With three weeks of live performances including six co-presenting partners, 12 venues, 26 shows, 115 performances, and 150 artists, One Yellow Rabbit’s 37th annual High Performance Rodeo is ready to heat up your winter.

Here's the inside track on the festival, so get a pen ready, call your friends, and map out your return to Calgary's International Festival of the Arts. There is something for everyone in this bold, wild and cutting-edge lineup that includes concerts, ballet, theatre and so much more.

The opening week is full of untraditional High Performance Rodeo traditions. Kicking off the festival, 10–Minute Play Festival (January 16) sees six of the hottest emerging theatre organizations in town craft a 10 minute play in 24 hours with only one prop and a one sentence provided by the mysterious host. Who is this year's host? The rumours are running wild and you'll have to grab your seats to find out.

One Yellow Rabbit's inclusion this year sees Denise Clarke take to the stage in Room 333 (January 18 – 21), a moving and humorous investigation of loss and the beauty of life set to live musical orchestration by Beth Root Sandvoss of Land’s End.

MINE (January 19 – 22) from Theatre Replacement is created by Maiko Yamamoto, her teenage son Hokuto MacDuff and collaborators, and explores mother and son relationships through the best-selling video game, Minecraft™! Grab your family and join us for this video game inspired adventure.

OLD/NEW/BORROWED/BLUE (January 19 – 29) DJD is about to take over your evening with this all new original work. Featuring works from the DJD repertoire, new works by Sarisa F. de Toledo and Sabrina Naz Comanescu, and a borrowed piece by contemporary dance artist Marie France Forcier.

Re: Construct (January 20-22) Join Calgary’s own Geoffrey Simon Brown and Émanuel Dubbeldam as they invite “onlookers” (as the audience is called) what it’s like to know who you are inside, while the world sees you from the outside as pretty much the opposite and debates your very existence. Resolving the inner/outer split sets our two-sided character on a journey to become a trans man — with all that that means to him. At the same time, he must figure out how to pull it off in the face of skeptics.

After (January 24 – February 4) Gather your friends for the most unique night out in this performance for only 5 people at a time. This dark visual performance by award-winning ensemble 8ROJO has travelled from Taiwan to Iceland before landing in Calgary.

Pochsy IV (January 25-28) A stunning testament to the power of art to unite all humanity. Or so says “Pochsy” who offers herself up as a kind of salve for your 3:33 a.m. worries and dreams, from neo-banking to the future of humankind. This show follows the acclaimed trilogy of Pochsy Plays, which have travelled the globe.

THIS IS HOW WE DIE (January 24 – 25) A virtuosic and visceral spoken word performance from the desk of Christopher Brett Bailey in this spiralling odyssey of pitch-black humour and nightmarish prose.

Amusements (January 26) is an intense sensory journey in this one-woman and headphone-theatre spectacular that asks what exactly we might want from our entertainment, and what it might want from us.

PSYCHODRAMA (January 27-28) Races you across the savage inner-landscape of the human mind as two unlikely (anti)heroes pursue a nightmare vision of freedom through spiralling episodes of intense sensuality and phantasmagoric violence.

An Evening with Alejandro Escovedo, Live (January 27) Rock 'n' Roll legend Alejandro Escovedo is coming to Calgary for one night only. Ranging from classic rock to bursts of 70’s punk, the evening will find Escovedo baring his soul on stage leading his trio as he delves further into his lifelong musical journey across his most sonically diverse work yet.

Brahms v. Radiohead (January 28) Presented in partnership with One Yellow Rabbit, Calgary Philharmonic. Conductor Steve Hackman’s epic symphonic synthesis of Radiohead’s iconic OK Computer and Johannes Brahms’ tremendous Symphony No. 1 in concert.

While She Sleeps (January 28) Transport yourself to a 19th century New York City piano bar and join Calgarian composer Kenna Burima for the world premiere concert of her all-new song collection, While She Sleeps.

A Hybrid World, Artist Talk by Steve Hackman (January 29) Presented in partnership with One Yellow Rabbit, Calgary Philharmonic. As a daring voice leading the charge among a new generation of classical musicians, this special event will put a spotlight on this emerging hybrid world of musical expression and experimentation.

Raising Stanley/Life with Tulia (February 1–5) Co-Presented with One Yellow Rabbit, Inside Out Theatre, Lunchbox Theatre. A multidisciplinary storytelling show about living and working with guide dogs. This collaboration documents the journey from puppy to working guide dog for the blind, incorporating storytelling, painting, video, audio description and music.

Lessons in Temperament (February 1-3) Co-Presented by One Yellow Rabbit and Honens.
The story of four neurodiverse brothers, told through a theatrical escape into the art and science of piano tuning. Catch this award-winning play’s return to the stage, hot on the heels of its recent feature film adaptation.

WRING THE ROSES (February 1–4) What happens when a bachelorette party collides with a boy's night out, and goes fatally wrong? When they meet four hometown boys on the party trail in a foreign country, it seems like just the right recipe for some pre-marital fun, but fate has other plans.

EPHEMERAL ARTIFACTS: TRAVIS KNIGHTS (February 2–3) Co-Presented with One Yellow Rabbit, DJD. Confronting the colloquial notions that dance is inherently ephemeral, this contemporary dance performance examines the processes that give it tangibility; time, practice, attention. Featuring tap artist Travis Knights, exploring the connection of Jazz and tap carried through divine black bodies.

Little Willy (February 2-4) Ronnie Burkett and his Daisy Theatre are back with a brand-new production based on Romeo and Juliet. And trust us, you’ve never seen star-crossed lovers like this before as the The Daisy Theatre gang’s iconic their irreverent hijinks take on these star-crossed lovers.

ÉCHO (February 3-4) Co-Presented by One Yellow Rabbit and Springboard
ÉCHO, is a new work of cinematography and live performance, created and directed by world-renowned choreographer and visionary, Édouard Lock. This evening of film, dance and conversation will leave you mesmerised and delighted.

UN-MISSABLE FREE EVENTS

John Vooys (January 18) Co-Presented by One Yellow Rabbit and ProArts Society. Solo musician and Calgary composer, John writes both instrumental and lyrical songs, seeking to bring a pop sensibility to classical music, and a classical sensibility to pop and folk tunes.

Duo Solista (January 25) Co-Presented by One Yellow Rabbit and ProArts Society. Live performance by life-long musical partners on violin and piano.

Beth Root Sandvoss & Susanne Ruberg-Gordon (February 1) Co-Presented by One Yellow Rabbit and ProArts Society. Join renowned cellist and pianist performers as they take on contemporary and classical works.

Curious Yellow Cabaret Series
Pay-what-you-can late night showcases of emerging artists.

Welcome to the Cypher (January 20) Emerging rappers and DJs will showcase their brand of Hip Hop philosophy in this one-night-only party which features an Indigenous-led Hip Hop Arts organization showcasing the talent and good medicine of Hip Hop Culture in our city.

beautifulyoungartists (January 21) Curated by Denise Clarke, these beautifulyoungartists will captivate with poetry, music, movement and more in an all-out entertaining cabaret evening.

Turning the Key (January 28) Top up, foot on the pedal, keys in ignition, how fast can a grand piano go? Join Guest Curator Christopher Duthie, for a raucous soirée of theatre, music, dance and comedy.

Learn more at HPRodeo.ca today!