Cast of “Dance Nation.” Photo by Jennifer Battis

‘Dance Nation’
7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 5 p.m. Sunday. Through May 14. Mad Horse Theatre Company, 24 Mosher St., South Portland, pay what you can. madhorse.com
Mad Horse Theatre presents Clare Barron’s homage to adolescence, “Dance Nation.” Preteen dancers (portrayed by adults) are fixated on success at the Boogie Down Grand Prix in Florida. But they’re also tackling societal limits as they stumble and leap through dance moves and what life throws at them.

The Victoria Mansion in Portland. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

Jane’s Walk
2 p.m. Saturday. Victoria Mansion, 109 Danforth St., Portland, free. victoriamansion.org
Not only has Victoria Mansion opened for the season, it’s participating in the global event called Jane’s Walk, inspired by community activist Jane Jacobs. Museum director Tim Brosnihan will lead a single block tour around the streets surrounding the mansion while discussing preservation and changes that have imprinted the neighborhood. Time permitting, a postwalk gathering on the mansion’s back lawn will focus on four decades of conservation and restoration done on the home that was built between 1858 and 1860 and is a National Historic Landmark.

Antonio Rocha in “A Slave Ship Called Malaga.” Photo by Coco McCrackin

‘A Slave Ship Called Malaga’
7 p.m. Saturday. Meetinghouse Arts Gallery & Stage, 40 Main St., Freeport, $20, $15 students. meetinghousearts.org
Award-winning Brazilian mime and and storyteller Antonio Rocha will be performing a show called “A Slave Ship Called Malaga” in Freeport. The Malaga was a 183-ton brig (two-masted) ship built in Brunswick in 1832 that ended up being part of the Transatlantic slave trade. Rocha will tell the story with singing, narration and mimes from the perspective of the ship. He’ll also look at his relationships with Maine and Brazil through the lens of the impact left behind by slave trade. A moderated conversation with Rocha will follow the performance.

Zainab Almatwari, Jean Grae and John Hodgman in a previous year’s Show & Tell: A Literary Spectacular. Photo by Sean Mewshaw

Show & Tell: A Literary Spectacular 
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 9. State Theatre, 609 Congress St., Portland, $35 to $65 reserved seating. statetheatreportland.com
The Telling Room is a local literary arts organization that empowers youth through writing, and Show & Tell: A Literary Spectacular is its annual celebration of storytelling and music. The co-hosts are comic Mo Awale and DJ Mosart212, and you’ll hear stories from authors Weike Want and Lynn Steger Strong, as well as selections from Telling Room writers. The night also features a performance from flamenco music and dance collective Olas.