Black History Month Events at MPAC

MPAC has a variety of events celebrating excellence in black artistic achievement during Black History Month.

Art in the Atrium Presents Visual Voices
The exhibit runs from January 16 through March 2
A reception will take place Sunday, January 25, from 2-5 pm; free and open to all.
“Visual Voices” refers to raising voices artistically that resonate to project a goal or an idea visually. Understanding sight as the eyes’ ability to discern, and vision as the brain’s ability to process and interpret, the art created will combine meaningful mental and visual imagery. These together will comprise an expressive voice.

The Temptations and The Four Tops
Thursday, February 12
7:30 pm
Two legendary supergroups are together again, reliving Motown memories.

Cirque Kalabante
Friday, February 13
8 pm
Cirque Kalabante (Afrique en Cirque) showcases the beauty and artistry of African culture, inspired by daily life in Guinea. A colorful show beyond its scenery, costumes and staging, Cirque Kalabante represents the strength, agility and life’s joys of young Africans, as acrobats execute gravity-defying moves to the contemporary sounds of live Afro-Jazz, percussion and kora.
Tickets start at $47.

Ndlovu Youth Choir
Saturday, February 28
7:30 pm
As seen on America’s Got Talent!, South Africa’s Ndlovu Youth Choir has unique musical arrangements and powerhouse vocals, combined with mesmerizing choreography and infectious energy.
Tickets start at $35.

School In-Theatre Field Trip Events:

Cirque Kalabante
Friday, February 13
11 am
Curriculum: Dance, music, world cultures, Black History Month
Grades 2 and up

Hero: The Boy from Troy: A New Musical about the Young John Lewis
Tuesday, February 17
10 am and 12:15 pm
Curriculum: History, Civil Rights, Character Building
Grades 3-6
Stuck in detention and forced to read a book about Congressman John Lewis, Jayden thinks that history has nothing to teach him. Go on a musical journey through the decades to learn how the heroes in the Civil Rights movement inspired young John Lewis to protest injustice and get into “good trouble.” As John meets Rosa Parks and Dr. King and ultimately becomes a leader and American hero himself, Jayden learns how he too can take a stand.

Jazz Reach presents: Stolen Moments: The First 100 Years of Jazz
Monday, March 9
10:30 am
Curriculum: Music, History, African-American studies
Grades: 4-High school
Stolen Moments is a thoroughly captivating and informative program that introduces audiences to jazz music’s rich history and to the names, faces and music of some of its many masters, as well as the ways in which jazz has acted as a unifying force, bridging cultural, ethnic and economic differences both in the U.S. and abroad.