Out of Order | The 7 Fingers (Les 7 doigts) | The Cultch online | March 18 – 21, 2021
“The world is upside down, the circus is out of order,” the words on screen share a sentiment of loss along with the black and white footage of an eerily deserted big top. What is the purpose of art without an audience? The question hangs on screen, allowing us to reflect as we settle in to watch this virtual show from our homes.
It’s been a challenging year for the PuSh Festival as it grapples with organizational and leadership changes in the midst of a pandemic. But as one of Vancouver’s diverse, interdisciplinary winter arts staples, the festival is forging ahead this year with a reduced program focused on partner presentations.
Read more: PuSh Festival forges ahead with partner presentations including ancient forest experience
Dancing on the Edge Festival | Firehall Arts Centre and various venues | July 8 – 17, 2021
The 33rd Dancing on the Edge festival endured a second year of programming live performance during a pandemic. Thankfully, as with last year’s festival, there were several live performances in addition to a diverse film package available online. The festival is known as a sort of testing ground for new works or works in progress and this year’s offerings also included many collaborations and collectives as well as COVID Commission works that received funding from the festival.
Read more: Collectives, collaborations, and commissions at Dancing on the Edge
Proximity | Joshua Beamish/MOVETHECOMPANY | The Dance Centre, presented with PuSh International Performing Arts Festival | streaming online | February 25 – March 11, 2021
Watching dance on screen is a very different experience from watching it in person in a theatre. A recording of a performance on stage has to overcome that barrier of the screen mediating the experience, but a dance film that has been designed for the medium doesn’t struggle in the same way.
What happens when you take a series of stage directions and expand their meaning, interpret them in different ways, and translate that meaning into movement? In Body and Soul, Crystal Pite does just that, expanding meaning through movement and exploring the connection between words and movement as much as between bodies and souls.
Read more: Crystal Pite connects body and soul at the Paris Opera Ballet
1+1+1 | Turning Point Ensemble | Online premiere | January 23, 2021
The Turning Point Ensemble’s 1+1+1 film project grew out of their desire to create unique new musical works in our COVID context, and it has provided an opportunity for the TPE musicians to forge new collaborations with composers, dancers, filmmakers, and visual artists. The series will include 15 short films — the first three, all directed by Sean Patrick Shaul, premiered online before a live talkback with the artists, and the next film will be shot in early February, with more details on further film screenings to come.
Imagine Van Gogh | Vancouver Convention Centre | March 19 – August 29, 2021
Aside from putting on VR goggles and entering a virtual world, this is the closest you’ll get to feeling like you’re inside a Van Gogh painting. Surrounded by towering screens, the walls and floor completely covered in Van Gogh’s works, this exhibition is a dreamy environment where time seems to slow down.
Read more: Imagine Van Gogh is an immersive, dream-like world
