The third annual ALT Fest is taking place at the ACT Arts Centre in Maple Ridge.
Each night of the festival will feature two shows.
On Feb. 3, there will be a free pre-show at 7:15 p.m., when patrons will have the opportunity to meet artist Zoran Malinovski at The ACT Art Gallery.
Malinovski will be demonstrating his mastery in multiple media, including drawing, tempera, pencil crayon and oil. In this collection, there is a heightened interest in natural subjects with quirky colour schemes.
At 8 p.m., in the studio theatre, Vancouver-based dance collective PACE will be pushing the boundaries of street dancing with hip hop, breaking, popping and waacking.
Then The New Conformity, by Cause and Effect Circus, will take to the stage with a juggling act that creates a touching story with engaging silent characters and laugh-out-loud humour.
Three co-workers struggle to make it through the day as they disagree over minor details. The act will bring light to the struggle between the comfort of conformity versus the freedom of individuality, told through tightly choreographed prop manipulation, martial arts and physical theatre.
The New Conformity was the winner of Pick of the Fringe at the Victoria Fringe Festival in 2014 and winner of Director’s Choice at the Vancouver Fringe Festival in 2015.
On Feb. 4, Camilo the Magician will grace the ACT lobby with up-close and personal magic acts.
Then the life of African-American actor and singer and political activist Paul Robeson will be highlighted in the performance of Call Mr. Robeson, A Life With Songs.
The performance will feature Ol’ Man River and other famous songs, fiery oratory and defiant testimony to the House Un-American Activities Committee.
On Feb. 5, the pre-show will feature Maya Rae, who was part of the Women in Jazz series with Vancouver Coastal Jazz.
Then the Cory Weeds Trio will be making their fourth appearance on stage at the ACT. Weeds is known for his Cellar Jazz Club days on West Broadway in Vancouver and he now programs Frankie’s Jazz Club on Beatty Street.
The trio will be joined on stage by American great jazz pianist and composer Harold Mabern, who has been described as one of the great post-bop pianists of this time.
• ALT Fest takes place at the ACT Arts Centre at 11944 Haney Place in Maple Ridge.
All performances are at 8 p.m. with a pre-show at 7:15 p.m. Tickets are $60 for a show package for all three evenings. Single tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for youth.
Non-perishable food donations will be collected for the Envision Financial Full Cupboard program, that raises food, money and awareness about food banks.