Alberta Aboriginal Performing Arts presents the 9th Annual RUBABOO FESTIVAL!

Edmonton, AB (January 16, 2018) – Rubaboo is a Métis-Michif word and means a rich stew filled with all good things. Rubaboo is a philosophy about what sustains us; it’s about feeding the spirit, and it’s about thriving. This year, we show Humble Gratitude and Respect for the artists and community that have helped us thrive for the past 9 years. This year’s festival features a powerful and engaging line-up:

The Sash Maker | Jan 19 & 20 | 8pm | Mile Zero Dance (10816 – 95 St) – in association with Mile Zero Dance, this piece is a collaboration of dance, poetry, and traditional finger- weaving, The Sash Maker promotes the healing of long standing cultural wounds. TIX on Eventbrite or at the door

Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World | Jan 27 | 4:30pm | Metro Cinema (8712 – 109 St) – in association with Metro Cinema: Canada’s Top 10 Film Festival, director Catherine Bainbridge tells the story of a profound, essential, and, until now, missing chapter in the history of American music: the Indigenous influence. TIX: metrocinema.org

Bears | Feb 1 – Feb 3 | 8:00pm | Backstage Theatre (10330 – 84 Ave) – co-produced with Punctuate! Theatre, Bears is a multidisciplinary dark comedy about the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline. This unapologetically political play gives a voice to the voiceless animals, and vulnerable landscapes, desecrated by the insatiable human desire for industrial expansion, while striving to increase dialogue about the devastating effects on Canada’s First Nations peoples.

• MEDIA CALL – TUES JAN 30 from 3:30pm to 4pm | *ADDITIONAL MEDIA RELEASE ENCLOSED

Minosis Gathers Hope by Christine Sokaymoh Frederick | Feb 3 & 4 | 1:30pm | Backstage Theatre (10330 – 84 Ave) – is about a young Métis girl named Minosis (Cree for kitten), hurting from feelings of abandonment, self-doubt and racism. In the piece, Minosis travels the four directions of her grandparents yard in search of medicine wheel ribbons. This sparks the magic of ceremony, cultural teachings, mythology and legends, and ultimately connects her to the mythical figures of her grandparents’ stories.

• MEDIA CALL – TUES JAN 30 from 3:30pm to 4pm | *ADDITIONAL MEDIA RELEASE ENCLOSED

On Feb 4 at 2:30pm a special Minosis + Bears fundraiser will be held to raise funds for school buses. These school buses will bring students to both shows while they tour across the country and Alberta!

pîkiskwe – speak | Feb 1 | 7:00pm | La Cité Francophone (8627 – 91 St) – in this collaborative art project, Lana Whiskeyjack’s mixed-media triptych, Losing My Talk, and Beth Wishart MacKenzie’s documentary film, Lana Gets Her Talk, are shown alongside each other to create a new protocol for Indigenous and Non-Indigenous relations in Canada. Festival goers are also invited to view the First Meetings Celebration photo, film and artifact display.

Our People Will Be Healed | Feb 4 | 2:00pm | Metro Cinema (8712 – 109 St) – in association with Metro Cinema: Canada’s Top 10 Film Festival Alanis Obomsawin’s 50th film, reveals how a Cree community in Manitoba has been enriched through the power of education. TIX: metrocinema.org

FOR FULL FESTIVAL DETAILS visit www.albertaaboriginalarts.ca. The Rubaboo Festival is produced by Alberta Aboriginal Performing Arts, and is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts’ New Chapter program, Edmonton Arts Council, The City of Edmonton, Community Initiatives Program, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Dreamspeakers Film Festival, Punctuate! Theatre, La Cité Francophone and Metro Cinema.