INTERDISCIPLINARY ARTS SYMPOSIUM
Nilaja Sun, an actress and Obie-award-winning playwright, performed “No Child” as part of the Lied Center for Performing Arts’ 2009-10 season.
vate a wider audience for performing arts in Lincoln, according to a summary from the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts. Garelick said the academic component places the arts in a more meaningful context to enhance learning and understanding for students and the public. Internationally renowned artists and worldclass performers enrich the IAS, establishing UNL and Lincoln as a credible source for the arts, Garelick said. “I want to make Lincoln and UNL a destination location for the presentation and discussion of cutting-edge issues in performance,” she said. Petra Wahlqvist, Director of Community Engagement and Learning at the Lied Center, works closely with Garelick as an associate director. Wahlqvist assists with artist activities such as planning itineraries and schedules and confirming contracts. She also handles community events. Wahlqvist said the main theme for the entire IAS is exploring all aspects of humanity, but each season also has its own subtheme. The 2009-10 theme, “Race, American History and Performance,” explored how United States history and the complications of race could be better understood through theatre. Wahlqvist said, “It’s an opportunity to
experience the performing arts in a bigger context, but you also get to hear about the history and the importance of these artists from renowned scholars.” Experiencing the arts not only by watching but also by participating and learning about the context of the performance is a unique way to feel the energy of performing arts in a different venue, Wahlqvist said. Last year’s performers included Thomas DeFrantz, a choreographer, playwright and professor at MIT, who performed a tap dance act about the life of Thelonious Monk. Nilaja Sun, an actress and Obie-awardwinning playwright, performed “No Child,” Petra a solo play portraying 15 different characters, including a young version of herself. The play demonstrates the challenges of teaching in an inner-city New York classroom. David Dorfman, an eight-time winner of the Bessie Award—equivalent to Broadway’s Tony Awards—and a Guggenheim award recipient, and his dance company performed “Disavowal,” a meditation on
Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts
the life of abolitionist John Brown. The celebrated artists’ performances were enhanced with lectures by well-known scholars, providing the academic base for the IAS. Jennie Livingston, an award-wining filmmaker for her documentary “Paris is Burning,” led an IAS lecture, as did Robert O’Meally of Columbia University, founder of the Jazz Studies Institute, and Marcia Siegel, an author and dance critic. “All guest lecturers and performers took a turn at teaching my special IAS seminar, which is taught in Hixson-Lied,” Garelick said. Wahlqvist said, “We had very diverse performances which also created very diverse audiences, and all the performers and speakers were absolutely world class.” Garelick’s IAS seminars teach theoretical and critical perspectives of the artists and performances. The 2009-10 class honed in on the history of the construction of race in dance, drama and performance art. Students who took the seminar kept a journal, which accustomed them to reading and observing performances, and wrote papers. The students came from a variety of majors including art history, studio art, music, journalism, dance and English. Wahlqvist said the seminar is open to students across campus, and those students have the chance to work with each of the visiting artists. Susan Levine, assistant professor of dance and head of the dance program, said working with the performers was an amazing experience. students worked Wahlqvist Her with David Dorfman, Marcia Siegel and Thomas DeFrantz. “David came and taught a class for our advanced students,” Levine said. “It was a very intimate situation, and we love when we’re able to have the students interact with professional dancers. David’s work was beautiful and interesting and outside of the box, especially for what many people have
‘It’s an opportunity to experience the performing arts in a bigger context.’
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