PuSh Play

PuSh Festival
  • 4.2 (5)
  • Performing Arts
  • Updated Weekly

PuSh Play is a PuSh Festival podcast. Each episode features conversations with artists who are pushing boundaries and playing with form.

  1. 4d ago

    Ep. 79 - Stay with the Trouble (Festival TransAmériques)

    In this bonus episode of PuSh Play, PuSh's Artistic Director, Gabrielle Martin, speaks with Jessie Mill, co-artistic director of Festival TransAmériques (FTA) and founder of the Cliniques dramaturgiques or "dramaturgy clinics" at FTA. PuSh Play Season 5 is coming this fall, with all new episodes featuring audacious artists from around the globe who will be showing their works at the 2027 PuSh Festival, January 20 to February 7! To get a sneak peek of this winter's program, sign up for our newsletter and subscribe for more episodes. Show Notes Gabrielle and Jessie discuss:  The impulse behind creating a space that prioritizes process How to embrace failure as a part of the artistic process Centring artistic workers who are normally in the background What it means to be a dramaturg within and beyond the festival Going back to old conversations during the pandemic, and becoming a living archive What a compressed format makes possible or disrupts How the clinic process itself works, step by step—and how the matchmaking is like, and unlike, speed dating How the dramaturg can move forward with the same vulnerability as the artist The culture around dramaturgy in Montreal vs. other places like Vancouver How local artistic ecologies reshape the clinic each time they visit How to make dramaturgy more visible, and to preserve its experimental nature Weaving together the many perspectives of people in FTA's network About FTA Festival TransAmériques (FTA) is an international performing arts festival dedicated to the most contemporary expressions of dance and theatre. Since its first edition in 1985, it has sought out bold, distinctive artistic work and fresh perspectives Located in Montreal/Tio'tia:ke/Mooniyang, FTA pursues an ongoing dialogue with the city and its history, theatres, and neighbourhoods. It attracts and engages with diverse audiences, which it aims to expand and draw closer. As a coproducing festival, FTA supports the development and circulation of new work by Quebec, Canadian, and Indigenous artists, striving to establish the best possible conditions for it to flourish. The Festival aims to strengthen local artistic communities by offering spaces for sharing and mutual inspiration. Through presenting shows from home and abroad, FTA fosters the growth of our imagination and honours the complexity of the world. The Festival initiates memorable discoveries and powerful experiences that connect emotion with knowledge. FTA is a celebration of the performing arts taking place at springtime each year. About Jessie Mill As a dramaturge and artistic advisor for Festival TransAmériques from 2014 to 2021, Jessie Mill has developed a sophisticated understanding of Quebec's dance and theatre practises as well as their ties to the global performing arts scene, which she has followed closely over the past fifteen years. In June 2021, driven by a collective endeavour, together with Martine Dennewald, she became co-artistic director of FTA. Passionate about contemporary writing, she served as the international projects advisor at the Centre des auteurs dramatiques (CEAD) from 2010 to 2014. Head of foreign programming for four editions of Dramaturgies en dialogue, she was also in charge of the centre's translation activities.   Along with Martin Faucher, who invited her to join the FTA team in 2014, she developed the FTA Playgrounds, and created the FTA Clinics in 2016. This artistic support programme designed to benefit the local theatre and dance communities quickly went global (France, Germany, Italy, Flanders), bringing together a large international community of dramaturges. In 2020, Mill co-created and hosted the FTA-produced podcast Habiter la vie. She also co-edited the book FTA : Nos jours de fête, published with Somme toute in 2018, and is currently working on a dramaturgy handbook, a joint publication forthcoming in 2022. Fostering close ties with local artistic communities, Jessie Mill supports various theatre and dance projects as a dramaturge. She has also published several essays on the performing arts, namely in the cultural journal Liberté, where she serves on the editorial board. She occasionally works as a visiting instructor, course lecturer, or mentor at the University of Ottawa, at the National Theatre School of Canada, and at the Université du Québec à Montréal, in addition to offering cross-disciplinary workshops on dramaturgy. She has been a long-time collaborator of the pan-African festival Les Récréâtrales, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, where she provides guidance to young artists as part of the LABO ELAN programme. She hopes to build bridges between her two favourite festivals. Land Acknowledgement This conversation was recorded on the unceded, stolen and ancestral territories of the Coast Salish Peoples: the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), colonially known as Vancouver. Jessie joined the conversation from what is now known as Montreal, on the traditional territory of the Kanien'kehà:ka, a place which has long served as a site of meeting and exchange amongst many First Nations including the Kanien'kehá:ka of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Huron/Wendat, Abenaki, and Anishinaabeg, . It is our duty to establish right relations with the people on whose territories we live and work, and with the land itself. Credits PuSh Play is produced by Ben Charland and Tricia Knowles. Original music by Joseph Hirabayashi. Show Transcript

  2. Jan 27

    Ep. 78 - The Edges of Drag (TESTO)

    PuSh's Artistic Director, Gabrielle Martin, speaks with Wet Mess about TESTO, coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival: February 7 and 8 at Performance Works. Show Notes Gabrielle and Wet Mess discuss:  The origins of TESTO, particularly in what it meant to take hormones like testosterone Drag as a tool to discover oneself onstage Drag as a devising tool to generate choreography, narrative, etc. The historical aspects of drag Making gender explorations joyful The different personas that Wet Mess explores The oscillation between comedy and vulnerability The origin of the name "Wet Mess" What did the process of making this work reveal to you? What is next for Wet Mess? About TESTO TESTO celebrates transitions, testosterone and the edges of drag–a chaotic, heartfelt, and hilariously unhinged deep dive into the mess of becoming. Here, performance and reality blur until what's made-up somehow feels truer than truth. Expect moustache meals, dykey desires, and a choreography of guttural sexuality that pinches at the dull flesh of everyday life until it sparkles. At once absurd and sincere, TESTO finds the magical in the mundane—the moment when laughter curdles into revelation, and fantasy becomes flesh. It's awkward, erotic, disarming, and deeply human: a love letter to transition, embodiment, and all our leaking edges. About Wet Mess Wet Mess is a wet mess, horny for your confusion. Let it all out and guess again at the insecure balding white man/p***y prince/alien baby. Have a lollygag, think about your fantasy flesh suits, call me sweet prince, and remember Roger in a robe. Choose to make some silly campy decisions, with all the hairy thems and dykey men. All I really wanna do is strip for the stripper and drive her homen with the dogs. Land Acknowledgement This conversation was recorded on the unceded, stolen and ancestral territories of the Coast Salish Peoples: the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), colonially known as Vancouver. Wet Mess joined the conversation from London, UK. It is our duty to establish right relations with the people on whose territories we live and work, and with the land itself. Credits PuSh Play is produced by Ben Charland and Tricia Knowles. Original music by Joseph Hirabayashi. Show Transcript

  3. Jan 23

    Ep. 77 - Ballroom! (The Motha' Kiki Ball)

    PuSh's Artistic Director, Gabrielle Martin, speaks with Mother Bee Gvasalia, Savannah Sutherland, Ihomehe ("Legs"), and Menace Gvasalia about The Motha' Kiki Ball, coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival: February 7 at the Birdhouse. Show Notes Gabrielle and her guests discuss:  How did Blackout Collective begin and what was that specific moment that compelled it? The significance and meaning of ballroom as gathering and performance Balancing competitive fire with fierce tenderness with honouring roots How chosen families show up, especially in ballroom How ballroom judges work and what they are looking for  The stories that ballroom tells Waves of new talent entering the scene The challenge of learning technique vs. competing The Ballroom 101 Rapid Fire Round! About The Motha' Kiki Ball From vogue to runway, The Motha' Kiki Ball crowns motherhood as the origin story, legacy, and creative force behind Ballroom. Black Out, a collective centering Blackness in the local Kiki scene, leads this year's winter ball co-presented by PuSh and Van Vogue Jam. This Black History Month spectacular celebrates the power that gives life to cultures and movements. Expect looks that radiate iconic energy and a runway filled with matriarch moments. About BlackOUT Collective BlackOUT is a Vancouver-based Collective that centers Blackness within the Vancouver Kiki Ballroom scene. Our mission is to make Ballroom accessible to Black folks in Vancouver by creating entry points, fostering belonging  and celebrating  community. Since our inception in 2024, we've hosted several open sessions and produced "The Cookout Mini Kiki Ball", Vancouver's first Ball featuring an all Black production team and judging panel. Land Acknowledgement This conversation was recorded on the unceded, stolen and ancestral territories of the Coast Salish Peoples: the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), colonially known as Vancouver. Savannah Sutherland joined the conversation from Accra, also called Ga, Ghana. It is our duty to establish right relations with the people on whose territories we live and work, and with the land itself. Credits PuSh Play is produced by Ben Charland and Tricia Knowles. Original music by Joseph Hirabayashi. Show Transcript

  4. Jan 20

    Ep. 76 - From the Marrow (WAIL)

    PuSh's Artistic Director, Gabrielle Martin, speaks with Vanessa Goodman about WAIL, coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival: January 26 and 27 at the Scotiabank Dance Centre. Show Notes Gabrielle and Vanessa discuss:  Vanessa's current work and process on tour across the continent with BLOT The original impulses and images that inspired WAIL How the complexity becoming a parent today requires one to find joy in work What does it mean to navigate joy within community? How can joy be a regenerative force? The power of physiological change from performance How compression can be used in choreography The auditory and visual world of the piece The body as site between the individual and collective The meaning of collaboration and how to hold space for many voices About WAIL WAIL is a choreographic poem for our fractured moment.  Six performers move through a shifting landscape of sound, light, and breath, their bodies echoing the patterns and distortions of the natural world. Drawing from botanical forms and auditory illusion, the work becomes a living ecosystem where motion and vibration feed each other—fragile, unruly, and alive. WAIL immerses audiences in a multi-sensory meditation on coexistence. Amid contrast and chaos, the work finds its rhythm in the act of collective joy: a wail that is both grief and celebration, a sound that gathers us back into the body of the world. About Action at a Distance and Vanessa Goodman Action at a Distance is based on the West Coast on the ancestral and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples, including the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō, Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations. The company is led by Artistic Director Vanessa Goodman and Artistic Producer Hilary Maxwell. Their work carries meaning beyond aesthetics, using choreography as a means to explore liminality within humanity. This exploration questions the boundaries of the human experience, emphasizing the interconnectedness of bodies, technology, and the natural world. Their choreographic practice weaves together generative movement and sonic embodiment, creating immersive performative environments that aim to expand notions of identity, post-humanism and agency. Through their work, they seek to cultivate intimacy between the body and its surroundings, examining how these relationships redefine what it means to be an individual in a rapidly changing world. The company challenges conventional forms of performative hierarchy through collaborative approaches, inviting varied voices to reshape narratives around corporeality and Existence. Goodman has received several awards and honours for the Company's works, including The Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award (2013), The Yulanda M. Faris Scholarship (2017/18), The Chrystal Dance Prize (2019 & 2024), the Schultz Endowment from the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (2019), The Isadora Award (2025) and participation in the "Space to Fail" program (2019/20) through Hyde Productions (NZ), Critical Path (AU), and The Dance Centre (CA). Longstanding collaborations include Graveyards and Gardens with Caroline Shaw, BLOT with Simona Deaconsecu, and multiple works with Loscil (Scott Morgan), Brady Marks, and James Proudfoot. Their works have toured Canada, the United States, Europe, and South America.  Land Acknowledgement This conversation was recorded on the unceded, stolen and ancestral territories of the Coast Salish Peoples: the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), colonially known as Vancouver. Vanessa joined the conversation from Calgary, in the traditional territories of the peoples of Treaty 7, which include the Blackfoot Confederacy (comprised of the Siksika, the Piikani, and the Kainai First Nations), the Tsuut'ina First Nation, and the Stoney Nakoda (including Chiniki, Bearspaw, and Goodstoney First Nations). It is our duty to establish right relations with the people on whose territories we live and work, and with the land itself. Credits PuSh Play is produced by Ben Charland and Tricia Knowles. Original music by Joseph Hirabayashi. Show Transcript

  5. Jan 16

    Ep. 75 - Women's Words (Rainbow Chan Live at the Dream Factory)

    PuSh's Artistic Director, Gabrielle Martin, speaks with Rainbow Chan about Rainbow Chan Live at the Dream Factory, coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival: February 4 at 7:30pm at the Chinese Canadian Museum. Show Notes Gabrielle and Rainbow discuss:  The unique collaboration and context of Rainbow Chan Live at the Dream Factory The influence of Cantonese pop on Rainbow's work Voice as both instrument and archive Processing grief through song as an individual and collective The original sparks of interest to perform these particular songs The category of ritual song and music The fusion of folk with pop and electronica, and how tradition and futurity animate the process How theatre, as opposed to other artforms, affects the way in which an audience reads what is onstage What's next for Rainbow Chan? About Rainbow Chan Live at the Dream Factory Rainbow Chan is a Hong Kong-Australian vocalist, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and interdisciplinary artist celebrated for her inventive blend of heartfelt melodies, textured electronic production, and culturally rich storytelling. Her sound—both tender and experimental—reflects on migration, identity, and the intimate politics of love and loss. Presented for one night only inside the Chinese Canadian Museum's Dream Factory: Cantopop Mandopop 1980s-2000 exhibition, this special live performance unfolds on Ming Wong's Vast Ocean, Boundless Skies stage—an installation that reimagines the legacy of Cantopop through diasporic lenses. Fusing Cantopop, electronic music, Chinese folk laments, and experimental sound, Chan uses live looping, electronics, saxophone, and voice to explore resilience, identity, and connection across generations. Through this convergence of sound, space, and story, Chan creates a distinctive and contemporary musical experience—an evening where cultural memory, sonic experimentation, and performance meet. The performance will be followed by an open mic karaoke party hosted by Rainbow Chan. About Rainbow Chan Rainbow Chan is an award-winning vocalist, producer and multi-disciplinary artist. Her practice bridges popular music and contemporary visual arts, exploring themes of cultural representation, (mis)translation, matrilineal histories and diasporic heritage. Central to her work is the research and reimagining of women's oral traditions, particularly the fading bridal laments of Weitou women, Hong Kong's first settlers, to whom she has deep ancestral ties. Through pop music, performance and immersive installations, she translates these endangered songs into contemporary art forms, preserving their subversive feminist voices while reflecting on loss, resilience and solidarity. She is particularly interested in the power of ritual, song and performance as both a means of reclaiming agency and a living archive. Land Acknowledgement This conversation was recorded on the unceded, stolen and ancestral territories of the Coast Salish Peoples: the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), colonially known as Vancouver. Rainbow joined the conversation from the unceded territories of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung peoples of the Kulin Nation, in what is today called Australia. It is our duty to establish right relations with the people on whose territories we live and work, and with the land itself. Credits PuSh Play is produced by Ben Charland and Tricia Knowles. Original music by Joseph Hirabayashi. Show Transcript

  6. Jan 14

    Ep. 74 - Human Costs (Invisibles)

    Am Johal, Executive Artistic Director of the Indian Summer Festival, guest hosts this episode! He chats with Rakesh Sukesh about Invisibles, coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival: January 26 at the Vancity Culture Lab (the Cultch). Show Notes Am and Rakesh discuss:  The trajectory and transitions of Rakesh's artistic and professional life Rakesh's Bollywood background How Rakesh dealt with his early social anxiety through dance and performance The challenges of creating art after strict Bollywood training The various traditions woven into Rakesh's work, including yoga How Rakesh situates his work globally, and how it received differently Influence of martial arts on Rakesh's dance practices The origins of Invisibles and its formation How to make work in this very troubled time in the world The concept that all people can be diamonds or demons About Invisibles 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. Rakesh Sukesh's work emerges from a life deeply shaped by movement—across borders, traditions, and generations. With a career spanning over 25 years, he has captivated audiences worldwide as a performer, choreographer, teacher, and producer. His journey began in Bollywood dance and South Indian cinema before evolving toward contemporary movement infused with his family's lineage of yoga and embodied disciplines such as Kalarippayattu and other Indian dance forms. His international career has cultivated a language of physicality that bridges precision and spiritual depth. About Am Johal Am Johal has previously been Director of SFU's Vancity Office of Community Engagement, Co-Director of SFU's Community Engaged Research Initiative and host of the podcast, Below the Radar. He is the author of Ecological Metapolitics: Badiou and the Anthropocene (2015), co-author with Matt Hern of Global Warming and the Sweetness of Life: A Tar Sands Tale (2018) and O My Friends, There is No Friend: The Politics of Friendship at the End of Ecology (2024). He is currently Chair of the Vancouver International Film Festival, Vice Chair of Greenpeace Canada and a board member with the BC Alliance for Arts and Culture. He has presented his work internationally, including the Oxford Literature Festival. About Rakesh Sukesh With a career spanning over 25 years, Rakesh has captivated audiences worldwide as a versatile performer, choreographer, teacher, and producer. His journey through the realms of artistry began in Bollywood dance, where he lent his talents to numerous films in South India. Evolving his craft, Rakesh found a new passion in Contemporary movement art, drawing inspiration from his family's lineage of yoga and disciplines like Kalarippayattu and other Indian dance forms. For the past 15 years, he has traversed the globe, immersing himself in diverse cultures and artistic landscapes, shaping his unique perspective and vision. Experience the culmination of Rakesh's passion, dedication, and global influences in every performance and creation. Land Acknowledgement This conversation was recorded on the unceded, stolen and ancestral territories of the Coast Salish Peoples: the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), colonially known as Vancouver. It is our duty to establish right relations with the people on whose territories we live and work, and with the land itself. Credits PuSh Play is produced by Ben Charland and Tricia Knowles. Original music by Joseph Hirabayashi. Show Transcript

  7. Jan 9

    Ep. 73 - Mythmaking (Trouble Score)

    PuSh Artistic Director Gabrielle Martin chats with Luanda Casella & Pablo Casella about Trouble Score, coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival: February 7 at the Vancouver Playhouse. Show Notes Gabrielle, Luanda and Pablo discuss:  Discussion of Indigenous peoples and their struggles in North and South America Returning to the storytelling concert form, and how the project began The importance of experiencing everything that occurs on the stage Incorporating ritual into practice and performance Research threads of misleading discourse, cult of story, the unreliable narrator and how they evolved through Trouble Score Exploring trauma through ritual and archetype The fully-realized mythology built into the text The musical compositions in the piece and how music can carry narrative and organize elements Using sounds as triggers of memory Working with text, sound and light to construct a world How the character of the Healer evolved into a provocative voice The shadow self created via one's experience About Trouble Score Part ritual, part pop concert, Trouble Score is a hallucinatory portrait of family myth refracted through the lens of magic realism. Weaving multi-layered text, vocals, sound samples, and live music within an otherworldly lighting composition that turns each scene into a luminous portal, this one-night-only performance is a storytelling séance that's as witty as it is disruptive. Trouble Score revisits an old family scandal—a web of fragmented criminal stories that unravels into an impossible plot, where childhood innocence collides with the distorted reality of trauma, set against the backdrop of racial segregation and a military dictatorship. Blending humour and complicity, Trouble Score captures the fantastic, mysterious, and often surreal nature of family dynamics. Luanda Casella, known for her incisive deconstruction of language and fascination with the unreliable narrator, crafts text that is both razor-sharp and darkly funny. Pablo Casella composes intricate landscapes of melodic intimacy and rhythmic resonance. Nick Verstand, whose work explores the edges of light, space, and human perception, sculpts immersive architectures that breathe with the performers. Together, they turn family legend into a ritual of reinvention—a storytelling alchemy of music, language, and light. About the Guests Luanda Casella is a writer, performing artist, and theatre director from São Paulo, based in Ghent, Belgium. A resident artist at NTGent, her work is internationally acclaimed and known for its ingenious storytelling and incisive deconstruction of language. She is currently a teacher at the drama department at the KASK Conservatory, Ghent, and a PhD candidate examining "deceptive discourse" in communication processes and "unreliable narrators" in classic and contemporary works of fiction. Casella has also been a guest lecturer at leading institutions, including DAS Graduate School (Amsterdam), KABK (The Hague), P.A.R.T.S, School for Contemporary Dance (Brussels), Toneelacademie Maastricht Institute of Performative Arts, Universität der Künste Berlin, Cité Universitaire de Paris, and Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA. Pablo Casella is a composer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His ear for harmonies is unique in contemporary music. With his skills and virtuosity, he knows how to paint landscapes with sound, emotions with melody and power with rhythm. In the theatre world, he is active as a composer of soundtracks, producer and live musician; he has collaborated on Antigone in the Amazon (Milo Rau/NTGent/MST), Ferox Tempus, KillJoy Quiz and Elektra Unbound (Luanda Casella & NTGent), and BAM!, Saperlipopette and LOS (Ultima Thule). Casella is currently touring internationally with Antigone in the Amazon and has already performed the show in ten different countries and at renowned performing arts festivals such as Wiener Festwochen and Festival D'Avignon. Casella has has played at prestigious festivals such as Dour, Les Ardentes, Dranouter, Gent Jazz and Jazz Middelheim. With his own band, Little Dots, he has released two albums on V2 Records (2014 and 2018), for which he was responsible for the compositions, arrangements and co-production. Little Dots was artist in residence at the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels. The band toured as the opening act for Gabriel Rios and Hooverphonic in venues such as AB (Brussels), De Roma (Antwerp) and Paradiso (Amsterdam), and at festivals such as Gent Jazz and Eurosonic. Land Acknowledgement This conversation was recorded on the unceded, stolen and ancestral territories of the Coast Salish Peoples: the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), colonially known as Vancouver. Luanda joined the conversation from Belgium, and Pablo joined from the countryside of São Paulo, Brazil, home to the Tupinambás, Tupiniquins and Carijós, with Macro-Jê speakers in the interior. It is our duty to establish right relations with the people on whose territories we live and work, and with the land itself. Credits PuSh Play is produced by Ben Charland and Tricia Knowles. Original music by Joseph Hirabayashi. Show Transcript

  8. Jan 6

    Ep. 72 - Navigating Authenticity and Distortion (JEZEBEL)

    Guest host Chipo Chipaziwa chats with Cherish Menzo about JEZEBEL, coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival: January 22 and 23 at the Scotiabank Dance Centre in Vancouver, BC. Show Notes Chipo and Cherish discuss:  How Jezebel was developed Representation and presentation of black women in western culture, including tendencies of visual hypersexualization Use of various elements to highlight juxtaposition of beauty and the grotesque Negotiation between performance and how it is consumed by the audience How to be careful not to misrepresent anyone in performance work through stories or images How has the work changed from its first performance to today? Jezebel's position in a trilogy of work The use of distortion and its cultural significance Navigating between caricature and authenticity What references did you call upon in creating the work? About JEZEBEL Through a collision of physical performance, hip hop visual language, and the slowed, distorted flow of chopped-and-screwed sound, JEZEBEL reclaims the hyper-sexualized image of the "video vixen" that defined hip hop's golden age. Once framed through a male gaze that fetishized and vilified Black femininity, the vixen now steps into her own frame—stretching the image until its artifice becomes her authorship. Drawing from the glossy aesthetics of MTV-era music videos and the syrupy deceleration of Southern hip hop remix culture, this electrifying solo work deconstructs the myths of the "hip hop honey," refracting her through feminist, racial, and cultural awakenings. What emerges is a portrait of a woman both muse and maker: unapologetic and self-possessed. With a bass-heavy soundscape and arresting physicality, JEZEBEL asks—who gets to look, and who gets to define what they see? About Cherish Menzo Cherish Menzo (°1988, The Netherlands) is a choreographer and dancer, who works from Brussels and Amsterdam. In 2013 she graduated from The Urban Contemporary (JMD) at the 'Hogeschool voor de Kunsten' in Amsterdam. Cherish has appeared in the work of Lisbeth Gruwez (THE SEA WITHIN), Jan Martens (THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER, any attempt will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones), Nicole Beutler (6: THE SQUARE), as well as collaborations with the likes of Akram Khan, Ula Sickle, Olivier Dubois and Eszter Salamon. Her powerful movement language also comes into its own in her own work, which tours internationally. In 2016, she and Nicole Geertruida made EFES, an exhausting duet in which perfection and fallibility raise intriguing questions about how we like to see human beings. Sorry, But I Feel Slightly Disidentified... (2018), a solo made by Benjamin Kahn for (and with input from) Cherish, was an attempt to create a cartography of how we experience and meet the other. The seeds for this production were laid within the framework of Fraslab, after which an artistic dialogue between Cherish and Frascati Producties was initiated. Hereafter, Cherish made LIVE (2018), a cross between dance performance and pop/rock concert in collaboration with musician Müşfik Can Müftüoğlu. In 2019 Cherish worked at Frascati Producties on JEZEBEL, a dance performance inspired by the phenomenon Video Vixen from the hip-hop clips of the 90s. Jezebel, a contemporary hip-hop honey, refuses to be defined by others and shakes off her image by deconstructing and redefining it. In May 2022, during Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Brussels, D̶A̶R̶K̶MATTER premiered, a duet in which she and Camilo Mejía Cortés, with the help of the distorted rap choir, search for ways to detach their bodies and the daily reality in which they move from a forced perception. In the context of D̶A̶R̶K̶MATTER , Cherish also gives workshops on the chopped & screwed technique, a process from hip-hop music that Cherish applies to the moving and performing body in the performance. As part of Productiehuis Theater Rotterdam's research programme Welcome To Our Guesthouse, Cherish made KILLED AND EXTENDED DARLINGS: SUBTLE WHINE in autumn 2023, an audiovisual performative landscape that embraces the subtle nuances and mechanics of gyration. Cherish is currently touring with FRANK (premiere May 2025, Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Brussels). In continuation of JEZEBEL and D̶A̶R̶K̶MATTER, in FRANK, distortion is once again one of the main ingredients to generate material. In addition, Cherish looked into the action of decay and discovered how something gradually breaking down and getting less or worse can be another attempt to distort a form or information. Cherish received the Amsterdam FRINGE and FRINGE International Bursary Awards 2019 with JEZEBEL. JEZEBEL was selected in 2020 for both the Dutch and Flemish Theaterfestival, which presented a jury selection of the best performances of the season and received the prestigious Charlotte Köhler award by the Prins Bernhard Foundation (Amsterdam) in 2022. D̶A̶R̶K̶MATTER was selected for both the Belgian Theater Festival and its Dutch counterpart. With D̶A̶R̶K̶MATTER, Cherish received the BNG Bank Theater Prize (2023) and the Dutch Drama Jury prize for best direction (2023). For her artistic work, she is interested in the transformation of the body on stage and in the "embodiment" of different physical images. Implementing distortion, decay, and dissonance, Cherish attempts to detach bodies from forced perceptions and their daily corporeal realities, underlining the complexity and contradictory nature of images that seem recognizable at first glance. Glitching the ''common'' lexical, the lexical of the speaking being, she seeks the Uncanny, the Enigmatic, and the Monstrous to give shape to – and materialize speculative forms and fictions. Land Acknowledgement This conversation was recorded on the unceded, stolen and ancestral territories of the Coast Salish Peoples: the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), colonially known as Vancouver. Cherish joined the conversation from the Netherlands. It is our duty to establish right relations with the people on whose territories we live and work, and with the land itself. Credits PuSh Play is produced by Ben Charland and Tricia Knowles. Original music by Joseph Hirabayashi. Show Transcript

See All (79)

4.2
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

PuSh Play is a PuSh Festival podcast. Each episode features conversations with artists who are pushing boundaries and playing with form.

Information

  • Creator
    PuSh Festival
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    79
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2023
  • Show Website
    PuSh Play