Pre Series – Monday, January 26, 2026
Morning/Afternoon // Suggested Arrival
For out-of-town delegates
Suggested arrival for out-of-town delegates. Arrive by midday to settle in and see a PuSh performance this evening. The Industry Series begins tomorrow morning, and this schedule ensures you can experience both opening-week shows without missing any programming.
5:30—6:30PM // PuSh Artist-in-Residence Showing: Invisibles (Rakesh Sukesh)
Vancity Culture Lab, The Cultch (See map)
In residency with his new creation Invisibles, Rakesh Sukesh—the artist behind because i love the diversity (this micro-attitude, we all have it) (PuSh 2024)—confronts the brutal realities of the Kafala system, which has enabled modern-day slavery across parts of the Middle East. Drawing from his own family’s history, he interlaces visceral movement, stark statistics, and documentary theatre to reveal the human cost of economic migration and to ask urgent questions about whose lives and suffering we choose to value. Sukesh weaves ritual dance and funeral song from the Tamil-Nadu region in India into a powerful meditation on grief, dignity, and remembrance.
Includes an artist talk with Marcus Youssef.
RSVP for Invisibles
6:00—6:30PM // Community Programming: Landings for Seven (Action at a Distance / Vanessa Goodman)
Scotiabank Dance Centre (See map)
Presented in partnership with The Dance Centre.
Landings for Seven is an evocative work featuring seven artists that invites audiences to pause and reflect on the interplay of time and space within the politics of stairwells. These often-overlooked areas serve as both refuge and transitional spaces, where secrets are kept and stories unfold. Drawing from the rich narrative of “Between the Landings,” created in collaboration in 2024 with Justin Calvadores (BC) and Dorchel Haqq (NY), this performance challenges viewers to linger in liminal zones typically meant for movement. By engaging with sound and memory, Landings for Seven explores the ascent and descent of our experiences, examining how these spaces shape our connections to one another and to the city around us.
About Action at a Distance
7:00—9:00PM // Welcome Feast for visiting Indigenous Guests
The Welcome Feast is a soft landing for visiting Indigenous guests of PuSh and members of the local Indigenous arts community.
This is an invite-only gathering. To express interest in receiving an invitation, or for details, please contact Industry Producer, Brian Postalian, industry@pushfestival.ca.
8:00PM // Performance: WAIL (Action at a Distance / Vanessa Goodman)
Scotiabank Dance Centre (See map)
Running Time: 60 minutes
WAIL is a choreographic poem for our fractured moment. Moving through a shifting landscape of sound, light, and breath, six performers embody the tension between fragility and resilience. Drawing from the natural world’s patterns and distortions, the work becomes a living ecosystem—a multi-sensory meditation on coexistence, where motion and vibration merge in a collective wail of grief and joy.
Content note / advisories: May include strobing lights and haze
More show info
