Five Reasons to Leave the House This Weekend

Including TEDxCambridge, an Ann Patchett reading, and more.

Courtesy of Bicking Photography

Courtesy of Bicking Photography

DANCE
Raphael Xavier at the ICA

If you think breakdance is reserved for teenagers, think again. Raphael Xavier has been breakdancing for over 30 years and the 45-year-old is bringing his newest piece, Point of Interest, to the ICA this weekend. Xavier recently received a Guggenheim Fellowship for choreography and his work has been praised by Dance Magazine as, “artful,” “mesmerizing,” and innovative: “[Xavier] transforms a bravado dance style into an introspective meditation.” With a multigenerational cast and high-energy choreography, Xavier challenges notions of age and breakdance.

$36+, September 30­-October 1, 8 p.m., Institute of Contemporary Art, 25 Harbor Shore Drive, icaboston.org.

Photo by Heidi Ross

Photo by Heidi Ross

BOOKS
Ann Patchett at Harvard Book Store

Thursday night, Nashville-based novelist Ann Patchett will read from her latest in Cambridge. Commonwealth is about the disintegration and subsequent merging of two families, following the lives of four parents and six children over five decades. According to the New York Times, Patchett’s narrative of children moving uncertainly into adulthood is “painfully beautiful.” Patchett is best known for her 2001 novel Bel Canto, which won her a PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction.

$5+, Thursday, September 29, 6:30 p.m., Harvard Book Store, First Parish Church, 1446 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, harvard.com.

LEARNING
TEDxCambridge at the Boston Opera House

Feeling uninspired? Drop by the Boston Opera House Thursday for the biannual TEDxCambridge. Celebrating innovation and creativity in technology, entertainment, and design, TEDxCambridge has a local angle, with five of the six speakers based in Massachusetts. This fall’s presenters include multimedia journalist Janet Wu, computational social scientist Iyad Rahwan, labor economist David Autor, and more. Rush tickets can be purchased from 10 a.m–7 p.m. at half price by using the password “innovation” at the box office. What better place to find ideas worth spreading?

$45+, Thursday, September 29, 7 p.m., Boston Opera House, 539 Washington St., tedxcambridge.com.

Roberto Araujo Photography

Roberto Araujo Photography

THEATER
Priscilla Queen of The Desert at the Shubert Theatre

Featuring over 300 costumes, 24 musical numbers from the ’70s and ’80s, and one 25-foot-long bus, Priscilla Queen of the Desert: The Musical aims to awe. The musical is based on the 1994 film of the same name, which won an Academy Award for Best Costume Design. The production follows three drag performers “spreading glamour across the Australian outback” on a bus named Priscilla in a tale of friendship and self-discovery.

$53+, September 30-October 9, Shubert Theatre, 265 Tremont St., fiddleheadtheatre.com.

Photo by Daniel Jackson

Photo by Daniel Jackson

MUSIC
The Suffers at the Sinclair

Hailing from Houston, Texas, the Suffers will perform their debut album in Cambridge. The nine-person band describes their sound as “gulf coast soul,” a conglomeration of jazz, reggae, Latin percussion, and gospel. “I usually compare it to the ingredients of gumbo, but since the audience for this show is in New England, I’ll use the ingredients for a chicken stew instead [where] soul music would be the broth,” says lead singer Kam Franklin. “The genres we incorporate are the carrots, garlic, chicken, celery, salt. It doesn’t really matter what you add to it as long as you have a strong base and you take your time to focus on the quality of the soup, or in our case, the music.” Can’t hurt to add some soul to your Sunday.

$15, Sunday, October 2, 7 p.m., The Sinclair, 52 Church St., Cambridge, sinclaircambridge.com.