our understanding and experience of Host Nations and their Protocols, we have invited representatives of the three Host First Nations: xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) to officially kick off the Industry Series with a Ceremonial Welcome to the territory for the Industry Delegates and Festival Staff.
We will begin with a Coast Salish traditional speaker, whose role is to introduce the work that is going to take place, the Calling of Witnesses, and will provide traditional space where we can exchange knowledge, gifts, and ceremonial offerings to initiate the proceedings in a good way.
Traditionally, guests would be received in their canoes at the shores of this land by stating their purpose, asking permission to come ashore, and gifting the host nations in return. The nations would then grant guests permission to join them on the land and share in a hospitable welcome. The exchange would be a back and forth of song and speeches of respect, in the spirit of sharing and gratitude for the abundance and welcome demonstrated.
With the spirit of ceremonial exchange, Industry delegates are welcome to present a symbol of their culture and/or personal memento as a gift for the host nations as a sign of respect and acknowledgement.
CATERED LUNCH
12:30 – 2:00PM | ROUNDHOUSE COMMUNITY ARTS & RECREATION CENTRE (MAP)
WINTER LODGE: INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE OPEN STUDIO
2 – 5PM | ROUNDHOUSE COMMUNITY ARTS & RECREATION CENTRE (MAP)
This Open Studio concludes a pre-Industry Series workshop for invited Indigenous artists that takes place January 23-28. This workshop will question the purpose of theatre and performance in Indigenous culture(s), share perspectives from differing Indigenous traditions, and explore methodologies for artistic and cultural sharing by invited participants.
The pre-Industry Series workshop provides a space to dream, a space to embody and a space to share energy, movement, music, etc. with our Indigenous arts practitioners. Industry Series delegates are invited into the rehearsal room to witness the ongoing process and exchange prior to the final presentation on February 1.
PARTNER EVENT: LEFT OF PUSH
5:30PM-6:30PM | LEFT OF MAIN (MAP)
Featuring works by Ileanna Cheladyn + Daisy Thompson. More information on the Left of Push website.
DAILY RECOMMENDED SHOW
The Seventh Fire (8pm)
INDIGENOUS PRESENTING & TOURING
10AM – 12:30PM | ROUNDHOUSE COMMUNITY ARTS & RECREATION CENTRE (MAP)
Presenters, producers and artists will come together to discuss how to center Indigenous works by using culture, ceremony and relational methodologies to build the framework for touring initiatives.
Partnerships are the most important first step in making this concept possible from inception. Through roundtable discussions, breakout sessions and the designation of collaborative action tasks (small, medium & large), these offerings will be designed to motivate working together to ensure touring foundations include supporting community engagement, investment into cultural collaborations and traditional hospitality practices for visiting Indigenous artists.
CATERED LUNCH
12:30PM – 2:00PM | ROUNDHOUSE COMMUNITY ARTS & RECREATION CENTRE (MAP)
DREAMS, RIVERS AND BEAVERS: A LOOK AT ÉMILIE MONNET’S OKINUM
2 – 3:30PM | ROUNDHOUSE COMMUNITY ARTS & RECREATION CENTRE (MAP)
This demonstration and conversation hosts Mairi Brascoupe and Emilie Monnet in conversation with moderator Lindsay Lachance. Starting with an interactive demonstration of Birch Bark Biting by Mairi Brascoupe, the artists will discuss themes of cultural transmission, land-based work, beavers, and dreams as they connect to Emilie Monnet’s Okinum.
PARTNER EVENT: LEFT OF PUSH
4:30 – 5:30PM | LEFT OF MAIN (MAP)
Left of PuSh is a platform for experiments-in-process by local and national artists, showing in and around the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival events. As PuSh’s unofficial “off festival”, LoP is intended to connect the hosted artists with the National and International delegation visiting Vancouver, in a relaxed setting.
Featuring works by Jacques Poulin-Denis + Generous Mess. More information on the Left of Push website.
DAILY RECOMMENDED SHOWS
An Undeveloped Sound (7:30pm)
CREATIVE PRODUCING
10AM – 1PM | THE CINEMA AT SFU’S GOLDCORP CENTRE FOR THE ARTS (MAP)
February starts with a look at how best to build the circumstances for success and well-being in performance-making. By focusing this question through the lens of creative producing, the conversation will circle case studies and world-building scenarios for how performance gets made, and how companies can thrive creatively in a world where support feels harder to access.
Why do we “open” shows? Aren’t they always in a state of opening/emerging? How can audiences collaborate in the creative conversation? How can an audience’s engagement and involvement help deepen the path of the creative team? How can we provide spaces that encourage breath and spaciousness? How can we open pathways for supporting creation?
Hosted by Sarah Garton Standley (The National Creation Fund), in discussion with Marcus Youssef (Siminovitch Prize winning playwright), Adrienne Wong (SpiderWebShow), Keith Barker (Stratford Festival), and a group of incredible arts leaders, this morning is dedicated to energizing our sector and explore ways of transforming our ways of creating.
WINTER LODGE PRESENTATION
2 – 4PM | THE CINEMA AT SFU’S GOLDCORP CENTRE FOR THE ARTS (MAP)
This presentation concludes a pre-Industry Series workshop for Indigenous artists that takes place January 23-28. Presenting artists will share their own practices and discuss their curiosities from the Winter Lodge exploration. Artists will express unique points drawn from their own cultural perspectives and convey their insights about what unites Indigenous people to creative mediums.
DAILY RECOMMENDED SHOWS
Are we not drawn onward to a new erA (7:30)
afternow Dub Night (9pm)
PITCH SESSION
10AM – 12PM | WORLD ART CENTRE AT SFU’S GOLDCORP CENTRE FOR THE ARTS (MAP)
Pre-selected applicants give an 8-minute pitch of their new and upcoming projects to an audience of producers, artistic directors, festival curators, presenters, and programmers.
This year’s Pitch Session, composed mainly of artists from the Greater Vancouver area, features works of dance, theatre, musical theatre, and installation.
HOSTED BY: Tom Arthur Davis, Interim Director of Programming, PuSh Festival
STARWALKER
Urban Ink
The story follows Starwalker, an Indigi-Queer Two-Spirit drag queen learning the ropes of the East Van Drag community. When Starwalker is introduced to Drag at the House of Borealis, their whole world changes, introducing them to a home they never knew they needed, creating a new persona that blends their grounded Indigenous cultural spirit with drag performance, resulting in an empowering and celebratory experience that only tearing down the patriarchy can provide. Payette’s pop/rock music, paired with pulsing drums, sets the perfect musical scene for this modern-day love story.
ABOUT THE ARTIST Corey Payette is a member of the Mattagami First Nations in Northern Ontario and is French Canadian and Irish. He has worked across Canada as a director, writer, composer, and producer. As a musical creator, his original musical Children of God (book/music/lyrics & direction) has toured Canada since 2017; Les Filles du Roi, premiered onstage in 2018 and was recently adapted into a feature film that he directed, co-wrote, composed and executive produced. Corey was a member of the Warner Media / Access Canada Writers Group developing his upcoming musical Starwalker, and his feature documentary Stories That Transform Us premiered at the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) in 2021. He has been the recipient of the John Hirsch Prize from the Canada Council, 3 Ovation Awards and 2 Jessie Awards for his writing and directing work. In 2021, he was awarded the inaugural BC Reconciliation Award. www.coreypayette.com
WE WERE ONE
Chimerik 似不像
We Were One is a movement & new media research project investigating human connections and potentials through ancestral rituals, energy practice, channeling, and somatic research. Co-created by an interracial couple with radically differing race, gender, cultural backgrounds, who are exploring how together, we can question the prejudices by decolonizing the toxic gaze and patriarchy by unfettering this intricate and complex dialogue around model minority racism, intersectional feminism and queerness while staying connected with the multifaceted and multidimensional nature of our true existence.
We Were One is a ritualization through the subtle body and somatic intelligence, as a transmission of information from the higher mind, by contemporizing Qi Gong, mediumship, and ancient architectures, etc. as a way to share the story of this twin-soul-journey.
ABOUT THE ARTIST Sammy Chien is a first generation Taiwanese-Canadian immigrant and queer artist-of-colour, director, performer, researcher and mentor who works with film, sound art, new media, performing arts and spiritual practice. Caroline MacCaull is a femme-identified queer artist with background in movement/dance, new media, and mediumship. In recent years, they have been focusing on researching and performing ritual practices, digital technology and authentic spiritual work in connection with the larger topics of race, gender and deeper human connections. They create and produce work under Chimerik 似不像.
LASA NG IMPERYO
Carmela Sison
Lasa ng Imperyo is the Tagalog translation of Jovanni Sy’s A Taste of Empire: a theatrical experience unlike any other. The show is a once-in-a-lifetime cooking demonstration by Chef Maximo Cortés, the renowned inventor of Imperial Cuisine. For your main course, your host will prepare a traditional Filipino dish in real time as he deconstructs the dish in humorous and surprising ways. The colonization of Asia, the state of modern agriculture, the ethics of food distribution and consumption – these are just some of the things you will sample in this unique performance piece.
ABOUT THE ARTIST Carmela Sison is a Filipino-Canadian artist living and working on the unceded Coast Salish land. She has been in many plays and Vancouver-filmed projects throughout her 13-year career.
MAKTUB
Vidya Kotamraju
“It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.” – Paulo Coelho
Inspired by Paulo Coelho’s “The Alchemist”, Maktub is a lush and deeply evocative dance performance, and an eternal statement to the transforming power of living in the singular pursuit of one’s individual dreams. Choreographer Vidya Kotamraju blends global music, dance, voice, and technology to present the gripping tale of the human journey within. Uplifting and reflective, the performance experiments with multi-medium storytelling to depict the protagonist’s journey in discovering one’s purpose in life. In current times of turbulence, Maktub aims to bring hope and healing, through the universal language of dance.
ABOUT THE ARTIST Vidya Kotamraju is a dance artist based in Vancouver. Trained in Bharata Natyam by Jai Govinda (Canada), Sheila Jagadish Kumar (India) and Bragha Bessell (India), she has performed For Vancouver International Dance Festival, The Dance Centre’s Silk Route Festival, Mandala Arts and Culture’s The Temptation of Buddha and The Monk and The Courtesan, City of Vancouver’s Diwali Fest amongst others. She is the recipient of the 2017 Shade of Hope “Best Bharata Natyam Classical Dancer” Award.
SAME DIFFERENCE
Theatre Conspiracy
Same Difference is an immersive mixed-media installation and digital performance examining themes of identity and belonging. The piece utilizes mirrors, immersive projections, and surround sound to invite audiences to wander through ever shifting cognitive and spatial perspectives. Drawing on the experiences of immigrants and refugees, the piece invites audiences to deconstruct perceptions of identities and to explore the tensions between individuality through difference and belonging through sameness.
ABOUT THE ARTIST David Mesiha is a Toronto and Vancouver based, award-winning music composer, interactive designer, sound/video designer and co-artistic director of Theatre Conspiracy in Vancouver. David’s practice centres around examining questions of form in interactive and performance arts. Gavan Cheema is a director, writer, producer, educator and co-Artistic Director of Theatre Conspiracy. Gavan recently wrote and premiered her new piece Himmat at The Cultch and is a recent recipient of the Sam Payne Award for Most Promising Emerging Artist.
UNTITLED PETER TRIPP PROJECT
Curtain Razors
Peter Tripp, a once celebrated radio DJ, performed a publicity stunt in 1959 wherein he broadcast continuously, for 201 hours, from a glass booth in Times Square. This act was his undoing—he suffered psychological complications from prolonged sleep deprivation, and his increased fame made him a target for investigators who would accuse him of commercial bribery in the “payola” scandal of 1960. Tripp figures as an aspirational (and cautionary) figure in artists Bundon, Pfeifer, and Henderson’s current thinking around arts practice. Performances involve endurance-based movement, improvisational and written text, image projection, radio frequency programming, and the fracturing/looping of sound recordings to conjure hallucination, fugue states, and doppelganger-paranoia.
ABOUT THE ARTIST Curtain Razors nurtures, develops, and presents original work by Saskatchewan artists. We aim to uphold artists and audiences as co-creators of live performance. And to challenge the boundaries of theatre, both in how we create and how we define what constitutes a theatrical event. Curtain Razors supports local, interdisciplinary artists in developing healthy, sustainable, and meaningful processes. We cultivate a space for Saskatchewan artists to incubate, evolve, and present original work that offers artistic excellence to the province and to our peers across the country and beyond.
RESIDUALS (住み・墨)
Shion Skye Carter
Created and performed by award-winning young choreographer Shion Skye Carter, Residuals (住み・墨) is a tour-ready, 30-minute solo dance performance, which draws visual, sonic, and physical influences from Japanese calligraphy. Multiple interdisciplinary elements intertwine with dynamic contemporary dance, including full-stage video projections, sculptural costume design, props, and bilingual spoken text. Dynamic brushstrokes inform Carter’s movement as she traverses sheets of translucent paper, evoking an abstracted memory of her Japanese grandparents’ rural home. These memories, interwoven with Carter’s experiences of immigration and cultural displacement, spark a journey of introspective self-discovery, where the layers of her identity begin to unfurl.
ABOUT THE ARTIST Shion Skye Carter (she/they) is a dance artist originally from Tajimi, Japan, who lives and dedicates time to her artistic practice in Vancouver, Canada as a guest on the unceded lands of the Coast Salish peoples. Through choreography hybridized with heritage artforms that interact with digital and sculptural objects, Shion’s work looks inward to the facets of her intersectional identity as a lens to process the world around her. Presentations of Shion’s work across Canada include The Dance Centre (Vancouver), Tangente (Montréal), Kinetic Studio (Halifax), and Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto). She holds a BFA from Simon Fraser University, and is the recipient of the 2021 Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award and the 2022 Chrystal Dance Prize. www.shionskyecarter.com
PEACE COUNTRY
rice & beans theatre
Two sisters, five friends, a lifetime of knowing each other. What happens when the people who know you better than yourself are the ones losing their livelihoods for the sake of your cause. Peace Country follows five friends in a small BC town over the course of their friendship. Through childhood, to grad and all the way to the present, we see people who became friends because of circumstance but remained friends because of love. The play is an examination of intercultural friendship, the realities of northern living and how our northern communities can be vilified by Southern urban Canadian centers for simply trying to provide for one’s family. Peace Country is a new piece of theatre inspired by the experience of playwright Pedro Chamale’s growing-up in Chetwynd, BC.
ABOUT THE ARTIST rice & beans theatre is a Vancouver-based theatre company founded in 2010 by Pedro Chamale and Derek Chan. The company is dedicated to facilitating original, Canadian work that tells the story of where we came from and where we are going, by way of experimentation with languages and the theatrical form. rice & beans provides a platform for the creation, development, and production of boundary-pushing theatre, as well as supports fellow artists by providing dramaturgy, direction, and mentorship. Besides Vancouver, rice & beans theatre has also produced original work for audiences in Toronto, Richmond, Nanaimo, and Victoria.
CATERED LUNCH
12 – 1PM | THE WORLD ART CENTRE AT SFU’S GOLDCORP CENTRE FOR THE ARTS
ARTIST WALKS (AKA SPEED SLOW DATING)
1PM – 3PM | STARTING AT WORLD ART CENTRE AT SFU’S GOLDCORP CENTRE FOR THE ARTS (MAP)
Walking… is how the body measures itself against the earth.
Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust: A History of Walking
To welcome our national and international guests to Vancouver, local artists and Industry Series delegates take groups of delegates on a guided tour of their favourite places in the Greater Vancouver area.
Register for a free Artist Walk (limited availability, must be a registered Industry Series delegate).
Dr T’uy’t’tanat- Cease Wyss
Join Interdisciplinary artist Cease Wyss on this walk from Luq’luq’i through the Kanaka Ranch site into places where the three local nations shared some food gathering, winter dancing and other sacred ceremonies, and salmon fishing along with shellfish and other shoreline delights.
Starr Muranko
Take a walk through historic Gastown with dancer/choreographer Starr Muranko (Co-Artistic Director Raven Spirit Dance) as she shares some of the local Indigenous dance artists and companies in which she is connected.
Xwechtaal & Claire Love Wilson
Join Squamish cultural leader Xwechtaal (Dennis Joseph) and Scottish-Canadian multidisciplinary artist Claire Love Wilson as they walk and sing together at Sen̓áḵw.
Leah Abramson
Join Leah Abramson on a walking tour of some of the city’s current and now-defunct underground arts spaces and discuss how Vancouver artists and art-lovers are fighting back against the social and economic forces that have changed the map so dramatically in recent years.
Jivesh Parasram
Rumble Theatre’s Artistic Director, Jiv Parasram, will seek out an iconic Downtown East Side milkshake (actually a milkshake) and cruise with you on your way down to Granville Island.
Sebastien Archibald
A guided tour, mixed with autobiography, through the Mount Pleasant neighborhood centered around Broadway and Main St.: exploring its history as an artistic hub, its subsequent gentrification, and the impact on local artists.
INDUSTRY SOCIAL
5 – 8PM | GRANVILLE ISLAND BREWING (MAP)
Gather around the table over food (and local beer!) to debrief on the day’s events and walks before heading out for evening performances.
DAILY RECOMMENDED SHOWS
WITNESSING PROTOCOL
10AM – 12PM | THE CINEMA AT SFU’S GOLDCORP CENTRE FOR THE ARTS (MAP)
On January 30, the Three Host First Nations, xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, held a Welcome to Territory for the Industry Delegates. The Ceremonial Welcome recognized the importance of preserving oral history, and thus the Calling of Witnesses took place.
Since time immemorial, those who are called to witness become the human tape recorder or newspaper and their purpose is not only to remember the Ceremony but to take the message back home. There is also an implicit responsibility of all who attend and answer the call to be there, to share with others for the continued remembrance of these important moments.
The Witnessing Protocol session marks the culmination of a week of exchange, deep listening, and conversation with one another. At this session the witnesses will give their reflection on what they witnessed and share what they saw, heard and felt during the Industry Series.
We hope this practice will stretch beyond the Series and truly meaningful engagement can take place on this beautiful territory
PARTNER EVENT: PUSHOFF PRESENTATIONS & CATERED MIXER
1PM-5PM | RUSSIAN HALL (MAP)
Theatre Replacement and Company 605’s PushOFF platform returns for its 13th season, with live shows happening at The Russian Hall, digital and online offerings at pushoff.org, and industry-focused conversations for artists hosted by Fascinator Management.
This year we’re happy to announce the return of the PushOFF Mixer, bringing PuSh and PushOFF artists and audiences together for an afternoon of exciting work followed by an opportunity to eat and socialize.
PushOFF is an independently produced, artist-run, curated platform of tour-ready work and projects in development that take place annually in Vancouver. A hyper-local showcase, PushOFF maximizes networking opportunities for artists and audiences and fosters the artistic practices of Vancouver’s vibrant community of artists.
Presentations include:
- New Age Attitudes: Live in Concert by Amanda Sum
- Kisiskâciwan by Jeanette Kotowich
- Infinitely Yours by Miwa Matreyek
- In-development sharing of new works by:
- Adrienne Wong (Victoria, BC)
- Hong Kong Exile/Natalie Tin Yin Gan
- Kelly McInnes and Luciana D’Anunciação
- Artists featured as part of our digital/online programming include:
- XOST/Secret Theatre (Halifax)
- Tanya Marquardt (Brooklyn, NY)
- Eric Cheung
- Curtain Razors (Regina)
PushOFF takes place on the unceded territories and ancestral lands of the Coast Salish peoples, including the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations. We gratefully acknowledge the support of Canadian Heritage, The Canada Council for the Arts, BC Arts Council and the City of Vancouver.
DAILY RECOMMENDED SHOWS
LISTENING CIRCLE
10AM – 1PM | WORLD ART CENTRE AT SFU’S GOLDCORP CENTRE FOR THE ARTS (MAP)
Like many settler-colonial institutions, PuSh has a lot of learning and, perhaps more significantly, unlearning that it needs to do if it is going to ethically engage with Indigenous communities. There is no shortage of good intentions from arts institutions when looking to program Indigenous artists, but we are held back by systemic challenges and histories of harm that make the work complicated and slow. At PuSh we strive to have greater representation for Indigenous art, but that can only be achieved by building trustful relationships. And you can’t rush trust.
Using PuSh as a case study and catalyst, this Listening Circle will investigate the deeper unlearnings required of settler colonial institutions that seek to produce and present Indigenous works. Using a framework that centers conversations relationally between Indigenous and settler communities, this event will probe what is required of performing arts organizations to achieve this unlearning. With the guidance of lead facilitator Lisa Cooke Ravensbergen, the Listening Circle will leave room for discussions between Indigenous arts workers and between settler arts professionals, with opportunities for both groups to come together in conversation and communion with one another.
Lead Facilitator: Lisa Cooke Ravensbergen A tawny mix of Ojibwe/Swampy Cree and English/Irish, Lisa resides as a visitor on the occupied and unceded territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh, and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm Nations. Lisa is a mother, multihyphenate theatre artist and scholar working across Turtle Island as a performer, play-maker, dramaturge, director, writer, curator, space-holder, and teacher.
DAILY RECOMMENDED SHOWS
THIS & the last caribou (2:30pm)
Soldiers of Tomorrow (7pm)
Club PuSh (9pm)
INDUSTRY BRUNCH
11AM – 1PM | THE THE POST AT 750 (MAP)
On the last day of the Festival, join fellow PuSh Industry Series delegates and participants for a farewell brunch. Light brunch buffet provided.
DAILY RECOMMENDED SHOWS
O’DD (2pm)
Industry Sponsor
