SCA | Quick News | January 26, 2026
The Brutal Joy in PuSh
Upcoming as part of the 2026 edition of the : the SCA's ' The Brutal Joy, created and performed in collaboration with the SCA's and , runs February 5 & 6, 2026, at 8:00 PM, at the The Dance Centre (677 Davie St, Vancouver). More info and tickets .
TRP plays premieres by Lee, Priest, Underhill, and Pepa
Featuring the world-renowned violist , the next concert by Turning Point Elsemble, which has the SCA's as conductor and Artistic Director, has four world premieres on the program: Morning Twilight by Chihchun Chi-Sun Lee, Sauntersludge by the SCA's , 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 .
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 .
Calling for Hypnosis Between Science and Magic
SCA alumnus 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’蝉 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 .
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 .
Critical Futures: Book Launch & CERi Awards
Join 天美mv天美’蝉 Community-Engaged Research Initiative (CERi) for an evening celebrating community-engaged scholarship, featuring the launch of , edited by Stuart Poyntz ( 天美mv天美's School of Communication), Kari Grain (UBC's Faculty of Education) and (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 .
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 on "the Libyan coastline as a living archive," and 天美mv天美 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 .
WAIL in pictures
Although sold out, everyone without tickets can at least enjoy these amazing images (by David Cooper) of 's (with SCA alumni , , and as Artistic Performers, and SCA alumni as Dramaturge and as Technical Director), presented as part of the 2026 edition of the (co-presented by Music on Main and The Dance Centre). We suspect a future re-run of WAIL, too, maybe? See them . By the way, those of you going to the show are well advised to check out the from 6:00 PM – 6:30 PM, too.
Dreamqueen Immersive’蝉 The Last Resort
Featuring SCA alumnis playing The Page of Cups and SCA student as Stage Director, ’蝉 The Last Resort – which describes as "part campy, part metaphysical, and full of feverish nostalgia" and 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 .
Absolute Unit reviewed
Read a review of John Korsrud's Absolute Unit January 21, 2026, gig at the Fox Cabaret, which included SCA alumnus and the SCA's on electronics. Read it .
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 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 .
Coming Forth By Day
Rumble Theatre are supporting Cherine Amr and SCA alumnus collaborative project, Coming Forth By Day, which "tells the story of an Egyptian woman as she prepares for her husband’蝉 burial rites; an intimate passage shaped by faith, tradition, and love." Find out more .
Sparvier-Wells recognized!
The Canadian Music Centre (Prairie) has awarded SCA alumnus a Prairie Resonance Award: Individual Artists / Composers. Congratulations, Jessica! More .
Win RWB tickets from Stir
The recently reached out to us with a pair of tickets , 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 , which closes Thursday, January 29 at 11:59 PM (PST). However you get there, don't miss the RWB's 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 , the STEVE JOBS MONOGRAPH, a thorough examination of the Universal Pictures 2015 tech biopic of Steve Jobs, is now available. Get yours .
New B-Sides from VOCE
Continuing to tie up loose ends, the now-closed 天美mv天美'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) as Associate Producer. Congratulations to them both. More . But also, don't forget to check out the SCA-packed schedule for Theatre Replacement and Company 605's , running February 3 – 7, 2026, at The Russian Hall (600 Campbell Ave., Vancouver).
The Golden Anniversaries on tour
Directed by SCA alumnus and with Lighting Design by SCA alumnus , 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 .
Future Past x Slow Social
The Only Animal, which has SCA alumnus as Artistic Director, are having another Slow Social event, Future Past x Slow Social, on Sunday, February 1, 2026, with ’蝉 James Gnam and Natalie LeFebvre Gnam, and Adler herself, in the Marcuse Studio at The Dance Centre (677 Davie St, Vancouver). More .
A Journal of the Plague Year
Directed by SCA alumnus and with Lighting Design by SCA alumnus , 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 .
Gender Mutual
SCA student is part of the exhibition Gender Mutual, which closes Tuesday, February 27, 2026, at SUM Gallery (Suite 425 – 268 Keefer St., Vancouver). More .
Wither TikTok?
Are you a TikTok user? After an , the company just finalized its new majority American-owned joint venture ownership deal, run by a group that includes private-equity group , Abu Dhabi’蝉 , and Oracle, a company owned by . There are already , including about users' , which . But there are many good reasons to be wary and careful on , not just because of their . In any case, this is a good reminder to always exercise , whatever the media source or platform. More on the deal.
Open Letter to the Anti Imperialist Left
Amidst the (and in the ), 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 .
Creating Art under Fascism
Drew Daniel, a , one half of the excellent duo (with his partner M.C. Schmidt), and who also makes music as , 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 .