Rhythmically Speaking spreads the gospel of jazz dance

Started in 2009 by artistic director Erinn Liebhard, this dance organization puts on just one show a year, but it's packed full of local and out-of-town choreographers who share the diversity of jazz and American vernacular dance. This year, participants will navigate themes of loss, celebration, discovery, protest and reflection through the lens of jazz- and pop-inspired movement, showing how rhythm-based dance creates fertile ground for illuminating life's dynamic moments. Choreographers include such local talents as Karla Grotting, Laura Selle-Virtucio, Rush Benson, Rae Charles and Liebhard herself, as well as Los Angeles-based Pat Taylor of JazzAntiqua and Cynthia Gutierrez-Garner, formerly of Minnesota and now based in Oregon. (7:30 p.m. Thu.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sat., Southern Theater, 1420 Washington Av. S., Mpls., $24, 612-326-1811, southerntheater.org)