“Muntu” is the Bantu tribal word for “essence, ” which is what the Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago seeks to find in its performances emphasizing both ancient and contemporary African culture. Two new Muntu works will be performed: “Rebirth of Culture, ” based on traditional dances from Senegal and which includes Sabor Drum Talk, where a battery of drums are used to “talk” by fluctuating pitches with rapid palm and finger movements in imitation of the Wolof tribal language, and “Yanga,” the story of an African enslaved in early seventeenth-century Mexico who became the founder of the first two of free slaves in the Americas. (Dennis Polkow)
Thu/7:30pm, Fri/6pm, Sat/8pm, Sun/3pm. Dusable Museum of African American History, 740 E. 64th Place, (773)947-0600. $8-$25.
