Rejoice! Diaspora Dance Theater's newest production is showing this September in the Performing Arts Building.
September 10, 2025
Press Release
Dates: September 13–14 and September 19–21
Times: Friday and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 2:30 p.m.
Location: Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³ Performing Arts Building, Massee Performance Lab (128)
3203 Southeast Woodstock Boulevard, Portland, Oregon 97202-8199
Ticket Link:
Prices: $16–$26
GRIOT invites you on a journey from Senegal to Brazil and into the American South. Witness how this keeper of oral tradition impacts the communities, lineage, and culture where they live. In movement, music, and memory, audiences witness the Griot’s mix of virtuosic talent, role as a lineage keeper, and essential presence in communities today. From baobabs to beaches, we cross country borders and the boundaries we impose on ourselves in a show with choreography by Oluyinka Akinjiola and Michael Galen, music developed and performed by Tama master and Griot Massamba Diop, and an immersive score created by Galen incorporating field recordings from Brazil and Senegal.
Rejoice! will be joined by Massamba Diop, Senegalese drumming sensation whose music has captivated audiences worldwide—from his unforgettable contributions to the Black Panther soundtrack to his collaborations with music legends like James Brown and Carlos Santana.
Funding and support by: The National Endowment for the Arts, The City of Portland, Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³ Dance Department, Ronnie LaCroute, the Sandra Boynton Advised Fund, Creative West, Collins Foundation, Oregon Community Foundation, Ron Naito, Marie Lamfrom, Oregon Cultural Trust, and Multnomah County Cultural Coalition.
For more information, contact:
Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³ Assistant Professor of Dance Oluyinka Akinjiola rejoicediasporadancetheater@gmail.com.
Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³ Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³
Founded in 1908 in southeast Portland, Oregon, Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³ is a coeducational, independent liberal arts and sciences college. Referred to as one of the most intellectual colleges in the country, Reed is known for its high standards of scholarly practice, creative thinking, and engaged citizenship.
Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³ is devoted to the intrinsic value of intellectual pursuit and is governed by the highest standards of scholarly practice, critical thought, and creativity. Its undergraduate program of study, leading to the degree of Bachelor of Arts, is demanding and intense and balances breadth of knowledge across the curriculum with depth of knowledge in a particular field of study. The goal of a Reed education is that students learn and demonstrate rigor and independence in their habits of thought, inquiry, and expression.