Dances for a Small Stage returns for two shows at the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, February 4 and 5

Eclectic cabaret of 12 short dance pieces unfolds on an intimate 10-by-12-foot stage that turns minimal space into a magical canvas

PuSh International Performing Arts Festival and Small Stage are teaming up to bring back Dances for a Small Stage, a critically acclaimed and wildly popular Vancouver institution, on February 4 and 5 at Please! Beverage Co.—and this time, it’s bolder and braver than ever.

This immersive experience draws on the nuances of Weimar Cabaret and a dynamic range of styles for a showcase of innovative new works by local, national, and international dance artists. With 12 short pieces in store, movement ranges from ballet to jazz, contemporary to contortion, flamenco to performance art, burlesque to musical theatre, and beyond.

Expect edge-of-your-seat works with power, precision, and exuberance in a unique setting designed to transport viewers to a thrilling realm. Each piece is just five to seven minutes long and unfolds on the company’s signature 10-by-12-foot stage, which turns minimal space into a magical canvas.

To purchase tickets and learn more, visit Small Stage.

Post sponsored by Small Stage.

Featured

Dance review: Love in all its complexity at Ballet BC’s season-closing DUSK

Powerful dancing across the board in Medhi Walerski’s striking Last light; Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber’s straight-from-the-heart Obsidian; and Marco Goecke’s vibrating Woke Up Blind

Hong Kong Exile tunes into celestial stories at the Vancouver Art Gallery, May 15

As part of Asian Heritage Month, the gallery’s first performers-in-residence use old-school radios and headlamps in a new piece that fuses dance, multimedia, and theatre

Eric Cheung receives Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award, while Vanessa Goodman wins Isadora Award

The Dance Centre prizes carry $5,000 in funding for each artist

At The Dance Centre's Open Stage, Punit Singh's SubHuman investigates self-perception

Fifth edition of uncurated program provides a welcoming space for artist’s first dance-theatre piece

Indian Summer Festival unveils dance, sarod music, and comedy shows for July event

Tickets on sale today for a Simran Sachar–Justine A. Chambers choreographic collab, comedian Kiran Deol, and Indian classical music star Alam Khan

Live piano and raw love, as duo Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber craft their first premiere at Ballet BC's DUSK

Batsheva Dance Company alumni’s fascinating journey around the globe and onscreen finally brings them to Vancouver with Obsidian

Dance review: Waking nightmares and hallucinatory scenes haunt Peeping Tom's Diptych

In a surreal and outstanding conclusion to the DanceHouse season, the Belgian company warps time and gravity, toying inventively with cinematic tropes

Arts Umbrella Dance Company highlights 2025 graduates in Season Finale, May 22 to 24

Vancouver Playhouse performances feature choreography by Crystal Pite, Marco Goecke, Sharon Eyal, and more

Screenings, stairway dance installations, and more, as city celebrates International Dance Day, April 29

New Works hosts screenings, while the Dance Centre presents performances by the likes of Vanessa Goodman, Dance//Novella, and Lesley Telford

Dance artist Kaili Che wins Louise Bentall Biennial Award for Emerging British Columbia Choreographers

Ashvini Sundaram takes second place in prize presented by The Hawthorne Foundation and DanceHouse

Agathe and Adrien flip and balance gender roles in N.Ormes, April 24 to 27

At The Cultch’s Warrior Festival, circus performers alternate between base and flyer, dismantling long-standing assumptions

The Dance Centre celebrates International Dance Day in Vancouver, April 27 and 29

Program features Vanessa Goodman/Action at a Distance, Dance//Novella, Karen Jamieson Dance, and more

Belgium's Peeping Tom draws on cinematic artistry, memories, and nightmares for Diptych

Olivier Award–winning dance-theatre troupe blends physically pummelling choreography with surreal worlds that blur reality and fantasy

Stir Q&A: In James Kudelka's Half an Hour of Our Time, two dancers shift through heavy silence

Former National Ballet of Canada artistic director reflects on his 2008 duet as Plastic Orchid Factory gears up to present its revival

Ballet BC brings DUSK to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, May 8 to 10

Program includes a new creation from a sought-after choreographic duo, a remount of an acclaimed work, and a world premiere from Medhi Walerski

Kidd Pivot's Assembly Hall wins Best New Dance Production prize at U.K.'s prestigious Olivier Awards

Vancouver choreogapher Crystal Pite has won previous Oliviers for Revisor, Betroffenheit, and Flight Path

Hubert Hazebroucq and Doulce Mémoire revive 15th- and 16th-century performance art in Now, Let Us Dance!, April 12

Early Music Vancouver program features a piffari, or wind band, accompanied by the early dances of French and Italian court festivities

Taiwan's Hung Dance, Australia's Stephanie Lake Company, and more as DanceHouse unveils 2025-26 season

Offerings also include Hungary’s circus-dance company Recirquel, as well as Robert Lepage and Guillaume Côté’s visually striking take on Shakespeare’s Hamlet