Rubaboo 2013
Join us for the
5th Annual RUBABOO Arts Festival
A Celebration of First Nations, Inuit and Métis Art in Edmonton, Alberta
June 4-16, 2013 C103 (The Catalyst Theatre), 8529 – 103 Street
Performances at 7:30 PM, unless otherwise stated.
Please check our festival calendar for workshops details.
Tickets for “Huff” $20. All other events are $5 or by donation. You can also purchase a festival pass for $20.
HUFF by Cliff Cardinal (Dependent Theatre Productions, ON)
Tuesday June 4-Saturday June 9. All shows at 7:30pm
Written and performed by Cliff Cardinal. Directed by Karin Randoja. Designed by Elizabeth Kantor – Join the wondrous lives of Wind and his brothers, caught in a torrent of solvent abuse and struggling to cope with the death of their mother. Wind’s fantastic gas-induced dream world bleeds into his haunting reality as he’s preyed on by the Trickster through the hallways at school, the abandoned motel he loves more than home, and through his own fragile psyche. Wrought with dark humor, and vivid imagery Huff weaves a violent, spellbinding tale. Modern pace mixed with First Nation’s mythic meets biting stand-up. Video games and trickster collide and Huff conjures a heartbreaking yet hopeful search for love.
It reaches inside and grabs you so hard that you forget it’s make-believe. It makes you rethink what you thought you knew. It leaves you transformed.”
- -CBC (Chandra Mayor)
“I’m not the only audience member who had trouble sleeping that night”
-Uptown Magazine
“I am almost out of words for this show – that’s how good it is…This isn’t just my
favourite show of SummerWorks – it’s my favourite show this year.”
-Mooney On Theatre
THE LESSER BLESSED
Friday June 7 @ The Princess Theatre
Adapted from the powerful and irreverent first novel by Tlicho author Richard Van Camp (Edm. AB), the movie, like the book, promises to give us one of the most original teen characters in recent Canadian cinema.
Larry is a Tlicho Indian growing up in the small northern town of Fort Simmer. His tongue, hallucinations and fantasies are hotter than the centre of the sun. At sixteen, he loves heavy metal music, the North and Juliet Hope, the high school “hottie”. When Johnny Beck, a Métis form Hay River moves to town, Larry is ready for almost anything. His past holds many terrors: an abusive father, and an accident that almost killed him. But through his friendship with Johnny, and his lust for Juliet, he’s ready now to face his memories – and his future. The Lesser Blessed is an eye-opening depiction of what it is to be a young Native man in today’s modern world.
FINDING YOUR INNER ELDER (AB)
Saturday June 8 @ 4pm, Thursday June 13 @ 7:30pm
Written and performed by Gemini Award Winning actress, Michelle Thrush – As Michelle recounts the memories of her kookum she transforms into the very woman she is talking about right before your eyes. Then kookum tells it as it is and even may ask you to join her on stage.
DANCERS OF DAMALEHAMID (Van, BC)
Sunday, June 9 @ 4:30pm
Dancers of Damalehamid are a professional Aboriginal dance company from the northwest coast of British Columbia. The Gitxsan, ‘people of the river of mists’ are part of the coastal group of cultures that have the distinctive button blanket regalia. Their rich history of masked dance inspires a compelling performance, celebrating the diversity and time depth of the many beautiful Indigenous cultures across Canada. Through dramatic dance, captivating narrative, intricately carved masks and elaborate regalia the Dancers of Damelahamid transform time and space, and bridge the ancient with a living tradition.
AT HOME AT THE ZOO by Edward Albee – A Canadian Premier
Saturday June 8 @ 2pm, Sunday June 9 @ 7:30pm
Produced by Alberta Aboriginal Performing Arts – At Home at the Zoo combines Albee’s classic, The Zoo Story (Written in 1958) with its prequel, Homelife (Written in 2004), to form a complete story of Peter, a book editor; Ann, his wife; and Jerry, a desperate man whom Peter meets in the park. Albee’s brilliantly recombined play demonstrates the essential “aloneness” of all humanity. With; Michaela Washburn, Julian Black Antelope and Garett Ross with Direction by Valerie Planche & Ryan Cunningham.
Literary Night
Tuesday June 11 @ 7:30pm
Hear local poets and writers read their work while local musicians season the evening with music. With; Marilyn Dumont, the Edmonton Poet Laureate Ann Marie Sewel Richard Van Camp, , Naomi Mcillwraith, Dianne Meili, Noma Dunning, Faith Turner, and other guests.
Music & Film Night
Wednesday June 12 @ 7:30pm
Calgary based contemporary artist, Terrence Houle screens his film ‘Wagonburner’ with Isho Bailey playing a live soundtrack.
8 Short films by emerging Aboriginal youth artists, including the Dreamspeakers on Tour and Amiskwaciy Academy Youth.
Celebrating Elders Evening
Thursday June 13 @ 7:30pm
FINDING YOUR INNER ELDER (AB) - Written and performed by Gemini Award Winning actress, Michelle Thrush – As Michelle recounts the memories of her kookum she transforms into the very woman she is talking about right before your eyes. Then kookum tells it as it is and even may ask you to join her on stage.
- Also performing, Onikamowak (The Singers) Jerry &Jo-Ann Saddleback
- Contemporary infused Hoop Dancing
Bannock & Jam
Friday June 14 @ 7:30pm
An evening of music and bannock hosted by local musician/actor, Trevor Duplessis. With:
Cris Derksen – A rising star on the Canadian world/classic/folk/electronica scenes, award-winning Aboriginal cellist Cris Derksen is known for building layers of sound into captivating performances. Her music braids the traditional and contemporary in multiple dimensions, weaving her traditional classical training and her Aboriginal ancestry with new school electronics creating genre defying music.
Will Belcourt and the Hollywood Indians – A pre-release party for their upcoming, self titled CD. They’ll also be filming the live set for their upcoming videos.
The Stephanie Harp Band
Rubaboo 2012 Full Festival Calendar
RUBABOO is a Michif (Métis) word meaning a stew that’s full of life and food that feeds the spirit. June is National Aboriginal History Month, and heading to RUBABOO is a great way to celebrate. This 11-day multidisciplinary festival showcases new Aboriginal plays, music, dance, art, food, family and youth events, artist workshops, and an Aboriginal craft market. RUBABOO is open to everyone, providing the opportunity for audiences to get a great taste of the amazing work being created by members of Canada’s First Nations. This is the only Aboriginal performing arts festival in Alberta.
An event like this is an excellent way to introduce audiences to the variety of artistic expression that exists in Aboriginal culture. Our festival inspires local artists to produce their own art form, when they are introduced to new artists and experience each other’s work together. Edmonton is a “City of Festivals” and actively supports many festival initiatives. RUBABOO is the only Aboriginal festival of its kind in Alberta. It gains more and more momentum each year. Through this festival, Alberta Aboriginal Arts is establishing a strong presence as an arts organization that promotes and encourages Aboriginal artists from across the province.
Edmonton has the second largest Aboriginal population in the country and, according to Statistics Canada, will grow to have the largest Aboriginal population in within 6 years. Alberta Aboriginal Arts was created to foster the community of Aboriginal arts and artists in Edmonton and throughout Alberta. Our goal is to bring together Aboriginal artists from multiple disciplines and traditions, inspiring and supporting collaborations in an all-encompassing milieu of media forms and performance styles.
