Greenlandic Mask Dancing, Folk Music and Mythologies Meet at this PuSh Festival Performance

Image by Jeremy Mimnagh

By Rachel Rosenberg

Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory and Evalyn Parry have created an enthralling multimedia dialogue that weaves folk music, storytelling, live video and uaajeerneq (Greenlandic mask dancing). After a sold-out Toronto run in 2018, Kiinalik: These Sharp Tools, which is coming to the PuSh festival in January, explores the relationship between Canada’s North and South using personal stories, historical documents and traditional mythologies.

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Greenlandic Mask Dancing, Folk Music and Mythologies Meet at this PuSh Festival Performance

Five shows to see at the 2019 PuSh Performing Arts Festival in Vancouver!

Attractor. Gregory Lorenzutti photo.

Is it too soon to be thinking about experimental theatre and performance art in 2019?

The 2019 edition of the annual PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, now in its 15th year, opens Jan. 17 2019, and runs until Feb. 3. As usual, it features a potpourri of world premieres, Canadian premieres, and more. See below for some highlights from the schedule of 26 works, representing 13 countries.

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Five shows to see at the 2019 PuSh Performing Arts Festival in Vancouver!

Bastards dance, Birdman drums, Ghetto Blaster confronts at Vancouver’s 2018 PuSh Festival

An image from Eternal Tides, one performance only at the 2018 PuSh Festival.

Earlier this week, the 2018 PuSh Festival schedule was announced. As always, there’s a plethora of international talent coming to town, presenting shows that range from dance to theatre to movies with live musical accompaniment.

Below are some of our picks for the performing arts festival, which runs Jan 16-Feb. 4 at various venues in downtown Vancouver. (Click on titles to view trailers.) Tickets are on sale now.

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Bastards dance, Birdman drums, Ghetto Blaster confronts at Vancouver’s 2018 PuSh Festival

Check out a person at Vancouver’s “Human Library” this January

Photo credit: orientalgateway | Wikipedia

Photo credit: orientalgateway | Wikipedia

The Vancouver Public Library is about to get some interesting new additions to its collection.

30 “human books” will be coming to the library as part of the 2016 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, Jan. 23-Feb. 7. Just what is a human book? It’s a real, live person that you check out and chat face-to-face with for about 20 minutes. And from the titles, these human books sound like real page-turners. People “on loan” this year range from “Drag King” to “8-year-old inventor.”

Inspiration for the event comes from Copenhagen, Denmark, where the first Human Library was launched in 2000 as a way to fight stereotypes and promote dialogue in the community. Human books typically represent stigmatized or marginalized groups of people – religious minorities, sexual minorities and others exposed to misconceptions and prejudice. Continue reading:
Check out a person at Vancouver’s “Human Library” this January