Soulocentric Contemporary Performance Showcase a Smorgasbord of Performing Arts
Soulocentric Festival returns with renewed focus on dance and physical theatre

Calgary, AB—After 10 outstanding years, Calgary’s Soulocentric Festival returns as Soulocentric Contemporary Performance Showcase, featuring dynamic, contemporary dance by emerging and professional choreographers and performers. In 2015, the reinvented Soulocentric Contemporary Performance Showcase narrows its focus, putting the spotlight directly on Calgary’s burgeoning dance and physical theatre industries, igniting imaginations February 19 to 21 with an eclectic lineup of contemporary dance, jazz, physical theatre, and more.

“Calgary is rich with artistry, whether dance, theatre, literary, visual, or otherwise,” says Jenny Peters, Artistic Director and Producer, Soulocentric Performing Arts. “Since we launched the first Soulocentric Festival in 2002, the audience and demand for dance and other physical theatre has grown exponentially, and we aim to give Calgarians what they want: an opportunity to sample a diverse range of independent, emerging and established theatre and dance artists, showcasing a variety of innovative performance mediums.”

The 2015 Soulocentric Contemporary Performance Showcase is also pleased to welcome Judith Mendelsohn in the only full-length main stage solo performance: a physical theatre piece entitled Belle Paris. A graduate of the University of Calgary’s MFA in Theatre, Mendelsohn is recently returned from a three-year study in Paris, France, and has previously studied clowning with John Turner of Canada’s Mump and Smoot. Mendelsohn has performed physical theatre and clowning throughout Calgary, including roles with Green Fools Theatre, Downstage Theatre, and Sage Theatre.

Mendelsohn’s Belle Paris—a bouffon performance designed to give voice to the ‘Other’ through parody or mockery—is based in large part on her years abroad studying with esteemed French clown, Philippe Gaulier, and highlights the palpable racism permeating French society: “Many of us think of France as some socialist haven, but white-centric and male-centric ideals are deeply rooted within the culture,” says Mendelsohn. “Through comedy and the art of bouffon, I want to illuminate the racism that lives at the core of French society, particularly against those of African, Muslim and Jewish descent.”

Soulocentric Contemporary Performance Showcase runs February 19 – 21 at West Village Theatre—formerly Dancers Studio West—2007 10 Avenue SW. For ticket inquiries and more information, call 403.971.0108, or visit soulocentric.org. Tickets for regular events are $25 (adults) and $20 (students/seniors). For a complete list of events and detailed schedule information, visit soulocentric.org.

The 2015 Soulocentric Contemporary Performance Showcase gratefully acknowledge the support of Calgary Arts Development and The City of Calgary.