World

NorthernBlues Music - Moments before Toni Lynn Washington takes the stage, you might see what appears to be a quiet, unassuming woman standing patiently out of the spotlight. But look quickly, because once the music starts, four decades of performing will kick into gear, and she'll soon take control of the room like a pool shark running the table. Special performers are gifted with the innate ability to throw that "switch".

Nectarine Girl is an indie-rock musician based in Boston Massachusetts. Her artistic influences are Alex G, Sasami, Cherry Glazerr, and Johanna Warren. Her music has been described as "heavy on killer songwriting that creates compelling soundscapes, imagine Elliott Smith with a Nine Inch Nails twist" Her debut EP "Is This The Light" came out February 11th this year!

Grupo Los Nitidos, has been performing in the Boston area since 1994.  Los Nitidos blends styles like Cumbia (Columbia), Tex Mex and the fast-paced rhythyms of Bachata (Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic) to create a singular sound. This seasoned eight-piece band, originally from El Salvador, and a Chilean, released “Mi Lindo el Salvador” in 2001, features two singers, guitars, bass, drums, conga and guero. Whether fast and feisty Bachata or sweetly syncopated Cumbia, Los Nitidos creates sounds perfect for dancing.

Danza Orgánica is a Boston-based dance theater company that focuses on social change. Their work has been featured at Jacob's Pillow, The Yard, and the ICA.

Dancers: Ale Rosa, Claudia Varela, Dey Hernandez, Fran de Paula, Mar Parrilla

Choreography and direction: Mar Parrilla

African rhythms that echo from frontman Helder Tsinine’s hometown of Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. Shortly after moving to Boston to attend Berklee, Tsinine formed Kina Zoré (the band is named after a Mozambican, traditional, celebratory dance) to share some of his songs and stories of his life in Mozambique. Kina Zoré has attracted international attention, including features on BBC Africa, the Christian Science Monitor, and the Agência Angola Press.

Continuum Dance Project is a Boston based dance company focused on creating site-specific work, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and reflecting the backgrounds of our collaborating artists. Continuum Dance Project is working on the creation of a new evening length work exploring multi-layered connection with Michael Alfano’s interactive sculpture “Cubed”. This cross-disciplinary dance will explore race and gender from the female perspective.

Jennifer Lin, a classically trained dancer of European and Korean descent, explores interstitial spaces between tradition and modernity, form and expression, and theory and practice.

The Ken Pierce Baroque Dance Company piece will feature dance and music from the court of Louis XIV.

The French king Louis XIV was a devoted dancer, and he surrounded himself at court with the best musicians and dancers in Europe. An important feature of the style of dance at court ("Baroque dance") is that almost every step begins with a rise or upward spring: the dancers aspired to qualities of lightness and grace, reaching toward the heavens rather than toward the earth.

Eliza Malecki is a Cambridge based choreographer that creates intricate and whimsical works inspired by the little pockets of joy in life.

Carmen Rizzo, from São Paulo, Brazil, is a freelance dancer/choreographer. A Manhattanville College Alumna, her work celebrates diversity, voicing what and who is silenced.