MAINSTAGE 2026-27
SubHuman
SubHuman is a solo dance-theatre work that blends contemporary dance, street dance, acting, spoken word, music, and character work to explore internalized social hierarchies and the psychological experience of feeling "less than." Drawing from lived experiences of anxiety, shame, masculinity, cultural conditioning, loneliness, and self-improvement culture, the work examines how these forces become embodied, shaping the ways we move, think, and relate to others.
Moving between improvised movement, conversational monologues, humour, and direct audience address, SubHuman shifts rapidly between comedy, discomfort, vulnerability, and emotional collapse. The work unfolds through fragmented emotional and psychological states in everyday life, inviting audiences into the inner world of a character caught in cycles of self-analysis, comparison, and the constant pursuit of becoming "better."
Developed through the Dance West Network Re-Centering Margins Residency (2024–2025), SubHuman has evolved through multiple tour-ready versions ranging from 10 to 35 minutes and has been presented at rEvolver Festival (Vancouver), Kinetics Dance (Halifax), and Mile Zero Dance (Edmonton). The project continues to develop through improvisation, audience feedback, and theatrical experimentation as it expands toward a 55-minute full-length touring work.
At once intimate, absurd, and emotionally exposed, SubHuman invites audiences to recognize their own internal performances, the invisible negotiations of identity, belonging, and self-worth that shape everyday life, while balancing humour with moments of vulnerability and reflection.
Punit
photo Shawn Kim
PITCH
TRAILER
ARTIST BIO
Punit is an Indo-Canadian interdisciplinary dance-theatre artist based in Vancouver, BC. His movement background includes contemporary dance influenced by Hip-hop, Breaking, Krump, Popping, and House. Drawing from experience in computer science, acting, psychology, and social services, his practice integrates movement, voice, theatre, film, and technology, exploring questions of life, belonging, society, and the mind.
He has been mentored by Sadhya Dance Company, Ryan Martyr, Sophia Sosa, Marissa Wong, Arash Khakpour, Deanna Peters, Natalie Gan, and Lesley Telford. Punit has created and presented work with NewWorks, Dance West Network, and The Dance Centre, and has toured across Canada and Japan.
He is a recipient of a Canada Council for the Arts award and the Dance Victoria Chrystal Dance Prize.
Performance History & Upcoming Performances
Premiere: 2025
Presenter: Up In The Air Theatre – rEvolver Festival
Venue: The Cultch
Location: Vancouver, BC
2026
Presenter: Mile Zero Dance
Venue: Mile Zero Dance
Location: Edmonton, AB
2026
Presenter: Kinetics Dance
Venue: Kinetics Dance
Location: Halifax, NS
Development Residency
2024–2025
Presenter: Dance West Network – Re-Centering/Margins Residency
Location: Surrey, BC
Upcoming
The project continues to evolve toward a 55-minute touring production. Additional performances are currently being developed.
Project Created by: Punit
Key Artistic Collaborators: Performer: Punit
Creative Collaborators: Collaborators vary depending on the presentation and development phase of the work. SubHuman has been developed through collaborations with lighting designers, sound designers, outside eyes, and production teams across different presentations.
Mentors / Outside Eyes: Deanna Peters, Arash Khakpour
Additional artistic and technical collaborators (lighting, sound, costume, stage management, and production) are engaged as needed for each presentation and touring context.
Performance type: THIS WORK IS ADAPTABLE TO THEATRE OR OUTDOORS OR ALTERNATE VENUES /SPACES
How do you define this work: Dance-Theatre
Length of performance: 10–35 minutes (current touring versions); 55-minute full-length version in development.
Audience type: General Audience
Number of Performers on tour (including choreographer): 1
Number of Support Staff on Tour: 0–1, depending on the venue and presentation requirements. SubHuman is designed to tour as a self-contained solo work. When required, a lighting technician, stage manager, or production support person may accompany the production.
Availabilities: 2027 Spring Season (Mar - June),2027/28 Season,2028/29 Season
Project Details
Community Engagement
General Technical Requirements: General Technical Requirements
SubHuman is designed to be technically flexible and can be presented in a range of venue sizes.
- Basic theatrical lighting system with programmable lighting cues.
Stereo sound playback with cueing capability.
- A dance floor or theatre floor suitable for movement in shoes (any clean, non-slip surface that safely allows movement in footwear).
- No projection, amplification, or performer microphones required.
The work includes an optional, adaptable set installation consisting of a fishing line suspended across the stage with hanging toques and T-shirts. This installation enhances the visual environment but is not essential to the performance and may be modified or omitted to suit venue capacity and touring logistics.
Required amount of time for tech set up: Approximately 2–4 hours, depending on the venue and technical complexity. This includes hanging and focusing lights, cueing sound and lighting, and installing the optional set elements (fishing line with hanging toques and T-shirts). A shorter setup is possible when presenting without the optional installation or in venues with a pre-existing rep plot.
Alternative Venues: SubHuman is highly adaptable and can be presented in theatres, black box spaces, studios, galleries, community venues, public spaces, and site-responsive environments. The work is designed to respond to the character of each location and does not require a specific floor type or a perfectly flat performance surface, provided the space is safe for movement.
The optional set installation consists of a fishing line suspended across the performance space with hanging toques and T-shirts. This visual element can be scaled, reconfigured, or omitted depending on the venue and available rigging points.
The performance is self-contained, requiring only sound playback and, where available, basic theatrical lighting. It can also be presented using available or natural light. A private dressing/changing area and a brief warm-up space are preferred but not essential.
The work can accommodate seated, standing, or roaming audiences and is designed to adapt to the scale, architecture, and technical capacity of each presenting venue.
I offer community-engaged, site-responsive creative residencies that invite local participants to collaborate in developing movement and performance rooted in their own experiences and environment. Through improvisation, storytelling, character work, and movement exploration, participants contribute to a shared creative process that may culminate in an informal sharing or site-specific performance.
Projects can be adapted for youth (14+), adults, intergenerational groups, emerging artists, and community organizations. No dance experience is required.
Residencies typically run 2–5 days and can include advance online planning with presenters to tailor the process to the local community. Collaborations with local dancers, musicians, theatre artists, or visual artists are welcomed where appropriate.
Fees vary depending on residency length, participant numbers, preparation, collaborators, travel, and the scope of the final presentation.
Outreach Activities
Outreach activities are designed to complement SubHuman and can be adapted for youth (14+), emerging and professional artists, post-secondary students, and community participants.
Offerings include movement and improvisation workshops, street dance fundamentals, dance-theatre devising, lecture-demonstrations, artist talks, and post-show discussions. Participants explore character creation, movement generation, storytelling, humour, improvisation, and the relationship between personal experience and performance. No prior dance experience is required.
Formats include 60–90 minute workshops, half-day intensives, post-show conversations, and multi-day creative residencies. Sessions can be adapted for schools, community centres, universities, festivals, and presenting organizations.
Fees vary depending on format, duration, group size, travel, and preparation. Single workshops and artist talks require minimal preparation, while multi-session residencies or community-engaged projects involve additional planning and are priced accordingly. Activities can also be developed in collaboration with presenters to respond to the interests of their local communities.
Other Details:
SubHuman is intentionally designed to scale across a wide range of presenting contexts. The work can be performed as a 10, 20, or 35-minute standalone performance, or presented as an excerpt from the developing 55-minute production. This flexibility allows presenters to program the work as a mainstage performance, festival presentation, double bill, site-responsive event, or community engagement residency.
As an independent solo artist, I value working collaboratively with presenters to adapt the production to the technical capacity, schedule, and character of each venue while maintaining the artistic integrity of the work. The current versions are self-contained, low-tech, and designed to tour efficiently, making them suitable for both fully equipped theatres and alternative performance spaces.
I welcome conversations with presenters about tailoring performances, artist talks, workshops, or community engagement activities to the interests of their audiences and communities.