Monthly Archives: March 2009

Aaron David Miller Offers Obama Advice On Israel

Aaron David Miller, author and former adviser to six Secretaries of State, from George Shultz under Reagan to Colin Powell under Bush, came to Swarthmore on Wednesday [March 18, 2009] to offer President Obama some expert advice on how he can best on deal with Israel during his administration.

Aaron Brecher ’10 raised funds and sponsorship from a variety of organizations in order to have Miller appear — Sofi, the College Dems, FFFS, the President’s Office, Peace and Conflict Studies, Political Science Department, and outside grants from Legacy Heritage as well as the Israel on Campus Coalition.? Read the full story by Lauren Stokes in The Daily Gazette.

Swarthmore Taiko Nurtures Student Talent in Partnership with Tamagawa University

Swarthmore Taiko, the student and community performance group directed by Dance Professor Kim Arrow, and the Dance Program’s Taiko repertory classes, will launch into the next phase of their development with a gift of a set of Taiko drums handcrafted by Miyamoto, one of the most respected family names in Taiko-making. This gift from Tamagawa University and Cornell Visiting Professor Isaburoh Hanayagi, director of Tamagawa’s Taiko Drum and Dance Ensemble, is one result of an enriching nine-year cultural exchange between the two institutions. These drums will be featured in a score of performances by both Swarthmore Taiko and the Dance Program’s repertory classes this spring, including appearances for the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia’s Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival and Swarthmore’s Spring Student Dance Concert.

Over fifty students from both the Dance Program and the Japanese Program will take part in a special performance for Sakura Sunday, the highlight of the month long Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival, on Sunday, April 5 at the Horticulture Center in Fairmount Park. This spring’s Taiko repertory classes and last fall’s Japanese Dance repertory class will perform pieces choreographed by Cornell Visiting Professor Isaburoh Hanayagi. Swarthmore Taiko will present a variety of repertory works. Additional upcoming performances by Swarthmore Taiko include Morris Arboretum’s Cherry Blossom Celebration on April 4 and a special appearance at Kutztown University’s Asian American Celebration on April 7 with the Lenny Seidman Table Choir.

Two alumni, nurtured by this strong relationship between Swarthmore and Tamagawa, have gone on to pursue Taiko at a professional level. Joe Small ’05 will return to Swarthmore in April to perform with Swarthmore Taiko, and as a guest player for Professor Hanayagi’s repertory works in the Sakura Sunday performance and in the Spring Student Dance Concert on April 24 and 25. Alex Hudson ’05 will reunite with Joe as an audience member for the Saturday night performance, coming directly from a performance with San Jose Taiko in Georgia.

Joe and Alex were both highly active in Swarthmore Taiko and Taiko repertory classes during their time at Swarthmore and participated in a semester abroad program at Tamagawa University. Joe has recently completed a two-year apprenticeship with world-renown Taiko ensemble, Kodo, following a Fulbright Fellowship to Japan to continue his Taiko research. For the past two years, Alex has been performing with San Jose Taiko, the oldest touring Taiko company in the United States.

For more information about Swarthmore Taiko and Taiko repertory classes contact Dance professor Kim Arrow at karrow1@swarthmore.edu.

UPCOMING PERFORMANCES

When: Saturday, April 4, 1 pm
What: Morris Arboretum Japanese Cherry Blossom Celebration
Where: Morris Arboretum, Philadelphia, PA
Info: (215) 247-5777

When: Sunday, April 5, 11 am ? 4 pm
What: Sakura Sunday, Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival of Greater Philadelphia ? Swarthmore Taiko and Repertory Classes
Where: Fairmount Park??s Horticulture Center
Info: jasp.org/cherryblossomfestival

When: Tuesday, April 7, 11 am ? 1 pm
What: Asian American Celebration, Swarthmore Taiko and Lenny Seidman Tabla Choir
Where: Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA
Info: (610) 683-4808

When: Friday and Saturday, April 24 and 25, 8 pm
What: Swarthmore College Spring Student Dance Concert, Taiko Repertory Works featuring guest artist Joe Small ??05
Where: Pearson-Hall Theatre, Lang Performing Arts Center
Info: (610) 328-8260

Swarthmore Taiko Nurtures Student Talent in Partnership with Tamagawa University

Swarthmore Taiko, the student and community performance group directed by Dance Professor Kim Arrow, and the Dance Program’s Taiko repertory classes, will launch into the next phase of their development with a gift of a set of Taiko drums handcrafted by Miyamoto, one of the most respected family names in Taiko-making. This gift from Tamagawa University and Cornell Visiting Professor Isaburoh Hanayagi, director of Tamagawa’s Taiko Drum and Dance Ensemble, is one result of an enriching nine-year cultural exchange between the two institutions. These drums will be featured in a score of performances by both Swarthmore Taiko and the Dance Program’s repertory classes this spring, including appearances for the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia’s Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival and Swarthmore’s Spring Student Dance Concert.

Over fifty students from both the Dance Program and the Japanese Program will take part in a special performance for Sakura Sunday, the highlight of the month long Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival, on Sunday, April 5 at the Horticulture Center in Fairmount Park. This spring’s Taiko repertory classes and last fall’s Japanese Dance repertory class will perform pieces choreographed by Cornell Visiting Professor Isaburoh Hanayagi. Swarthmore Taiko will present a variety of repertory works. Additional upcoming performances by Swarthmore Taiko include Morris Arboretum’s Cherry Blossom Celebration on April 4 and a special appearance at Kutztown University’s Asian American Celebration on April 7 with the Lenny Seidman Table Choir.

Two alumni, nurtured by this strong relationship between Swarthmore and Tamagawa, have gone on to pursue Taiko at a professional level. Joe Small ’05 will return to Swarthmore in April to perform with Swarthmore Taiko, and as a guest player for Professor Hanayagi’s repertory works in the Sakura Sunday performance and in the Spring Student Dance Concert on April 24 and 25. Alex Hudson ’05 will reunite with Joe as an audience member for the Saturday night performance, coming directly from a performance with San Jose Taiko in Georgia.

Joe and Alex were both highly active in Swarthmore Taiko and Taiko repertory classes during their time at Swarthmore and participated in a semester abroad program at Tamagawa University. Joe has recently completed a two-year apprenticeship with world-renown Taiko ensemble, Kodo, following a Fulbright Fellowship to Japan to continue his Taiko research. For the past two years, Alex has been performing with San Jose Taiko, the oldest touring Taiko company in the United States.

For more information about Swarthmore Taiko and Taiko repertory classes contact Dance professor Kim Arrow at karrow1@swarthmore.edu.

UPCOMING PERFORMANCES

When: Saturday, April 4, 1 pm
What: Morris Arboretum Japanese Cherry Blossom Celebration
Where: Morris Arboretum, Philadelphia, PA
Info: (215) 247-5777

When: Sunday, April 5, 11 am ? 4 pm
What: Sakura Sunday, Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival of Greater Philadelphia ? Swarthmore Taiko and Repertory Classes
Where: Fairmount Park??s Horticulture Center
Info: jasp.org/cherryblossomfestival

When: Tuesday, April 7, 11 am ? 1 pm
What: Asian American Celebration, Swarthmore Taiko and Lenny Seidman Tabla Choir
Where: Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA
Info: (610) 683-4808

When: Friday and Saturday, April 24 and 25, 8 pm
What: Swarthmore College Spring Student Dance Concert, Taiko Repertory Works featuring guest artist Joe Small ??05
Where: Pearson-Hall Theatre, Lang Performing Arts Center
Info: (610) 328-8260

Please Join us for A WINDOW ON THE WORK: LISA KRAUS AND CYNTHIA LEE 02 on April 5

The Department of Music and Dance at Swarthmore College presents A Window on the Work: Lisa Kraus and Cynthia Lee ’02 on Sunday, April 5 at 4 pm in Troy Dance Lab, Lang Performing Arts Center (LPAC). During this informal showing, Kraus and Lee will present works developed while taking part in the Swarthmore Project Residency in Dance this past summer, and will speak about their work and answer questions from the audience.

Lisa Kraus will present excerpts from Red Thread, an intergenerational work inspired by a model of women artists’ sustainability – quilting circles – created in collaboration with two long-time colleagues: Eva Karczag and Guggenheim Fellow Vicky Shick. The three women met while company members in The Trisha Brown Dance Company in the 1970s. They have each gone on to have successful careers in the contemporary dance field, and now in their fifties, come together again, full circle, to dance and reflect on their lives in movement.

Cynthia Lee ’02 returns to Swarthmore to show two works-in-progress. Kat-tarang is a contemporary kathak piece created in collaboration with tabla player Lenny Seidman that brings new cross-rhythmic possibilities to Hindustani (North Indian classical) music.

Lee will begin the afternoon with darshan, an outdoor ritual dance installation drawing connections between butoh and the fluid, reciprocal gaze of Indian aesthetic theory. Performers Lee, Liza Clark ’03 and Rebecca Patek will each dance for an audience passing by in a natural wooded setting.

Lisa Kraus is a Philadelphia-based dance artist whose career has included performing in the Trisha Brown Dance Company; choreographing and performing extensively with her own company and as an independent artist; teaching at universities, arts centers and the Paris Opera Ballet; and writing reviews, features and essays on dance for internet and print publication. Critic Sally Sommer wrote in Dance Magazine: “her voluptuousness reminds us that dancing can be a luxurious experience.”

Based in Los Angeles, Cynthia Lee holds an MFA in choreography from UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Cultures and a BA in English Literature from Swarthmore College. She has studied extensively with masters of contemporary avant-garde dance Simone Forti and Eiko & Koma, and has been a practitioner of contact improvisation for the past ten years. Her style of Kathak reflects studies with renowned gurus Bandana Sen and Kumudini Lakhia in India and Anjani Ambegaokar in Los Angeles. Lee was awarded a year-long Thomas J. Watson Fellowship to study religious dance in Thailand (Thai classical dance), Brazil (Candomble), and India (Kathak) from 2002-3.

The performance is free and open to the public without advance reservations. For further information, contact Liza Clark at lclark1@swarthmore.edu or call 610-328-8260.

Please Join us for A WINDOW ON THE WORK: LISA KRAUS AND CYNTHIA LEE 02 on April 5

The Department of Music and Dance at Swarthmore College presents A Window on the Work: Lisa Kraus and Cynthia Lee ’02 on Sunday, April 5 at 4 pm in Troy Dance Lab, Lang Performing Arts Center (LPAC). During this informal showing, Kraus and Lee will present works developed while taking part in the Swarthmore Project Residency in Dance this past summer, and will speak about their work and answer questions from the audience.

Lisa Kraus will present excerpts from Red Thread, an intergenerational work inspired by a model of women artists’ sustainability – quilting circles – created in collaboration with two long-time colleagues: Eva Karczag and Guggenheim Fellow Vicky Shick. The three women met while company members in The Trisha Brown Dance Company in the 1970s. They have each gone on to have successful careers in the contemporary dance field, and now in their fifties, come together again, full circle, to dance and reflect on their lives in movement.

Cynthia Lee ’02 returns to Swarthmore to show two works-in-progress. Kat-tarang is a contemporary kathak piece created in collaboration with tabla player Lenny Seidman that brings new cross-rhythmic possibilities to Hindustani (North Indian classical) music.

Lee will begin the afternoon with darshan, an outdoor ritual dance installation drawing connections between butoh and the fluid, reciprocal gaze of Indian aesthetic theory. Performers Lee, Liza Clark ’03 and Rebecca Patek will each dance for an audience passing by in a natural wooded setting.

Lisa Kraus is a Philadelphia-based dance artist whose career has included performing in the Trisha Brown Dance Company; choreographing and performing extensively with her own company and as an independent artist; teaching at universities, arts centers and the Paris Opera Ballet; and writing reviews, features and essays on dance for internet and print publication. Critic Sally Sommer wrote in Dance Magazine: “her voluptuousness reminds us that dancing can be a luxurious experience.”

Based in Los Angeles, Cynthia Lee holds an MFA in choreography from UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Cultures and a BA in English Literature from Swarthmore College. She has studied extensively with masters of contemporary avant-garde dance Simone Forti and Eiko & Koma, and has been a practitioner of contact improvisation for the past ten years. Her style of Kathak reflects studies with renowned gurus Bandana Sen and Kumudini Lakhia in India and Anjani Ambegaokar in Los Angeles. Lee was awarded a year-long Thomas J. Watson Fellowship to study religious dance in Thailand (Thai classical dance), Brazil (Candomble), and India (Kathak) from 2002-3.

The performance is free and open to the public without advance reservations. For further information, contact Liza Clark at lclark1@swarthmore.edu or call 610-328-8260.

The Department of Theater presents PERICLES, PRINCE OF TYRE March 27-29

The Swarthmore College Department of Theater’s Production Ensemble presents William Shakespeare’s Pericles, Prince of Tyre on Friday and Saturday, March 27 and 28 at 8 pm and Sunday, March 29 at 2 pm in the Frear Ensemble Theater, Lang Performing Arts Center (LPAC). A cast of fifteen offer a fresh telling of Shakespeare’s epic tale of one man’s journey through the exotic islands and ancient cities of a mythic Mediterranean.

As Pericles, and then his daughter, quest to find what’s been lost, they come across pirates and prostitutes, corrupt Kings and licentious Governors, victims of incest and priestesses of the moon, evil stepmothers and amorous lovers – all coming together to create an adventurous and fantastic tale of transformation and redemption.

Guest artist Eleanor Holdridge directs with Christopher Compton ’09 assistant directing. Pericles features original music by Christopher Colucci; set and costume design by Laila Swanson; sound design by Louis Jargow ’10; and lighting design by Kim Comer ’09.

The performances are free and open to the public without advance reservations. Each performance will be followed by a reception in LPAC lower lobby with the cast and crew of the production. For further information, contact Liza Clark at lclark1@swarthmore.edu or call (610) 328-8260.

Afghan women’s rights activist Suraya Pakzad to speak at Swarthmore Friends Meetinghouse

Afghan women’s rights activist Suraya Pakzad to speak at Swarthmore Friends Meetinghouse, Monday, March 23, 7:00 pm

Suraya PakzadFor over a decade — beginning in the darkest days of Taliban oppression– Afghan activist Suraya Pakzad and her organization, Voice of Women, has worked to protect girls and women from the abuses of tribal marital customs and of Islamist extremism. Under the most dangerous and hostile of circumstances, Pakzad has tirelessly provided girls and women with education, physical safe-havens, and paid employment. Crucially, Pakzad has also enriched awareness within Afghanistan of the depth of its human rights injustices, allowing the society to heal from within. Through Voice of Women, Pakzad has begun to build a social infrastructure that will go a long way toward achieving regional strength and stability.

We are fortunate to be able to meet Suraya Pakzad on her first return to the United States after her acceptance last year of the rare honor of the U.S. State Department’s International Women of Courage award.

Please join us to hear Suraya Pakzad. Learn more about her human rights work, and consider what can be done to help.

This talk is free and open to the public.

Monday, March 23, 7:00 pm

Swarthmore Friends Meetinghouse, 12 Whittier Place

Swarthmore, PA, 19081

More information is available at http://swarthmore.quaker.org/pakzad

Activism shapes student life at Swarthmore

PhotoActivism shapes student life at Swarthmore

BY HANNAH PURKEY In print | March 5, 2009

“During her time at Swarthmore, Miriam Feingold Real ’63 was no stranger to the county jails. An ardent activist who was involved in organizing many of the demonstrations against segregation in Chester, Pennsylvania and Cambridge, Maryland, Real believed that sometimes sacrifices had to be made in the name of social justice. ‘Some of the activities we were involved in ended up with us being arrested,’ Real said. ‘I remember spending several days in jail with my school books from Swarthmore, attempting to do my homework and study.’

“Real is only one of many students in the history of the college who have translated their concern with social justice into explicit activism. This dual dedication to academics and social change has been a mark of Swarthmore’s reputation for years, but few have questioned to what extent it is a part of the College’s history….” see the full story in The Phoenix.

International Author and Peace Activist John Dear to Lecture at Chestnut Hill College

TO CHANGE THE WORLD, WE MUST CHANGE OURSELVES

John Dear, S.J.,

John Dear, SJPeace activist, lecturer, and author of A Persistent Peace: One Man’s Struggle for a Non Violent World

This event serves as the Inaugural lecture for the Institute for Forgiveness and Reconciliation

Wednesday, March 25, 2009 at 7 p.m.

Social Room, Fournier Hall

LECTURE IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

For more information, contact Catherine Nerney, SSJ, Ph.D.

at 215.248.7099 or e-mail nerneyc@chc.edu

See the press release

Gullivers Troubles: the Obama Administration and the Arab-Israeli Conflict – A lecture by Aaron David Miller

Gulliver’s Troubles: the Obama Administration and the Arab-Israeli Conflict.

A Lecture by Aaron David Miller

Wednesday, March 18, 4:15-6:30 in Sci 101

Come hear the author of The Much Too Promised Land, an advisor to six secretaries of State on Arab-Israeli issues, and a twenty-year veteran of the State Department talk about America’s role in brokering Middle East peace.

Aaron David MillerAaron David Miller is a Public Policy Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a former president of Seeds of Peace, and an experienced negotiator who served with the State Department from 1978 to 2003. He is the author of The Much Too Promised Land: America’s Elusive Search for Arab-Israeli Peace.

Sponsored By: Swarthmore Organization for Israel, College Democrates, Forum for Free Speech, the President’s Office, Peace and Conflict Studies, and Political Science.