Visitors / Employees
2016 40th Street Summer Series Lineup
UCD, in partnership with Penn and The Rotunda, is excited to announce the dates and acts for the 12th annual 40th Street Summer Series. The 40th Street Summer Series brings free live music and dance performances to the green space behind the Walnut Street Library at 40th Street.
The Summer Series brings business during the typically slow summer months by increasing patronage at nearby retailers and building upon the existing vibrancy of 40th Street, while providing entertaining, enriching and safe outlets for families, visitors and students. The 40th Street Summer Series also features jugglers, balloon artists, face painters, and more entertainment outside the performances, plus free ice cream from Ben & Jerry’s, and this year free smoothies provided by honeygrow.
June 18
This year's series kicks off on Saturday, June 18, as Marc Ribot's The Young Philadelphians will bring their blend of mind-blowing harmolodic punk-funk and the sweet, optimistic pulse of 1970s Philly soul to rock 40th Street. Opening the show will be Monica "Spirit" McIntyre, a gender non-conforming cellist, vocalist, lyricist, and visual artist who promotes empowerment and healing by any medium necessary.
July 23
On Saturday, July 23, Dendê & Band will bring Afro-Brazilian rhythms to 40th Street to get the crowd moving. Dendê & Band have cultivated a unique sound where Afro-Brazilian traditions like samba de roda and candomble have been seamlessly melded with world rhythms like rumba, afrobeat and mbalax. Dendê is a percussionist, singer, composer, bandleader, teacher, and multi-instrumentalist. The show's opener will be PaPa Ed Stokes and Kunu Bi--PaPa Ed is a multi-instrumentalist/vocalist who plays more than a dozen instruments, a highly-accomplished instrument maker (often from recycled materials), and a lifelong student of ethnic and African music, and the blues.
August 20
Don't miss a powerful performance on August 20th by the Liberian Women's Chorus for Change! This group brings the power of Liberian traditional song to the forefront of efforts to make communities safe and strong. Composed of renowned singers, dancers and musicians from Liberia, these award-winning performers create music intended to encourage women to make their voices heard, and to take positive steps forward. Opening the show will be the Modero Dance Company, who were founded to combine traditional and modern Indonesian dance disciplines. This fusion brings the best of both worlds in energetic and intricate choreography.
September 17
The final Summer Series performance is all about dance! Don't miss headliners Rennie Harris RHAW, a dance group for youths training for Rennie Harris Puremovement. The group performs Campbell Locking, Popping & Boogaloo, B-boy/girl, House, and Hip hop social dance. RHAW forges new paths for young hip hop hopefuls, and will present Hip hop in its "RHAW-est" forms. Opening the show will be the Kalamandir Dance Company, a contemporary ensemble that uses the vocabulary of classical Indian dance to explore new spaces of artistic expression. Their movement vocabulary is a collective effort that aims to create a reachable area for all people to participate and communicate.
The Summer Series is made possible through support from the University of Pennsylvania, Ben & Jerr'ys, honeygrow, T-Mobile, Boom 107.9, and Old School 100.3.
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