Black ice

When the St. Paul performance troupe Brownbody hits the Highland Ice Arena, figure skating becomes a medium for exploring the African-American experience. This weekend's show is the culmination of the company's CoMotion series, a two-month initiative designed to make the ice more welcoming to communities of color. The show features "Quiet As It's Kept," a reprised piece by Brownbody Artistic Director Deneane Richburg that uses skating, dance and theater to explore America's Reconstruction Era and the emergence of oppressive Jim Crow laws. Twin Cities jazz vocalist Thomasina Petrus, pictured, provides the piece's live soundscape, with help from music producer Charles "Chilly" Petrus. The program's second half boasts on-ice translations of modern dance works by the Brooklyn company Urban Bush Women. (7:30 p.m. Fri. and Sat., 2 p.m. Sat. for family-friendly performance and Sun., 800 Snelling Av., St. Paul. $35, bit.ly/Brownbody)

Sheila Regan