GREENSBORO, N.C. — A Triad circus group hopes to transcend stereotypes by telling a story of the South through performance art. 

The Activate Entertainment Project recently presented "ROOTED: The Story of Dreams" at the St. John’s International Circus Fest in Canada. The piece centers around Triad artist Dom-Sebastian and Las Vegas-based acrobat performer Nick Hodge. 

Founder and artistic director Houston Odum said the piece is inspired by Nina Simone, who grew up in Tryon, North Carolina. He explained that there are many misconceptions about the South. He hopes this piece will challenge them. 

“Every café in Montreal is playing Nina Simone. But then you talk to people about the South, and they have a whole different … they're not like, 'oh my God, yeah. So much great stuff has come from where you all live,'” Odum said. 

Odum said hearing her music made him feel a level of pride about his home that he had never felt before. 

Dom-Sebastian, a dancer who started break dancing when he was in high school, said people tend to see the South as the root of the problem. He encourages the audience to consider also viewing the South as the root of the solution. 

“It seems right, because every time I see a performance about the South, it's always coming from like a, from like a lot of the things to it pointing-the-finger-type-of-vibe. But this one is more like just saying who we are,” Dom-Sebastian said. “If you think about the Civil Rights [Movement] and all that, the [N.C.] A&T four and all that stuff, that started here.”

The performance will come back home to North Carolina in spring 2024. Tickets are available here.