The High Performance Rodeo 2025 is set to take Calgary by storm with a vibrant lineup of events that promise an eclectic mix of humor, creativity, and artistic depth. From the unexpected arrival of Rodeo Clowns spreading joy at the Arts Commons to the surreal adventures of Mump & Smoot, this year's festival offers something for every taste. Dive into a world where traditional arts meet innovative narratives and experience performances that challenge, entertain, and inspire.

High Performance Rodeo 2025: A Vibrant Tapestry of Artistry and Innovation

The Rabbits are throwing a bash! If you’re a longtime patron, you’ll know what that means, and you’ll want to be there. If you’re new to our world, you are most welcome to add to the fun on Closing Night of the Rodeo. Experience the creativity of festival artists, top-notch food and drink and many sparkly inventions.

Closing Night Party

Arts Commons

Moderated by Sarah Ord, join us in a discussion with Mump & Smoot about their nationally renowned creation process, and the evolution of both their practice and teaching throughout their careers, and what it is like to have permanently informed Canadian Clown Artistry.

Discussion: Clowns Across the Universe

Nobody holds their audience in the palm of their hand quite like our own Denise Clarke. Back by popular demand for two nights only, you too can bask in this genuine experience. Join her in this distinctive theatrical environment for a poetic and dynamic creation by the woman who literally wrote the book on performance theatre. Rooted in evocative movement and an elegance all her own, this night is certain to enchant and engage.

Denise Clarke's Salon

The musicians of the Calgary Phil and guest vocalists bring their grit to this re-creation of Nirvana’s celebrated live album MTV Unplugged in New York! Throw yourself back to the ‘90s when grunge music reigned supreme and rock out to the band’s About a Girl, Come as You Are, Pennyroyal Tea, and more — all given extra oomph with a full symphony orchestra.

Unplugged: Nirvana Reimagined

For one sparkling night only, join these talented artists as they return to the Big Secret Theatre. Curated by Denise Clarke, these BeautifulYoungArtists will explore poetry, songs, small scripted chunks, original music, and more. A sold-out hit since 2022, anything goes - from haiku to sonnet, prepared to be surprised, impressed and inspired!

BeautifulYoungArtists Cabaret

Not quite your mother's book club, this immersive theatre experience offers far more than just a literary discussion.

The First Bad Man

Central Memorial Park

Danny Nielsen combines dazzling technique, natural musicality, and a drive to constantly innovate with a heartfelt desire to honour the rich traditions of the form. Alexandrov, Nava and Nielsen is a collaboration with renowned Bulgarian pianist/percussionist Kristian Alexandrov which delves into the symbiotic relationship between tap dance and jazz piano. Completing the trio is Calgary based, Venezuelan born, bassist extraordinaire, Daniel Nava. Touching on new takes of old standards, and original music, the three will co-create a performance drawing on everything from traditional and contemporary jazz to R&B, hip hop and rock.

Alexandrov, Nava and Nielsen

Decidedly Jazz Danceworks

Special opportunity! On January 30, you will have the chance to be whisked backstage to meet the performers and see the set and props up close. Availability is very limited for this unique experience.

Mump & Smoot | BACKSTAGE EXPERIENCE

In this deliciously dark comedy, Mump & Smoot - two otherworldly clowns from the planet Ummo - stumble through a nightmarish quest in search of salvation. Speaking their bizarre native tongue, these disciples of the mysterious god Ummo bring audiences on a twisted journey that's equal parts horrific and hilarious. Forget everything you think you know about clowns - this is not a show for children. A wickedly entertaining performance that ventures into decidedly adult territory with macabre humour and surreal sensibilities.

Mump & Smoot in Exit

The character Raskolnikov tries to get away with murder, the author Dostoevsky tries to get away with writing forbidden ideologies. Come along for the ride as they try to explain everything in less than 80 minutes. CRM&PNSHMNT is a playfully abridged exploration of the original axe-murderer, his imprisoned and pardoned creator, and its modern artistic context.

Crm&pnshmt

The Pumphouse Theatre

Experience the rhythm of Wednesdays at the Rodeo with the captivating crowd-favourite concert series – ProArts @ Noon. Delight in the harmonious melodies of these exceptional artists in the acoustic grandeur of the Cathedral Church of the Redeemer. Curated by Damon Johnson, the Artistic Director of ProArts Society, this long-standing series adds a vibrant thread to Calgary’s flourishing arts tapestry.

ProArts | Icarus 3

The Cathedral Church of the Redeemer

After the performances on January 28, 29 and 30, you can get acquainted with the Mistress of Magic herself, enjoying a front-row seat to a dazzling sleight-of-hand experience, and learn more about Lucy and the performer behind the character. Availability is very limited.

Après Lucy | POST SHOW EXPERIENCE

Back by popular demand! A returning favourite from the High Performance Rodeo in 2024, join Lucy Darling, the grand dame of magic, for a semi-improvised comedy show you won't want to miss. Lose yourself in the enchanting world of Lucy Darling, renowned across the globe not only for her quick wit and irresistible charm but also for her impeccably fabulous hair. Indulgence is a delightful fusion of spontaneous improvisational comedy, side-splittingly clever repartee, and mind-boggling feats of magic. With a touch of audience interaction, Lucy Darling transforms the very fabric of magic with every performance.

Lucy Darling in Indulgence

Geoffrey Simon Brown and Evan Medd have been making theatre together for over a decade - as producers, performers, playwrights, directors, dramaturgs, and devised theatre practitioners. Join them in this distinctive workshop where you’ll learn the fundamentals of their generative content creation process. Participants will engage in a speculative worldbuilding practice, collectively creating uniquely personal source material. Exciting opportunities for playmaking will arise!

Workshop: Worldbuilding in Devised Theatre

It’s a double birthday celebration for Music Director Rune Bergmann and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart! Come party with the Calgary Phil as they perform Mozart’s imaginatively sophisticated Symphony No. 38. Then, stay for one of the finest masses the composer ever wrote. With its grand orchestration and bright character, you’ll see why the Mass in C Major became a hit in Prague when it was used for the coronation festivities of Leopold II in 1791.

Mozart's Birthday Party

A conversation about design, art, architecture and the built environment with d.talks. and the creators of Flux in the City, Nathaniel Hanula-James and Wesley Reibeling.

Talkback Panel: Flux x d.talks @ HPRodeo

Contemporary Calgary

Moderated by Amiel Gladstone, join us for a discussion with Bhama Roget about creating theatre not only about, but also emotionally within our current existential crisis(s). Discussions about how the everyday experience can inform art about giant ideas, and further discussions about how those ideas carry across national and continental boundaries.

Talkback Panel: At The End of The World

Day Player Machine is the brainchild of Tom Scholte, a Genie award nominated actor, director, and writer whose work has been celebrated at such film festivals as Sundance, TIFF, Rotterdam, and the Berlinale. Inspired by Scholte's experiences working as a day player on American film sets, this world premiere is a darkly funny ride through the imploding psyche of a Canadian film actor who thinks he might just be an android in a simulated reality.

Day Player Machine

Special opportunity! Join us on January 22 or January 24 for a post-show VIP experience. After the show you'll get whisked backstage to meet Ronnie and have the chance to see the marionettes, set and props up close. Availability is very limited.

Ronnie Burkett | BACKSTAGE EXPERIENCE

This ain’t your grandpa’s municipal consultation. Intrepid theatre artists and amateur urbanists, Nathaniel Hanula-James and Wesley Reibeling, try to reinvent one of the most frustrating, opaque, and downright boring processes known to humankind: the municipal consultation. At its heart, this show is a celebration of the glorious messiness that makes every city exciting and unique. This world premiere of Flux in the City speaks directly to the city of Calgary: its past, its present, and where it might go from here.

Flux in the City

ProArts | Anastassiia Alexander

In this genre-defying original rock-comedy, Seattle writer and award-winning comedian Bhama Roget brings Mother Nature alive in all her brutally charming glory. Rife with unresolved asteroid trauma, and still carrying a torch for those dead sexy dinosaurs, she's here to assure us that just because we're on the way out doesn’t mean we can’t feel good about ourselves. When humanity finds itself at a boiling point, a crisis of culture mirroring a crisis of nature, Mother Nature wants her children to know that with every crisis comes an opportunity. An opportunity to ROCK!!

Mother Nature

Joe and his dog Mister lose their home, and facing separation, head into the world for one last grand adventure together. The world seems broken, but Joe sees magic in the mundane, beauty amidst brutality, and life in the lost and lonely. A seemingly simple tale of a simple man, Wonderful Joe is a love letter to imagination, hope, and the art of filling broken hearts with gold.

Ronnie Burkett in Wonderful Joe

Ribstone uses old-time music, old-time technology, and old-time heart to explore what it means to look back on the old times with today’s eyes. Join renowned Calgary actor Christopher Hunt as he returns to the stage to tell his own story... or at least one version of it.

Preview Performance: Ribstone

Rich with stunning musical performances, the HBO documentary, Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music, captures a tour-deforce performance that was performed only once in Brooklyn, New York. Join us as Denise Clarke leads a live, in-person discussion with Taylor Mac about the groundbreaking concert event. Following the conversation the full documentary will be screened for all to enjoy.

Taylor Mac in Conversation with Denise Clarke

An event series created as a platform for artists to connect, converse, and share their work, Words in Progress features a frisky cross section of playwrights sharing selections of new plays in development. Readings and conversation, live and local. Hosted by playwright and curator Louise Casemore (Undressed, GEMINI), and featuring readings of new plays from Kenneth T. Williams (Café Daughter, The Herd), Maezy Reign (Hang In There, Teen Prophet), Harley Howard-Morison (Kaldrsaga, Alberta Queer Calendar Project), and special surprise guests!

Words in Progress

Echoes of the Land invites audiences to immerse themselves in a transcendent sound bath led by traditional drummers Cedric Lightning and Skip Wolf Leg, featuring an all-star ensemble of local musicians and spoken word artists like Kris Demeanor and Kenna Burima. Grab your yoga mat and lie down as you let the soothing, meditative sounds wash over you. Bask in this powerful sonic odyssey that invites deep reflection on the land.

EPSG:4326

Echoes of the Land

West Village Theatre

After the Jan. 17 performance of Hot Dyke Party in the Engineered Air Theatre, stick around for a free Scratch Party with live DJ, cocktails and dancing. This free event is open to all and will inspire you to dance the night away, riding on the wave of good festival vibes.

Scratch Party

Calgary Chamber of Commerce

The clowns have arrived for The High Performance Rodeo to perform their one-of-a-kind-never-seen-before show Rodeo Clown. There's only one problem... nobody was expecting them. It’s now up to them to funnily fumble to set up at the last moment and perform their talents for anyone willing to watch. These clowns are taking over the Centre Court of Arts Commons during the 2025 High Performance Rodeo to spread love, magic, and mischief to all.

Rodeo Clown

A new show from Decidedly Jazz Danceworks featuring live music by the Falling Bullets Jazz Band from New Orleans, led by Marla Dixon. Featuring Traditional New Orleans Jazz (the birthplace of jazz!), watch as highly skilled dancers respond with all of their foot stomping, finger snapping, head nodding, shoulder shimmying, torso wiggling, hip shaking, groove busting ways.

Call and Response

Rat Academy is a physical comedy that follows Fingers, the last rat left in Alberta, immediately after discovering Shrimp, an escaped lab rat. In order to train Shrimp to survive in a world that hates him, Fingers creates the Rat Academy to train his new protege along with the audience in the ways of the rat.

Rat Academy

Non-binary computer programmer Basil (they/them) wakes to a new world and devastating loss. Using live music, dance, and video, I Don't Even Miss You is a bold exploration of grief, love, artificial intelligence, and legacy that asks how gender, identity, and family can exist with no one to perceive them.

I Don't Even Miss You

A theatre-rock-concert celebrating dykes, butches, femmes, and queers of all sorts! Coming to you from the west coast! Hot Dyke Party might talk to you. They might talk at you. They will not ask you to come on stage. Queers and allies are welcome to dance (or stand and sway) throughout the night.

Hot Dyke Party

Moderated by Kathryn Smith, join us in a discussion with Tiny Bear Jaws, the creators of I Don't Even Miss You about using design as a way of uncovering story.

Talkback Panel: Design Dramaturgy and New Play Creation

A noon-hour concert of boundary-pushing contemporary music, featuring local and Canadian works specially curated for the acoustic environment of Cathedral Church of the Redeemer.

ProArts | JaiJai Li and Laura Reid

Get ready to kickstart opening night of the High Performance Rodeo with a bang!

Ten Minute Play Festival

Step into the mesmerizing world of Dream Machine, a reimagined masterpiece by Blake Brooker and David Rhymer. Originally performed in 2003, this avant-garde production delves into the hallucinogenic landscape of the American Beat movement.

Dream Machine is not your typical musical; it's a radical departure from the norm. Blending live and electronic music, along with One Yellow Rabbit's signature physicality, the production offers a unique sensorial experience. The surreal narrative, coupled with haunting visuals, explores the unconventional lives of these wild outsiders whose quest for spiritual and artistic freedom left an indelible mark on popular culture.

Dream Machine

The BeautifulYoungArtists (BYA) are set to captivate audiences with their upcoming performance of Middlemarch. This English masterpiece holds a special place for literary enthusiasts. Generations of readers have immersed themselves in its pages, finding joy in the experience whether it's a first read or a re-read. Crafted by a literary rock star with a brilliant mind, a wicked sense of humour, and a profound understanding of humanity, Middlemarch remains timeless.

Middlemarch

An intimate live event with the lauded American musician and songwriter, hosted by One Yellow Rabbit. Alejandro will share progress from his latest autobiographical work, tell stories, and sing some songs. Hear from the source “one of the genuine lights in rock music” (Billboard) and learn about Alejandro’s upcoming show and new release Echo Dancing.

One Yellow Rabbit

Feb 1, 2025

Closing Night Party

Feb 1, 2025

Discussion: Clowns Across the Universe

Articles & News

One Yellow Rabbit