Poet Shane Koyczan, Kids in the Hall's Scott Thompson among headliners at High Performance Rodeo

Calgary's High Performance Rodeo announced its lineup Tuesday for the 33rdannual edition of the arts festival.

The January festival, organized by theatre company One Yellow Rabbit, will feature more than 20 different performances from around the world, including collaborations with Alberta Theatre Projects, Alberta Ballet, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and Decidedly Jazz Danceworks.

Highlights include:

• A performance by poet Shane Koyczan.
• A dance and spoken word piece about the internment of Japanese-Canadians.
• A night of humorous monologues from Kids in the Hall's Scott Thompson.
• The world premiere of adocumentary theatre piece about God's Lake Narrows reserve in Manitoba.

'Joy of expression'

"We're focusing on the joy of expression in this go-round," said artistic director BlakeBrookerin a statement posted to the festival's website.

There will also be returning favourites like the Veronicas a sassy celebration of theatre artists in Calgary and an antidote to the Betty Mitchell Theatre awards and the 10-Minute Play Festival, a series of plays that have just a single prop and line of dialogue in common.

The festival is the largest of its kind in Western Canada, and past iterations have featured artists like Philip Glass, Brian Eno and Young Jean Lee.

High Performance Rodeo runs from Jan. 9 to 27, 2019, at a variety of venues around the city. Tickets are available on the festival's website.

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