The Spiral Q Theater puts a new spin on parades Saturday at the eighth annual Peoplehood parade and pageant.
Traditional floats are replaced with at least 150 puppets large and small. Visitors can watch creativity and diversity in motion as more than 300 people from Philadelphia communities lead a parade beginning at the Paul Robeson House (50th and Walnut Streets) and ending at Clark Park (45th and Kingsessing).
This giant-puppet parade and pageant, one of six produced yearly by the theater, was created "to mobilize communities and illuminate the victories, frustrations and possibilities of living in the neighborhoods of Philadelphia and similar urban settings through the construction of full-scale giant puppet parades, toy theater and neighborhood pageantry," the theater's mission.
Since mid-July, community groups have been creating puppets, including a giant human, the sun and moon, and cars. The pageant is a collective event, its visual performances featuring giant puppet play with dance and choreography.
Local drill teams, including the Powelton Steppers and Marching Thunder, and a radical marching band from New York, the Rude Mechanical Orchestra, will entertain during the parade.
Circus with soul
Families can experience a circus with soul this weekend through the end of October as UniverSoul Circus returns to Philadelphia for the 14th season. The newest show is "The Magic of Soul," which combines UniverSoul's well-known urban-rich family entertainment with magic, mystique, and, of course, soul.
This season's performances promise "flying trapeze performers, mind-bending contortionists, Chinese bicycle daredevils, gravity-defying aerial gymnasts, and much more that will excite and enchant audiences of all ages."
Ringmaster Tony Tone, an audience favorite, will kick off the show with Zeke, Onion Head, and the rest of the UniverSoul performers. Other highlights are Caribbean limbo dancers, stilt walkers, and elephants Mindy, Lucy and Cindy in action.
Bucks County music
Young musicians from Bucks County will pair with Doylestown's Dance Theatre of Pennsylvania in a youth concert by the Bucks County Symphony, now in its 55th season, Sunday at Central Bucks High School South in Warrington.
Performing solos with the symphony will be the winners of the group's annual youth competition, including Sean Bailey, a ninth grader at Pennsbury High School, along with Daniel Christensen and Maria Venter, both home-schooled cellists from Bucks County.
The youth concert is considered a rare collaboration between two renowned cultural institutions in Doylestown. On the program will be excerpts from the ballet Paquita, featuring soloists and the corps de ballet from Dance Theatre.
Dancers for Paquita will include Rebecca Smith, a ninth grader at Unami Middle School, Taylor Wild, a senior at Mount St. Joseph Academy, and Desire Guthier, a senior at Central Bucks South.