26^th annual High Performance Rodeo

Produced by One Yellow Rabbit

Starts This Thursday

Calgary, AB – The popular 25th annual High Performance Rodeo, Calgary’s International Festival of the Arts running January 5 to 28, 2012 at various venues throughout Calgary, starts this Thursday, and will feature a collection of the boldest and the brightest artists from the realms of theatre, dance, comedy, music and wrestling. More information and tickets can be found at www.hprodeo.ca and by calling 403-294-9494.

The schedule of performances and events for Week 1 is as follows:

The Eviction of Stuart Block – This is My City (Calgary, Alberta)

On 7th Avenue SW, off the C-Train tracks, sits a century-old building known as the Stuart Block. Listen to the stories of Stuart Block residents experiencing the last few minutes in their homes before being evicted, celebrating their time in the space and mourning its loss. This unique creation explores the timeless theme of house and home, through comedy, drama and music. Returning to the High Performance Rodeo, This Is My City unites a collective of professional artists and homeless Calgarians to explore a hundred years of evictions in this new, live radio play.

January 5th, 7:00 pm, Pay What You Can

John Dutton Theatre, Central Library

10–Minute Play Festival– Downstage (Calgary, Alberta)

For the past eleven years, an eclectic group of Calgary’s theatre companies have boldly accepted the challenge to create an original 10–minute play inspired only by a prop and a line of dialogue. They only have 24 hours to develop the concept, write the script, select the wardrobe, create the set, rehearse, edit and or rewrite the script, plus get some sleep. This sleep addled process will produce a wide spectrum of touching, funny, weird, mind–boggling and always entertaining plays.

January 6th,8:00 pm, $28–$32

Martha Cohen Theatre

Snowblower - Various Artists (Canada and USA)

The Rodeo, along with the City of Calgary, will once again heat up Olympic Plaza with Snowblower. This free event under the stars will engulf the crowds in a world of fantastic ice sculptures, magical trees, fire performers, and art installations. This year’s showcase of international electronic artists includes Kid Koala (Montréal, QC ), An-ten-nae (San Francisco, CA), VibeSquaD(Colorado), Adham Shaikh (British Columbia), Erica Dee (Los Angles, CA) and Cary Chang (Calgary, AB) with lighting, stage design and sound by PK.

January 7th,5:00 pm–11:00 pm, Free

Olympic Plaza

Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased on line www.hprodeo.ca, by calling 403-294-9494, or at the EPCOR Centre Box Office.

Now in its 26th year, the High Performance Rodeo is an annual festival featuring theatre, dance, comedy, music and multimedia presentations. Curated by Artistic Director Michael Green, and produced by Erin O’Connor and the One Yellow Rabbit team, it is dedicated to entertaining as wide an audience as imaginable, while remaining fertile ground for the progressive and wild. The High Performance Rodeo is the largest festival of its kind in Western Canada.

www.hprodeo.ca