What makes up the soundscape of a community? Music? Conversation? Outbursts of struggle and joy? You’ll find a cacophony of answers at the Seattle Black Film Festival (April 30 - May 3), which is back at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute with its signature mix of feature-length and short film screenings, workshops, panel discussions, talks and celebration of Black filmmaking. This year, the festival’s theme is “The Sound of Us,” featuring 55 films by African diasporic filmmakers.
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“Storytelling has always been how we remember, how we resist, and how we strategize for the future,” said Ebony Arunga, LANGSTON Executive Director in a press release for the festival. “The Sound of Us lives in that continuum. It honors the voices that carry us forward and the energy we create when we come together to experience them.”
Leaning into this year’s theme is the documentary short Pass the Baton: The Gary Hammon Story (May 2 at 8:15pm), about saxophonist, composer, educator and Jazz Hall of Famer Gary Hammon, who grew up in the Central District and inspired generations of jazz musicians. Anyone hyped to see Boots Riley’s new film I Love Boosters (playing opening night at SIFF, May 7) will find similar chaotic shoplifting energy in Rainbow Girls (May 2nd at 2:15pm), a short film about a Black trans teen named Tati who falls into the seductive world of luxury-store theft with two other Black trans women in San Francisco.
It’s no secret that I’m a huge Black history nerd, especially as it relates to the Pacific Northwest. So I’m especially eager to see SBFF’s screening of Lee Olsen’s 1981 film Cellar George (May 1 at 11a.m.), starring Central District legend Steve Sneed.
Produced by Cascade PBS (then KCTS 9) and written by Aki Lorens, the movie follows George (Sneed), a young Black man grappling with systemic oppression as he tries to conquer his inner demons. In addition to showcasing Sneed as George, the film also features actors from innovative Black theatre collective Black Arts/West, an organization we’ve written about extensively for Black Arts Legacies. I love seeing local Black history on screen!
P.S. If you can’t make it to the screenings this weekend, SBFF also hosts a Virtual Festival, which runs May 4-10.
Expanding on the themes of the Seattle Black Film Festival, upcoming events around the city showcase Black artists — from both around the way and faraway — excelling in all genres:
< Black Arts Legacies alum and Northwest treasure Marita Dingus has new pieces at Traver Gallery. The show Ancient Ones (May 2-30) features her inventive and unmistakable work — abstract figures made from discarded metal, wire and plastic — in an exploration of ancestry and connection to the land. “I celebrate the endurance of our human attachment to the natural world, and our efforts to save ourselves by saving the Earth,” Dingus writes in her artist statement.
< Also opening this weekend, Georges Bizet’s classic Carmen comes to Seattle Opera (May 2-17). Notable about this production: Tacoma-raised opera star J’Nai Bridges will perform the titular role (on May 3, 9, 13, & 17; alternating with Sasha Cook). After growing up in Lakewood, J’Nai became a mezzo-soprano who has been called the “Beyonce of opera” and who snagged a Grammy early this year. She’s a real star and hometown hero!
< Marlon James, the Jamaican-born author of novels A Brief History of Seven Killings and Black Leopard, Red Wolf visits Town Hall as part of Seattle Arts and Lectures (May 6 at 7:30 p.m., tickets available either in person or streaming). He’ll be joined in conversation with Jodi-Ann Burley – local author and Lit Lounge host – where they will discuss his oeuvre and perhaps a bit of his upcoming book, The Disappearers, out later this year.
< For a totally different vibe that same night, rapper Rick Ross is performing with Seattle Symphony Orchestra (May 6 at 7:30 p.m) in celebration of the 20th Anniversary of his debut album Port of Miami. I’m truly so curious what an orchestral version of “Hustlin’” sounds like. But before you go, be warned, black-tie attire is highly encouraged.
As RuPaul loves to say, we’re all born naked and the rest is drag. That’s especially true in several new shows that blend drag, identity, performance and memoir.
At the Triple Door, Seattle drag icon and comedic wonder Dina Martina is taking over the stage (through May 3) and subjecting the audience to her baffling mispronunciations, crass jokes, terrible dancing and creative genius. I’ve never had the chance to see Dina at any live performance, unfortunately, but her “PIZZAZZ!” music video is a landmark achievement in camp and alternative drag in the city.
Across town, Fauxnique (aka Monique Jenkinson) is presenting her latest work, How Do I Look? at On the Boards (May 7-9). This multi-faceted piece brings together drag, stand-up, performance art, a comedy roast and dance in an exploration of femininity, identity and self-perception.
Queer performance artist and author Jibz Cameron is letting her alter ego, Dynasty Handbag, loose onstage for Hell in a Handbag — an event celebrating Cameron’s debut memoir of the same name — at Town Hall (May 13). Jibz and Dynasty are doing a Jekyll-and-Hyde-like shuffle, telling an intertwining tale that traces Cameron’s life from her hippie childhood in Northern California to her adulthood in NYC’s avant-garde theater scene.
And, speaking of theater and alter egos, Phantom of the Opera is coming to The Paramount (May 13-24). A mask and cape, tons of longing — need I say more?
We made it to May — let’s dance!
If the idea of sitting in a theater to watch dance bores you, boy, does HeapTroupe have an interactive — and possibly sweaty! — alternative. The group of self-proclaimed “theatrical weirdos” is inviting audiences to several HeapRides this month, featuring “frequent performance pit stops” with local dancers on different city routes (May 2 starting at Chophouse Row; May 9 starting at Free Range Cycles, May 17 starting at Freeway Park).
For three hours, you can either bike alongside the dancers from pit stop to pit stop and watch their movements against a backdrop of Seattle in springtime, or meet Heap at the pit stops on foot. There are a lot of moving parts to this performance so be sure to check the HeapTroupe Instagram for details.
For me, the country’s 250th birthday is flying completely under the radar as the economy, society and the environment seem in constant meltdown mode. Despite it all, I can get behind celebrating American creativity, which is what Mark Morris Dance Group is doing with Dances to American Music at the Meany Center (May 7-9). The program blends folk, jazz and classical music composed by lauded American composers like George Gershwin, James P. Johnson, Louis Moreau Gottschalk and John Luther Adams.
Lastly, Whim W’Him is closing out their season with Spring ‘26 (May 8-16) at Cornish Playhouse, featuring three new works by contemporary choreographers: Rena Butler, James Gregg, and company founder Olivier Wevers. Endings are beginnings are endings!
Check out Season 2 of our tv show Art by Northwest, featuring in-depth interviews with the printmakers, painters, sculptors, carvers and photographers who are creating captivating work across Washington state.
