Traffic series performers move to a world beat

Steppenwolf Theatre's Traffic series presents one-night-only performances -- but they pack a punch you won't soon forget. The May lineup continues the theme of what it means to be an American with a fittingly diverse group of Chicago artists.

This is storytelling through hip-hop theater, avant-garde jazz combined with taiko drumming and dance fiesta.

Here's the schedule:

Tatsu Aoki's Miyumi Project: East Meets the Rest (7:30 tonight)

Taiko drumming is similar to synchronized college drum lines. Just add a couple thousand years of history and subtract the marching.

Aoki has worked with pretty much every jazz artist in Chicago; he's recorded more than 100 albums. With his Miyumi Project, the bassist collaborates with a multigenerational band that includes African Americans. But the taiko drumbeat is an integral part of his Japanese heritage.

"What it means to be an Asian American is the most important essence of my work in general," Aoki says.

It's music that belongs in the "world" category, he says, and is a visual experience.

"I tell people, 'Come and see the music.'"

Tickets are $40.

Sones de Mexico Ensemble: "De coraSON" ("From the Heart") (7:30 p.m. May 16)

Few audiences have seen this folk music ensemble from their seats; a performance from them is always a party. In the Mexican mestizo culture -- with Native American, Spanish and black influences -- bands would host a dance fiesta with joyous music that would last until sunrise. The immigrants who make up Sones de Mexico Ensemble add a dash of everything from Irish and classical to rock and jazz. It's earned them Grammy and Latin Grammy nominations, and plenty of attention at home in Chicago.

The rollicking music's "more the merrier" spirit extends to its instruments. They used more than 50 to record their musical manifesto, "Esta Tierra Es Tuya" ("This Land Is Your Land").

Tickets are $25 for adults, $15 for children 15 and under.

Kuumba Lynx: Educatin' Energy (10:30 a.m. student matinee and 7:30 p.m. May 22)

All performance art should be this danceable. Kuumba Lynx combines inspirational messages with a hip-hop vibe.

"We speak to the American experience, coming from the mouths of youths," says one of Kuumba Lynx's directors, Jaquanda Villegas. The troupe, based in Clarendon Park, has teamed with the Chicago Park District to empower young people through spoken word, music and movement. It will be featuring the local dance craze "footworkin'" -- fast-paced beats with a battle energy.

Passive, it's not.

"America is reclaiming the voices that have been silenced and misguided and trapped through a lot of 'isms,'" says co-director Jacinda Bullie.

Tickets are $8.50 for the matinee, $20 for the evening performance.

All performances are at Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theatre at 1650 N. Halsted, and will be rebroadcast on Chicago Public Radio (WBEZ-FM, 91.5). For tickets, call (312) 335-1650, or www.steppenwolf.org.