BENTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Home-grown hoofers from the Minneapolis arts scene, Rhythmic Circus comes to The Mendel Center at Lake Michigan College at 8 p.m., Saturday, October 17 with Feet Don’t Fail Me Now! This dynamic tap and music performance mixes hard-hitting percussive dance and a live rock band and guarantees to enthrall audiences of all ages with its medley of positivity and infectious rhythm.

Three guys and a gal combine rapid-fire tap talent with the funky styling and original lyrics of a seven piece band with a big, brass sound. Add vocal percussionist Aaron “Heatbox” Heaton, the human beatbox, and it’s easy to see why this show earned a 2012 Edinburgh Festival Fringe Spirit of the Fringe Award.

From an a cappella singing and tap number to a percussive chair routine (think Stomp) to the stripped down “Dream Song,” an acoustic number inspired by a front porch jam session back home in Minneapolis, Feet Don’t Fail Me Now! is a genre-hopping hour-and-a-half of rock, blues, and soul.

Brilliant staging and integrated choreography is most evident in “Circus,” a crowd-pleaser in which the dancers, decked out in colorful marching band attire, join the musicians in an intense, fast-paced number that features a tuba solo, original vocal lines, and tap breakdowns.

“We created Feet Don’t Fail Me Now! out of the desire to get people back in touch with the spirit of celebration. The show helps remind our audiences that there is always a reason to get up, let go, and dance,” said co-creator Nick Bowman. “The name of our show comes from an old New Orleans chant dating back to the early 1900s — a time when the city was rich with culture and spirit. They literally had parades every Sunday just to celebrate their lives and community. Rhythmic Circus has adopted the chant as more of a rallying cry. We have been ecstatic to see it strike a chord with people everywhere from our home town to Off-Broadway and all the way across the globe.”

Although the company’s official inception was in 2007, the troupe’s core members have been collectively choreographing and performing together since 2000. No strangers to the spotlight, they were recently featured in “Minnesota Original,” a weekly art series on Twin Cities Public Television, collaborated with Vocal Essence in Witness: A Tribute to Duke Ellington at the Ordway Performing Arts Center, and appeared in the Crash Bang Boom! Festival at the Minnesota Orchestra Hall.

Feet Don’t Fail Me Now! premiered in August 2008 at the Ritz Theatre in Minneapolis and went on to tour nationally and internationally, including a recent six-week tour throughout China and 25-show run in New York City at the New Victory Theatre. The ensemble was awarded in two categories of the Minnesota SAGE Awards for Outstanding Performance and Outstanding Ensemble and was named the “Best Dance Performance” by the Minneapolis/St. Paul City Pages.

Under the artistic direction of Ricci Milan and executive direction of Nick Bowman, Rhythmic Circus includes dancers Nick Bowman, Galen Higgins, Ricci Milan, and Kaleena Miller. The musicians of Rhythmic Circus include guitarist Alex Rossi, beatboxer Aaron Heaton, keys player Cornell Blanchard, drummer Patrick Nelson, bassist Dan Ristrom, saxophonist Peter Vircks, and trumpeter Aaron Wiener.

As Feet Don’t Fail Me Now! continues to spread its positivity with audiences everywhere, Rhythmic Circus remains true to its mission to provide inspirational experiences for all age groups and cultural backgrounds through a sensational blend of theatre, music and dance.

Tickets for Rhythmic Circus: Feet Don’t Fail Me Now! start at $28 and are available at www.TheMendelCenter.com, and through The Mendel Center Box Office at (269) 927-1221, weekdays 2 to 6 p.m. Special rates are available for groups of 10 or more. For information about group rates, pre-show party options, and other special arrangements contact the Box Office.

A pre-show VIP Experience package is available with private party and bar area, one complimentary drink, appetizers, and giveaways. The VIP Experience package is $20 per person.

All attendees 21 and older may enjoy a cash bar in the front lobby that opens one hour before show time. Special Mendel Center drink cups are available for purchase, which allow patrons to enjoy their beverages inside the theater. New this season, valet parking is available for $6.

This performance is made possible, in part, by the Gast Young Peoples’ Performance Endowment. Hilton Garden Inn — Benton Harbor and Michiana Life Magazine are sponsoring this performance by Rhythmic Circus.

This presentation is supported by the Arts Midwest Touring Fund, a program of Arts Midwest that is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional contributions from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, the Crane Group and General Mills Foundation.

 

The 1,517-seat Mendel Center Mainstage Theatre offers state-of-the-art acoustics and comfortable seating in elegant surroundings. Other amenities include free parking, handicap accessibility with usher-assisted advance seating opportunities, and an array of special services including valet parking, catering and bar service for private pre- and post-show events, booster seats for children, hearing-assist devices, non-spill cups for beverages inside the theatre, and recently added premium seats in the Stage Side section.

The Mendel Center is 30-minutes from Niles and 40-minutes from Kalamazoo and South Bend. It is located on the Lake Michigan College campus at 2755 E. Napier Avenue, Benton Harbor, Michigan. The Mendel Center is one mile east of I-94 (Exit 30) and one mile west of the US 31 Bypass (exit 24).