PuSh International Performing Arts Festival
Encyclopedia
The PuSh International Performing Arts Festival is held in Vancouver
, British Colombia each year. Produced over 20 days each January, the PuSh Festival
presents work in the live performing arts: theatre
, dance
, music
and various hybrid forms of performance
. It attracts local, national and international artist
s and their work.
The PuSh Festival was co-founded in 2003 by Katrina Dunn
of Touchstone Theatre
and Norman Armour of Rumble Productions. In 2005, the organization of the festival was formalized with the creation of a formal board of directors and advisors and by being registered as a charitable organization. PuSh stimulates Vancouver artists and audiences with contemporary performance that is multi-disciplined, startling and original. Over 23,000 people attended the 2008 festival. Visiting presenters from across Canada and around the world were in attendance for the Assembly networking event to view performances, talk and do business.
The 2009 festival took place from January 20 to February 8, and offered works from across Canada, England, Japan and New Zealand. A total of 136 performances took place at 16 venues across the city and the attendance was more than 24,000.
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Colombia each year. Produced over 20 days each January, the PuSh Festival
Festival
A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....
presents work in the live performing arts: theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
, dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
, music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
and various hybrid forms of performance
Performance
A performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which a performer or group of performers behave in a particular way for another group of people, the audience. Choral music and ballet are examples. Usually the performers participate in rehearsals beforehand. Afterwards audience...
. It attracts local, national and international artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
s and their work.
The PuSh Festival was co-founded in 2003 by Katrina Dunn
Katrina Dunn
Katrina Dunn is an actor, director, and producer. She has been the Artistic Director of Touchstone Theatre in Vancouver, Canada since 1997.-Training and work:...
of Touchstone Theatre
Touchstone Theatre
Touchstone Theatre is a professional theatre company in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, founded in 1976 by a group of University of British Columbia theatre graduates. Touchstone's focus is on the development and production of Canadian works. The current Artistic Director is Katrina Dunn, who...
and Norman Armour of Rumble Productions. In 2005, the organization of the festival was formalized with the creation of a formal board of directors and advisors and by being registered as a charitable organization. PuSh stimulates Vancouver artists and audiences with contemporary performance that is multi-disciplined, startling and original. Over 23,000 people attended the 2008 festival. Visiting presenters from across Canada and around the world were in attendance for the Assembly networking event to view performances, talk and do business.
The 2009 festival took place from January 20 to February 8, and offered works from across Canada, England, Japan and New Zealand. A total of 136 performances took place at 16 venues across the city and the attendance was more than 24,000.