The Marías spin together a psychedelic-soul sound from their home in Los Angeles, featuring velvety vocals set off by strutting beats. On their debut album, Cinema, María Zardoya and Josh Conway pay tribute to the directors whose films they grew up with, including Pedro Almodóvar and Wes Anderson, while the dreamy pop of “Hold It Together” plays like a Valentine’s Day episode of Twin Peaks. Together with Jesse Perlman and Edward James, María and Josh will turn up the heat on an early summer night at The Ford.

CONTRA-TIEMPO Activist Dance Theater kicks off the night with their bold, multilingual, physically intense and politically astute performance work joyUS justUS, which collages Salsa, Afro-Cuban, hip-hop, and contemporary dance with theater, compelling text, and original music. The Los Angeles Times says the company “represents the kind of socially aware contemporary work that only a few dance artists such as Bill T. Jones reliably provide…in heart, mind and soul this is the real thing!”