Feet Keep the Beat Festival
July 30 - August 1
Arts at the Armory's fourth annual Feet Keep the Beat Festival returns July 30–August 1, bringing together acclaimed percussive dancers and musicians for three days of performance, participatory events, and workshops celebrating rhythm, movement, and cultural traditions from around the world.
The centerpiece of this year's festival is ROOTS & WINGS: The Next Generation, a newly commissioned evening-length work created by six outstanding percussive dancers and five musicians. Premiering on Friday, July 31st in the Arts at Armory Performance Hall, the performance is made possible through lead program funding support from Valentine Talland and Nagesh Mahanthappa.
With each year, the festival showcase grows in popularity and tickets are moving quickly, so secure your seats today!
As the featured artists tell the story of how feet have been keeping the beat across time, cultures, and geographies, they will deepen their collaboration by sharing the stage with the next generation. Some will perform alongside their children, while others are joined by their students, creating a powerful celebration of artistic inheritance, mentorship, and renewal.
West African dance dynamo Joh Camara will have three of his children joining him--two daughters in dance, and his son, Tiemoko, on percussion. A young student of tapper Ryan Casey will make an Arts at the Armory debut, alongside a talented niece of Step dancer Lekisha Limage.
Honoring the roots that ground us and the wings that help us soar, ROOTS & WINGS: The Next Generation explores how rhythm, movement, and cultural traditions are passed from one generation to the next—taking flight in new directions while remaining grounded in the traditions from which they emerged.
Returning Feet Keep the Beat artists include Ariaki Dandawate (Kathak), Joh Camara (West African), Lekisha Limage (Step), Ryan Casey (Tap), Anjali Nath (Kathak), Antonio Tran (Flamenco guitar), Akili Jamal Haynes (percussion, trumpet and tabla), Sory Diabate (percussion), and Tiemoko Camara (percussion). This year the collective will be joined by Pranav Ghatraju (tabla).
Tickets available now for ROOTS & WINGS on July 31st. Doors open at 7:00pm, the dancing starts at 8:00pm.
On Thursday, July 30th, from 7-8:30pm there will be a Traditional Irish Session with participatory music and dance, included as part of One Night Art School at 10 Prospect Street in Union Square, Somerville. On Saturday, August 1st, Arts at the Armory will host free Feet Keep the Beat community workshops from 10-12pm. Sign up form here.
We strive to be a welcoming, accessible community arts space. We are delighted to be a part of Mass Cultural Council’s Card to Culture program. Arts at the Armory will offer 10 free tickets (max of 2 free tickets per person) to EBT, WIC and ConnectCareholders for ROOTS & WINGS. Please contact el...@artsatthearmory.org for more information.
|
