PuSh International Performing Arts Festival announces departure of Jason Dubois from leadership team
Organization’s former managing director had led PuSh with Gabrielle Martin and Margo Kane
THE PUSH INTERNATIONAL Performing Arts Festival has announced that Jason Dubois will be leaving the organization’s collaborative leadership team after about two-and-a-half years.
Dubois joined the PuSh staff in October 2019 as managing director, overseeing the 2020 fest that closed three weeks before lockdown began. In the past year, he took part in the organization’s structural overhaul, becoming part of a three-person collaborative leadership team that includes Gabrielle Martin and Margo Kane.
Dubois is an arts manager who has been working in performing arts creation, presentation, and touring for more than 20 years. Among other work, he has served as production and tour manager for Kidd Pivot, Wen Wei Dance, Lola Dance, The Holy Body Tattoo, and others. He was the executive director of Dance Victoria, producing director for the Canada Dance Festival 2016 and 2017, festival manager for the National Arts Centre’s Canada Scene, production manager for Vancouver New Music, and associate producer for the Dance Centre’s Dance In Vancouver.
“Jason's dedication to PuSh, and its mandate to present exemplary arts practice, has been greatly appreciated,” board president Camyar Chai said in the press announcement today. “As a leader in the organization, he showed great resilience through challenging times. His contributions have been integral to the organization and the transition it is going through. His work will have a lasting effect on the ongoing success of the Festival.”
Dubois helped to oversee a well-attended 2022 festival of in-person shows this winter.
Janet Smith is an award-winning arts journalist who has spent more than two decades immersed in Vancouver’s dance, screen, design, theatre, music, opera, and gallery scenes. She sits on the Vancouver Film Critics’ Circle.
Gail Johnson is a Vancouver-based journalist who has earned local and national nominations and awards for her work. She is a certified Gladue Report writer via Indigenous Perspectives Society in partnership with Royal Roads University and is a member of a judging panel for top Vancouver restaurants.
Alexander Varty is a senior West Coast journalist specializing in cultural reporting of all kinds. An active musician on several instruments, he has also worked as an event producer in the cultural community. In his spare time, Alex is a keen ocean swimmer, record collector, amateur mycologist, and cook.
Emily Lyth is a Vancouver-based writer and editor who graduated from Langara College’s Journalism program. Her decade of dance training and passion for all things food-related are the foundation of her love for telling arts, culture, and community stories.
Jessica Werb is an award-winning writer, copy editor, and communications consultant based in Vancouver. When she’s not covering the arts or debating the Oxford comma, you can often find her playing the cello.
Adrian Mack writes about popular culture from his impregnable compound on Salt Spring Island.
Angie Rico (she/her) is a Mexican-born cultural worker, currently living and working in so-called Vancouver. She is a graduate from Emily Carr University and past participant of Neworld Theatre’s Critical Futures training program. She's the recipient of the 2023 Max Wyman Mentee Award in Critical Writing. Her writing covers film, visual arts, and theatre.
Vince Kanasoot is a former professional dancer and musical theatre actor who performed for Princess Cruises and Royal Caribbean, as well as in musicals across Canada. He left the stage to pursue his love for writing, and now works full time in corporate communications, while also working on his first novel. Follow his adventures on Instagram @VanCityVince.
Emma Jeffrey (she/her) is a Métis and Irish-Canadian writer and editor raised in Vancouver on the unceded territory of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, xʷməθkʷəjˀəm, and səlilwətaɬ Nations. She is a member of the Indigenous Brilliance Literary Collective, an Arts and Culture Journalist for Stir Magazine, and former Associate Editor of Digital Projects at The Capilano Review. She holds a diploma in Arts and Entertainment Management at Capilano University.
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