Updates and reflections from Wesleyan's Center for the Arts in Middletown, Connecticut
In connection with the exhibition “We Chat: A Dialogue in Contemporary Chinese Art” on view in the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery, performance artist Yan Xing worked closely with students to stage a happening at Olin Memorial Library on Friday, February 26, 2016.
Click here to view the full album on Flickr. Photos by Sandy Aldieri of Perceptions Photography.
South Asian culture was experienced through henna art and sampling of chaat (savory snacks), hosted by Shakti, Wesleyan’s South Asian Students’ Association, in the Olin Library Lobby on Thursday, October 8, 2015.
Click here to view the full album on Flickr. Photos by Sandy Aldieri of Perceptions Photography.
This year, we are looking forward to introducing you to artists who are asking important questions about our world today, questioning why things are the way they are, and helping us to envision how they might be.
Michelle Dorrance, described by the Chicago Tribune as “edgy, seductive and smart,” brings Dorrance Dance to the CFA Theater September 25 and 26. You’ll have the chance to see tap dancers push the boundaries of what tap dance looks and feels like: her company will dazzle you as they transform the stage into one sonic instrument.
At a time when our country is struggling to find its way in terms of race relations, we’ve invited writer/performer Daniel Beaty to campus for a residency that includes the October 9 performance of Mr. Joy, his highly acclaimed tour de force solo show about a community’s efforts to heal in order to dream again.
Composer, visual artist, and new media innovator R. Luke DuBois takes over the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery from September 16 through December 13 with his exhibition In Real Time, creating maps, scores, and videos that use real-time data flows and media footage to raise questions of artistic agency, privacy, and fair use. In time for the election season, the CFA has commissioned him to create a new work using research generated by the Wesleyan Media Project.
Dancer/choreographer Eiko Otake returns with a series of intimate performances in unlikely places, including a commissioned work in honor of the 100th-anniversary of Wesleyan’s Van Vleck Observatory.
This year’s Navaratri Festival of Indian music and dance features one of the world’s greatest veena players, Sri Rajhesh Vaidya, on October 10, and Bharatanatyam dancer Alarmél Valli on October 11.
All this shares the fall schedule with performances by faculty and students, including the final class performance by students of Adjunct Professor of Music Abraham Adzenyah, who is retiring after teaching Ghanaian drumming at Wesleyan for the past 45 years. You won’t want to miss that concert on December 4.
As always, we hope you will look to the CFA as a place of enlightenment and enjoyment in the months ahead.
Sincerely,
Pamela Tatge
Director
Center for the Arts
Performed on February 23, 2015, in the Olin Library lobby, A Body in a Library is part of A Body in Places, dancer/choreographer Eiko Otake’s first solo project, incorporating both performative and non-performative elements, and including the photography exhibition A Body in Fukushima. Images by Sandy Aldieri of Perceptions Photography. Click here to view the full album on flickr.
