Sun Room
from Air North, Yukon’s Airline
January 5-28, mornings and evenings
At the Old Firehall – 1105 Front St
Room design by Wish Factory’s Tara Kolla
Sun by Susie Anne Bartsch
New this year! One booking per person please.
FAQ
Q: Do my friends I’m bringing need to book too?
A: No! Your booking is enough!
Q: Will it just be me? Us?
A: Yes! Except for the festival staff at the venue.
Q: Why just one booking per person?
A: We want as many people as possible to get a chance at the Sun Room and last year it filled up very quickly. We will cancel additional bookings.
Q: Can I book the Sun Room for meetings and get togethers outside the public times?
A: Yes, we’ve got some times available just for that! Email julia@pivotyukon.ca
Three more days added - Jan 26-28!
The Pivot Festival
Every January in Downtown Whitehorse, Yukon
Every January, when darkness covers the Yukon for 18 hours a day, Pivot Theatre lights up the Whitehorse riverfront. The Pivot Festival brings together theatre, music, comedy, poetry, fire, and stories — indoors and out — for one delightful month. Come for the Sun Room. Stay for the connections.
Pics from the 2026 Festival!
Special Presentations at the Old Firehall
Secret Ingredients
Friday - Sunday, January 23-25
SOLD OUT!
A tasty and moving show from Vancouver’s Keely O’Brien that includes cake!
Lady Pisces and the Salty Sailors
Friday - Sunday, January 16-17
A whimsical and uplifting original musical theatre act from Whitehorse’s Jordan Hope Kaltenbruner, Hannah Mazurek, and Selina Heyligers-Hare.
Festival Highlights
The Sun Room, from Air North, Yukon's Airline
Weekdays and by appointment at the Old Firehall.
Poetry Crawl – Tuesday January 6 At the Old Firehall. MOVED INSIDE!
Curated by Peter Jickling. By donation at the door
Sun Room for Kids Sunday January 11 at the Old Firehall.
With Claire Ness and friends! By donation at the door
Short Works for Quiet Nights – Friday January 9 at the Old Firehall
Curated with Yukon Words.
Return – Tuesday January 13 at Yukon Artists at Work
Stories and music from Cai Krikorian and Nicole Bauberger.
A Room for… Crafting, Gaming, Singing – Thursdays at the Old Firehall
Enjoy an evening of creative activities in the Sun Room!
Choreography for our Ancestors – January 19-22, 12noon-1pm
A lunch time installation by Erin Cham Corbett at Main and 7th.
Burn Things! – Tuesday January 20 at Shipyards Park
Lighting up the night with Yukon Circus Society and more! By donation at the door
5 years of the Pivot Festival via Erik Pinkerton Photography
2025
2024
2023
2020
SPECIAL PRESENTATION
LARRY
A Fringe hit from Vancouver’s Candy Roberts comes to Whitehorse.
January 30 - February 1 7pm at the Old Fire Hall
BUY TICKETS
Award-winning Roberts assumes her alter ego in this daring and comedic piece about one dude’s hilarious attempt at self-improvement. With rock and roll, a little life-coaching, and a dip into his own psyche, LARRY uncovers a little more than anyone expected.
Culled lovingly from the male archetypes that surrounded her during her upbringing, LARRY helps Candy compassionately examine the limitations of the gender binary, aging as a woman in society, and the complexities of being human.
This show is for anyone who is, or knows a woman. Gear-down Big-Rig, you just might bust a gut and shed a tear!
Many events are free but/and sold out! Yippee!
There are waiting lists on Eventbrite for each event.
For outdoor events like the Poetry Crawl and Burn Things – it’s ok to just show up!
If you know you can’t attend, please cancel through Eventbrite to release the tickets to folks on the waitlist.
Tickets will be released at show time and seats given to waitlist patrons who are there.
Pivot Day by Day
Summary Block
Pivot returns to Downtown Whitehorse for a January of embracing the dark and stepping into the light for music, stories, laughs, and friends.
SPECIAL PERFORMANCES
Look Up
Wednesday Evenings 6pm, 7pm, 8pm
Saturday Mornings 10am, 11am and noon
January 8,11,15 and 18 at the Old Fire Hall
From Whitehorse’s Open Pit Theatre. A series of intimate short performances combining live visual animation, storytelling and a foley soundscape. Bringing us back to the simple magic of storytelling, everything we see is analog and happening right then and there. There will be no “play” button to hit, and no computers in sight.
New This Year
Pick a Price! This year, you choose a ticket price between $15 and $50, with the same experience for all. We’re committed to keeping Pivot accessible and delightful. Many events are donation-based, but rising costs mean your support matters more than ever. If you can pay a bit more, you’ll help us sustain our work and keep events affordable for everyone. Thank you!
Annual Traditions
The Sun Room from Air North,Yukon's Airline – Journey to an oasis without leaving downtown. Tara Kolla creates a magical space to gather. Weekday morning and evenings, January 6-24 at the Old Fire Hall
A few more slots have opened! And check back for cancellations!
SUNROOM FOR KIDS hosted by Claire the Clown – Bring the little one’s to the Sun Room for Saturday afternoon fun. Saturday January 11 & 18 2pm Donations at the door!
Saturday JANUARY 11
2 to 2:15pm - Storytime with the Yukon Literacy Coalition
2:15 to 3pm - Drag storytime with Maddy Warbucks
3 to 4pm - Cardboard Garden craft with Nicole Bauberger, accompanied by Logan Bennett on piano
4 to 5pm - Dance Party with DJ Katabatik
Saturday JANUARY 18
2 to 2:15pm - Storytime with the Yukon Literacy Coalition
2:15 to 3pm - Music with Remy Rodden
3 to 4pm - Cardboard Monster craft with Nicole Bauberger, accompanied by Logan Bennett on piano
4 to 5pm - Dance party with DJ Katabatik and your cardboard monsters
Poetry Crawl – A walk along the riverfront with hot chocolate and stops for poems from Yukon poets. Tuesday January 14 7pm Starting at the Old Fire Hall Register by Donation!
Burn Things – Fire in the snow! Starting at Shipyards we light up for the new year. Tuesday January 21 7pm at Shipyards Park By Donation!
Short Works for Quiet Nights – A night of writers, storytellers and quieter musicians. With Yukon Words. Friday January 17th 7pm at the Old Fire Hall BUY TICKETS!
Short Works for Loud Nights – A night of louder performer and musicians. With Music Yukon. Friday January 24th 7pm at the Old Fire Hall BUY TICKETS!
NAKAI PRESENTS
LARRY
Thursday - Saturday January 30 - February 1, 2025 7pm.
Conceived, Written and Performed by: Candy Roberts
Director, Dramaturge, and Clown Coach: Sonia Norris
Additional Clown Coaching: Deanna Fleysher
60 minutes
18+ recommended, Nudity, Language, Strobe, Haze, Alcohol
LARRY Biographies
Candy Roberts – Writer and Performer
Candy Roberts is a Canadian Performance artist and fifth-generation European-Canadian settler based in unceded Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Səlílwətaɬ(Tsleil-Waututh), and xwməθkwəyəm (Musqueam) territories, also known as Vancouver. Her original works encompass physical theatre, music, and clown to investigate the humor and heartbreak of our social and human conditions. She is a somatic practitioner and an avid researcher of CREATIVITY, and the connections between self-expression, mental health, and community. Candy tours internationally with her award-winning solo show; LARRY, a “daring, provocative and hilarious” gender-bending feminist comedy. She is also the artistic director of CANDY BONES THEATRE which devises and tours innovative, immersive, and original theatre for young audiences. Watch out for Ideas Bobert, a ridiculous family comedy in the likes of Charlie Chaplin and OOPSIE, a physical comedy about the ART OF FAILURE!
Sonia Norris – Director, Dramaturge, and Clown Coach
Sonia Norris is a Canadian, LA-based physical theatre director specializing in the development of new work with theatre, circus, clown, mask, and puppetry companies. Sonia trained in physical theatre at Ecole Jacques Lecoq in France, Ecole Philippe Gaulier in England, and the Dell’Arte School of Physical Theatre in California. She is a graduate of the Playhouse Acting School in Canada and holds an MFA in Directing from York University. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor/Head of Acting in the Theatre Department at California State University Northridge. sonianorris.wordpress.com
Award-winning Canadian Clown Artist Candy Roberts assumes her alter ego in this daring and comedic piece about one dude’s hilarious attempt at self-improvement. With rock and roll, a little life-coaching, and a dip into his own psyche, LARRY uncovers a little more than anyone expected. Culled lovingly from the male archetypes that surrounded her during her upbringing, LARRY helps Candy compassionately examine the limitations of the gender binary, aging as a woman in society, and the complexities of being human. This show is for anyone who is, or knows a woman. Gear-down Big-Rig, you just might bust a gut and shed a tear!
Old Fire Hall TV
Six short video works from artists near and far share the joys, beauty, and weirdness of northern life. Streaming each morning and evening from the corner of Front and Main.
Watch from the corner, or your car and tune into on the radio to hear the audio. Frequency to be announced in January!
DATES
Jan 10-20 | 8-11am and 4-7pm
Free
LOCATION
The Old Firehall
1105 Front St
Whitehorse, Yukon Y1A 5G4
TICKETS
No Tickets Necessary
Ephemeral Artifacts
STREAM THE AUDIO
Monday to Thursday - 8am to 11am and 4pm to 7pm
A Video Installation on Tap Dance on the Windows of the Old Fire Hall
Through a partnership with Creative Lab North, and in association with the Yukon Arts Centre, Pivot Festival brings a video & audio installation from renowned tap dancer Travis Knights and Toronto choreographer Brandy Leary to the windows of the Old Fire Hall with audio and storytelling. Throughout the festival, everyone in town will be able to come down and view the installation from Front Street or from the riverside.
Ephemeral Artifacts will loop on the half hour from 8am-11am and 4pm-7pm
Riverfront Poetry Crawl
We kick off with the Pivot Poetry Crawl—a bit of a twist on the regular Story Crawl—folks will stomp through the snow along the river from Shipyards Park to the Old Fire Hall, meeting poets along the way. To follow new regulations, full vaccination is required and we’ll check at Shipyards.
Tuesday January 11th
Starts gathering 5:30pm
Starts walking 6pm
Ephemeral Artifacts
A Video Installation on Tap Dance on the Windows of the Old Fire Hall
Through a partnership with Creative Lab North, and in association with the Yukon Arts Centre, Pivot Festival brings a video & audio installation from renowned tap dancer Travis Knights and Toronto choreographer Brandy Leary to the windows of the Old Fire Hall with audio and storytelling. Throughout the festival, everyone in town will be able to come down and view the installation from Front Street or from the riverside.
Ephemeral Artifacts will loop on the half hour from 8am-10:30am and 4pm-7pm
Air North Sun Room
Yes, last year's beloved Sun Room is coming back! Even if international travel is technically allowed—let’s be realistic, most of us aren’t getting to a beach this winter. Spend time in the Air North Sun Room with friends before or after work.
To ensure everyone’s safety, only one bubble is invited to book for each 20-minute time slot. Proof of vaccination will be required.
Climate Change Theatre Action with Wren Brian
Moved online! Wednesday January 19 4pm Yukon Time (3pm Pacific / 7pm Eastern)
Sparked by a short play written by Yukoner Wren Brian, Interdisciplinary artist Nicole Schafenaker will lead a conversation about the arts’ role in climate justice.
Artist Talk and Q&A with Brandy Leary and Travis Knights
Moved online! Tuesday January 18, 4pm Yukon Time
(3pm Pacific / 7pm Eastern)
We’re postponing Brian Fidler’s Death, Jesus and Friends and Christine Genier’s night focused on Indigenous Futurism until spring /summer.
Look for online opportunities coming later with the Folk Lordz and Candice Roberts.
Thank you for your support and for the support of local business, organizations and all our funders.
Thank you to our Pivot and season sponsors.
THE LINE UP
Pivot Poetry Crawl — A Wordy River Walk Through the Snow
A variation on the Pivot Festival tradition to kick-off with a jam-packed crawl with people and stories in defiance of -30 and below. This year, different from previous years, we’ll be outside for the readings, and they’ll all be poets. Join small, brave groups of listeners and tromp along the river to different riverside locations where, at each stop, local poets captivate you and we provide a warming opportunity to listen, starting at Shipyards Park and ending at the Old Fire Hall.
Short Works for Long Nights featuring Death, Jesus and Friends
Postponed
A cabaret night for local artists to perform short works of theatre, spoken word, music, and more.
Death, Jesus and Friends is the creation of Brian Fidler, Claire Ness and Sharon Shorty with Ramshackle Theatre. Performed by Fidler, this 30-minute work is a tabletop puppet show featuring action figures, hand puppets and a bendable Jesus that celebrates sibling rivalry and what lies beyond.
The overworked and underappreciated character of Death has hurt his foot and falls into a deep funk. Bob and Doug McKenzie engage in a childish game with disastrous results. Jesus and his brother argue about their Dad. Nothing is right in the afterlife unless they can help each other.
Part improv, part absurdist meditation on the nature of being, this show is the perfect remedy for the darkest days of winter.
Climate Change Theatre Action with Wren Brian
Moved online – Wednesday January 19, 4pm Yukon Time
A reading of a short play When by Yukoner Wren Brian, written for the Climate Change Theatre Action Project, followed by a conversation on the arts potential contributions to creating the change the planet needs.
Larry
Cancelled / Look for online offerings later in the year.
Meet Larry, Candice Roberts’ alter-ego, a small town Canadian dude on a path of self discovery. Bold, smart and outrageously funny, it turns out that Larry’s journey into his own psyche uncovers more than he expected. Based on her experiences growing up female in rural B.C. in the 1980s, Larry pokes at stereotypes—and makes people laugh. A Fringe hit comes to town!
Ephemeral Artifacts
A Video Installation on Tap Dance on the Windows of the Old Fire Hall
Through a partnership with Creative Lab North, and in association with the Yukon Arts Centre, Pivot Festival brings a video & audio installation from renowned tap dancer Travis Knights and Toronto choreographer Brandy Leary to the windows of the Old Fire Hall with audio and storytelling. Throughout the festival, everyone in town will be able to come down and view the installation from Front Street or from the riverside.
In this edition of Ephemeral Artifacts, Knights explores the connection of jazz and tap carried through divine Black bodies. Through this work he honours the lineages, bodies, and communities that have shaped tap dance over time through oral tradition, context, form, and relationship in a non-linear reflection on those we lost and a visceral act of re-member-ing them in a way that acknowledges the unforgettable marks they left behind. As Knight’s tap teacher Ethel Bruneau asked, “Whose shoulders are you standing on?”
Folk Lordz
Cancelled / Look for online offerings later in the year.
Improvised comedy has been an important part of Pivot—bringing surprise and laughs to the territory just when we need it.
The Folk Lordz fuse folk storytelling, long-form improvisation and physical comedy. Inspired by Indigenous oral tradition and storytelling practice, Russian Chekhovian character drama, and a third genre of the audience's choosing, Folk Lordz craft a spontaneous and hilarious homage to cultural storytelling practice.
Indigenous Futurism and Science Fiction with Christine Genier
Postponed
What is meant by futurism? Where do we see ourselves in 100 years? In 500 years? Is the science fiction that we see on television, in movies and in books the same for us all? Will we be living in a landscape of high-tech and machinery? Xenobots and AI? Or will we continue to walk with the land that feeds us?
In her presentation on Indigenous Futurism, Christine Genier explores these ideas, connecting to the works of other Indigenous artists across the country colloquially known as Canada, to look ahead at the life that might be for our future generations. Is the Science Fiction of today our reality tomorrow? And if so, where is the Indigenous voice?
Pictures from the past
2020
(before we knew what “2020” would be)
2021
Light and warmth in a hard year.
2018 – Trader Time
A huge thanks to our funders and sponsors
who make it possible
Pivot 2020 in pictures
(Mostly Erik Pinkerton Photography)
Pivot 2020 Line up
TALES OF AN URBAN INDIAN —
A SHOW ON A BUS
Take a ride with Simon Douglas, an Indigenous man from the Secwépemc Nation, as he navigates his memories of life in Vancouver and rural British Columbia. The story begins in 1972 and spans 22 years of Simon’s struggle for survival, belonging, and hope, with the same actor playing over 40 characters, all as seen through Simon’s eyes.
Photo of Brandon Chandler by Erik Pinkerton
The play, written by Darrell Dennis, an Indigenous comedian best known for his role on CBC’s Northwood and The Rez, is performed on a moving bus. Tales of an Urban Indian will travel across Whitehorse, visiting locations that mirror those of the play’s plot. The play’s immersive staging allows for the exploration of tensions between the urban and rural, as well as issues of ostracization and assimilation faced by Indigenous people across Canada. These themes almost seamlessly reconstitute themselves within the local frame of the city of Whitehorse and the Yukon’s surrounding rural communities. Audience pickup and drop-off will be in front of the White Pass Building (1109 Front Street).
This Talk Is Free Theatre production debuted in 2009 in Barrie, ON, its success securing six extensions to its original run, and since then it has had two revivals in Barrie, and toured both nationally and internationally, making it as far as Iqaluit in 2016 and Australia in 2019. Its list of past performers have included playwright Darrell Dennis, director Herbie Barners, Jonathan Fischer, and Royal Canadian Air Farce star Craig Lauzon. For Pivot, Brendan Chandler will be portraying Simon.
Pickup at 1109 Front Street (White Pass)
Thursday January 16
7pm
Friday January 17
7pm
Saturday January 18
7pm
NEW MATINEE - Saturday January 18
1pm
Becky and Taz went to high school together
BECKY AND TAZ —
3 NIGHTS OF GREAT IMPROV
Becky Johnson of the Sufferettes and writer for Baroness von Sketch returns to the Yukon, this time accompanied by Taz VanRassel of The Sunday Service improv troupe from Vancouver BC.
With their combined credits, Becky and Taz are experts in improv theatre and will be treating Pivot-goers to three nights of diverse and heartfelt longform improvisation, including collaborations with local guests Borealis Soul and Peter Jickling, as well as Toronto-based technical and multimedia improviser Mark Andrada. This year’s improv nights will also see the return of the much loved Improv Cocktails by Yukon Brewing.
Thursday January 23 with Borealis Soul
8pm Old Fire Hall
Friday January 24 with Peter Jickling
8pm Old Fire Hall
Saturday January 25
8pm Old Fire Hall
Saturday January 25
1pm Old Fire Hall
Saturday January 25
4:30 p.m, Old Fire Hall with Mark Andrada
Monday January 20 Performance
7pm St. Elias Convention Centre
in partnership with Junction Arts & Music
Friday January 17 Improv Workshop
5pm KIAC
Saturday January 18 Performance
8pm KIAC
STORIES FROM THE MANGO STUMP —
DINNER WITH ANTOINETTE
SOLD OUT!
Antoinette named Woman Entrepreneur of the Year (North) at StartUp Canada 2019
A food-filled evening of storytelling with a pillar of the Whitehorse community, Antoinette GreenOliph. Join Antoinette inside the warm space of her own restaurant for stories and a sumptuous meal. Each course will mark a moment in Antoinette’s journeys from the Caribbean to the North, from desk job monotony to successfully running her own business, and from coming out as queer at the age of 40 to finding belonging and love.
One night only, limited seating, and the price includes dinner!
Wednesday January 15
7pm Antoinette’s
PARTY LIKE IT'S 1979 —
NAKAI'S 40TH SEASON CELEBRATION
Disco balls were popular in 1979, or so they say
1979 was a remarkable, bittersweet year – it saw the death of disco but the birth of Nakai Theatre. Come celebrate 40 years later, in a fun evening themed around Nakai’s founding year! There will be 1970s-themed playlists, costumes, dancing, lip-sync battles, a photo booth, and a collection of old Nakai memorabilia. This event will be hosted by a very special and very funky guest host.
Saturday January 18
8pm the Whitehorse Legion
$5 at the door
STORY CRAWL —
A WORDY PUB CRAWL IN
THE SNOW
Photo from Pivot 2019 by Erik Pinkerton
A greatly loved Pivot tradition, hosted and curated by legendary local poet Peter Jickling. Join a small, brave group of listeners and tromp through the snow between four different Whitehorse venues, where local storytellers will captivate you with a story in each of the four spaces.
Tuesday January 14
7pm beginning at Woodcutter’s Blanket
PIVOTAL WORDS —
NEW YEAR, NEW WORKS TO SHOWCASE
Photo from Pivot 2019 by Erik Pinkerton
A showcase of new writing hosted and curated by Susanne Hingley and Jacob Zimmer at the North of Ordinary Experience Centre, in partnership with Brave New Words. This event provides a platform for a selection of Whitehorse’s finest writers to share their works-in-progress in public.
Following the spirit of all Brave New Words events, there will also be an open mic element to the event, where audience members will be invited to sign up to share their own writing.
Tuesday January 21
7:00pm North of Ordinary Experience Centre
PIVOTAL CONVERSATIONS —
A DIALOGUE ON ARTS AND MEDIA SPACE
A forum for local artists and arts leaders to focus on creative exchange and meaningful conversations beyond the scope of day-to-day interactions. Each year responds in topic to needs in the community.
In 2020 the conversation will be focused on cultural spaces and the potential for a cultural hub in Whitehorse. There is an active plan that is looking for input and contributions and this will be an opportunity to do just that.
Photo from Pivot 2019 by Erik Pinkerton
Sunday January 26
12pm Old Fire Hall
Pivot 2020 will be the 12th iteration of the festival in Whitehorse. The festival is an invitation to connect with people and theatre close to home and from around the world. We try every year to transcend assumptions about theatre by mixing inspirational productions, revisiting crowd favourites, and providing opportunities for the community to join in the creative fun.
Public Funders of the Pivot Festival are: Government of Canada, Department of Canadian Heritage, Canada Council for the Arts, Yukon Arts Operating Fund, Lotteries Yukon, Department of Tourism and Culture, with support from the Yukon Lottery Commission, and the City of Whitehorse.
Sponsors and partners: Northern Vision Development (festival featured sponsor), Yukon Arts Centre, Air North, Yukon News, What’s Up Yukon, RBC Emerging Artist Project, and CKRW The Rush.
Pivot Festival returned to the Yukon. The 2019 festival spanned over 16 days, bringing comedy, theatre and storytelling to Whitehorse and Dawson City.
Trader Time
Thursday January 10 - 8pm, Yukon Arts Centre, Whitehorse
Image Credit: Rosemary Scanlon
Trader Time was written by Coyote, a born-and-raised third-generation Yukoner, and scored by Swedish-born Yukon recording artist and songwriter MacDougall. Earlier editions of the show had sold-out performances it the 2018 Pivot Festival and Atlin Arts and Music Festival.
Yukon’s Ivan Coyote and Sarah MacDougall return to Whitehorse with their hit show, this time with a band. Trader Time blends story, songs and visuals to create a haunting and sometimes hilarious series of interconnected stories, that meander through small-town big-family politics, growing up queer in a cold, cold place, the life and deaths of two very different matriarchs, and some of the secrets buried in the permafrost.
Pivot Story Crawl
January 15, 2019 7-11pm, Local Bars, Whitehorse — starting at the Woodcutter’s Blanket (112 Strickland)
Free
Now in its third year running, Pivot Festival's Story Crawl is a pub crawl with each bar stop featuring a performance from one of four local storytellers. The format of the Story Crawl allows unexpected encounters in familiar spaces, highlighting the importance of storytelling to the way we interact and come together in social spaces. From the Woodcutter's Blanket, Antoinette’s, the Town & Mountain, and ending at the Gold Rush, relax and be magnetized by this year's storytellers — Peter Jickling, Lily Gontard, Meagan Deuling, and Nicole Bauberger. We have a special sponsorship with Yukon Brewing this year, where the first 15 participants of the Story Crawl will get a free custom Pivot Festival toque!
The Sufferettes
January 11 in Dawson
January 17th with musical accompaniment by Jennihouse — Whitehorse
January 18th and burlesque dancers — Whitehorse
January 19th with local comedians — Whitehorse
The Sufferettes are a Toronto-based, award-winning comedy troupe of Becky Johnson and Kayla Lorette. The duo’s performance goes beyond the ordinary for a great experience and so many laughs. They bring their intelligent and quirky improv to audiences around the world, including London, Edmonton, Rochester, Toronto, Sarnen (Switzerland), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Frankfurt, Marburg, Bochum, Berlin, and Karlsruhe.
The pair will host improv workshops in Dawson City and Whitehorse, and local improvisors will join them on stage in Whitehorse. Each show guaranteed to be different!
Performances
January 11, 2019, KIAC, Dawson City
8pm January 17-19, 2019, Old Fire Hall, Whitehorse
Workshops
January 10, 2019, KIAC, Dawson City
January 16 (6pm) and January 19 (2pm), 2019, Improv Workshops, Old Fire Hall, Whitehorse
L’Homme De Hus
Friday January 25 – 7pm, Yukon Arts Centre, Whitehorse
Saturday January 26 – 4pm, Yukon Arts Centre, Whitehorse
Camille Boitel and Company Immédiat return to Whitehorse and the Pivot Festival this winter on their L’Homme De Hus North American tour. The one-hour, one-man show follows a philosopher clown as he moves through a world of pitfalls, dealing with unpredictable consequences he can’t escape. L’Homme De Hus echoes the unique world Boitel brought to Whitehorse audiences on his first Canadian tour with his show L’Immediat in 2016.
A partnership with the Yukon Arts Centre, Vancouver’s PuSh Festival and Théâatre La Chapelle in Montreal.
Pivotal Conversations
January 20, 2019 1-5pm, Old Fire Hall, Whitehorse - Free (Pre-registration required)
The half-day gathering builds on the success of last year’s conversation – a meaningful exchange of creative ideas between local artists and arts leaders that expanded beyond day-to-day interactions. The workshop takes a peer-to-peer and participant-driven approach to discussions, which created enthusiasm and delivered concrete outcomes. The workshop takes a peer-to-peer and participant-driven approach to discussions, which created enthusiasm and delivered concrete outcomes. The structure of the workshop builds on Jacob Zimmer’s work providing leadership for conferences, Open Space meetings, and designing and facilitating leadership development with Banff Centre Arts & Creativity and other organizations across the country.
As part of Pivot, we’ll convene different kinds of conversation:
Conversations about the futures and opportunities and needs for the arts in Whitehorse and the Yukon. We’ll leave room for “day of” inspiration but you can expect conversations like:
What support do Yukon theatre makers need?
How can we best share resources to succeed?
More organizations or more organization?
How can the arts contribute to questions of land use, climate change and social cohesion?
What does success look like to you?
Pivotal Words
January 22, 2019 7:30pm, Whitehorse — at the North of Ordinary Experience Centre (4201 4 Ave #200)
Entry by Donation
A partnership with Brave New Words in which local writers and performers are invited to share their stories. The evening is curated by Peter Jickling and brings together musicians, storytellers, comedians and poets. This year's hard-hitting literary line-up includes poet Michael Eden Reynolds, playwright Patti Flather, writer Eva Holland, writer Susanne Hingley, as well as musical performances by Claire Ness.
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
Heading into its 11th year, Nakai Theatre’s Pivot Festival is a highlight of the Yukon theatre season, presenting some of Canada’s most innovative and engaging performances. Pivot invites us to connect with people and theatre close to home and from around the world. The festival transcends our assumptions about theatre by mixing inspirational productions, revisiting crowd favourites, and opportunities to join in the creative fun.
About Nakai Theatre
Nakai Theatre, based in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada, is dedicated to contributing to a thriving Yukon Territory through remarkable theatre and uncommon events.
We are proud to be part of a Yukon Territory where Indigenous peoples, settlers, and newcomers share the land, interpret our connections to the landscapes, and share our knowledge and experiences through theatre with each other and with the world.
About the Yukon Arts Centre
The Yukon Arts Centre (YAC) is a creative resource for Northern artists, reflecting and supporting the artistic ambition and aesthetic of Yukon community organizations. To learn more about YAC’s arts and culture programing and their unique facilities, please visit; yukonartscentre.com
Pivot Festival Supporters and Sponsors
Nakai Theatre would like to recognize the support of its public sponsors: Government of Canada, Department of Canadian Heritage, Canada Council for the Arts, Yukon Arts Operating Fund, Department of Tourism and Culture, with support from the Yukon Lottery Commission, and the City of Whitehorse. We would also like to recognize the sponsorships from Yukon Arts Centre, Northern Vision Development, Air North, Yukon News, What’s Up Yukon, and CKRW The Rush.
10 days of uncommonly fun theatre, music and storytelling.
An acclaimed indie rock musical, Yukon history from a different angle, and a variety show with delightful songs about deplorable people. And even more.
See all three shows for one low price with the Festival Pass
THE LINE UP
Trader Time // January 26 & 27
The first look at a new show by Ivan Coyote and Sarah MacDougall
Author and storyteller Ivan Coyote is a born-and-raised third-generation Yukoner whose family roots in Whitehorse reach back to February of 1949, when their beloved grandmother first arrived by train to the foot of Main Street, pregnant and clutching the hand of her two-year-old son.
Trader Time is a series of interconnected stories, written by Coyote and scored by Swedish-born Yukon songwriter Sarah MacDougall. These two artists blend story and lyrics to create a haunting and sometimes hilarious meander through small-town big-family politics, growing up queer in a cold cold place, the life and deaths of two very different matriarchs, and some of the secrets buried in all that permafrost.
3Penny Variety Show // January 26 & 27
Delightful songs about deplorable people.
In times of corruption and hardship, criminal Mack the Knife marries heiress Polly Peachum. Drama and singing ensues. Mack is in tight with cops but that might not be able to save him. A show about human appetites and flawed justice systems. Set in Victorian London and uncomfortably relevant to our current conditions.
Adapted from the Brecht and Weill by Nakai artistic director Jacob Zimmer and the company. Music Director Scott Maynard.
Onegin // February 1-3
A hit musical as immersive as love itself.
Presented in partnership with the Yukon Arts Centre
When Evgeni Onegin visits the Larin family estate, his romantic charms stir passions long forgotten by its residents. Poet Vladimir Lensky’s romantic ideals are challenged (a duel!) after Onegin flirts with his fiancée Olga Larin, and even the sensible Tatyana Larin falls for the handsome rogue. The hit musical moves, shakes, and wakes audiences with its sweeping score, leaving the powerful question swirling in their minds: Look around, look around, look around, do you see someone worth dying for?
Buy tickets for just Onegin
Stranger Connections
Meeting people is hard. The same conversations and the same questions just aren’t any fun. Join us before Onegin for Stranger Connections - a way to meet a bunch of new friends and get past the same old conversations. We’ll supply uncommon questions and a free beverage to help ease the path.
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
Nakai Theatre’s Pivot Festival has been a highlight of the Yukon theatre season for the past nine years, presenting some of Canada’s most innovative, engaging performances.
Pivot invites us to connect with people and theatre close to home and from around the world. Pivot transcends our assumptions about theatre by mixing inspirational productions, first looks at new ideas, great parties, and opportunities to join in the creative fun. Pivot brings the light of being together into the long nights of a Yukon January.
This festival is made possible thanks to our partners.
Pivotal Conversations
The first Pivotal Conversations were held Sunday January 28 1-4pm at the Old Fire Hall.
