A groundbreaking stage performance expanding
the world of Tanya Tagaq’s acclaimed book
Split Tooth to premiere at the 2026 PuSh Festival
PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, and Music on Main present the world premiere of Split Tooth: Saputjiji—a visionary new performance work from Polaris Prize and JUNO Award–winning artist Tanya Tagaq—February 5, 2026, at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts. This genre-defying piece extends the elemental, poetic, and fiercely imaginative universe of Tagaq’s bestselling, award-winning book Split Tooth and draws on her new album Saputjiji.
Based in part on her own personal journals, Split Tooth (Penguin Random House) tells the story of a young Inuk woman growing up in the Canadian Arctic in the 1970s. The book has been described as a blend of fiction, memoir, poetry and Inuit folklore. In 2018, the novel was shortlisted for the 2018 Giller Prize and won the Indigenous Voices Award for English Prose in 2019.
Channelling the Split Tooth universe into a new theatrical language, the performance carries the book’s lyrical power into new dimensions, revealing the deep continuities between language and breath, violence and transcendence, music and body. The work initiates recognition with the future through mythic realism, and climbs the iron girders of the past with polar bear claws.
Gathering Inuit throat singers, musicians, and performers, and directed by acclaimed theatre-maker Kaneza Schaal—known for her boundary-breaking work in opera and theatre—the work channels a radically expressive language of performance: one that moves between ancestral presence and futurist force. As breath becomes landscape and sound becomes story, Split Tooth: Saputjiji speaks to what is carried between generations, and to the elemental radiance at the heart of Tagaq’s artistry.
“Tanya Tagaq is a force of nature and we are thrilled to present the World Premiere of this powerful, new collaborative work,” says Jarrett Martineau, Head Curator at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts. “Tanya Tagaq is an unforgettable artist who changes every genre she touches,” adds David Pay, Artistic Director at Music on Main. “She’s been such an important part of Music on Main’s first two decades, and I’m thrilled we can partner with PuSh and the Chan for the world premiere of Split Tooth: Saputjiji”. Gabrielle Martin, Artistic Director at PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, notes, “As the co-commissioner of Split Tooth: Saputjiji, PuSh is honoured to champion a work that builds an entirely new performance language from Tanya Tagaq’s incomparable artistic force.”
Split Tooth: Saputjiji will be performed for one night only in the Chan Sun Concert Hall at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts as part of PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, January 22–February 8, 2026, and Music on Main’s 20th Anniversary Season, currently underway.
This year’s PuSh Festival brings together celebrated artists from across Turtle Island and around the world, with trailblazing works in theatre, dance, music, and multimedia that offer an invitation to the culturally fearless. Split Tooth: Saputjiji is one of six Indigenous works at the Festival, alongside Akpik Theatre and Theaturtle’s Kiuryaq, which is also co-presented with the Chan on January 28, 2026. Both shows are part of the Chan Centre’s “Made in Canada” series.
To buy tickets, visit chancentre.com or call the Chan Centre box office at 604.822.2697.
About Tanya Tagaq
From Ikaluktutiak (Cambridge Bay, Nunavut), internationally celebrated artist Tanya Tagaq is an improvisational singer, avant-garde composer and bestselling author. A member of the Order of Canada, Polaris Music Prize and JUNO Award winner and recipient of multiple honorary doctorates, Tagaq is an original disruptor, a world-changing figure at the forefront of seismic social, political and environmental change.
About PuSh International Performing Arts Festival
For more than two decades, the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival has been BC’s signature mid-winter cultural event, delivering audacious, innovative, and contemporary works of live arts by acclaimed local, national, and international artists. Curated, multidisciplinary, international in scope—the Festival animates culture and accelerates social change with performance and multimedia projects that embrace creative risk and share a sense of cultural urgency. pushfestival.ca / @pushfestival on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
About Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
Since 1997, the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts has earned international acclaim for its striking architecture, world-class acoustics, and exceptional programming, ranking it among North America’s premier performing arts venues. As a cultural cornerstone in Canada, the Chan Centre has championed Canadian talent and curated diverse international lineups alongside its annual Indigenous festival, ʔəm̓i ce:p xʷiwəl (Come Toward the Fire), produced in partnership with Musqueam. Located at the heart of UBC, its three distinctive venues serve as a vibrant platform for creative exchange, fresh perspectives, and unforgettable cultural experiences. chancentre.com / @chancentre_ubc on YouTube / @ChanCentreUBC on Instagram / @chan.centre.ubc on Facebook.
About Music on Main
“Music that brings us together.” That is Music on Main’s mandate. Music on Main (MoM) presents innovative musical experiences through a regular concert season, festivals, free community concerts, immersive productions, and high-quality digital programming. Presenting top-flight musicians, MoM offers a mix of classical, new, and genre-bending music in casual, welcoming environments. Launched in 2006, Music on Main, has developed a local, national, and international reputation as a storyteller for a post-classical age. Artistic Director David Pay’s curatorial vision is rooted in creating events that reflect today’s Metro Vancouver, an authentically intercultural and socially diverse region. musiconmain.ca / @musiconmain on Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn / @musiconmainsociety on Facebook.