Monthly Archives: October 2008

Shen Wei Dance Arts on Campus!

Shen Wei Dance ArtsPlease join us as the Swarthmore College Department of Music and Dance and the William J. Cooper Foundation presents Shen Wei Dance Arts on Friday, October 24 at 8 pm in Pearson-Hall Theater, Lang Performing Arts Center.

Hailed by The New York Times as “startlingly imaginative,” Shen Wei Dance Arts invests in interdisciplinary, cross-cultural performance for forwardlooking audiences. Each work by Artistic Director Shen Wei develops an original dance vocabulary incorporating visual and storytelling elements from the theater, Chinese opera, Eastern philosophy, traditional and contemporary visual art, and sculpture. The result, which is at turns figurative and abstract, combines performance with strong scenic elements to create a “fascinating fantasy in movement” (Herald Sun). At Swarthmore, Shen Wei Dance Arts will perform two acclaimed works from their repertory: “Rite of Spring” and “RE- (Part One).”

This event is free and open to the public without advance reservations. For more info contact lclark1@swarthmore.edu or call 610-328-8260.

Shen Wei and dancers will also conduct a masterclass on Thursday, October 23, from 4:30 pm-6 pm in Troy Dance Lab, Lang Performing Arts Center. This event is open to the public with space priority given to students and Swarthmore faculty and staff. Please arrive early to reserve your space.

Shen Wei Dance Arts on Campus!

Shen Wei Dance ArtsPlease join us as the Swarthmore College Department of Music and Dance and the William J. Cooper Foundation presents Shen Wei Dance Arts on Friday, October 24 at 8 pm in Pearson-Hall Theater, Lang Performing Arts Center.

Hailed by The New York Times as “startlingly imaginative,” Shen Wei Dance Arts invests in interdisciplinary, cross-cultural performance for forwardlooking audiences. Each work by Artistic Director Shen Wei develops an original dance vocabulary incorporating visual and storytelling elements from the theater, Chinese opera, Eastern philosophy, traditional and contemporary visual art, and sculpture. The result, which is at turns figurative and abstract, combines performance with strong scenic elements to create a “fascinating fantasy in movement” (Herald Sun). At Swarthmore, Shen Wei Dance Arts will perform two acclaimed works from their repertory: “Rite of Spring” and “RE- (Part One).”

This event is free and open to the public without advance reservations. For more info contact lclark1@swarthmore.edu or call 610-328-8260.

Shen Wei and dancers will also conduct a masterclass on Thursday, October 23, from 4:30 pm-6 pm in Troy Dance Lab, Lang Performing Arts Center. This event is open to the public with space priority given to students and Swarthmore faculty and staff. Please arrive early to reserve your space.

POP OUT, the Playwriting Debut of senior Jessie Bear, Premieres Nov 14-16

OCTOBER 17, 2008 – The Swarthmore College Department of Theater presents Pop Out, the Honors Playwriting Thesis of Jessie Bear ’09. This new play explores the deceptively simple task of living by your own rules in a world where everyone else knows better. Performances will be Friday and Saturday, November 14-15 at 8 pm, and Sunday, November 16 at 3 pm in the Frear Ensemble Theater, Lang Performing Arts Center. Lisa Jo Epstein Ph.D, Artistic Director of Gas & Electric Arts theater company, directs the production. The design team is James Murphy (lights), Simon Harding ’99 (set), Dan Perelstein ’09 (sound), and Laila Swanson (costumes). Joshua Lipman ’09 is stage-managing. Erin Mee is the faculty advisor for the production.

In varied ways, the characters of Pop Out approach the question, “How can you take ownership over a life that’s not your own?” Jenny is a highly successful OBGYN who’s got it all but is haunted – literally – by doubt. Dolly is a college student who has it all, too, until a medical diagnosis changes everything. Eleanor examines life up close, but doesn’t really touch it. Elisa is happy but miserable. Jackie just wants confirmation that she’s following the right instructions. These very different women will learn that it’s impossible to get comfortable when everything – your family, your friends, your job, your body – is apt to betray or surprise you. In a world where everyone’s got an opinion and the signals are mixed, it’s hard not to wonder: who’s writing your script?

The clean lines and revolving walls of Simon Harding’s set, complemented and sculpted by James Murphy’s lighting and Laila Swanson’s costumes, will capture and reveal the characters’ internal struggles in a seemingly organized world. The cast features Sasha Shahidi ’09, Judy Browngoehl ’09, Isa St. Clair ’11, Jane Abell ’11, Sara Lipshutz ’11 and Ben Hattem ’12, each playing multiple roles.

Jessie Bear ’09 is an Honors Theater Major with emphases in playwriting and acting and an Honors French Minor. She has studied playwriting extensively at Swarthmore with Adriano Shaplin of The Riot Group and Lizzie Olesker. Pop Out represents her debut as a produced playwright, although Jessie has acted in many Swarthmore productions, including Mamet’s Oleanna, Wedekind’s Spring Awakening, Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, excerpts from Son’s Stop/Kiss and many student-written plays. This year she will also be acting in Churchill’s Vinegar Tom and Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

The performances are free and open to the public without reservations. For more information please contact Liza Clark at lclark1@swarthmore.edu or (610) 328-8260.

RAISE Hope for Congo

RAISE Hope for Congo

Protect & Empower Congo’s Women

In September 2008, ENOUGH will launch the RAISE Hope for Congo campaign. With the ultimate goal of protecting and empowering Congolese women and girls, the campaign will work to: raise awareness about the conflict and the resulting widespread sexual violence against women and girls; cultivate and educate activists about the root causes of and solutions to the conflict; increase news coverage of the conflict in DR Congo, and; influence and change policy on DR Congo through promotion of the 3 Ps ? Peace, Protection, and Punishment ? plus Prevention.

The event will be October 28th at 4:30 in Sci Center 101.

http://www.enoughproject.org/congospeakerstour

Co-sponsored with Peace and Conflict Studies.

After Liberation Theology: Latin American Christianity and the Future

After Liberation Theology: Latin American Christianity and the Future

Ivan Petrella, University of Miami

One of the freshest voices in liberationist thought, Petrella is the author of The Future of Liberation Theology, and Beyond Liberation Theology. Utilizing legal theory, economics, and medical anthropology, Petrella has reinvigorated debates about culture, politics and religion.

In this talk, Petrella will map out liberation theology’s rise and fall after the end of the Cold War, and consider the prospects for a renewed role for radical Christianity in Latin America.

This Thursday, October 23rd, 4:30 Kohlberg Hall, Room 226.

Co-sponsored with Peace and Conflict Studies.

The Colombian Free Trade Agreement

Freddy CaicedoThe Colombian Free Trade Agreement

Freddy Caicedo

Monday, October 20th, 2008

7:00 pm

Scheuer Room at Kohlberg

Swarthmore College

With elections just around the corner, free trade has become one of the foremost concerns of the US public and the candidates hoping to represent us. Meanwhile, Congress is still considering a NAFTA-style

agreement with war-torn Colombia. Come hear Freddy Caicedo, a compelling Colombian human rights organizer, give an insider???? perspective on the trade deal.

This Is Your Brain On Dance – Dance Interest Meeting 10/8 

The Dance Program invites you to an informal meeting!

Wednesday, October 8, 12:15-1:15 pm

LPAC LOBBY

Refreshments will be served

Talk to faculty members, guest artists and students about:
  • new courses and performance opportunities
  • interdisciplinary and intercultural aspects of dance study
  • collaboration and study abroad
  • design and videography

    This Is Your Brain On Dance – Dance Interest Meeting 10/8 

    The Dance Program invites you to an informal meeting!

Wednesday, October 8, 12:15-1:15 pm

LPAC LOBBY

Refreshments will be served

Talk to faculty members, guest artists and students about:
    • new courses and performance opportunities
    • interdisciplinary and intercultural aspects of dance study
    • collaboration and study abroad
    • design and videography

      Selling Democracy: Films of the Marshall Plan 1948-1953

      Selling Democracy: Films of the Marshall Plan 1948-1953

      Sandra Schulberg

      Tues. Oct. 7, 4:15 PM

      LPAC Cinema, Swarthmore College

      Independent producer and project director Sandra Schulberg presents a program of recovered and restored films, a sampling of the 250 titles made under the aegis of the post-World War II European Recovery Program (ERP), known as “the Marshall Plan,” as part of its public information program. A chance to see rare archival films and to hear about this postwar use of film as a medium for social change, a project with relevance for our own moment. For more information see: http://www.sellingdemocracy.org/

      Sandra Schulberg is a graduate of Swarthmore College. Her father Stuart Schulberg headed the Marshall Plan Motion Picture Section.

      Presented by the Office of the President, The Program in Film and Media Studies and the Department of History with support from Department of Sociology/Anthropology and the Program in Peace and Conflict Studies. Followed by reception.