Founder and Artistic Director Ashley L. Tate brings her company of trained classical, contemporary and commercial dancers to The Grandel for a weekend of performance art.

Roots and Rhythm is the opening main stage concert for Ashleyliane Dance Company’s 12th season. This show highlights the inventive and exuberant art form that is jazz dance. The pieces explore the swing era, the essence of theatrical jazz, a fusion of vernacular and contemporary dance, and a dash of jazz funk and other percussive “new style” hybrid dance forms.

Don’t miss this diverse concert held in the beautifully renovated Grandel Theatre!

All of those attending MUST be ticketed. There are no refunds issued for lost or stolen tickets. Children (ages 2 and under) may attend for free if sharing a seat with a paying adult.

For more information, contact: [email protected]

Building on its beloved summer productions in Forest Park and the acclaimed Shakespeare in the Streets program, the Festival now presents its very first season of contemporary American plays by writers in dialogue with Shakespeare, headlined by the regional premiere of Into the Breeches! Written by the award-winning playwright of Grounded, which starred Anne Hathaway in its New York run, Into the Breeches! is a hilarious and heartwarming look at the WWII home front and a group of ladies who band together to keep the local theater going with their very own production of Henry V.

“In the Works” will also feature family matinees of A Most Outrageous Fit of Madness, a delightful new play for young audiences by Festival favorite Nancy Bell, inspired by the mistaken identity hijinks of The Comedy of Errors, as well as staged readings of the Festival-commissioned The Thousand Natural Shocks, a moving coming-of-age story about a teenage boy who finds strength and resilience through a high school production of Hamlet. (The Thousand Natural Shocksis appropriate for ages 13 and over.)