Rhythm Nation celebrates American rhythmic traditions as an expression of bodily autonomy and tacit history keeping. From the jagged grooves of Daniel Bernard Roumain’s String Quartet No.1: X (an homage to Malcolm X), to the otherworldly textures of Sun Ra’s “Interstellar Low Ways,” to the lyricism of Duke Ellington’s “Come Sunday,” this wide-ranging exploration will also feature movements from Fodé Lassana Diabaté’s Sunjata’s Time. Each of the pieces on the program evokes a distinct rhythmic world, reflecting the plurality of American movement(s) and protecting the unspoken spirit of their lineage’s narratives.