Andy Lei

Fall Photos: Becca Blackwell: They, Themself and Schmerm

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On Friday, October 5, 2018 New York City-based trans actor Becca Blackwell performed part classic standup comedy special, part teen zine vomit confessional, They, Themself and Schmerm (2015). The performance was a disturbingly hilarious personal tale of being adopted into a Midwestern religious family, trained to be a girl, molested, and plagued by the question, “How do I become a man and do I even want that?” The Connecticut premiere of this one-person show engaged in loving confrontation with the audience, asking what it truly means to be authentic.

Photos by Sandy Aldieri. Click here to view the full album on Flickr.

Fall Photos: Fall Faculty Dance Concert: Wrapped in Us

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On Friday, October 26, 2018 visiting Assistant Professors Julie Mulvihill and Joya Powell presented Wrapped in Us, an evening of multidisciplinary, visceral, risk-taking and performance sharing.

In Composing Compromise: A Performance Collage, performers and audience traverse together, sharing choice and change. Together with the space and the audience, the performers explored in movement the act of becoming a group. Wesleyan student collaborators explored what holds us back and celebrate what brings us together as they ask the question: What if compromise is an act of discovery?

Hair Ties by Movement of the People Dance Company is a multidisciplinary, dance-theater piece inspired by America’s fear of Black power and beauty. Inspired by the Tignon Laws of the 1800s, this evocative work is a celebration of Black beauty, creativity, and ingenuity in the face of perpetual oppression. This work is a collaboration with Evelyn Green (videographer), Amina Henry (wordsmith), and Hair Ties interviewees.

Photos by Sandy Aldieri. Click here to view the full album on Flickr.

Fall Photos: ETHEL and Robert Mirabal: The River

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On Friday, October 26, 2018 one of America’s most adventurous string quartets, ETHEL featured Ralph Farris on viola, Kip Jones and Corin Lee on violin, and Dorothy Lawson on cello at Crowell Concert Hall. The group formed in New York City in 1998, and are heirs to the likes of the Kronos Quartet. At Wesleyan, they joined forces with GRAMMY Award-winning Taos Pueblo flutist and Native American instrument maker Robert Mirabal to present The River (2016), an evening of music inspired by water and its essential role in life on Earth.
ETHEL and Robert Mirabal discussed their collaboration, the making of The River, and play selections during a free lecture/demonstration on Thursday, October 25, 2018 at 4:30pm in Adzenyah Rehearsal Hall 003 (Daltry Room), 60 Wyllys Avenue, Middletown.

Photos by Richard Marinelli. Click here to view the full album on Flickr.

Fall Photos: Mythili Prakash

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On Sunday, October 14, 2018 at Crowell Concert Hall, Mythili Prakash made her Connecticut debut to conclude the 42nd annual Navaratri Festival at Wesleyan. The dynamic Mythili Prakash began her career as a Bharata Natyam performer at the age of eight. Since 1990, she has toured as a soloist in the United Kingdom, Scotland, France, Singapore, the United States, and Mexico. Highly acclaimed for her virtuosic skill as a performer, she stays deeply rooted in the inherent spirituality of the art form, which is the driving inspiration of her choreographic explorations. She was also cast in the award-winning film Life of Pi (2012).

Photos by Richard Marinelli. Click here to view the full album on Flickr.

Fall Photos: Opening Reception: Kahlil Robert Irving Exhibition

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On Wednesday, September 26, 2018 Saint Louis-based multimedia artist Kahlil Robert Irving exhibited a recent body of work in his first solo exhibition in New England, including several pieces commissioned by the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery at Wesleyan. Working across a variety of material production methods, Irving examines the evolving relationship between symbols and power by bringing attention to the oppressive legacies of colonialism present in contemporary culture. His practice purposely challenges constructs around decorative arts, monuments, and the history of how race has been reinforced in America.
Associate Professor of Science in Society, African American Studies, and Sociology Anthony Hatch, who has written an essay for the exhibition, engaged Kahlil Robert Irving in a gallery talk about his work at 5pm during the opening reception.

Photos by Sandy Aldieri. Click here to view the full album on Flickr.

Fall Photos: Raphael Xavier: Point of Interest

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On Friday, September 21, 2018 crackling with high-energy physicality, Point of Interest (2016) featured a series of solos, duets, and quintets set to Raphael Xavier’s soundscape of beats, spoken word poetry, and musical rhythms. Philadelphia-based Raphael Xavier is a self-taught hip hop dancer and breaking artist originally from Wilmington, Delaware. A photographer, musician, and former company member with Rennie Harris Puremovement, he is an innovative movement conceptualist who has helped expand the boundaries of dance since 1983.
Following the 50 minute performance there was a 30 minute talkback with the artist moderated by Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance Joya Powell.
There was a free masterclass with Raphael Xavier on Saturday, September 22, 2018 at 11am in the Bessie Schönberg Dance Studio, located at 247 Pine Street. Open to all, no reservations were required.

Photos by Richard Marinelli. Click here to view the full album on Flickr.

 

Fall Photos: Opening Reception: Chado — The Way of Tea

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On Wednesday, September 12, 2018 the exhibition Chado: The Way of Tea explored the prominent role and significance of the tea ceremony as an art and spiritual practice in China and Japan. Objects displayed were selected from the College of East Asian Studies collection and loaned by tea enthusiasts in the Wesleyan community. Several media were represented, including ceramics, lacquer ware, bamboo, wood, iron, textiles, and calligraphy. In addition, photographs from National Geographic photographer Michael Yamashita ’71 were featured.
Photos by Sandy Aldieri. Click here to view the full album on Flickr.

Fall Photos: The MASH

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On Tuesday, April 17, 2018 Saturday, September 8, 2018 inspired by Fête de la Musique (also known as Make Music Day), the seventh annual The MASH festival highlighted Wesleyan’s student music scene, with multiple stages on campus featuring everything from a cappella ensembles to student and faculty bands.

Photos by Richard Marinelli. Click here to view the full album on Flickr.

Fall Photos: Common Moment: ON DISPLAY

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On Friday, August 31, 2018 first year students in the Class of 2022 partnered with choreographer Heidi Latsky to create her installation ON DISPLAY on Andrus Field. Followed by a fire dancing performance by the student group Prometheus.
A deconstructed art exhibition/fashion show, ON DISPLAY is a commentary on the body as spectacle and on society’s obsession with body image. At its most concrete, ON DISPLAY is a human sculpture gallery bound by simple performance rules. More deeply, ON DISPLAY dares us to explore the idea of the gaze through a meditative, playful, embodied inquiry. In the installation, we are challenged to be in our simplest state, to commit to the exercise without judgement, to trust both our individuality and the group, and to experience profoundly the act of seeing and being seen.

Photos by Sandy Aldieri. Click here to view the full album on Flickr.

Spring Photos: Celebrating 100 Years of Thelonious Monk featuring the T.S. Monk Sextet

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On Thursday, Match 2, 2017 T.S. Monk was joined by Theo Hill on piano, Willie Williams on tenor saxophone, Randall Haywood on trumpet, April May Webb on vocals, Patience Higgins on alto saxophone and flute, and Christopher Berger on bass to perform a concert celebrating 100 years of his father, pianist Thelonious Monk.

Photos by Sandy Aldieri of Perceptions Photography. Click here to view the full album on Flickr.