Entertainment briefs | Many programs set at Cal Poly Humboldt – Times-Standard

Cabaret and more

The “Yes Jesters! Cabaret” takes place Monday from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. at Synapsis, 1675 Union St., Eureka. The show will be repeated Dec. 15 at the same time at Arcata Playhouse, 1251 Ninth St., Arcata.

Doors open a half-hour before the show starts. Suggested admission starts at $5, though both shows are “pay what you want.”

This show – a program of Creative Sanctuary – is a “PG-13ish parade of improv antics and gleeful irreverence.” James Zeller and Katie Belknap host and perform alongside artists, musicians and clowns.

Purchase tickets in advance at https://www.sanctuaryarcata.org. Rice, beans and greens will be served from 6 p.m. as long as supplies last.

Jazz Combos

The Cal Poly Humboldt Department of Dance, Music, and Theatre will present “Jazz Combos” Dec. 5 at 8 p.m. at the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the Arcata campus.

Tickets are $15 general, $5 for children and free for Cal Poly Humboldt students with ID. Tickets can be purchased at the door or online at tickets.humboldt.edu/dance-music-and-theatre.

Three combos will perform:

“Modal Citizens” features Gabriel Avila, trumpet, Jazmine Busteed, guitar, Alex Hofer, bass, and Nick Howell, drums. They will perform “St. Thomas” by Sonny Rollins, “This Masquerade” by Leon Russell, “Wake Up Alone” by Amy Winehouse and Paul O’Duffy and “You Brought a New Kind of Love To Me” by Sammy Fain and Irving Kahal.

“Syncopation Station” joins together Giovanny Martinez, piano, Alex Hofer, bass, and Conlan House, drums. They are performing “Willow Weep For Me” by Ann Ronell, “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out” by Jimmie Cox, “Mojo Woman” by Mose Allison, “A Night in Tunisia” by Dizzy Gillespie and “The Week Has Gone By Too Fast” by Conlan House.

The final combo, “Tight Space,” consists of True Laboissonniere, alto and soprano saxes, Silas Bohen, piano, Tyler Endsley, bass, and Gavin Kingsley, drums. They are playing “Black Coffee” by Sonny Burke and Paul Francis Webster, “Tea for Two” by Vincent Youmans and Irving Caesar, “Interplay” by Bill Evans, “Joy Spring” by Clifford Brown and “A Little Late” by Silas Bohen.

All three combos will feature vocalist Ava Williams on two of their pieces.

Percussion tunes

The Department of Dance, Music, and Theatre at Cal Poly Humboldt will present “Contemporary Music for Percussion” performed by the Cal Poly Humboldt Percussion Ensemble; the “Complex Rhythms of the West African Ewe Tradition” performed by the World Percussion Group; and the “Festive Steel Drum Sounds of the Caribbean” performed by the Humboldt Calypso Band.

The performances — directed by Howard Kaufman and Eugene Novotney – take place Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m. at the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the Arcata campus.

Concert tickets are $15 general, $5 for children and $5 for Cal Poly Humboldt students with ID. Tickets may be purchased at the door or in advance at tickets.humboldt.edu/dance-music-and-theatre.

The Cal Poly Humboldt Percussion Ensemble will begin the program by featuring three exciting works. The first piece, “Three Brothers,” composed by Michael Colgrass, was Colgrass’ first percussion ensemble work, composed nearly 75 years ago and still a staple in percussion literature. Scored for nine players, it features three prominent soloists — snare drum, bongos, and timpani (“the three brothers”) — while the remaining six instruments (cowbell, maracas, tambourine, suspended cymbal, tom-toms, additional timpani) take supportive yet essential roles. It’s essentially a jazz-influenced drum solo, built from the composer’s own jazz “licks,” with interplay between soloists and supporting rhythmic textures. The title nods to the famously swinging “Four Brothers” arrangement by Jimmy Giuffre, suggesting Colgrass’s jazz roots shaped this work.

The second piece on the program, and a Cal Poly Humboldt premiere, “Six” by Ivan Trevino, is a mallet sextet that celebrates memory, resonance and ensemble sound. “Six” is scored for two five-octave marimbas, two vibraphones and two glockenspiels, creating a rich, layered tapestry of mallet colors and textures. The work carries a deeply personal narrative for the composer: it reflects the six years Trevino spent as a student at Eastman and the special memories made there. Musically, “Six” draws inspiration from the atmospheric, expansive soundscapes of the Icelandic rock band Sigur Rós — melding minimalist pulse, shimmering timbre and introspective lyricism into a chamber-percussion setting.

The third and final featured work for the contemporary ensemble is “Piru Bole” by John Bergamo, a striking drum composition that fuses rich rhythmic tradition with contemporary ensemble writing. Originally published in 1974, the work has gained prominence for its imaginative blending of East-Indian tabla concepts with Western percussion ensemble idioms. It features open instrumentation, giving performers flexibility in configuration. Though firmly rooted in hand-drum technique inspired by Indian tabla, the piece is explicitly non-traditional — Bergamo employs tabla-like approaches as points of departure rather than replication. The piece dances between intricate rhythmic groupings, call-and-response textures and both group and solo improvisation.

The World Percussion Group will perform “Kinka,” a vibrant recreational music and dance tradition of the Anlo-Ewe people of southeastern Ghana, characterized by interlocking drum patterns, call-and-response singing and intricate bell and rattle figures. Originally performed in community settings for social gatherings and celebrations, “Kinka” combines polyrhythmic drumming with energetic movement and song, emphasizing communal participation and rhythmic dialogue.

The second half of the program will feature the festive dance music of one of Humboldt County’s favorite and most enduring musical ensembles, the Humboldt Calypso Band. The Calypso Band will celebrate its 40-year anniversary at Cal Poly Humboldt this spring, and this concert will be the kick-off to the band’s year-long celebration. The Calypso Band, over 50-members strong, will feature several high-energy compositions from the Caribbean in its set, including the modern Panorama classics “Birthday Party” by steelpan legend Len “Boogsie” Sharpe, “The Hammer” by noted Calypsonian David Rudder and “Panoramic” by steelpan virtuoso Liam Teague, who will be featured as one of the guest artists on the Calypso Band’s spring 2026 anniversary show.

In addition, the band will perform a new arrangement of Bob Marley’s iconic tune, “Waiting in Vain” arranged by Antiguan Khan Cordice, who will also be performing at Cal Poly Humboldt as a guest with the Calypso Band this spring.

The Calypso Band will showcase many of its members performing improvised solos in several of the bands’ compositions, highlighting the vast talent and artistry of its membership.

Singers perform

The Cal Poly Humboldt Department of Dance, Music, and Theatre will present the Mad River Transit Singers performing “I’m Walkin’,” an eclectic program featuring a variety of musical styles — from jazz standards to more modern tunes. The program is scheduled for Dec. 7 at 2 p.m. at Fulkerson Recital Hall on the Arcata campus.

Tickets are $15 general, $5 for children and free for Cal Poly Humboldt students with ID. Tickets can be purchased at the door or online at tickets.humboldt.edu/dance-music-theatre.

The concert program takes off with Louis Prima’s 1936 classic high-energy swing tune, “Sing, Sing, Sing.” The group keeps it moving along with Joseph Kosma’s popular standard, “Autumn Leaves,” arranged by Paris Rutherford. Artie Shaw’s “Moonray” receives a fresh, contemporary take by songwriter, vocalist and arranger Rosana Eckert. Chick Corea’s optimistic tune, “Open Your Eyes, You Can Fly,” also arranged by Eckert, will be presented in a “spacy samba” style. The group brings the rockin’ spirit of Ray Charles with Kirby Shaw’s fun a cappella arrangement of Bobby Sharp’s “Unchain My Heart,” and closes out the concert with Shaw’s arrangement of the Fats Domino blues tune, “I’m Walkin’.”

Choreography Showcase

The Cal Poly Humboldt School of Dance, Music, and Theatre will present its “Choreography Showcase,” directed by Haylee Wolff and Linda Maxwell, Dec. 12 and 13 at 7 p.m. at the John Van Duzer Theatre on the Arcata campus. The one-hour show has no intermission.

“Choreography Showcase” is a culmination of the work of dance majors and minors in their second semester of the program’s choreography two-class sequence. The dances were created to allow the audience to explore topics of isolation, war, frustration, sisterhood and celebration.

Tickets are $10 general, $8 for children and free for Cal Poly Humboldt students with ID. Tickets may be purchased at the door or in advance at tickets.humboldt.edu/dance-music-and-theatre.

Each dance is a unique story being told by the choreographer. The dances for this year’s performance are as follows:

“Neon Tracks” is a student-choreographed piece by Kamar Little that aims to showcase the high energy of hip-hop. Conceptually, this follows a group of friends ready for a night out and the idea of going to a party. Additionally, the song featured, “Finesse,” is in the style of New Jack swing, which focuses on bouncy rhythms musically and bouncier footwork/choreography.

“Little Doves,” choreographed by student Juliana Sanchez, is a contemporary ballet piece that represents the pain and confusion that children in war go through. This piece features three children in white, signifying innocence, and one war in red, signifying the corruption of war on young children.

“The Jack-ettes,” choreographed by student and local artist Nevada Gomes, is a majorette inspired celebration of femininity, confidence and unapologetic showmanship. Drawing deeply from African and HBCU performance traditions, the piece honors Black culture while embracing expressive movement, synchronized power and sisterhood.

“A Measure of our Steps” is choreographed by student choreographer Juliana Hooson. This is a contemporary jazz piece inspired by the ever-evolving dynamics of three sisters — growing, changing and learning from one another throughout life. Drawing from her own experiences of sisterhood, Hooson aims to capture the nostalgic rhythm of girlhood, moments of laughter and rivalry, tenderness and strength, chaos and care.

“Music Box,” choreographed by student choreographer Jessi Baldwin, is a lyrical piece about the idea of control in toxic relationships. Through her personal experience and the experience of others, Baldwin hopes to capture the uncomfortable and scary nature of toxic relationships and how they might turn one against their friends, as well as the freeing feeling when one finally breaks free from the control.

“Lean on Me,” choreographed by student choreographer Rowan Nelson-Pyle, is a contemporary/modern duet inspired by the choreographer’s experience of surgery recovery, cyclical care and togetherness through transformation as a transgender person. This piece explores the complex emotions of surgery recovery and needing to rely on other people for help. Fluidity of movement and initiation from different parts of the body are emphasized as the dancers disconnect, reconnect and push and pull on each other, exploring the many ways that bodies can support and move one another.

“Unwinding the Spiral,” choreographed by student choreographer Alicia Kiefler, is a contemporary modern piece that explores the societal pressures that easily steer people into a way of life that becomes stressful and dissatisfactory. The emphasis lies on individuality and success while sacrificing activities that bring enjoyment to life. The struggle lies in slowing life down when surrounded by a fast-paced lifestyle. Dancers navigate a way to embrace breath and community, leaning away from the robotic and increasing the quality of life.

“Changes,” choreographed by student choreographer Abbi Ochoa, is a contemporary piece about being in a relationship and how the changes a person goes through can put strain on them. It features a wide range of emotions from happiness to sadness to anger.

“Shoulder to Shoulder,” choreographed by student choreographer Kimberley Paulo, is a contemporary ballet piece about navigating loneliness and isolation to finding a sense of belonging in new connections. This piece is inspired by periods of sadness and solitude that most people experience at least once in their lifetime, and finding the courage and support to move forward.

“All That Grows, Returns” is a contemporary piece by student choreographer Maia Miglio. It is a meditation on the cyclical nature of existence: breath and exhale, creation and decay, birth and return.