SCA | Quick News | January 19, 2026
Dreamqueen Immersive’s The Last Resort
Featuring SCA alumnis Emma Ciprian playing The Page of Cups and SCA student Sara van Gaalen as Stage Director, Dreamqueen Immersive’s The Last Resort – which Stir describes as "part campy, part metaphysical, and full of feverish nostalgia" and The Georgia Straight describes as a "cult-favourite end-of-a-lifetime experience ... that leans fully into camp, mystery and a little existential side-eye" – is running on four Sundays (1, 8, 15, and 22) in February, 2026, with performances at 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM, plus with two special "Friday the 13th themed" shows at 7:00 PM (The Eerie Show) and midnight (The Spicy Show), at The Waldorf (1489 E. Hastings St., Vancouver). Here's the pitch from Dreamqueen Immersive's website: "The Last Resort is a three-part indoor promenade performance and experience lasting 2-3 hours depending on your time of check-in. Guests embark upon an individual journey throughout the resort. Following the final moment of the performance guests are welcome to stay on at the Hereafter Bar for an hour of mingling with the dead and photographing the afterlife to prove its existence to your friends and family. All tickets include TWO COCKTAILS or THREE MOCKTAILS!" They also note that "Guests are encouraged to arrive early for a special pre-show experience beginning one hour before each performance, with a 30-minute post-show experience to follow. Entry is through the Tiki Bar." And if you'd like to sink even further into the immersion, "Guests are encouraged to wear comfortable shoes and dress for the 1971 cruise they never got to complete." Get your tickets HERE.
TRP plays premieres by Lee, Priest, Underhill, and Pepa
Featuring the world-renowned violist Rivka Golani, the next concert by Turning Point Elsemble, which has the SCA's Owen Underhill as conductor and Artistic Director, has four world premieres on the program: Morning Twilight by Chihchun Chi-Sun Lee, Sauntersludge by the SCA's Eldritch Priest, Viola Concerto by Underhill himself, and Musical Offering No. 2 by Michael Pepa. With shows at the Annex Theatre (823 Seymour St, Vancouver) on Saturday, February 21, at 7:30 PM, and Sunday, February 22, at 2:30 PM, tickets are available now HERE.
Chambers on episode 50
The SCA's Justine A. Chambers is the guest on the 50th episode of The Dance Centre Podcast. Topics include "teaching, fashion, scores, working with galleries, and the origins and family ties in Justine's work, The Brutal Joy," and more. Listen HERE.
Daniel talks dance
The SCA's Henry Daniel is "talking dance" and having a "local launch" of his book, Re-choreographing Cortical & Cartographic Maps: Going West to Find East Going East to Find West (Intellect, 2022), on Saturday, January 3, 2026, at 6:00 PM, at The Cloth (24 Erthig Road, Belmont, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago), presented by the Contemporary Choreographers' Collective in collaboration by Vulgar Fraction and The Cloth. More HERE.
Vickers in The Chromophiliacs
SCA alumnus Charlene Vickers is part of the exhibition The Chromophiliacs, which opens Saturday, January 24, 2026, from 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM, and runs to April 4, at the Richmond Art Gallery (7700 Minoru Gate, Richmond). More HERE.
HOLD ON LET GO 2026
Theatre Replacement's HOLD ON LET GO, running February 3 – 7, 2026, at the Russian Hall (600 Campbell Ave., Vancouver), includes the SCA's Justine A. Chambers and SCA alumni Lucien Durey, Anjela Magpantay (working with SCA alumni Alexandra Caprara, Nancy Tam, and Bernice Paet), ellis cheadle (working with SCA alumni Keely O'Brien, Marc Arboleda, and Aryo Khakpour), Maiko Yamamoto, Conor Wylie (working with SCA alumni Davey Samuel Calderon, Keely O'Brien, Nancy Tam, and Aryo Khakpour), Dylan Robinson, and the SCA's Mauricio Pauly. See the whole, very excellent lineup HERE.
Dance Central: Volume 40 / Issue 3
The latest issue of Dance Central includes an interview by SCA alumnus Rachel Silver Maddock with SCA alumnus Deanna Peters, who's the Artistic Director of the Vancouver International Dance Festival (VIDF), and a profile of Eric Cheung, the 2025 recipient of The Dance Centre’s Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award, by FCAT's Tessa Perkins Deneault.
Tablao Triana Flamenco
Tablao Triana Flamenco, featuring SCA alumnus Jhoely Triana, are performing Friday, January 23, 2026, at 7:30 PM (doors: 6:45 PM), at the Anza Club (3 W. 8 Ave., Vancouver). More HERE.
Hill in the collection
Unit 17 shared that SCA alumnus Gabriellel Hirondelle Hill's three 2017 works Be Long, Preempt, and The Highest and Best Use, have been acquired by the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery for their permanent collection.
Stir's PuSh picks
Noting that WAIL by SCA alumnus Vanessa Goodman / Action at a Distance (with SCA alumni Anya Saugstad, Shion Skye Carter, and Marisa Gold as Artistic Performers, and SCA alumni Fay Nass as Dramaturge and Jack Chipman as Technical Director), is sold out (watch this short behind-the-scenes video about WAIL on co-presenter Music on Main's Instagram for a sample), Stir recommend five other "shows to startle and spellbind at PuSh International Performing Arts Festival," including Cherish Menzo's Jezebel, Akpik Theatre / Theaturtle's Kiuryaq, Lara Kramer's Remember that time we met in the future? (which is in the Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre here at the School for the Contemporary Arts (149 W. Hastings St., Vancouver), co-presented with Matriarchs Uprising), Plastic Orchid Factory's Catching Up to the Future of Our Past (which also has SCA alumnus Jack Chipman working several behind-the-scenes jobs), and Tyson Houseman's askîwan. Read more HERE and get links to the shows.
Sample Carry the One
SCA alumnus Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg shared a clip of Carry the One, produced as her graduating MFA project, on her Instagram. See it HERE. Carry the One is running on Wednesday, January 28 at 4:30 PM and Friday, January 30 at 6:00 PM, at Progress Lab (1422 William St., Vancouver). Get tickets HERE.
interplay_2026 presents The Border
interplay_2026, which has SCA alumnus Caroline Chien-MacCaull as Artistic Producer, is presenting the premiere screening of Ying Wang's The Border on January 24, 2026, at 12:00 PM, at the Cinematheque (1131 Howe St, Vancouver). Get tickets HERE.
MENA Film Festival
The always thoughtful Am Johal was the speaker for the opening night of the MENA Film Festival, which runs January 15 – 23, 2026. See the festival's program HERE.
Nieto's Butoh classes
SCA alumnus Salome Nieto is leading Butoh classes on Wednesdays from 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM and Saturdays from 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM at KW Studios (111 W. Hastings St, Vancouver). More HERE.
The World’s Best County Fair
SCA alumnus Santi Henderson's Love and Country County Fair (or is it The World’s Best County Fair?) is coming back for its third run at The Russian Hall (600 Campbell Ave, Vancouver) from February 12-14, 2026. Get tickets HERE.
Dulong and Smulovitz in the Absolute Unit
SCA alumnus Aysha Dulong and the SCA's Stefan Smulovitz are performing as part of the "unpredictable 18-piece spectral post-lounge orchestra" Absolute Unit on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, at 8:00 PM (doors at 7:00 PM), at the Fox Cabaret (2321 Main St, Vancouver), presented by the Hard Rubber Orchestra. Get tickets HERE.
Bethlehem for Office mag
SCA alumnus Bethlehem Mulat, who recently released her debut EP, Obsessing and Confessing, shared a Q&A and pictorial with Office magazine. See it HERE.
Test Kitchen at the Gibson
The latest edition of Test Kitchen, "an informal, interdisciplinary public forum where SFU graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty share their work publicly," at the Gibson Art Museum (SFU Burnaby) features Nat Begg on "urban salvage as play in East Vancouver" and Naomi Keenan O’Shea on "Dublin’s gendered regimes of property on the lands of High Park." Bring your lunch and join them on Wednesday January 21, 2026, at 12:00 PM in the Gibson’s Forum. More HERE.
withintensions calling for truth
withintensions, the artist-run monthly publication founded by SCA alumni Opal McLean, Francisco Berlanga, and Yihk Qu (Natalie) Chan, is calling for submissions for their next issue on the theme of Truth, with a deadline of January 23, 2026. Find out how to submit HERE.
VIDF 2026 schedule is sharing up
With SCA alumnus Deanna Peters as Artistic Director, the Vancouver International Dance Festival (VIDF), runs March 4 – 14, 2026, with offsite performances and outreach events from February 28 – March 15, includes performances by Chimerik 似不像 (with SCA alumni Caroline and Sammy Chien-MacCaull as Co-Artistic Directors), SCA alumnus Vanessa Goodman / Action at a Distance, SCA alumnus Jeanette Kotowich, SCA MFA student Mohammadreza (Momo) Akrami (in two different lineups). See the full (somewhat working) schedule HERE.
Oxfam’s annual survey of global inequality
Oxfam released their latest survey of global inequality, and, as the Guardian summarizes, "the number of billionaires surpassed 3,000 for the first time during 2025" and their "collective wealth grew by 81%, or $8.2tn," since 2020, a total that Oxfam estimates "would be enough to eradicate global poverty 26 times over." Download it HERE.
The No More Loopholes Act: Canada's Arms Exports and Human Rights Violation
The Centre for Comparative Muslim Studies (CCMS) at SFU is presenting The No More Loopholes Act: Canada's Arms Exports and Human Rights Violation, a free panel discussion with Adel Iskandar (Director, CCMS) Jenny Kwan (NDP MP, Vancouver-East), Alex Neve (Former Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada and 2025 Massey Lecturer), and Rachel Small (World Without War), with Am Johal as the moderator, on January 30, 2026, from 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM, in Room 2270 at SFU Harbour Centre (515 W. Hastings St., Vancouver). More HERE.
Steady as You 定定仔行
The Jade Music Festival shared a teaser video and links to a set of other videos on their Instagram about their "JMF Cross Cultural Colab," Steady as You 定定仔行, featuring SCA student Vanessa Lefan. See it (and find the links) HERE.
Wylie's VPL programming
SCA alumnus Ben Wylie has been programming some great music events at the Vancouver Public Library's Central location (350 W Georgia St, Vancouver), including a "Closing Time" session with Meredith Bates on Friday, January 23, 2026, from 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM (more HERE), and another upcoming "Closing Time" session with SCA alumnus Jean Brazeau on Friday, February 20, 2026, from 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM (more HERE). See all of the VPL's live music events HERE.
Mascall Dance's Somatic Camp 2026
Mascall Dance's Somatic Camp 2026, featuring Jennifer Mascall, Alexa Solveig Mardon, and Francesca Frewer, runs February 2 – 7, 2026, from 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM at Left of Main (211 Keefer St., Vancouver). More HERE.
Gamelan Bike Bike & Piu
Multidisciplinary vocalist and producer Piu and Gamelan Bike Bike, which includes SCA PhD student George Rahi, are playing an Indonesia Tour Fundraiser Concert on January 24, 2026, at 7:30 PM at Granville Island's Revue Stage (1601 Johnston St, Vancouver), presented by Publik Secrets. Get tickets HERE.