Gray Space | Blue Skies - A Marimba Ballet
About this Event
Through the metaphors of "gray space" and "blue skies," this contemporary dance performance journey moves from melancholy reflection to a place of acceptance, unity, and joy. Choreographed by award-winning Jenny Oliver, the piece is performed in the round to live marimba and gyil music.
The original composition by critically acclaimed marimbist and cultural activist Steph Davis shapes the sonic landscape of the piece. The sounds of the marimba and gyil blend West African and African American traditions, expressed through a contemporary lens that journeys through themes of self-discovery, love, and surrendering.
With layered choreography and a transformative emotional arc, the dance dives into the inner dialogue of the conscious creative navigating the duality of societal and cultural expectations. This piece offers the audience an opportunity to reflect on the complexities of identity, self-expression, and community care.
Saturday, October 10 at 8:00 PM (Doors 7:30 PM), approximately, 60 minutes.
Tickets are $20 for Mechanics' Hall Members, $25 for general admission, and $35 for reserved seating. There is a $5 surcharge on the day of the event. No one is turned away for lack of funds at the door.
Don't miss the accompanying workshop on Sunday, October 11 at 11:00 AM.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
A multifaceted artist based in Greater Boston, Jenny Oliver (she/her) serves as an educator, performer, choreographer, and arts advocate. Rooted in trauma-informed culturally responsive approaches, she weaves kinetic storytelling with dance and collective collaboration to create meaningful experiences. She has worked with an array of organizations including the Boston Center for the Arts, City of Boston, WBUR CitySpace (Ones To Watch), the Design Studio for Social Intervention, Castle of Our Skins (Creative in Residence), Boston Public Art Triennial, Museum of Science, MFA Boston (Choreographer in Residence), Peabody Essex Museum, and Masary Studios on projects that invite the public into creative placemaking. In 2021 she was awarded the Institute for NonProfit Practice's Changemaker's Award recognizing her work and commitment to the community and field of dance. In 2024 she completed a year-long residency with Castle of our Skins where she curated and choreographed a multidisciplinary evening of interactive art and performance and was awarded a Baldwin for the Arts Fellowship. In 2025 she completed the Jacob's Pillow Curriculum in Motion Institute, and her performance work was commissioned by Celebrity Series’ Neighborhood Art Season. Her work has also been presented in NY venues such as Mark Morris Dance Center, Dixon Place and University Settlement. In addition to her art making practice, she is the Head of Dance Performance at Tufts University, teaches weekly open adult modern dance technique classes through her organization, Modern Connections and has been on faculty at Bates Dance Festival and American College Dance Association.
Steph Davis Steph Davis (he/they) is a critically-acclaimed marimbist and cultural activist. Through the marimba, Davis explores the interiority of Black creative expression, culture, and subjectivity. Their work is anthropological in form and political in tone, using music to inspire rememory, truth-telling, and vulnerability. A WBUR 2026 The Makers awardee, Davis has contributed over 30 works by Black composers to the marimba’s solo and chamber repertoire through his arranging, composing, and commissioning efforts. A "crisp, controlled performer who brings bright humanity and expressive depth to contemporary music” (The Washington Post), Davis has performed hundreds of solo and chamber concerts throughout the United States, in addition to creating visual-sonic art installations and collaborative works in dance and theater. Davis has been presented by institutions such as Celebrity Series of Boston Neighborhood Arts, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, The Trustees of Reservations, Boston Public Art Triennial, Ashmont Hill Chamber Music, Castle of our Skins, New Gallery Concert Series, and Emerson Arts. He has also performed in venues such as Merkin Hall and Coffey Street Studio in New York City, The Newark Museum of Art (Newark, NJ), Mechanics Hall (Portland, ME), Broward Center for the Performing Arts (Ft. Lauderdale, FL), and Sarasota Concert Association (Sarasota, FL). As an artist in residence, Davis has developed and performed new works at the Goethe-Institut Boston, Boston Center the Arts, and Avaloch Farm Music Institute (Boscawen, NH). His work has received support from the New England Foundation for the Arts, Massachusetts Cultural Council, City of Boston Arts and Culture, and Cambridge Arts Council. Davis received his Master of Music in marimba performance from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where he studied with Nancy Zeltsman. He also holds a Bachelor of Music in percussion performance from the Conservatory.
ABOUT THE COLLABORATION
Beginning in 2023, Steph Davis and Jenny Oliver embarked on a collaborative visual-sonic performance that engages with Africanist aesthetics. BELONGING, presented as part of Castle of our Skins' Creative in Residence program uncovered their mutual desire to create meaningful work that invites audiences to experience being transported through art, to reflect on the collective consciousness and to provide time to be present while slowing down.
The pair continued performing together in various settings, engaging their Africanist approach to activate the radical power of imagination necessary to achieve collective liberation and embodiment as ways of being. In 2024 they were commissioned by Vivo Performing Arts, formerly Celebrity Series of Boston, to create an evening length work. Gray Space | Blue Skies premiered in February 2025 to a standing room only audience at the Multicultural Arts Center (Cambridge, MA) and 'Davis & Oliver' was born.
In March 2025, they performed The Prayers of Black Folk, presented as part of Black History in Action at the historic St. Augustine's African Orthodox Church (Cambridge, MA). Situated in the powerful lineage of Marcus Garvey and the African Orthodox Church, the performance deepened the pair's connection to local Black histories and legacy institutions.
Continuing to deepen their creative practice, Davis & Oliver expanded their research into the Public Art realm through a co-commission by the Boston Public Art Triennial and Castle of our Skins. Their interest in site-specific work and its relevance to the experience of Black Women and Femmes led them to create and perform, Moving for Joy in May 2025. This commission was in response to Alison Croney Moses' "This Moment for Joy" described in part as having no endings; rather an ability to bend, to learn, and to be vulnerable. Holding space for it all, viewers were invited to reflect on moments of joy, sacrifice, and connection in an hour-long, visual-sonic exploration shaped by themes of motherhood and the intersectional practice within Africanist aesthetics. Performed at the sculpture's Navy Yard location in Charlestown, the performance elicited this response from the sculptor: "Davis & Oliver ...uplifted this work with brilliance. Experiencing their care, love, and joy in community was an act of resistance for me today."
Following a transformative year of collaboration, Davis & Oliver was selected to present at NEFA's Idea Swap, was commissioned by Mechanics' Hall (Portland, ME) to perform at Evening of Wonder 2026 was awarded a NEST 2 Touring grant to perform Gray Space | Blue Skies in their 2026-2027 season, presented by Mechanics' Hall and the Dance Complex (Cambridge, MA).
While they are often performing, they have also been recognized for their creative process and awarded a coveted residency at Avaloch Farm Music Institute to fortify their vision of marimba paired with dance as a vehicle for community building, liberation, and robust artistic expression. Davis & Oliver are currently generating a new work, The Will to Adorn, an evening-length performance that draws on the writings of anthropologist and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston. The piece is a poignant, powerful tribute to the various characteristics of Negro expression observed by Hurston, uncovering buried sites of freedom and everyday fulfillment through music and movement.
Davis & Oliver is a contemporary performance duo that explores Black subjectivity through music and dance. In performances and community workshops, Davis & Oliver honors music and dance as sacred technologies connected to and extending out from the continent of Africa. The pair focuses on generating new work at the intersection of Africanist aesthetics and Western classical forms.
PARKING & TRANSPORTATION
The Greater Portland Metro’s Congress & Casco Street Stop is directly in front of our building, served by routes 1, 7, 8, and 9B.
Street Parking: Available on Congress, Casco, Cumberland, Free Street, and nearby streets. Pay by meter or the Passport Parking App. Free after 6 PM, on Sundays, and between Parris and Alder Street. Some blocks may vary — look for posted signs.
Garages: The Arts District Garage (41 Brown St) has 250+ spaces, is open 24/7, and accepts credit card only, with entrances on Brown, Cumberland, and Casco. The Elm Street Garage (21 Elm St) is conveniently near the Portland Library. The Spring Street Garage is three blocks away at 45 Spring St.
ACCESSIBILITY
To enter our building, patrons will need to navigate a single step or use a modular ramp. Please note that the wheelchair ramp has a steep incline.
A wheelchair-accessible elevator is available. The elevator is 60" deep, 48" wide, with a 32" door opening. There are four wheelchair-accessible bathrooms on the third-floor level, adjacent to the Ballroom.
If you have a wheelchair or need accessibility accommodations/questions, please contact us at [email protected] or 207-773-8396.
Funded in part by the New England States Touring program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the six New England state arts agencies.
Housing for the artists is generously provide by . Their budget-friendly accommodations are located in the fabulous India Street Neighborhood in downtown Portland, Maine.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 0.00 to USD 44.52
