17cÍøÒ³°æ

Guy Mendilow Ensemble

Different Ships, Same boat

October 19

Different Ships, Same Boat is an interactive, multidisciplinary performance combining powerful spoken word, music and song to explore the multifaceted ways Americans risk, live, love and laugh. Unfolding through a series of chapters — each curating real world stories — literary performer Regie Gibson (inaugural poet laureate of the Commonwealth of MA) and composer/storycatcher Guy Mendilow guide audiences with podcast-like narration, at turns humorous, poignant or poetic, over an evocative musical score. With stories from small towns, cities and ports of entry, along with music spanning lyrical American Blues and songs from older homes from which today’s Americans came (e.g. Ottoman Jews from present-day Greece and Hungary), Different Ships, Same Boat offers a stirring exploration of the joys, tensions and complexities of who we are and who we wish to be.

Nobuntu

november 4

Nobuntu, the female a cappella quartet from Zimbabwe, has drawn international acclaim for its inventive performances that range from traditional Zimbabwean songs to Afro Jazz to Gospel. The ensemble’s concerts are performed with pure voices, augmented by minimalistic percussion, traditional instruments such as the Mbira (thumb piano) and organic, authentic dance movements.

Sunny Jain's 

Wild Wild East

January 22

Sunny Jain’s Wild Wild East encompasses myriad facets of Jain’s identity both as a first-generation South Asian–American and as a global musician, from his own family’s immigration story to his eclectic musical upbringing. He sources musical inspiration from the scores of Bollywood classics, Punjabi folk traditions, jazz improvisation, and rollicking psychedelic styles. Songlines (UK) called Jain “one of the leading figures in North America’s burgeoning Asian music scene. A global musical alchemist and cultural agent provocateur.”

Cirque Mechanics 

tilt!

February 3

In Tilt!, Cirque Mechanics takes you on a journey to the backlot of their inventive theme park, where in the shadow of the roller coaster and under the lights of the Ferris wheel, you’ll meet the operators, carnies, and characters that keep the rides running and the thrills coming.

Cirque Mechanics, although inspired by modern circus, finds its roots in the mechanical and its heart in the stories of American ingenuity.  The shows, rooted in realism, display a raw quality, rarely found in modern circus, that makes their message timeless and relevant.  The stories are wrapped in circus acrobatics, mechanical wonders and a bit of clowning around.

Minty fresh circus

february 20

Conceived by Monique Martin, Minty Fresh Circus is a US-based circus show performed by an all-Black cast, with a majority-Black creative team celebrating the healing power of Black music & movement, infused with the joy & resilience of those who traversed the transatlantic slave trade.

Grounded in Sankofa (a Ghanaian word encouraging one to learn from the past to inform the future) with an Afro-futuristic vibe, Minty Fresh Circus features movement, music, and circus arts in a time-bending journey of redemption. With choreography and movement by Adesola Osakalumi and Traci Bartlow, the acrobats perform a range of movement sourced from the African Diaspora, including percussive dance, ritual movement, Lindy, hip-hop, poppin’ & lockin’, jukin’, hand games and physical theater. The driving score is recorded and features a combination of mixes by Corey Action with compositions from Soul Science Lab.

Rennie Harris Puremovement American Street Dance Theater

nuttin' but a word

April 17

Celebrated choreographer Rennie Harris returns to 17cÍøÒ³°æ and lays down his three laws of hip-hop—individuality, creativity, innovation. Here to expose the essence of their art form with unmatched subtlety and surprise, the indefatigably disciplined dancers of Rennie Harris Puremovement American Street Dance Theater command the stage with a mixtape of moves from b-boying to Campbell locking to house. Every step tells a story in sync with the rhythm, honoring hip-hop’s roots while raising the bar to new heights. You can try to shout ’em down, but you ain’t said Nuttin’ but a Word.