Jazz musicians, soul line dancers, ceramic figurines and a queer council take over the Twin Cities arts scene this weekend.

The Twin Cities Jazz Festival will return for its 27th year, bringing more than 100 local and national musicians to venues across the metro. One artist in St. Paul will piece together Mexican folk traditions through ceramics and quilts, while another will host a soul line dance party at Minnehaha Falls. 

And a new performance at Pangea World Theater asks: What if queer, Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) governed Earth? 

Twin Cities artists imagine a future led by a queer, BIPOC council

At Pangea World Theater, a six-night interactive show, “Kinfolx,” channels a future where queer, BIPOC leaders debate whether to remain on Earth amid climate collapse or leave for somewhere new. 

Created by a collective of Twin Cities artists and directed by Ricardo Beaird of Grl Grp, the show unfolds as a theatrical council meeting inside Elsewhere, a fictional underground district built by queer and trans communities. 

Beaird, a queer theater artist navigating questions of safety, belonging and leadership, said the show was sparked by his fascination with real-world council meetings — specifically, the charged school board meetings in his hometown of Nashville, Tenn. “Every meeting was full of fireworks and conflict,” he said. “It was like my favorite TV show.” 

Inspired by those meetings, “Kinfolx” imagines a future where queer people of color form their own governing body. To build that world, Beaird assembled a group of Twin Cities performers — Denzel Belin, Alsa Bruno, Kat Purcell, Johanna Keller Flores and Brittney Mikell — to serve as the Elsewhere Council. 

“Kinfolx” explores weighty issues such as the climate crisis, political influence and community care with humor, imagination and flair. The production features music and dance interludes, including a scene where a broken hologram forces a council member to step in and perform as Diana Ross. 

The show also invites audiences to vote, share stories during a public comment period or simply spectate.

“I like to make interactive theater for introverts,” Beaird said. “Everything is an invitation. You can write something down and have an actor speak it out, you can step up to the mic, you can have the mic come to you. It’s just based on how people show up in the room and what they’re willing to share.” 

“I wanted it to just be a joyful piece for queer people and people of color to see folks having fun, being silly and being fabulous,” he added. “That’s kind of what we need in this moment — to hold those hard things and create rituals for us to feel good in our bodies.”

Local and national jazz acts perform across the Twin Cities

The 27th annual Twin Cities Jazz Festival showcases more than 100 local and national musicians performing a wide range of styles from New Orleans jazz and swinging Motown to Latin jazz and improvisational dance across 20 venues in the Twin Cities. 

St. Paul’s Lowertown will serve as the festival’s main hub, where two outdoor stages at Mears Park will host back-to-back performances. Pianist Emmet Cohen headlines Friday, joined by The Four Freshmen, while Grammy-nominated soul singer Catherine Russell headlines Saturday alongside jazz musician Sean Mason. 

The festival also spotlights local acts, including Minneapolis’ L.A. Buckner & Big Homie, jazz vocalist Thomasina Petrus, Ethiopian drummer and composer Abinnet Berhanu, and youth ensembles from St. Paul’s Walker West Music Academy and Minneapolis’ MacPhail Center for Music. 

Quilts and ceramics evoke Mexican folk art traditions

Wisconsin-based artist and professor Lisa Marie Barber’s solo exhibit “Peaced & Patchworked” at ArT at 967 Payne will feature mixed-media quilts and ceramic figurines. 

Her work draws inspiration from story-driven Mexican fiber art, Day of the Dead altars, cathedrals and the vibrant Catholic shrines she encountered growing up in her Mexican Catholic household in southern Arizona. 

Soul line dancing at Minnehaha Falls

Minneapolis-based textile artist and dancer Alexandra Beaumont invites the community to “Arrive Together,” a soul line dance party held Sunday at the Minnehaha Falls Bandstand near Sea Salt Eatery. The event will feature St. Paul dancer Tina Jackson and DJ sets by Sasha Bangz. 

In 2023, Beaumont hosted a similar dance gathering that inspired her solo exhibit “Techniques for Ecstasy” at Public Functionary, which featured silhouette textile pieces as a tribute to joy and communal movement. 

This year’s party celebrates her latest public installation “Chorus,” now on view at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Attendees will have the opportunity to sign up for a future group visit to the installation with Beaumont. 

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