“Hands Up Hoodies Down blends slam poetry, music, rap, movement, and improvisation together for a poignant piece with a message as loud and clear as the chants at rallies nationwide: #BlackLivesMatter”. —Austin Chronicle, March 2015

Hands Up Hoodies Down is a protest song sung in the key of high octane spoken word stanzas exploding through tears and heartache; it’s the balled fist full of possibilities; it’s the feeling of the day after the riot and no place to buy groceries; it’s the mother’s moan and the father’s wail. How do we react when human beings are taken out of existence? 

Hands Up Hoodies Down is the return of this critically-acclaimed hip hop theatre and dance piece for our times, originally presented at The VORTEX last March.  Conceived, directed, and co-written by Zell Miller III, with contributions from Chelsea Manasseri. Choreography by Sadé Jones. The cast features T-Fly, Kann, Da’Shade Moonbeam, Zell Miller III, Chelsea Manasseri, Sadé Jones, and the Ashé Arts Collective.

Radical Rush Free Tickets:

Limited free tickets for each performance in the spirit of sustainability, accessibility, and the gift economy. Radical Rush tickets released at 7pm each night–in-person only. 2-for-1 admission Thursdays with donation of 2 cans for SafePlace.

Hands up Hoodies down is funded and supported in part by VORTEX Repertory Company, by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts, and by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department.

Tickets and information www.vortexrep.org

#BlackLivesMatter