PORT TOWNSEND — Once upon a time, four teenagers thought it would be fun to do a show full of acrobatics, vaudeville, comedy and juggling.
The attitude, according to then-18-year-old Tomoki Sage, was “let’s see if we can pull this off.”
The four pulled it off, but good, for the next 10 years.
The performing ensemble called Nanda — that’s Japanese for “what!?” — will celebrate it all with a show Saturday night at McCurdy Pavilion at Fort Worden State Park — appropriate since the fort is where the young men debuted a decade ago with a show titled “Once Upon a Time in P-Town.”
The ensemble — brothers Kiyota and Tomoki Sage and their friends Chen Pollina and Misha Fradin — plan on mixing material from the distant past with some brand-new vignettes in the 7 p.m. show.
And Nanda won’t be alone up there.
Guest performers will range from Dr. Calamari & Acrophilia, an acrobatic duo from Seattle to the rock band Fenbi International Superstars to Port Townsend magician Joey Pipia and dancer Erin O’Meara.
This is Centrum’s kickoff event for its summer season of festivals at Fort Worden State Park, so tickets are available at Centrum.org and 800-746-1982.
Seats in Section A include admission to the after-party at Fort Worden’s USO Hall, and cost $40 for adults and $30 for youth 18 and younger. Section B seats are $20 for adults and $15 for youth.
Remaining tickets will be sold at the door of McCurdy Pavilion, the former balloon hangar inside Fort Worden at 200 Battery Way. Doors will open at 6 p.m.
Nanda, like its members, was born and raised in Port Townsend.
After the troupe staged a musical circus show at Fort Worden’s Wheeler Theater circa 2004, local dance studio operator Joan O’Meara offered them rehearsal space.
Nanda took off from there, doing shows locally, touring and, in one instance, flying off to Cancun, Mexico, to perform at a gathering hosted there by Microsoft.
Three-fourths of Nanda still live here, but Fradin has moved to Ashland, Ore., so a lot of advance rehearsal isn’t feasible.
The men get together a few days ahead, warm up and practice the new material.
But there have been times, Pollina said, when “we could just get together and rehearse a couple hours, and nail the show.”
After 10 years, those moves are “ingrained in our minds and our bodies.”
The performers want to head out next to summer festivals and, Pollina said, do more of that “corporate work,” such as company retreats and other meetings.
For now, though, they’re looking forward to a reunion at Fort Worden, a night of what they call “acrobaticalism,” that term they invented for the Nanda brand of performance art. For more about the troupe and its skills, see www.Nandatown.com.
