Upcoming Events

…their expressiveness was as moving as it was breathtaking-The Wall Street Journal Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring has inspired dances and ballets for over 100 years, but never circus – until now. See the bodies of 10 fearless acrobats – highlighted by a technically and artistically stunning lighting design – hurl, twist, and collide in an electrifying explosion of physicality and power. These performances also feature a stirring new composition by Phillipe Bachman that pairs with Stravinsky’s classical music masterpiece. In this first-ever circus setting of The Rite of Spring, CIRCA weaves together powerful acrobatics with poetic tenderness and raw emotion – penetrating the senses and stirring the soul. Seen by over one million people in 40 countries, the Australia-based performance troupe, CIRCA, is at the forefront of contemporary circus, leading the way with a diverse range of thrilling creations. Under the direction of circus visionary Yaron Lifschitz, CIRCA features an ensemble of exceptional, multi-skilled circus artists.  CIRCA is a regular fixture at leading festivals and venues in New York, London, Berlin, and Montreal with seasons at Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Barbican Centre, Les Nuits de Fourvière, Chamäleon Theatre as well as major Australian Festivals.

The most heartfelt and evocative sounds imaginable.-Roots World Small Island Big Song celebrates 5,000 years of Pacific Islander culture.  From Taiwan to Aotearoa/New Zealand – Madagascar to Rapa Nui/Easter Island. Islanders who share an ancient seafaring ancestry and language. Over three years, Small Island Big Song evolved from visits to 16 Island Nations, and work with over 100 artists, solo artists, elders, community groups, and grassroots musicians, all recorded in their homelands in nature using traditional instruments and languages, with each contributing to each other’s songs. The result is a surprising and stunning musical collaboration reuniting the distant yet interconnected musical traditions of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

It isn’t merely the grace and power of their dancing or the beauty of their singing that rivets the attention, but the sheer joy and love that emanates from their being.Paul Simon For 60 years, South Africa’s Ladysmith Black Mambazo has warmed the hearts of audiences worldwide with uplifting vocal harmonies, signature dance moves, and charming onstage banter. With a deep respect for both their cultural and personal history, the five-time Grammy Award winners are ever-evolving with an eye toward their long musical legacy. Since the world discovered their powerful a cappella vocals from Paul Simon’s Graceland album, the original members have welcomed a younger generation in their mission, passing along the tradition of storytelling and spreading a message of peace, love, and harmony to millions of people the world over. The late former South African president Nelson Mandela designated the group “South Africa’s cultural ambassadors to the world,” a title the members carry with them with the highest honor. In 2018 the group received two Grammy Award nominations for two separate albums, a first in the history of World Music. These two nominations brought their career total to 19 Grammy Award nominations. RIALTO THEARE FOUNDATION COVID POLICY – September 2021 As of September 20, 2021, both the Rialto Theatre and 191 Toole will require all patrons to wear masks while attending an event unless actively enjoying a beverage. Additionally, Proof of full COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result within 48 hours will also be required. We cannot accept all at-home tests. If it’s an at-home test that gives results via an app (which includes your information) those are acceptable. The test result will need to include your name and date of birth, and also have a time stamp so we can determine when the test was taken. It will be compared to your photo ID at the door. Visiting artists and productions may elect to follow increased health and safety protocols. Therefore, vaccinations, specific capacity, distancing, and face-covering protocols may vary from show to show. For information about Covid-19 vaccination and free Covid-19 Testing sites in Pima County, please click HERE POLITICA COVID-19 DE ESTE LUGAR A partir de Septiembre 20, 2021, ambos Rialto Theatre y 191 Toole requerira a todos los patrocinadores que usen mascarillas mientras esten asistiendo un evento, a menos que queue activamente esten disfutando de una bebida. Adicionalmente, tendran que mostrar una prueba complete de la vacuna COVID-19, o resultados de una prueba negativa de COVID-19, de dentro las ultimas 48 horas. No podemos aceptar todas las pruebas en casa. Si se trata de una prueba en casa que da resultados a través de una aplicación (que incluye su información), esos son aceptables. El resultado de la prueba deberá incluir su nombre y fecha de nacimiento, y también tener una marca de tiempo para que podamos determinar cuándo se realizó la prueba. Se comparará con su identificación con foto en la puerta. Artistas invitados, visitantes y producciones podran decider el aumento en el protocolo a seguir para la seguridad y salud.Por lo tanto, los protocolos de vacunas, capacidad especifica, distanciamiento, y cubiertas faciales, pudiesen variar, de evento a evento. Para informacion acerca de los sitios en el Condado Prima de pruebas gratuitas de Covid-19, por favor presione AQUI.

Arizona Arts Live & Club Congress are thrilled to light up the Congress stage with a dynamic duo of modern solo songwriters. Elizabeth Goodfellow and Jillian Bessett both operate on the new frontiers of songwriting and instrumentation, composing and performing through unconventional means with beautiful results. Join us as these two extraordinary and innovative women explore new sonic landscapes. Beth Goodfellow’s singer-songwriter approach to the marimba was born out of a desire to write songs on a chordal instrument after drumming in other people’s bands. She bought a 1920s Deagan Marimba through Craigslist and began incorporating it into her original songs. When the pandemic hit in 2020 she spent the better part of eighteen months writing for voice and marimba from Tucson, AZ and her apartment in Los Angeles. The pandemic allowed her time to strip the marimba and vocal approach down to the basics and focus on writing two-minute songs that were intended to be stream-of-conscious with minimal rewrites. These songs were released in early 2021 as the band camp album “Hunting The Silence”. Beth’s writing for marimba also draws inspiration from the polyrhythmic counterpoint of minimalist composer Steve Reich. By building loops of marimba counterpoint she creates a uniquely meditative backdrop for her lyrics and vocals. Beth is a drummer, percussionist and vocalist based in Los Angeles and has recorded or toured with artists including Iron and Wine, boygenius, Madison Cunningham, Per Gessle, and Calexico. Jillian Bessett is a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in Tucson, Arizona whose evocative lyrics and welcoming stage presence have endeared her to audiences throughout the southwest music scene. The keystone, however, is an instantly recognizable smoky alto voice that has prompted comparisons to Amy Winehouse, Feist, Nina Simone, and Adele. ​In 2014 Jillian released Electric Moon a stripped back solo endeavor which came in at #100 on KXCI’s Top 100 Albums of The Year. A full band filled out her next release with 2016’s Mr. Airplane. Jillian and the Giants–aptly named for their giant electric sound and stature– gigged furiously and put out two beautiful music videos for the singles “Mr. Airplane” and the locally loved “Chicago.” Mr. Airplane has over 58K streams on Spotify and came in at #19 on KXCI’s Top 100 Albums of the Year. Jillian is currently writing music and gigging with her new favorite instrument the Boss RC-505 Looping Station. Watch her use it here.​

NEW DATE ALERT!  Arizona Arts Live & the Tucson Jazz Festival are pleased to announce our new date for Jon Batiste’s performance in Tucson. Join us on March 4, 2022 for the rescheduled performance LIVE in person. Born for showbusiness-NPR One of the best-known musicians of his generation, virtuoso pianist, singer, bandleader, educator, and television personality Jon Batiste has spent his career bringing music back to where it started —with the people. Born into Louisiana’s legendarily musical Batiste family, Jon studied at Juilliard, where he established his Stay Human band by playing around New York City’s subways and in street performances he called “love riots.” He developed a fluency in jazz and popular music of all stripes, collaborating with legends from Wynton Marsalis to Prince. In 2015, Jon was named bandleader and musical director of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Batiste’s latest studio album, WE ARE, was released in March 2021 to overwhelming critical acclaim including praise from New York Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, and Forbes.  Arizona Arts Live jazz programming supported by Alice and Paul Baker.

So different, so original, so creatively fresh and so much fun no one wanted to go home.-Waikato Times Indians throw crazy parties. Heard of Diwali? A million lamps floating on a river and fireworks to wake the dead. Heard of Holi? An explosion of color and joy and massive dry cleaning bills. How about Onam? No? It’s the harvest festival, and this one could be the craziest of them all! Mrs. Krishnan is renting an apartment to the overzealous wannabe DJ, James. James has invited a few friends into the back room of Mrs. Krishnan’s corner shop as a special surprise to celebrate Onam and the return home of her son. But when 100 strangers turn up (you, the audience) and settle in, Mrs. K has no choice but to throw the party of her life! An immersive experience like no other, join the party with music, dancing and vegetarian dal prepared live for each performance. Come as you are or break out that festive sari. Indian Ink Theatre Company continues to bridge cultures and expand boundaries with this utterly disarming new comedy that seats the audience around the dining table and at the kitchen bench in the back room of Krishnan’s corner shop. Now that her son is grown up, Mrs. Krishnan is thinking of selling the shop. It’s Onam, a time to celebrate life, death, and rebirth, and Mrs. Krishnan has to throw the party of her life in this joyous, heart-warming show.

…a sonic distillation of a blistering American past and its perilous present, with a transcendent strength of spirit woven through.-The Washington Post With 13 tap dancers and one acoustic bass player, Michelle Dorrance’s SOUNDspace strips tap dance down to its most raw basics—movement as pure music. SOUNDspace invites the audience to experience tap dancing with a fresh pair of eyes and ears, with both an acknowledgment towards the past and a look into the future.  Dorrance Dance is an award-winning tap dance company based in New York City. The company’s work aims to honor tap dance’s uniquely beautiful history in a new, dynamic, and compelling context not by stripping the form of its tradition, but by pushing it rhythmically, aesthetically, and conceptually. The company’s inaugural performance garnered a Bessie Award for “blasting open out notions of tap,” and continues its passionate commitment to expanding the audience of tap dance. Street, club, and experimental dance forms – all of which are American dreams – awake to the sound of furious rhythms and find their boundaries missing.

Angélique Kidjo returns to Tucson as one of the most iconic and respected artists in international music today, the opportunity to see her perform in the intimate setting of the Rialto Theatre is not to be missed. “Kidjo is probably Africa’s most widely respected international vocalist, and one of its hungriest synthesizers of culture and ideas.”The New York Times With a striking voice, radiant energy, and messages of unity and healing, four-time Grammy Award winner Angélique Kidjo is a chart-topping world music superstar who blends the West African traditions of her childhood with R&B, funk, and jazz. Time Magazine calls Angélique Kidjo, “Africa’s premier diva” and named her one of their 100 Most Influential People in September of 2021. “The grace she exudes toward her fellow creators, and to humankind, is a reflection of her vibrancy, kindness, and generosity. Angélique is as real as they come,” says Alicia Keys, in her introduction of Kidjo to the list. The acknowledgment is the latest in a series of major accolades and appearances in what has been a tremendous year for this “towering figure of cross-cultural music” (New Yorker). Kidjo’s reinterpretations rearrange the molecules of songs that many of us know by heart … the results are glorious.NPR Music Widely recognized as the “Queen of African Music,” she has collaborated with everyone from Alicia Keys to Bono to Philip Glass. In addition to winning four Grammy Awards for her masterful vocal prowess and innovative explorations of cross-cultural musical genres, she has also proven a tireless advocate for women and children in her native home of Benin and across Africa, serving as both an OXFAM and UNICEF goodwill ambassador. Rialto Theatre Foundation Covid Policy – September 2021 As of September 20, 2021, both the Rialto Theatre and 191 Toole will require all patrons to wear masks while attending an event unless actively enjoying a beverage. Additionally, Proof of full COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result within 48 hours will also be required. We cannot accept all at-home tests. If it’s an at-home test that gives results via an app (which includes your information) those are acceptable. The test result will need to include your name and date of birth, and also have a time stamp so we can determine when the test was taken. It will be compared to your photo ID at the door. Visiting artists and productions may elect to follow increased health and safety protocols. Therefore, vaccinations, specific capacity, distancing, and face-covering protocols may vary from show to show For information about Covid-19 vaccination and free Covid-19 Testing sites in Pima County, please click HERE POLITICA COVID-19 DE ESTE LUGAR A partir de Septiembre 20, 2021, ambos Rialto Theatre y 191 Toole requerira a todos los patrocinadores que usen mascarillas mientras esten asistiendo un evento, a menos que queue activamente esten disfutando de una bebida. Adicionalmente, tendran que mostrar una prueba complete de la vacuna COVID-19, o resultados de una prueba negativa de COVID-19, de dentro las ultimas 48 horas. No podemos aceptar todas las pruebas en casa. Si se trata de una prueba en casa que da resultados a través de una aplicación (que incluye su información), esos son aceptables. El resultado de la prueba deberá incluir su nombre y fecha de nacimiento, y también tener una marca de tiempo para que podamos determinar cuándo se realizó la prueba. Se comparará con su identificación con foto en la puerta. Artistas invitados, visitantes y producciones podran decider el aumento en el protocolo a seguir para la seguridad y salud.Por lo tanto, los protocolos de vacunas, capacidad especifica, distanciamiento, y cubiertas faciales, pudiesen variar, de evento a evento. Para informacion acerca de los sitios en el Condado Prima de pruebas gratuitas de Covid-19, por favor presione AQUI.

an interactive experience where children will be expected to take off their shoes and dive right into a whimsical world…-The National Two dancers move, play and paint in the air, telling the story of the slow metamorphosis of the butterfly.  COMPAGNIA TPO’s “theater of the senses” weaves dance, storytelling, and visual experience into a magical hands-on performance like nothing you’ve seen before. The audience is invited to enter the performance and interact with the beautiful, immersive world created on stage. Under the direction of Francesco Gandi and Davide Venturini, Italy’s COMPAGNIA TPO (Teatro di Piazza o d’Occasione) is the world’s foremost pioneer in interactive performance media for all ages – creating works for proscenium and alternative spaces – melding astonishing digital imagery with multi-disciplinary performance techniques in the use of music, dance, art, sculpture, digital media, computer technology, lighting, and sound. Their vision of accessibility in the arts is unprecedented, simultaneously allowing festivals and venues worldwide their most rewarding audience experiences while redefining them from the inside out.