GHOST RIVER THEATRE, GREEN FOOLS THEATRE AND CALGARY YOUNG PEOPLES’ THEATRE RECLAIM DANCERS’ STUDIO WEST THEATRE SPACE
Calgary, AB – Three established Calgary theatre companies are teaming up to save one of Calgary’s desperately needed performance spaces—the former Dancers’ Studio West (DSW) space located at 2007 – 10th Avenue SW, Calgary. During the fall of 2013, Dancers’ Studio West (DSW) announced they were looking for partners to maintain their performance venue; Calgary Young People’s Theatre, Ghost River Theatre and Green Fools Theatre stepped forward.
However, DSW announced in December that while they will continue as a company they would be leaving their performance home after twenty years, and the venue seemed destined to be repurposed. Undeterred, the three companies entered into negotiations to save the space. The reclaimed venue will house a 75-seat flexible theatre, a small creation workshop, and offices.
The new space not only provides a sustainable home for three of Calgary’s longest running mid-sized theatre companies, all of which have been strong contributors to Calgary’s cultural scene for more than twenty years, but also preserves the venue as a rental facility for the city’s performance community. The venue is a particular boon for Green Fools Theatre, who lost their performance home in Erlton as it was completely destroyed, in last summer’s flood.
The space comes without theatre equipment and the three new residing companies are eager to return the space to a fully functioning theatre venue. The companies are putting a call out to the province’s performance community for donations of equipment to help return the space to a fully functional state, and are currently approaching local funders and creating an Go Fund Me campaign in order to assist in the task.
