Bill HolderResponding to the ongoing tragedy in Puerto Rico, Wesleyan is offering a free semester of study in the spring of 2018 to students enrolled in the University of Puerto Rico. Students will be expected to pay tuition at their home institution, and Wesleyan will offer free housing and meals as needed. Many other institutions across the country are stepping up as well and the University of Puerto Rico has developed a standard framework for this project. Students enrolled at other institutions in Puerto Rico may be eligible as well, and should contact Wesleyan at gueststudent@wesleyan.edu for more information. “Opening our…
Cynthia RockwellGuns in American Society, this year’s Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns, will be held on campus on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 27-28. Made possible by a generous grant from the Shasha family, the 16th annual event will convene experts, including Wesleyan faculty and administrators, as well as alumni from across the country, to examine current debates about the role of guns in American society and discuss ways of reducing the national incidence of gun violence. According to seminar organizer Jennifer Tucker, associate professor of history and science in society and researcher in the history of technology, law and culture, guns are a topic…
Olivia DrakeFor more than a decade, Assistant Professor of Art Sasha Rudensky '01 has repeatedly returned to Russia and the post-Soviet territories to photograph a lost generation that has come of age during the Vladimir Putin era. On Sept. 13, Rudensky debuted a collection of these photographs at an exhibit titled "Acts and Illusions" at the Davison Art Center. The exhibition presents 24 photographs together with a video installation, revealing an unsettling view into contemporary life in the New East. Elijah Huge, associate professor of art, associate professor of environmental studies, collaborated with Rudensky on the video installation. Clare Rogan, curator of…
Inspired by Fete de la Musique (also known as World Music Day), the sixth annual The MASH festival on Sept. 9 highlighted Wesleyan's student music scene, with multiple stages on campus featuring everything from a cappella ensembles to student, faculty and alumni bands. Stages were set up at Foss Hill, outside Olin Library and North College. More than 20 groups and soloists performed at Wesleyan's The Mash including Bonanza, Good Morning CT, McCleary McCleary, MEG, Saint Something, Jal, The Basukes, Smokin' Lilies, Jess Best '14, Prometheus, New Group, Gabe & Brien, Savannah Jeffreys '18, Johnny Gilmore '18, Anna Savage '18, Quasimodal, Sloane Peterson, ethereal whoosing, The Purple Windsounds,…
On Sept. 1, drummers and dancers representing several cultures led the incoming Class of 2021 in a performance on Andrus Field as students embodied dances from different world cultures during the “Common Moment” of New Student Orientation. This year’s first-year students learned Caribbean, modern, Brazilian, Indian, and West African dances from Iddi Saaka, Dance Department artist-in-residence, and other master teachers. The event culminated with a performance by Prometheus, Wesleyan's fire-spinning group. The Common Moment is sponsored by the Center for the Arts. A video and photos of the Common Moment are below: (Photos by Sandy Aldieri of Perceptions Photography) (more…)
Randi Alexandra PlakeMembers of the Philadelphia-based ensemble Tempesta di Mare will perform baroque chamber music from Venice and Naples on period instruments for the Connecticut premiere of A Tale of Two Italian Cities in Crowell Concert Hall at 8 p.m., Friday, March 31. This performance by Tempesta di Mare is part of the Performing Arts Series at the Center for the Arts, and the conclusion of the 2016-2017 season. “These performances feature a wide array of world-class musicians, cutting-edge choreography, and groundbreaking theater,” explained Sarah Curran, director of the Center for the Arts. “We’re excited to include a baroque chamber orchestra this…
From 4 to 6 p.m. Feb. 11 in the World Music Hall, engage in a panel discussion on the diaspora of the Kurdish people, the largest ethnic group in the world without a country that they can call their own. The program focuses on the integration of the Kurdish people into Western societies as refugees, their trials and tribulations during their assimilation, as well as the current and the future position of the Kurds in the geopolitical landscape and the stability of the Middle East and the fight against terror. This program will be followed by a musical and dance performance…
The Center for the Arts hosted a West African Drumming and Dance Concert Dec. 2 at Crowell Concert Hall. The performance featured master drummer Emmanuel Attah Poku; choreographer and artist-in-residence Iddi Saaka; and more than 90 Wesleyan students. In addition, the Kiniwe African Dance Ensemble from Tufts University also performed at the concert. The event showcased the vibrancy of West African cultures through their music and dance forms. (Photos by Will Barr '18) (more…)
Laurie KenneyOn June 18, a 23-piece all-star band performed the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album in its entirety at Chapman Hall at Middlesex Community College at a benefit concert in memory former Wesleyan Center for the Arts intern Stephanie Nelson, of Middletown, who passed away last year at the age of 25. This was the second annual benefit concert held in Nelson’s name. The first, held last summer, featured the Beatles’ White Album and raised almost $5,000 to establish the Stephanie Nelson Scholarship at Middlesex Community College (MCC), Nelson’s alma mater. This year’s concert was organized by Andy Chatfield, press and marketing…
The Center for the Arts hosted a West African Drumming and Dance performance May 6 in Crowell Concert Hall. The program was coordinated by Iddi Saaka, artist-in-residence and John Wesley Dankwa, a PhD candidate in ethnomusicology. Students in West African Dance I and III performed with help from drumming students. (Photos by Olivia Drake) (more…)
A 21-member all-star band will come together to perform the Beatles' White Album in its entirety at Blackbird: A Benefit Concert for the Stephanie Nelson Memorial Scholarship Fund, at 8 p.m. Saturday, July 25 at Crowell Concert Hall. The concert is being held in memory of former Center for the Arts intern Stephanie Nelson, of Middletown, who passed away earlier this year at the age of 25. All proceeds from ticket sales will go toward creating a scholarship fund for Middlesex Community College students in support of internships at Wesleyan. The concert is the brainchild of drummer Andy Chatfield, press and marketing director of the Center for the Arts. "Stephanie…