Emily Johnson / Catalyst: Overflow Radio

Date/Time:
Saturday, October 10, 2026
12:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Offer:
In-person: 2 free tickets — Best available seating in Price 3 or Price 4

Event Details:

The heart of a 2026-27 Northrop Season pulsing with radical joy, energy, healing and connection, Emily Johnson / Catalyst's newest project, Overflow Radio, introduces an entirely new creative experience to Northrop. The creation of Catalyst director and choreographer Emily Johnson, Overflow Radio is a performance gathering, an immersive and transformative communal experience rooted in Johnson's decades-long practice of gathering people together with good intention, plenty of time and deep support.

Overflow Radio is a performance, skill-share and radio transmission taking place over 24 non-consecutive hours within a massive quilt installation and across geographies and territories. The project also engages local partners to plant 1,000 trees and create a network of 1,000 tree care-ers in a large-scale community-care action. Overflow Radio emerges from Johnson's practice of creating large-scale social choreographies and features complex contributions from Indigenous writers and scholars, performers, local community organizers, lo-fi radio wave artists, food futurists and land rematriative activists.

This all-ages, boundary-pushing experience is offered in four six-hour performance cycles. Pick Your Price tickets allow for experimentation and the ability to attend one cycle or all 24 hours. Each six-hour cycle will include:

Seating onstage.
Viewing, and sitting within, an installation of 84 quilts designed by Maggie Thompson, a Fond du Lac Ojibwe textile artist based in Minneapolis, and inscribed with thousands of hand-written messages. The quilts that are part of a decade-long community sewing process and are an archive of historic moments, migrations and resistance.
Gathering around radios to listen to Indigenous writers who will broadcast into the performance space from their territories around the world, offering poetry, essays and stories.
A solo dance performance from Catalyst artists Michelle Boulé, Emily Johnson and/or Brandi Norton.
Partnering with food sovereignty workers to provide a collective feast, with audience and performers eating together.
Learning from skill-shares, during which local community groups will teach different skills on themes of body, land, protection and more.

Extending the Overflow Radio transmission into the future, the project also engages local partners to plant 1,000 trees in Mni Sota Makoce (Minnesota) and create a network of 1,000 tree care-ers in a large-scale community-care action. Mapping and archiving methods will document each tree's location, species and fruiting cycles, teaching and inviting people to forage responsibly. More information to come on how to become involved in planting or caring for trees for this project.

Turn your phone off and spend some time gathering to learn, to heal, to connect.

Location:
Northrop - Carlson Family Stage
84 Church Street SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Hours of Operation:
Mon – Fri, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Parking Information:
Northrop has a wide variety of parking locations and transportation options to choose from. For busing, visit the Metro Transit website or take the light rail in on the Metro Transit Green Line.

Accessibility Information:
Elevators are located on both the west and east side of the building, and all levels are accessible via these elevators. Wheelchair seating is available upon request when purchasing your ticket.

Large print programs, listening assistance devices, and other services are available upon request at each event in the Guest Services offices in Room 11 (east side, ground floor) or Room 91 (west side, ground floor).

Please let us know if we can help you with any additional accessible services by contacting U of M Tickets and Events at 612-624-2345 or at nrpaccess@umn.edu, or asking an usher at an event.

Organization Details:

Situated at the heart of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus and a state historic landmark, Northrop has served as the University’s primary gathering place for the performing arts, world-renowned dance performances, concerts, academic ceremonies, and major civic events for nearly 100 years. From touring international and favorite local dance companies, musicians, and film screenings to the hottest comedy acts, renowned speakers, celebrated authors, and prestigious UMN lectures, Northrop offers opportunities for all ages to explore, learn, and engage.

Reserve a Pass

Offer: In-person: 2 free tickets — Best available seating in Price 3 or Price 4

Date/Time: Saturday, October 10, 2026 12:00 pm

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