Disrupting the pervasive whiteness of Fringe, these artists are breathing fresh air in to the new works scene in Philadelphia with these exciting Festival offerings!

We Shall Not Be Moved @ Wilma Theater
Opera Philadelphia

What’s at stake here is America and its future. Who’s invited to participate?

On the run after a series of tragic incidents, five North Philly teens find refuge in an abandoned house in West Philadelphia at the exact location that served as headquarters of the MOVE organization, where a 1985 standoff with police infamously ended with a neighborhood destroyed and eleven people dead, including five children. This self-defined family is inspired by the ghosts who inhabit this home and begin to see their squatting as a matter of destiny and resistance. The group, named the Family Stand, is headed by self-appointed leader Un/Sung, and crosses paths with Glenda, a Philadelphia police officer, whose encounters with the family leads to a standoff that could threaten to repeat history. A co-presentation with Opera Philadelphia. More info and tickets here.

Andean Mountains (Montañas Andinas)
Carl(os) Roa, José Avilés, Elyas Harris

Andean Mountains is a digital journey through the mountains. Above all, it is a piece about personal geography: the way we relate to our place of origin versus where we’ve relocated. Featuring a performance by a juicy Colombian bear, the piece is both a Google Street View tour as well as an exploration of culture loss. More info and tickets here.

Urgent Care: A Social Experience @ The Colored Girls Museum
The Colored Girls Museum

The Colored Girls Museum takes community matters into her own hands converting the three-story Victorian memoir museum into a Social Care Experience. Her new exhibits redefine the concept and practice of “urgent care” from triage to aftercare. Curators, artists, and ordinaries construct Colored Girlhood as an imaginative and powerful space. More info and tickets here.

White Nights
Hua Hua Zhang/Visual Expressions

Inspired by a Chinese poem, White Nights examines the universal question: How can we find peace of mind in our ever-changing society? The project is a series of dreams that focus on the self’s interactions with the world as it struggles with this question. This 30-minute preview shares a portion of the show. More info and tickets here.

Art of the Heel @ William Way LGBT Community Center
Cookie Diorio

Call it cabaret for a cause or philanthropic frivolity! Drag songstress Cookie Diorio uses her 6.5 inch platforms to promote social justice by hosting a series of showcases to benefit three local nonprofits making a difference in our community. Celebrate diversity with world-class guest musical artists from opera to blues! Proceeds from performances Valley Youth House Pride Program (a shelter for LGBTQ homeless youth), Women In Transition (a women’s empowerment, domestic violence and substance abuse resource center), and PennFuture (a PA environmental advocacy agency). For artist bios and links, visit www.artoftheheel.com. More info and tickets here.

Fiesta Owlsong
OWLSONG PRODUCTIONS / Alan Lewine and Ana María Ruimonte

FIESTA OWLSONG featuring singer Ana María Ruimonte and jazz bassist/composer/arranger Alan Lewine and guests: Roses for Lecuona, songs of Cuba’s Ernesto Lecuona with special guest Huberal Herrera from Havana. Sephardic Treasures,  jazz/flamenco/medieval. Jazzes for Lecuona, straight ahead and Cuban-influenced. El Carro de Amor, 17th-century Spanish songs, puppets, and multimedia. Bilingual. More info and tickets here.

Approaching Happiness with Krish Mohan
Krish Mohan

What makes us happy? Comedian Krish Mohan explores the idea of “Happiness” and perceptions of mental illness in today’s society. He is removing stigmas associated with immigration, drugs, gun control, racism, and being accountable for the problems we’ve created, all revolving around the subject of mental health. More info and tickets here.

Who Rocks the Party: A Chat with Philly’s Best DJs
The Anderson Street Project and XO Evangeline

The Anderson Street Project and XO Exangeline will be teaming up to host a chat with members the most integral and most under-appreciated component of Philadelphia’s nightlife scene: DJs. We will be chatting about Philly’s ever-changing nightlife scene, the critical role of DJs in the digital age, and much more. More info and tickets here. 

Declassified Memory Fragment @ FringeArts
Baker & Tarpaga Dance Project

The act of “declassifying” is a process of revealing, exposing what is hidden from view and obscured, not spoken. Declassified Memory Fragment is a work of dance, live concert, and theater created as an open letter to life in countries—specifically Kenya, Ivory Coast, Zimbabwe—where everyday life is subjected to restrictions and cultural expectations of secrecy and privacy, even within the family.

An exploration of African lifestyles, cultures, beauty, complexities, and politics, the performance ranges from tremendous energy to haunting quiet, from beauty to terror. Led by an all-male cast from Burkina Faso, with an electrifying live band that at times supports and at other times takes center stage with the dancers, Declassified Memory Fragment caustically and humorously stages a two-tier society where craving for power simultaneously creates and unravels friendships—and yet a brotherhood remains. More info and tickets here.

Late Night Dance Party with Hurricane LaRue @ FringeArts
Hurricane LaRue

It’s the 21st Festival and we’re finally old enough to drink! Join us for the second weekend of the Festival as we party with Hurricane LaRue (aka DJ LaRue, aka DJ Tanner) at La Peg!

Hurricane LaRue is a Philadelphia native who has the heart and soul of old-school and vinyl DJ and the creativity of a modern-day controllerist. Now DJing for 8 years, Tanner has been able to embrace the wave of the technology that is changing the industry and simultaneously learned how to DJ using real vinyl records the way art form of DJing was originally founded. This event is free. More info here.