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Shout! with Jakari Sherman and [Jk]creativ.

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Dates

Oct 27 - Oct 30, 2026

Event Type

ExxonMobil Discovery Series

Ticket Price

This is a non-ticketed event provided free of charge to local school districts.
Registrations managed by partner school districts' Fine Arts Department.

Performance Hall

Zilkha Hall

Duration

One hour

ExxonMobil Discovery Series

Fine Arts, ELAR, Math, Social Studies, LOTE

TEKS: §110.7: 5.6(A), 5.9(D); §117.119: 5.2(A), 5.3(A); §115.7: 5.3(A,B), 5.5(D)

Shout! is a multidisciplinary and multimedia performance that brings history to life for young audiences. Through stepping, percussion, contemporary dance, song and text, students discover the Ring Shout, a sacred tradition practiced in secret during enslavement that affirmed dignity, spiritual devotion, and embodied resistance.

This engaging work explores the Ring Shout as a living model of freedom through three core principles: DIALOGUE, UNITY and EVOLUTION. Students journey through PAST (traditional practice rooted in research and oral history), PRESENT (how these principles show up in community organizing today), and FUTURE (speculative visions of healing and liberation).
Framed within the true story of French Town, a historic Houston community created by Creoles from Southwest Louisiana, the participatory performance connects local history to broader themes of cultural preservation, resilience, and community-building. Age-appropriate and curriculum-aligned, Shout! offers students a dynamic introduction to unique music, dance and culinary traditions, and the ongoing journey toward freedom as a way of life.

Learn More about the Hobby Center’s educational programming and future opportunities for Houston school districts.

This project is supported in part by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance and The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion 2026 BIG grant.

Performance Schedule

Audio Description
Open Captions
ASL

Swipe to see more details

Tue Oct 27, 2026 at 9:45 am
Tue Oct 27, 2026 at 11:45 am
Wed Oct 28, 2026 at 9:45 am
Wed Oct 28, 2026 at 11:45 am
Thu Oct 29, 2026 at 9:45 am
Thu Oct 29, 2026 at 11:45 am
Fri Oct 30, 2026 at 9:45 am
Fri Oct 30, 2026 at 11:45 am

Creative Director, Jakari Sherman

[Jk]creativ is a multidisciplinary creativ company developing purpose-driven and truth-seeking cultural works. Through myriad creativ initiatives – from visual design to live performance; discussion groups to serving the unhoused – the company is redefining how the arts and creatives are engaged as agents of change within communities.

Creative Director, Jakari Sherman is a recent MacDowell Fellow and Dance Source Houston Artist-in-Residence, who is considered the first modern choreographer of ‘stepping’. For two decades, Jakari has pioneered the integration of traditional and contemporary stepping into full-length concert works, challenging conventions through storytelling, technology, and cross-disciplinary innovation. Jakari is the former Artistic Director of Washington, DC-based Step Afrika!, and an ethnochoreologist conducting research into the culture and history of stepping and other percussive movement practices. His work has been recognized globally for its unique blend of cultural exploration and energetic percussive dance. He is the Director of Drumfolk and The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence, both celebrated works of the Houston Theatre District.