The Justice- Festival of the Arts Special Section

just

ARTS

April 24, 2012

presents

Photos: Robyn Spector and Asher Krell/Justice File Photos and Courtesy of Office of the Arts. Design: Robyn Spector/the Justice.

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TUESDAY, April 24, 2012

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THE JUSTICE

Schedule of Events Thursday, April 26

The Opening Celebration

This year’s theme for the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts is “Art Activates.” On a campus as active and creative as ours, it is only fitting that the festival reflects the way art activates dreams, revolution and the future.

5 to 5:30 p.m. in the Carl J. Shapiro Campus Center Atrium

Art and Angst: Is Pain Necessary?

Composer Dana Maiben, poet and writer Diana Durham, music scholar and viola da gambist Laury Gutiérrez, and artist Michele L’Heureux will lead a discussion on the effects of suffering on creativity and whether pain can be inspirational or detrimental to an artist’s process. Writer Rosie Rosenzweig will moderate the panel and harpsichordist and fortepianist Vivian Montgomery will act as respondent.

12:15 p.m. in the Women’s Studies Research Center

Ponder

Travis Alford, a Pd.H. candidate in Music Composition and Theory, has put together a recital inspired by Handel’s water music, specially designed, with aesthetics and acoustics in mind, that will be performed outside of the Brandeis chapels.

6 p.m. at Chapels Pond

Saturday, April 28

Joshua Gordon: Midcentury Modern

Inspired by the current exhibit “Art at the Origin: The Early 60s,” Lydian String Quartet cellist Prof. Joshua Gordon (MUS) will perform music by composers John Cage, Gunther Schuller, Mario Davidovsky, Morton Feldman and Vincent Persichetti; all central in crafting music from the 1960s era.

1 p.m in the Rose Art Museum

Brandeis Early Music Ensemble: “En las Riberas Ultimas de Espana”

Under Prof. Sarah Mead’s (MUS) direction, the Early Museum Ensemble will perform a repertoire of Spanish Renaissance music, reflecting love and the joys and troubles it can bring.

7 p.m. at the Harlan Chapel

‘Next to Normal’

Music and Dance of Ghana

The Tony Award-winning musical about a family’s struggle with mental illness will be performed by Free Play Theater Cooperative. Directed by David Benger '14, music direction by Bryan Belok ’12, and stage managed by Rachel Huvard ’14 and Jessica Pizzuti ’15. Ages 16 and older.

2 p.m. and 8 p.m in the Schwartz Hall auditorium

All semester, master drummer Nani Agbeli has worked with the students in his “MUS 87: Music and Dance of Ghana” to teach them everything he knows on the subject. Together as the ensemble Fafali, the students and their teacher will unveil what they have studied about the Ewe tradition of West Africa through a musical performance.

8 p.m. in the Slosberg Music Center

Slam poetry performance and workshop

Prize-winning slam poet Regie Cabico will perform, lead a workshop and hold a talkback on the topics of sexuality, ethnicity and nationality. Cabico’s work has appeared in over 30 anthologies and has taken three top awards in national poetry slams among other victories.

8 p.m. in the Lurias, Hassenfeld Conference Center

Feel the Pulse

Adagio Dance Company’s semester performance features dances in styles ranging from hip-hop to tap to contemporary. Free for Brandeis community, however a $5 donation is suggested. To purchase $15 reserved seats, email Marla Merchut (mmerchut@brandeis.edu).

8 p.m. in the Levin Ballroom

Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts

Activate Friday, April 27

ART

Art Happenings

Various performance and visual art pieces will occur throughout the day in many locations around campus.

All day, campuswide

Etgar Keret: ‘Suddenly, a Knock on the Door’

Israeli writer Etgar Keret will give a reading from his new book of short stories, Suddenly, a Knock on the Door. He will also screen the five-minute film, “What About Me?” Keret is well-known for his writing for stories, film scripts and graphic novels. He is currently writing a film called Jerusalem, I Love You. His work is frequently aired on the National Public Radio program This American Life.

3 to 5 p.m. in the Mandel Center for Humanities Auditorium (G03)

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF THE ARTS. DESIGN BY RACHEL BURKHOFF/the Justice.

Rivers Are Lost in the Sea: The Dance of ‘Lucy’s Daughters’ In a choreographed dance inspired by Kiki Smith’s artwork in the Rose Art Museum, Rachel Klein ’12 and two other dancers will perform Klein’s interpretation of “Lucy’s Daughters,” a ink interpretation of a family tree. Read JustArts’ interview with Klein on p. 18.

4 p.m. in the Rose Art Museum

Queering the Rose As part of Pride Month, Triskelion, Brandeis’ GLBT/ Queer and Allied Student Organization, is sponsoring walking tours through the Rose Art Museum focusing on the queerness present in a selection of art and artists.

4 p.m. in the Rose Art Museum

Intersections: BEAMS at 50

The Brandeis Electro-Acoustic Music Studio and the Rose Art Museum are both celebrating their fiftieth anniversaries this year. Graduate and undergraduate composers, along with other studio-affiliated musicians will be performing experimental pieces created on synthesizers, drum machines and with computer programs.

7 p.m. in the Rose Art Museum

Boris’ Kitchen: Lot of Strings Attached

Boris’ Kitchen’s semester performance is entirely written and performed by students. Featuring video and live sketches, the yearly show always gets its audience laughing. Expect outrageous costumes, physical gags and maybe even some highbrow humor. Tickets are $5; $3 for the Brandeis community. Ages 16 and older.

8 p.m. in Carl J. Shapiro Theater, Shapiro Campus Center

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THE JUSTICE

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Brandeis Theater Company will perform iginal abstract storytelling experience that rges dance, sculpture and music together once. Choreographer Susan Dibble and tor Tory Fair collaborate together e first time to try and discover how mulart-forms interact on one stage through audio-visual formats. and 8 p.m in the Spingold Theater Center

Makeup workshop

vent yourself and learn some tips and tricks ow to apply flawless drag makeup as part de Month. In a preparation for the May 1 Show, members of Triskelion will help all e interested of any skill level with various up techniques. They request if you have own makeup to please bring it though some supplies will be provided. p.m. in the Intercultural Center MultipurRoom

Kitchen: Lots of Strings Attached

riday’s schedule. in the Carl J. Shapiro Theater

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TUESDAY, april 24, 2012

Feel the Pulse

See Thursday’s schedule.

8 p.m. in the Levin Ballroom

‘Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog’

BORG will present the comedy-musical created by writer/director Joss Whedon and originally performed by stars Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion. Sing-Along Blog tells the story of an unfortunate aspiring super-villain, Dr. Horrible, competing for the girl of his dreams Penny with his arch-nemesis Captain Hammer. Ages 12 and older.

At 8 p.m in the South Campus Commons

Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra

Brandeis and Wellesley musicians will come together to perform the Walton Concerto for Viola (1929) and the classically spirited Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto (1878). Featuring winners of the BWO concerto competition, Yoni Battat ‘13 and Suyun Lee, a Wellesley senior, and conductor Neal Hampton, the orchestra is considered one of New England’s premiere student orchestras.

8:30 p.m in the Slosberg Music Center

Folk Festival Located on the Great Lawn Nicholas Bogosian

Classic folk artist with claw hammer, banjo, fiddle, foot percussion and enthusiastic vocals performs.

1 p.m.

Heather Dale

Dale’s style is a mix of Celtic folk tradition, world music and rock.

1:50 p.m.

Nikolas Metaxas

Metaxas has been described as a mix between a young Elvis Costello, Brandon Boyd and an early John Mayer.

2:40 p.m.

Too Cheap for Instruments

One of Brandeis’ all-female a cappella group and hosts of the festival will be showing off its melodies and percussive beats.

3:30 p.m.

The Four Legged Faithful

Using folk and bluegrass instruments, they will create authentically touching music.

4 p.m.

Tripping Lily

The group is a pop vocal quartet whose use of acoustic instrumental and vocal arrangement is unique and aurally enticing.

4:50 p.m.

ROBYN SPECTOR/Justice File Photo

Sunday, April 29

Sidewalk Sam

Community artist and chalk-drawing extraordinaire Robert Guillemin composes original works and instruct festival-goers on the art of chalk drawing.

Throughout the day outside the Shapiro Campus Center

Big Fuzzy

Brandeis’ own folk outfit, Big Fuzzy, will perform a set featuring numbers from singer Anneke Reich ’13 and guitarist Max Kennedy’s first album, All Our Enemies. Big Fuzzy has previously performed on campus at Cholmondeley’s and other venues to great success.

1 to 1:20 p.m. in the Bernstein-Marcus Plaza

SpringFest

Headliner Childish Gambino and openers fun., Phantogram and Nite Jewel come together on Chapels Field for an afternoon of hip-hop, rock, folk and electronic music that is not to be missed.

Student disc jockeys also perform, and prizes and free food and beer (for those over 21) will be available.

1 to 6 p.m. on Chapels Field

Juggling Extravaganza

The Brandeis Juggling Club will show off their impeccable timing and rhythm in this circus act.

1 to 1:20 p.m. in the Carl J. Shapiro Theater

Top Score

The six-piece student-run orchestra will perform familiar pieces from some film and theater favorites.

1 to 1:20 p.m. in the Carl J. Shapiro Campus Center Atrium

Mysteries of the Middle East: The Miras Project I

Six undergraduates will perform Middle Eastern music under the training of American Council of Learned Societies New Faculty Fellow in Music Ann E. Lucas.

1 to1:20 p.m. in the Lee Gallery of the Rose Art Museum

Mysteries of the Middle East: The Miras Project II

Master musicians from Lebanon, Egypt and Palestine come together as the Miras Project to perform mystical works from the Middle East.

1:30 to 1:50 p.m. in the Lee Gallery of the Rose Art Museum

Miss Tess and the Bon Ton Parade

Get in the swing of things with vintage jazz songstress Miss Tess.

The performers, who hearken back to the days of classic American blues and jazz, will liven up the afternoon with their big band sound, which earned them a nomination for Best Jazz Band from the 2012 New England Music Awards. The event is sponsored by the Brandeis Swingers, who will teach the audience some vintage moves.

1:30 to 2:20 p.m. in the Bernstein-Marcus Plaza

Songs from ‘In the Heights’

Hip-hop group Kaos Kids and other singers and dancers bring their impressive Brandeis Cares set back for another go. In the Heights, a Tony Award winning musical about urban life in New York City, features energized dance routines and dramatic songs.

1:30 to 1:50 p.m. in the Carl J. Shapiro Campus Center Atrium

Beyond the Boundaries

See Saturday’s schedule 2 p.m.in the Spingold Theater Center

‘Next to Normal’

See Saturday’s schedule 2 p.m. in the Schwartz Hall Auditorium

will play works by Bach on a clavichord, a stringed instrument similar to an acoustic keyboard.

3 p.m. in the Rapaport Treasure Hall

Boston Children’s Theatre Show Choir

Some of the most talented kids at the Festival haven’t even graduated high school yet. The Boston Children’s Theater Show Choir features 20 talented singers from the Boston Area. The group performs all types of music, including show tunes, pop and rock hits.

3:00 to 3:20 p.m. around campus starting in the Bernstein-Marcus Plaza

Brass Band Parade Mayhem

Prof. John Burt (ENG) and his Russian folk music group, Iveria, will perform traditional and religious Georgian works.

2 to 2:20 p.m. in the Lee Gallery of the Rose Art Museum

The Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society and the What Cheer? Brigade team up for over an hour of brass band controlled chaos. Joining in the spectacle are profession hula hoopers the Boston Hoop Troupe. The Parade will travel around campus, starting at the Bernstein-Marcus Plaza.

3:30 to 4:50 p.m. in the Bernstein-Marcus Plaza

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

All About Korea: Korean Performance Arts

Iveria

See Saturday’s schedule 2 p.m. in the South Campus Commons

Animation Festival

Want to see how the creators of Up and Wall-E got their start?

Check out the Animation Festival, featuring short works by artists from around the country. The Festival is curated by the award-winning animator Julie Zammarchi.

2 - 5 p.m. in the Carl J. Shapiro Theater

Lydian String Quartet: Tribute to President Fred Lawrence

Explore Korean culture with traditional and K-Pop music (sung

by Christy Kang ’13 and So mie Choo ’13) and the celebrated fan dance, or Buchaechum. Audience members can make their own fans after the performance.

3:30 to 3:50 p.m. in the Carl J. Shapiro Campus Center Atrium

Freshman 15

Brandeis’ newest a cappella group, Freshman 15, performs popular songs from Coldplay, the Civil Wars and others.

4 p.m in the Lee Gallery of the Rose Art Museum

The Gentlemen’s Very High Art Society of South Waltham

Music professors Daniel Stepner, Mary Ruth Ray, Joshua Gordon and Judith Eissenberg will perform string works by Prof.

Yu-Hui Chang (MUS) in honor of the university’s president.

2:30 to 2:50 p.m. in the Lee Gallery of the Rose Art Museum

Graduate student composers will present their elegant brass and string compositions.

4 to 4:20 p.m. in the Lee Gallery of the Rose Art Museum

Banjo Breakdown with Nicholas Bogosian

Bella Pietra

Head for the hills with Appalachian banjoist Nicholas Bogosian. Originally from Texas, Bogosian fell in love with old-timey Americana music, and invites listeners to “catch that spirit.”

2:30 to 2:50 p.m. in the Bernstein-Marcus Plaza

Brandeis Ballroom: Latin Formation

The Brandeis Ballroom Dance team will demonstrate its Latin flavor with cha-chas, rumbas and salsas.

2:30 to 2:50 pm. in the Carl J. Shapiro Campus Center Atrium

Rose exhibition tours

Experience one of Brandeis’ most engaging venues, the Rose Art Museum. Students will lead tours and comment on some of the museum’s newest acquisitions.

3 to 3:40 p.m. in the Lee Gallery of the Rose Art Museum

Clavichord Concert

Ulrika Davidsson, an assistant professor of organ and historical keyboards at University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music,

This imaginative dance performance from the Allegro Dance Company tells the story of what happens in a museum after the doors close for the evening and the statues come alive. Alumnae dancers take a page from The Nutcracker and Night at the Museum in this exquisite performance.

4:30 p.m. in the Lee Gallery of the Rose Art Museum

A Cappella Fest

Hosted by Starving Artists, 11 a cappella groups share the stage at this miniature festival. The performance seeks to raise charitable funds to support local music and theater education programs, so a $3 donation is encouraged.

7 p.m. at the Slosberg Music Center

‘Imagine’

The final event of the festival is an artistic pajama party. Molly Nathanson ’12 directs a dance-theater piece about a little girl’s dreams turning to reality. Audience members are encouraged to come in sleepwear and stay for milk and cookies after the show.

10 p.m. in the Carl J. Shapiro Campus Center Atrium

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THE JUSTICE

Outdoor

art

JENNY CHENG/the Justice

LIFE IN MINIATURE: Sarah Bierman ’14 sets up her art exhibit made of copper, “The Enchanted Life of Trees.”

JENNY CHENG/the Justice

TAKE A RIDE: One of Bierman’s copper structures balances on a tree branch in the middle of campus.

JOSHUA LINTON/the Justice

GORGEOUS GRAFFITI: Sarah Hershon ’14 knits part of her yarn-bombing project for the Festival of the Arts.

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TUESDAY, april 24, 2012

Festival-sponsored artists reinvent areas of campus By dafna fine JUSTICE senior writer

Tiny copper people, carefully crafted into detailed creations will find a home in the trees of Mandel Quad during the coming week. Balls and balls of yarn that have been transformed into knit graffiti to paint the campus with color.

These are only two of the various visual art projects that student grant recipients will display to transform the campus during the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts, which will begin this Thursday.

Sarah Bierman ’14, creator of The Enchanted Life of Trees project, to which the copper people belong, and Sarah Hershon ’14, responsible for the Knit Graffiti project, received funding after being selected to display their projects in the festival taking place April 26 to 29. Students applied for the grants with a proposal, which detailed their project, the purpose of the work and how much funding would be necessary.

The idea for Bierman’s project began last semester when she created twoinch copper foil sculptures to hang in trees for her “Blurring the Boundaries” sculpture class. Tasked with creating a project that interacts closely with its environment, Bierman came up what she viewed as a simple project: “little copper people, chilling out in trees.” After hearing a few weeks later that students could apply for grants to participate in the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts, Bierman decided to turn her five tiny copper people into something big.

“I explained that I thought the copper people are very telling of the human experience. They are the ideal version of the human experience,” Bierman said of her grant proposal. “The copper people will interact with the environment effortlessly,” she said.

In rain or snowfall, Bierman says the copper people will adapt to look more like their environment, unlike humans, who are challenged to craft unforeseen circumstances into something meaningful. “For me, the copper people succeed in something that humans really have to try hard to succeed at,” Bierman explained. “They age and tarnish, but still retain their character even if their shine is hidden.”

Since Bierman’s project was accepted for the festival at the beginning of the semester, she has spent hours crafting her copper people which will be displayed in the trees of Mandel Quad throughout the week. All engaged in different actions, Bierman has created a copper Rapunzel, a man playing an accordion to a girl on a balcony and a girl reading a book to a bunch of kids, among dozens of others.

While the ideas came randomly at first, Bierman has since started gaining inspiration from some of her favorite feature length films and TV shows.

“If there are people in it, that means they’re doing something. I watched You’ve Got Mail a bunch of times and I have copper people sharing coffee,” she said. Many of the copper people, she

says, are portraits of herself, inspired by relationships with her own friends.

For Bierman, her hope is that the copper people will invite viewers to look more closely at their environments, and that the way they make her feel will translate into something more universal for the campus.

“When I met with the entire grant recipient group in January, [Associate Director of the Office of the Arts] Ingrid Schorr used the word ‘enchanted.’

I didn’t think of it when I was writing my proposal, but when she said that I thought it was the perfect word,” Bierman recalled. “Because yes, they are people doing everyday things, but they’re in trees and they’re shiny and that has a feeling of enchantment for me,” she said.

During the festival, as spectators move from Mandel Quad down toward lower campus, the art will transition from the tiny copper creations to knit graffiti, which will paint the area behind the Shapiro Campus Center.

“My project is called yarn bombing.

It’s kind of like knit graffiti. It’s this emerging graffiti form that’s come about in the last five years. It consists of covering things, usually [outdoors], in pieces of knitted fabric. So lots of times it’s light posts or trees or parking meters or bicycle [racks],” Hershon explained. She sees the project as not only beautiful, but as something fun and whimsical with its bright shades of pink and orange.

A double major in Women’s and Gender Studies and African and African American Studies, Hershon explained that though she’s never had any fine arts training, she began knitting six years ago and has always been interested in crafts.

Since being selected for the grants in January, Hershon has spent hundreds of hours knitting with others in preparation for the project.

“I wanted to make it as communityinvolving as possible. The main goal of this entire project was just to get people on campus to knit and to get people on campus who do knit to come together and do it,” she explained.

Hershon therefore began organizing weekly meetings where students and faculty gather to knit for the project.

With eight others helping Hershon knit for the upcoming festival, she says she’s done about 60 percent of the knitting on her own while the others have helped her cover the rest.

“I think that it’s absolutely something that starts a conversation. One of my big things is starting a conversation about what is art versus craft,” Hershon explained of the project.

For both Bierman and Herson, the hope is that their projects will cause people to stop and look, enjoying the aesthetics of the work displayed during the festival.

“I hope to inspire the glance of an eye or two. I hope to allow the viewer a chance to stumble upon discovery. Art is transformative, sites are moving, and when I get that feeling I need to pass it on,” Bierman wrote in her proposal.

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