SCA | Quick News | January 26, 2026
The Brutal Joy in PuSh
Upcoming as part of the 2026 edition of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival: the SCA's Justine A. Chambers' The Brutal Joy, created and performed in collaboration with the SCA's Mauricio Pauly and James Proudfoot, runs February 5 & 6, 2026, at 8:00 PM, at the The Dance Centre (677 Davie St, Vancouver). More info and 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.
Bajakian on Making Sense of Maqam
Aram Bajakian, a SCA Sessional Instructor in our Music & Sound area, is giving a talk, "Making Sense of Maqam: Reclaiming Genocided Lineages Through Translocational Pedagogies," on January 30, 2026, at 3:30 PM, in Room 462 of the UBC School of Music building (6361 Memorial Rd, Vancouver). Find out more about Bajakian and his music HERE.
Calling for Hypnosis Between Science and Magic
SCA alumnus Deborah Edmeades and Sol Hashemiare co-chairing a panel, "Hypnosis Between Science and Magic," that's part of the online conference, Creative Practices and Bridging the Invisible, running October 15 – 17, 2026, presented by The Department of Art + Art History and The Center for the Study of Ideas and Practices at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, in co-sponsorship with The Center for Advanced Studies in Erlangen, Germany, The University of Exeter’s Centre for Magic and Esotericism, and Societas Magica. If you'd like to participate in Edmeades and Hashemiare's panel, the deadline is for proposals is March 2, 2026. More HERE.
Let the kids get live!
According to Resident Advisor, Vancouver authorities are intensifying inspections of unlicensed nightlife events." Sigh.... Yes, safety is important, obviously. But in a city as unfordable as ours that's also very limited in terms of viable small-scale venues, how about reducing bureaucracy and costs instead of fun-killing policing? Here's a better starting point: get creative to help let events happen! More HERE.
Critical Futures: Book Launch & CERi Awards
Join SFU’s Community-Engaged Research Initiative (CERi) for an evening celebrating community-engaged scholarship, featuring the launch of Critical Futures: Community-Engaged Research in a Time of Crisis and Social Transformation, edited by Stuart Poyntz (SFU's School of Communication), Kari Grain (UBC's Faculty of Education) and Am Johal (deep friend of the SCA), and the presentation of the 2025 CERi Community-Engaged Research Awards, on February 11, 2026, at 5:00 PM, in the Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre (2nd Floor) here at the School for the Contemporary Arts (149 W. Hastings St, Vancouver). More HERE.
Test Kitchen with Zuhair and Panchasi
The Gibson Art Museum's next Test Kitchen event on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, at 12:00 PM, includes SCA MA student Blqees Zuhair on "the Libyan coastline as a living archive," and SFU History's Roxanne Panchasi on "reading archival images of French atomic testing in Algeria." As always, the Gibson says: "All are welcome, bring your lunch!" More HERE.
WAIL in pictures
Although sold out, everyone without tickets can at least enjoy these amazing images (by David Cooper) of Vanessa Goodman / Action at a Distance's WAIL (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), presented as part of the 2026 edition of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival (co-presented by Music on Main and The Dance Centre). We suspect a future re-run of WAIL, too, maybe? See them HERE. By the way, those of you going to the show are well advised to check out the action in the stairwell from 6:00 PM – 6:30 PM, too.
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.
Absolute Unit reviewed
Read a review of John Korsrud's Absolute Unit January 21, 2026, gig at the Fox Cabaret, which included SCA alumnus Aysha Dulong and the SCA's Stefan Smulovitz on electronics. Read it HERE.
My Name is Karen
Rumble Theatre are presenting a free work-in-progress reading of Karen Heis' My Name is Karen, "a satirical examination of the 'Karen meme'," produced by SCA alumnus June Fukumura and Paige Louter, on February 20, 2026, at 7:30 PM, at Progress Lab (1422 William St., Vancouver), which includes a Q&A with Heis, Fukumura, and Louter. More HERE.
Coming Forth By Day
Rumble Theatre are supporting Cherine Amr and SCA alumnus David Mesiha collaborative project, Coming Forth By Day, which "tells the story of an Egyptian woman as she prepares for her husband’s burial rites; an intimate passage shaped by faith, tradition, and love." Find out more HERE.
Sparvier-Wells recognized!
The Canadian Music Centre (Prairie) has awarded SCA alumnus Virginia Jessica Sparvier-Wells a Prairie Resonance Award: Individual Artists / Composers. Congratulations, Jessica! More HERE.
Win RWB tickets from Stir
The Royal Winnipeg Ballet recently reached out to us with a pair of tickets to give away to our students, which were quickly snapped up. Renowned as they are, this was no surprise. Now's your chance to win some, too, via this giveaway by Stir Vancouver, which closes Thursday, January 29 at 11:59 PM (PST). However you get there, don't miss the RWB's Carmina Burana and T’əl: The Wild Man of the Woods on February 9 & 10, 2026, at 7:30 PM, at The Centre (777 Homer St., Vancouver).
STEVE JOBS MONOGRAPH
Edited by B.C. Wallin and featuring an essay by SCA alumnus Devan Scott, the STEVE JOBS MONOGRAPH, a thorough examination of the Universal Pictures 2015 tech biopic of Steve Jobs, is now available. Get yours HERE.
New B-Sides from VOCE
Continuing to tie up loose ends, the now-closed SFU's Vancity Office of Community Engagement have posted two new "B-Sides" episodes of their podcast, Below the Radar: B-Side, Track 13: Lost Days, Endless Nights — with Andrew Witt and B-Side, Track 14: Of Memory and Association — with Philip Hoffman.
Sum stays!
Theatre Replacement, which has SCA alumnus Maiko Yamamoto as Artistic Director, are welcoming Kyle Loven as their new Artistic Producer, as well as one-time Theatre Replacement Collaborating Artist (and SCA alumnus) Amanda Sum as Associate Producer. Congratulations to them both. More HERE. But also, don't forget to check out the SCA-packed schedule for Theatre Replacement and Company 605's HOLD ON LET GO 2026, running February 3 – 7, 2026, at The Russian Hall (600 Campbell Ave., Vancouver).
The Golden Anniversaries on tour
Directed by SCA alumnus Arthi Chandra and with Lighting Design by SCA alumnus Alexandra Caprara, the Arts Club Theatre Company's presentation of Mark Crawford's The Golden Anniversaries (which ran January 22–February 15, 2026, at the Granville Island Stage) is heading on a BC tour from February 17 – April 12, 2026. More HERE.
Future Past x Slow Social
The Only Animal, which has SCA alumnus Barbara Adler as Artistic Director, are having another Slow Social event, Future Past x Slow Social, on Sunday, February 1, 2026, with The Plastic Orchid Factory’s James Gnam and Natalie LeFebvre Gnam, and Adler herself, in the Marcuse Studio at The Dance Centre (677 Davie St, Vancouver). More HERE.
A Journal of the Plague Year
Directed by SCA alumnus Derek Chan 陳嘉昊 and with Lighting Design by SCA alumnus Jonathan Kim, our friends at Langara's Studio 58 (100 West 49th Ave., Vancouver) are presenting A Journal of the Plague Year by Terayama Shūji with Kishida Rio, running February 5 – 15, 2026, at 7:30 PM (with a few 2:00 PM shows). More HERE.
Gender Mutual
SCA student Liam Murley is part of the exhibition Gender Mutual, which closes Tuesday, February 27, 2026, at SUM Gallery (Suite 425 – 268 Keefer St., Vancouver). More HERE.
Wither TikTok?
Are you a TikTok user? After an intervention by US President Donald Trump, the company just finalized its new majority American-owned joint venture ownership deal, run by a group that includes private-equity group Silver Lake, Abu Dhabi’s MGX, and Oracle, a company owned by billionaire Trump supporter Larry Ellison. There are already new concerns about privacy and data collection, including about users' precise GPS coordinates, which may be overblown. But there are many good reasons to be wary and careful on social media platforms, not just because of their ownership. In any case, this is a good reminder to always exercise critical media literacy, whatever the media source or platform. More HERE on the deal.
Open Letter to the Anti Imperialist Left
Amidst the ongoing violent repression in Iran (and many other horrible situations in the world), the independent writer Sirantos Fotopoulos shared an intentionally provocative "Open Letter to the Anti Imperialist Left" on the online journal &&&. Addressed specifically (but certainly not only) to "those on the Left who speak fluently of genocide, apartheid, and colonial domination," Fotopoulos argues that "a critique of imperialism that refuses to analyze non-Western authoritarianism becomes analytically incoherent." Aiming at some key shibboleths of "anti-imperialist thought" and the politics of power, Fotopoulos' challenging take is worth reading. Read it HERE.
Creating Art under Fascism
Drew Daniel, a Professor in the English Department at Johns Hopkins University, one half of the excellent duo Matmos (with his partner M.C. Schmidt), and who also makes music as The Soft Pink Truth, has shared an unfortunately very timely and resonant essay about how to remain creative amidst the "backdrop of a global slide into genocide and fascism" for the online music magazine The Quietus. Read it HERE.