Stirring the pot with film, improv, dance, music, and more this weekend

Especially if you’re going to be in a turkey sandwich stupor next weekend, it’s a beautiful time to get out of the house over the next few days.

On Thursday night at 7pm at Germantown’s iMPeRFeCT Gallery, catch Until and Unless, a 30-minute documentary from the University of Pennsylvania’s South Asia Center Research Internship Program and the grassroots organization Balaram Dey Street Anandam in India. Following four individuals of diverse ages and gender identities in West Bengal one year before the recent repeal of India’s anti-sodomy law, the film explores that decriminalization and the ongoing systemic oppression experienced by the film’s subjects. Here’s the trailer.

A reception before the film will have food and snacks, and a talk from three of the Bengali activists featured in the film will follow the screening. This is an adults-only event.

Pot-stirrers

On another note entirely (or maybe not, if you spend holidays wrangling over notions of basic human rights with genetic relations who otherwise have little in common with you), you can check out Philly Improv Theater’s Stirring the Pot ($5 to $15), running on Fridays at 8pm at the Adrienne throughout November and December. “Stirring the Pot is an improv show inspired by the good and bad experiences we share over the holidays,” PHIT says. “Come back for seconds.”

Broad Street Boogie

Saturday afternoon has a fun opportunity for vintage-loving outdoor urbanites. Join photographers Katie Reynolds, Katie Tackman, and Michael Bixler (Hidden City Daily director and managing editor) for a “Broad Street Boogie” photo walk in conjunction with Gravy Studio’s current exhibition, American Leisure. Admission is a suggested $5 to $15 donation to Gravy Studio (RSVP here).

This tour of South Broad Street, perfect for those obsessed with fonts and vintage signage and architectural features, begins in the Pep Bowl courtyard at Broad and Federal, heads south to Ritner, and then back up again to finish at Boot and Saddle bar. Gather at 2:30pm for a 3pm walk that’ll take about two hours and cover a little more than two miles. Dress in warm, comfortable clothes, and bring your camera and a bottle of water.

Come together with Koresh

Dance lovers should rejoice this weekend, too: Koresh’s Come Together Dance Festival is back for its fifth year, bringing more than 40 local, regional, and national dance companies to the Suzanne Roberts stage for five nights of performance. Things kick off Wednesday at 7:30pm, and continue nightly with shows through Sunday at 7pm.

This year’s companies include Brian Sanders’ JUNK, Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers, Rennie Harris Puremovement, Just Sole! Street Dance Theatre Company, SHARP Dance Company, Putty Dance Project, the Pennsylvania Ballet, and lots more. Visit online for tickets and the full lineup. Suzanne Roberts is an ADA-accessible venue that offers assisted listening devices for all performances, as well as Braille signage throughout the building.

Pressure Wave and Origin Story

On Saturday night at 8pm at the Rotunda, you can catch a new show from HPrizm (composer/performer Kyle Austin), a founding member of the Antipop Consortium. According to organizers, Pressure Wave “is a new evening-length audio/visual piece” by HPrizm, using “amplified resonance of urban spaces and the intersectional space between Sonic Activism, Musique concrète, and Rap’s early roots to examine the dense environments and circumstances that birthed Hip Hop.” The show is free, and the Rotunda is a wheelchair-accessible venue.

On Sunday at 3pm at Asian Arts Initiative, catch a documentary screening as the 2018 Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival draws to a close. Origin Story is the directorial debut from Los-Angeles-based comedian, writer, and podcaster Kulap Vilaysack. When she was 14, Vilaysack found out something shocking about her own family roots in Laos, after her parents sought asylum in the U.S. and raised a family in Minnesota. Origin Story takes Vilaysack back to her hometown and on to Laos for “a deeply personal but universally relevant tale of immigration, conflict, identity, and personal responsibility.” The director’s comedy pals, like Sarah Silverman and Howard Kremer, drop in along the way.

Before the screening, catch a “visual poem” performance, “S.O.S. in Reverse,” the newest piece from writer, spoken-word poet, and artist Catzie Vilayphonh, the director of Laos in the House and a founding member of the HBO Def Poetry Jam-featured group Yellow Rage. Through personal narratives, Vilaphonh wants to reach communities who often aren’t represented in the arts. Tickets to the performance and screening are $10, and Asian Arts is a wheelchair-accessible venue.