20th PuSh International Performing Arts Festival program announced

The PuSh International Performing Arts Festival has announced its programming for the 20th anniversary year.

PuSh 20 runs Jan. 23 – Feb. 9, 2025 with tickets on sale Nov. 21 at pushfestival.ca.

With over 25 individual presentations from 13 countries, PuSh 20 features three world premieres and 8 Canadian debuts. These range from five parties and cabaret-type evenings, two film events and a pair of artist residencies, one of which will produce an open studio showing by the guest artists.

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Always a showcase for international productions, this year will include works from festival favourite Belgium as well as Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uruguay, Taiwan and more. In keeping with the event’s longs-tanding mission to present diverse art, 16 works are by artists of colour, 13 by female or gender nonbinary artists and 8 by 2SLGBTQIA+ artists.

“The 2025 PuSh Festival is a celebration of audacious live art,” says PuSh’s director of programming Gabrielle Martin. “In a world increasingly dominated by generative AI, they underscore live performance as a sanctuary of authenticity in an age that risks losing touch with the real.”

Among highlights of this year’s festival:

• Bogotá: A choreographic work from Montreal’s Andrea Peña & Artists inspired by Colombia’s political and spiritual heritage which pays tribute to resilience in the post-colonial period at the Vancouver Playhouse on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.

• Géométrie de vies (The Geometry of Lives): A theatre work from Collectif d’Art d’Art / STUDIOS KABAKO (Democratic Republic of Congo) which incorporates theatre, song and dance to “uncover sense from the past of a nation scarred by colonization.” Running at Performance Works, Jan. 25, 26 and online Jan. 25 – Feb. 9.

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• Thirst Trap: U.K. soundscapist Ray Young presents a sound piece exploring correlations between climate and social justice to be experienced in the venue of your bathtub. No word on whether it can also be experienced in an apartment shower. Running Jan. 23 – Feb. 9.

• QT Cabaret @ Club PuSh: A celebration of queer, trans and QTBIPOC artists billed as part dance party, part variety show boasting dance, music and “rapturous drag.” At the Fox Cabaret, Jan. 29, 9 p.m.

• PuSh Industry Series: A conference where arts community producers, presenters, curators, directors and others can dive deeply into issues facing arts and culture creation, production and presentation.

Full PuSh festival listings and ticket purchase options are all posted at the festival website pushfestival.ca.

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