Street - "Arts History"

Thursday december 17, 2015

The Daily Princetonian

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ARTS HISTORY

PAGES DESIGNED BY LIN KING :: STREET EDITOR

This week, Street Editors LIN KING, JENNIFER SHYUE and HARRISON BLACKMAN take a look back on the history of arts at Princeton through the ‘Prince’ archives, including a salty column by an 1882-era arts advocate and the opening of McCarter Theatre. Key takeaway: Jimmy Stewart ‘32 was a sneaky guy.

FEB. 3, 1882

An anonymous column published in the ‘Prince’ lamenting the University’s neglect of the arts in favor of athletics and arguing for the establishment of an “Arts Course.”

MAY 13, 1892

Article delineating the progress of construction on Alexander Hall, home to Richardson Auditoirum.

NOV. 10, 1928

FEB. 21, 1930

SEP. 23, 1940

NOV. 8, 1993

APR. 4, 1969

FEB. 6, 2006

The “Photographic Weekly” shows McCarter Theatre under construction in 1928.

Movie star Jimmy Stewart ’32 sneaks onto campus “in the guise of a furniture mover” and helps a freshman move into Campbell Hall before attending opening exercises.

The English department creates the predecessor of the Program of Creative Writing.

DEC. 14, 1920

Publicizing the “very little known” “Le Theatre Intime,” which was founded the year before. Only 12 actors acted in its first season.

McCarter Theatre opens with ceremony featuring U. President Hibben and Triangle officers in 1930.

NOV. 10, 1928

Glee Club and the newlyfounded Nassoons open Houseparties festivities.

Creative writing professor Toni Morrison founds the Princeton Atelier Program to allow for instruction of interdisciplinary work in writing, theater, dance and music.

Peter Lewis ‘55 gives $101 million to Lewis Center of the Arts, begins a new era.

The Daily Princetonian

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Thursday december 17, 2015

THIS SIDE OF BRIDGE YEAR ANDIE AYALA Staff Writer

“This Side of” is a series of personal essays in which Street writers discuss the various other roles they take on campus and how these experiences have shaped their time at Princeton. ridge Year Program, noun.

A University-sponsored nine-month program that gives incoming freshmen the opportunity to travel and live in a foreign country, speak the local language and engage in commu-

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nity-based service work.

To be a Bridge Year alumnus is to be a conscious and thoughtful witness in this world. It is to undergo the nine-month initiation process of feeling hopelessly lost, radically amazed, incredibly frustrated and acutely aware of the world at one point or another. It is to be the type of unreasonable, adventureseeking, passionate student who would defer her freshman year at Princeton to travel to a

ANDIE AYALA :: STAFF WRITER

foreign country and speak an unfamiliar language with six strangers for nine months.

To be honest, after spending nine months in a culturally rich and vibrant country where it was so easy to assume a childlike approach to the world and feel like every moment was discovered and experienced for the first time, arriving at Princeton and having to face the reality of work and hectic schedules isn’t all that easy.

There’s the lingering sense of a longing for unrestricted escapades, for spontaneous dance parties in the plaza and political conversations with host relatives.

There’s the burden of assuming the responsibility of somehow digging deep into the Princeton experience, to represent the wonderful, aff licted people you once knew. There’s the wandering mind that will think about the way that it felt to climb that mountain with the panoramic

view for the first time, how you cried when you reached the top for the last time. There’s the fear that this world will never look like the same place you once knew it to be, but the understanding that coming back to a place is never the same as leaving it in the first place.

Becoming a Bridge Year alumnus is like joining an all-consuming friendship and therapy group that doubles as a service-oriented, religious eating club. If there’s anything we tell ourselves, it’s that Bridge Year is a family — made evident in the way that every email sent is addressed “Hey Fam!” and every meeting is called a “family dinner.” Being a part of the Bridge Year community is like having 140 brothers and sisters with whom you can feel comfortable talking about anything from diarrhea to classes for next semester to how love works.

Bridge Year alumni are the kind of inquisitive people who want to major in anthropology or geosciences with certificates in regional studies, who volunteer with the Petey Greene Program or Students for Prison Education and Re-

form, who join vegetarian co-ops and spend a semester abroad in Cuba. They are the voracious kind of people who feel the urge to go on random hikes once in a while, attend as many cultural celebrations as possible and find reasons to leave the country every so often. They are some of the oldest members of their grade, the kids who feel the need to talk in a foreign language when intoxicated.

At times, Bridge Year is like this magnificent, far-away dream that feels like it never happened if it weren’t for the Indian food feasts, the Chinese classes, the parties with Spanish language music, the African dance performances and the niches of Bridge Year alumni that you find yourself gravitating to again and again. It’s not simply the copout interesting fact you give at orientations, or an answer to the question of what community you are part of on campus.

Bridge Year isn’t just another student group united together by common interest; it is this metaphysical, unshakeable identity that explains so much of yourself, yet in some regards, hardly explains enough.

UNFAMILIAR STREET

Takeshita Street, Harajuku, Tokyo, Japan KRISTEN COKE Senior Writer

“Unfamiliar Street” is a travel series in which we introduce you to streets from all around the world, far from the well-trod gravel of Prospect Avenue. rchitect Toshiko Mori once said, “More than any other city, Tokyo demonstrates that ‘city’ is a verb and not a noun.” I was able to see for myself what she was talking about when I took a trip to Tokyo over fall break. Upon arriving in Tokyo, I could feel a steady pulse that suggested that this city was very much alive. As I moved closer into the Shibuya district, this pulse became a steady energetic rhythm further encouraged by the fast-paced lifestyle that defined the megalopolis. Nowhere was this more evident than in Harajuku, and at the epicenter of it all, Takeshita Street.

Takeshita Street is very representative of the fusion of tradition and modernity that permeates culture in Japan. A huge, decorated arch indicates that you have reached the entrance to the pedestrian-only, cobblestone street. The arch borrows inspiration from the impressive gate entries to the many Buddhist temples that adorn Japan. The bright, decorative images attached to the arch are indicative of the pervasive culture of cute that dominates in modern-day Japanese society.

Once you make your way through these proverbial gates, if you are still looking up, to your left you will see a pagoda-style building,

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clearly a relic from Takeshita Street’s past. To your right, you will see a shiny, angular structure that is home to many modish shops and restaurants.

Once you fix your eyes on what is in front of you, you can see into a gaggle of tourists, locals and store owners. Take a couple steps and to your left you will see a McDonald’s where, as if in an auction, a McDonald’s worker bids people to come and buy food. The fact that this well-known food conglomerate needs to beg people to eat in its establishment is evidence enough that there must be many more interesting food options in the area. And there are. Two shops down from the McDonald’s you will find one of many ice cream and crêpe shops that dot the street. There is an exotic range of flavors and options, representative of the cosmopolitanism that dominates this area. You can choose a matcha ice cream and sweet potato crepe pairing or a banana and blueberry crepe with fudge chocolate filling.

If you are able to tear yourself away from there without buying one (I was not as disciplined and have the matcha ice cream stain to prove it), you can continue up the path to then be confronted with the unique clothing boutiques that define the street and Harajuku style. It is in these stores where the creativity and innovation that are distinctive to Japanese fashion become clearly evident. Walk into the bright

pink shop with laser lights for bodysuits made of bright feathers and polka dots. Look to your left through the silk curtain to find dinosaur-patterned prom dresses.

The hole-in-a-wall a couple paces down has sky-high velvet boots and anime character backpacks.

While you are enveloped in this enclave of experimental couture, you might take a second to notice that the people who are cooing and encouraging you to come into their stores are themselves one of a kind. With their brightly dyed, avant-garde haircuts, colored contacts, piercings over every inch of their bodies and impossibly cool outfits, they looked like the proper characters for the magical realist land I was sure I had stepped into.

I was struck by the internationalism of the street hustlers who encourage you to walk away

from the street to check out their multitude of fine goods. Nowhere else in Japan had I seen as many immigrants, and I was impressed by their ability to switch between multiple languages depending upon their assessment of their potential customer’s native tongue. I allowed myself a tactile engagement with the merchandise on the street. I float in and out of almost every store, pausing to allow my fingers to linger on and feel all of the different pieces, and run my hand down menus to try to figure out what gastronomic experiences the restaurants promised.

What I love about Takeshita Street is how unabashedly comfortable it is with itself. As an amateur fashion enthusiast, I couldn’t help but be thrilled at the ways in which people are free to experi-

ment on this street. Risks are being taken. Daring choices are being made. New ideas are being had and realized. And within that exists a freedom that allowed me, even as a foreigner, to feel like I could be (and wear) whatever I wanted. However odd the ensemble created might be, I knew I would not be considered a standout, but a contributor to a movement of people who do (and dress) for themselves, without caring what the world deems acceptable. Once I had pushed my way through to the other end of the street, which led back to a busy road laden with monochromatic, shiny skyscrapers, I couldn’t help but turn around and feel a sense of longing and wistfulness for the wonderful world that I had the privilege of being part of, even if only for a moment, on Takeshita Street.

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WRITE FOR STREET features, theater, dance, music, art, fashion, humor, health.

For more information, email us at: streeteditors@gmail.com

The Daily Princetonian

Thursday december 17, 2015

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A PRINCETONIAN’S LETTER TO SANTA CLAUS DANIELLE TAYLOR Senior Writer

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ear Santa,

Listen, Nick, we both know I have not exactly earned a spot on the Nice List this year. I’ve broken some promises, like when I said I would attend every class. Or when I said my GPA would be a 4.0. Or when I said I would be going to med school. I mean, you’re definitely not a morning person, given your schedule, so you’ll have to excuse my tardiness to 8:30 a.m. class. Anyway, here’s the list — I’m not asking for too much, so I’m sure we can

work something out.

1. Let’s talk about family. Family is great, and I love them, really, but they’re always asking questions.

“How’s school?” “What’re you majoring in again?” “Do you like it at Princeton?” “Have you found any nice boys?”

“How’s school?” I need it to stop. Please. For every question asked by an aunt I haven’t met since I was a fetus, the topic must be restricted to harmless stuff that won’t make me cringe. Examples: “How’s your dog?” “Isn’t the weather nice?” “How are you

so smart?” “How’s your dog?”

See? It’s very simple.

2. Same as #1. Only with anyone from a high school asking me how I got into Princeton, and how he or she can get in too. I really don’t know. I’m just trying to live my life to eventually escape Princeton with a degree.

3. Now, about breaks. As benign autocrat of the North Pole, you rule the winter, and you know how much joy this time brings, so you have to admit that summer getting all that vacation time isn’t fair. Do you really want stu-

DANIELLE TAYLOR :: SENIOR WRITER

dents working up until the edge, and then barely having any time to enjoy their winter break — I mean, worship you?

You are Father Christmas and should demand more respect — definitely more than two weeks of Santa-worship. All I’m suggesting is that you make summer break a week or two shorter and winter break like five weeks longer so we can celebrate you. Because you’re worth it. It would benefit both of us. Trust me.

4. Finals need to be before break. Because really, the stress of not starting to study for exams or write your Dean’s Date assignment really gets to you — I mean, me. And I don’t want to break down and start crying at dessert over my Yule log. Not this year. Not like last time.

5. I demand that there be separate paths for bikers. The sidewalk isn’t big enough for the two of us (me and a biker), and I’m not trying to kick the bucket after being struck by a biker. But then again, if I’m hit we’re going to court.

And you’re going to pay my tuition.

6. Grade inf lation. Now that official def lation has gone the

way of the dodo, it’s time to make sure that grade inf lation gets its just desserts as well. But only if other schools (Yale) who shall not be named (Harvard) don’t have it either. You’re all about fairness, aren’t you?

7. My preceptor’s phone number. Don’t ask questions.

8. Thicker walls. You know why.

9. The Heath bar cheesecake in Wu dining hall. Where did it go? As a fellow food lover, I know you’ll understand where I’m coming from. How would you feel if Mrs. Claus stopped baking cookies out of nowhere with no explanation?

Yeah, that’s what I thought.

See Santa, I told you it wouldn’t be too difficult. I’m really not asking for much, and some of these things are truly for the greater good — don’t you agree, “Saint” Nick?

Oh, and one last thing. I heard this Christmas might get pretty foggy. You wouldn’t want anything to happen to Rudolph, your favorite reindeer, now would you?

You’ve been warned.

Merry Christmas!

—Danielle A. Taylor

Q&A: Matthew Romer ’18

PRINT LEADER FROM PRINCETON 3D PRINTING Interviewed by

HARRISON BLACKMAN Associate Street Editor

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Princeton 3D Printing is a student organization that aims to make 3D printing technology available to the Princeton community. To learn more about this fascinating technology and organization, Street sat down with Matthew Romer ’18, a ‘Print Leader’ in the club.

P rincetonian : Can you tell me a little bit of background about 3D Printing aily

Club?

Matthew Romer ’18: 3D Printing Club is a few years old; actually, I don’t know the exact number. It kind of went through two phases. There was an initial phase of just trying to get 3D printers on campus, and that was done by people who were seniors last year, so who just graduated, who really fought for getting access to this technology. They got

printers set up in Rockefeller College and in Forbes College, but my sense is that ... they didn’t quite figure out how to turn that into a more serious club with a lot of outreach, with a lot of activity. Last year, they were kind of heading out, and so there were a lot of freshmen who were interested in taking over… basically, pretty much the entire officer corps is class of 2018. And with that, we had a huge boom in membership; we’re doing a lot of activities, we’re getting a lot more use out of the printers.

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Our mission is to bring the technology of 3D printing to as many people as we can. We want to show as many people how to 3D print [as possible], we want to make it accessible to people, and we’re also all in this club because we want to do our own projects and do our own work with 3D printing. It’s about teaching others and making others better at this technology and using this technology.

DP: How many students are in the club?

MR: There are over 100 on the listserv, in general. There are be- The MakerBot Replicator 2, one of the tween 20 and 30 print leaders, and a few officers on cations, so people are interested top of that. So I would say 30 in printing neural structures, or very core members, and sort of a [they] want to learn the techlarge, general membership. It’s a nology because they are interstructure that works fairly well. ested in later on working on cells DP: When do you all meet? or biotechnology. We’ve seen MR: So actually as a club, we people who just want to do art don’t have any kind of meeting projects with it. And we’ve seen structure. The club works to people across the science and maintain the printers, to keep engineering background. But I the printers going. Everyone is would say, yeah, there’s certainly always printing their own per- a strong correlation. sonal projects, printing projDP: Can you explain what ects for members who want to print leaders do? print things but don’t know MR: Print leaders are people how to print, and then the way who are fully trained on the we organize ourselves is just printers. They’re fully trained we send emails, people come on both how to print but also up with group projects, people how to maintain the printers, come up with outreach events how to fix problems when they and we organize around those. arise. The idea is that the print It’s a very free-flowing club; leaders are kind of intermediit’s a very dynamic club. We aries between members and don’t have kind of every week anyone in the public and the we sit down together and have actual printing — for a long a meeting, but we’re always do- time we had a system in which ing a lot of stuff. anyone could just print [after DP: What is the academic a one hour training system]. background of students in the There was some friction with club? the residential colleges on that.

MR: I would say the core Rocky and Forbes have printmembership is engineers, and ers, and so they were worried I think, as you would probably that … too many people were expect, we have really strong ties getting access [to the printers]. with the mechanical and aero- The print leader system was space engineering department, created to pacify the colleges, just because that’s the group to but also to build a corps of rewhich the technology is most ally expert people who could relevant. There’s a surprising be the teachers. There’s no test breadth to the members … a lot to be a print leader; we arrange of people seem to be interested training sessions if you want to in biology and bio-focused appli- be one, and that’s all you have

COURTESY OF ISABEL CLEFF

3D printers used on campus. to do.

DP: Does the club host events?

MR: We do a lot of things.

The biggest kind of general event we do is something called a “Printing Party.”

That’s usually held as a study break; the idea is we’ll come up with some kind of interesting thing to print. We’ll get funding from [Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students], we’ll get food and we’ll just invite people from our listserv and often the people from the residential college that we’re in. People can come, they can watch the print happen, they can get some food, they can get a study break and it’s a great time to tell people what we’re doing and introduce people to this new technology and show everyone what’s up.

We also do more focused projects and more focused events.

So what I’m really excited about and what’s coming up – it’s contingent on getting some funding locked down. We’re planning over Intersession to hold a course. The course will be to build a 3D printer from scratch.

And so, that seems like it’s going to be an awesome thing, and I’ve been helping to plan that for several weeks now, and if it comes through, it’ll be a really cool thing to do. That’s the kind of project we get really excited about.

The Daily Princetonian

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GO ‘NUTZ’ WITH PUB Everyone knows about the dance of the sugar plum fairy, but you’ve never seen it like this. Tonight, walk down to Frist at 7 or 9 p.m. to see Princeton University Ballet’s production of “Nutz,” a holiday-themed show that excerpts “The Nutcracker” and adds a few contemporary works. Photos courtesy of Vincent Po.

Thursday december 17, 2015

STREET’S

TOP TEN The Princeton Song

1 3 5 7 9

Nomad Pizza roasting on an open fire

2 4 6 8 10

Jeff Nunokawa nipping at your nose Yuletide carols being sung by Tigertones

And townies dressed up like it’s winter And so, I’m offering this

Simple phrase, to undergrads from 1746 to 2016

Although it’s been said

Many times, many grades “Merry Princeton, to you”

CAMPUS PICKS EVENT PRINCETON WINTER MARKET Princeton Public Library Thursday, 11 a.m.

It’s the first Princeton Winter Market of the year!

Anytime from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., head on up to the Princeton Public Library on Witherspoon Street for a holiday cheer-filled take on Princeton’s beloved farmer’s market. There will be more than 15 vendors on site, including the student favorite Terhune Orchards and other enticing independent sellers including Nicola’s Pasta Fresca, check Nutty Novelties, Picklelicious, WildFlour Bakery/ Cafe and many more. For more information, check out princetonfarmersmarket.com.

MUSIC PRINCETON UNIVERSITY SINFONIA WINTER 2015 CONCERT Richardson Auditorium Thursday, 7:30 p.m.

There’s nothing more old-timey festive than a proper orchestral sendoff to the holidays. Join Sinfonia tomorrow evening for a beautiful set conducted by Ruth Ochs GS. Pieces include “Hansel and Gretel Overture” by Humperdinck, “Jupiter” from The Planets by Holst, Symphony No. 2 in B Minor by Borodin and the world premiere of “Serenade Amoresque”

by Elliot Chang ’16. In addition, there will be a special performance by the Sinfonia Flute Choir, directed by Jayn Rosenfeld.

MUSIC HOLIDAY ARCH SING 1879 Arch Thursday, 10 p.m.

HEADLINERS AND HEADSHAKERS headlines you didn’t read this week DAILY PRINCETONIAN STAFF USG DISCUSSES WAYS TO

APATHY DURING ELECTIONS

TO LEAVE U. SPOKESPERSON MBUGUA IN FEBRUARY, U. FOR CARNEGIE MELLON DECLINES TO COMMENT

Princeton files plan for 446 units of affordable housing, wait, something will be affordable in Princeton?

U. Architect McCoy GS ’80 discusses furniture shopping, countless trips to IKEA with U-Haul trailers

Study finds plants are smart, strategic and ready for world domination

U. to launch Star Warsrelated initiatives with Jedi Foundation

DECREASE STUDENT VOTER

It’s the last Thursday of the year, which means it’s the last arch sing of the year. Join the Footnotes, the Nassoons, the TigerTones, the Tigerlilies, the Tigressions, the Wildcats, the Katzenjammers and Roaring 20 for some holiday cheer. Whether it’s on your way out for one last night of 2015 debauchery or a cozy way to unwind, don’t miss out on these beautiful voices celebrating the most wonderful time of the year. (Besides, it’s pretty much guaranteed that this will be the warmest weather for a holiday arch sing of all time, so enjoy it while you can!)

EVENT ADTHIS PRESENTS “BRAND YOURSELF: WEAR YOUR IDENTITY ON YOUR SLEEVE” Frist TV Lounge Thursday, 10:30 p.m.

AdThis is known for its myriad professional advancing events, but even they have to wind down for the end of the year. Come chill with AdThis tomorrow evening at the Frist TV Lounge, where it will host a sweatshirtmaking party with colors and patches. Take it as a more customized and permanent way to “brand yourself” than temporary tattoos, but just as fun. Everything is completely free — sweatshirts, decorations and pizzas are all on AdThis. Pizza, I say!