(For a full schedule of campus events, go to http://cat.middlebury.edu/events/.)
On view now through October 19
Study Abroad Photos
Center Gallery for Student Art, McCullough 2nd floor
This exhibition of student photographs features 14 images taken during study abroad between fall 2005 and fall 2006. Organized by Sarah McCague, Graduate Intern at the Middlebury College Museum of Art. Free
September 6–7, Thursday–Friday
Pre-semester Dance Workshop with Jody Oberfelder
10:00 A.M.–4:00 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre
Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects presents sensual, acrobatic work that distills the movement of life. In works ranging from witty to wild to reflective and personal, Oberfelder makes art out of people, creating dances that are provocative both emotionally and intellectually. (Join us for an informal showing of works by the artist and participants on Friday at 3:00 P.M.) Pre-registration required.
September 7, Friday
Informal Showing of Dance Works with Jody Oberfelder
3:00 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre
An informal showing of works by the artist and participants in the pre-semester dance workshop. Free
September 10-28
Sculpture by Patrick Dougherty
Mahaney Center for the Arts, Route 30 lawn
Check out the ongoing construction of a major sculpture by artist Patrick Dougherty on the lawn of the Center for the Arts. During his residency at the College, Dougherty constructs an environmentally friendly, temporary structure made from local materials, with the assistance of local volunteers. A concurrent museum exhibition about Dougherty is on view in the Middlebury College Museum of Art’s Overbrook Gallery.
September 10, Monday
Fall Dance & Movement Classes Begin
These offerings are open to the college community and are in addition to our regular academic courses. P.E. credit is available with attendance at a minimum of eight classes, register at the first class. Students: if you are interested in taking a dance technique and choreography course for academic credit, see listings in Banner. Contact the Dance Office for further information: dance@middlebury.edu, www.middlebury.edu/dance, (802) 443-5245
These technique classes start the FIRST week of class (week of September 10):
- Intermediate/Advanced Dance (DANC 0460) with Leyya Tawil; MW 2:45-4:15 P.M., CFA 110
- Advanced Beginning Dance (DANC 0260) with Tiffany Rhynard; TTh 9:30-10:45 A.M., CFA 110
- Yoga with Andrea Olsen; TW 12:30-1:20 P.M., CFA 110
- Contact Improvisation with Tiffany Rhynard; F 2:45-4:15 P.M., CFA 110
These movement classes start the SECOND week of class (week of September 17):
- Ballet, Intermediate/Advanced with Barbara Doyle-Wilch; M 5:30-7:00 P.M., CFA 109
- Pilates with Nina Vila; TTh 12:30-1:20 P.M., CFA 109 (College community only, $50 for one class per week for 10 weeks)
- Jazz with Mithra Harivandi, Dave Birr, and Robyn Yamakawa of RIDDIM; W 5:30-7:00 P.M., CFA 109
- Beginning Ballet with Lauren Vollmer of Classical Dance at Middlebury; Sat 1:00-2:30 P.M., CFA 109
September 10, Monday
Middlebury College Choir Auditions
4:30 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Room 315
Students: all are welcome. Also see open rehearsal on Wednesday September 12 in the Concert Hall, followed by additional auditions times, and further audition times on
Thursday, September 13 and Friday, September 14 from 1:00-6:30 P.M. Sign up in the Music Department, 3rd floor, Center for the Arts. Jeff Buettner, Director. For more information, click here.
September 10-12, Monday-Wednesday
Auditions: The Sound Investment Jazz Ensemble
4:30-6:30 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Room 217
The band plays the best of contemporary jazz arrangements as well as great tunes from swing and jazz band history, using the traditional big band mix of saxes, trombones, trumpets and rhythm instruments. Pick up audition materials in advance and sign up for an audition time on the bulletin board outside the Music Department office on the 3rd floor on the CFA. Dick Forman, Director. For more information, click here.
September 11, Tuesday
Orchestra Auditions
4:30-6:30 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
Middlebury College Students (including returning students): auditions for the orchestra, the extracurricular chamber music program, and the Sweeney Todd orchestra will take place Tuesday, September 11 and Thursday, September 13. Sign-up sheets will be available outside CFA room 307. For this 10-minute audition, students should play an unaccompanied solo selection and be ready to sight-read a brief musical excerpt presented at the time of the audition. For more information, click here.
September 12, Wednesday
Dance Company Auditions
4:30 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre
For the 2007-2008 season, the Dance Company of Middlebury directed by Tiffany Rhynard creates I’m Right, You’re Wrong, an interdisciplinary and multi-media performance investigating the complexity of conflict and the consequence of action. Following the premiere at Middlebury January 24 and 25, the company will tour to the San Francisco bay area from January 28 to February 4. Auditions are open to Middlebury College sophomores through seniors; come ready to dance.
September 13, Thursday
Orchestra Auditions
4:30-6:30 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
Middlebury College Students (including returning students): auditions for the orchestra, the extracurricular chamber music program, and the Sweeney Todd orchestra will take place Tuesday, September 11 and Thursday, September 13. Sign-up sheets will be available outside CFA room 307. For this 10-minute audition, students should play an unaccompanied solo selection and be ready to sight-read a brief musical excerpt presented at the time of the audition. For more information, click here.
September 14, Friday
Theatre Auditions: 12th Annual First-Year Show
7:00 P.M. -10:00 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Room 232
First-Year Midd Students: Start your Middlebury career off with creative fun on stage! Audition for an evening of new plays by Middlebury playwrights, directed by Andy Mitton ’01. To participate, come to the Center for the Arts at 6:45 P.M., and sign up for a time to perform a short (less than one-minute) monologue. Callbacks: Saturday, September 15 from 3:00-6:00 P.M., and Sunday, September 16, from 1:00-4:00 P.M. Performance Dates: October 25-27, in the Hepburn Zoo. For more information, contact the theatre program office at x5601.
September 15, Saturday
Apocalypto
3:00 and 8:00 P.M., Dana Auditorium
Against the lush landscape of the ancient Mayan civilization, a courageous young man is captured by an invading force and taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression. Through a twist of fate and spurred by his love for his family, the captive makes a desperate attempt to return home. International star and Oscar-winning director Mel Gibson (Braveheart, The Passion of the Christ) creates another intense adventure spectacle. Nominated for three Academy Awards. In Maya with English subtitles. Sponsored by the Hirschfield International Film Series. (USA, 2006, 139 minutes) Free
September 15-16, Saturday-Sunday
Auditions: Sweeney Todd
4:00 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Room 221
Middlebury College Students: Auditions for the Department of Music's production of Stephen Sondheim's classic musical, Sweeney Todd. Direction by Douglas Anderson, Musical Direction by Carol Christensen, with Troy Peters conducting the Middlebury College Orchestra. Prepare a song from a musical. You may sing a cappella or you may bring sheet music. Rehearsals and performances will be during January term, with some music rehearsals in fall term. Sign-up sheets for the audition are posted outside the Music Department office, Center for the Arts, 3rd floor. We are also looking for a rehearsal/performance pianist. Questions? Email Douglas Anderson: danders@middlebury.edu
September 15, Saturday
Cyrus Chestnut Trio
8:00 P.M., Mead Memorial Chapel
Jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut has played a number of times at Middlebury, always in the Center for the Arts Concert Hall. This time he’ll play in Mead Chapel, where jazz greats Oscar Peterson, Abdullah Ibrahim, Marian McPartland, Dick Hyman, Jay McShann, and Dave McKenna have performed in the past. Chestnut’s preparation included playing in the Mount Calvary Star Baptist Church in Baltimore, and study at both Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and the Berklee School of Music in Boston. Critic Lloyd Sachs writes of the “soulful thrusts, balletic flourishes, and unabashedly warm-spirited playing” of the Cyrus Chestnut Trio. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. Tickets: $15/12/5, on sale September 10 to the College community; on sale September 12 for the general public.
For more information, click here.
To read the press release, click here.
September 17, Monday
Fall Dance Concert Auditions
4:30 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre
Advanced student choreographers audition dancers for two end-of-term concerts, including the annual Newcomers’ Piece, open to dancers who have not yet performed in a dance program event, choreographed by Leyya Tawil. Dancers must be attending a minimum of two technique classes each week to be eligible to perform. Please come ready to dance.
September 18, Tuesday (through December 9)
Art Now: Patrick Dougherty
Mahaney Center for the Arts, Museum of Art, Overbrook Gallery
Sculptor Patrick Dougherty is widely known for weaving together saplings and twigs in site-specific, architecturally-scaled works of art. During his residency at the College this September, Dougherty constructs a new installation at the Center for the Arts with the assistance of local volunteers. The environmentally friendly, temporary structure will be made from local materials. On view in the Overbrook Gallery, to coincide with the public project, is a survey of Dougherty’s previous sculptural projects. Dougherty’s residency has been underwritten by the College’s “One Per Cent for Art” fund and the Committee on Art in Public Places. Free
September 18, Tuesday (through December 9)
Resonance from the Past: African Sculpture from the New Orleans Museum of Art
Mahaney Center for the Arts, Museum of Art, Christian A. Johnson Memorial Gallery
Drawn from one of the outstanding collections of African art in the United States, this exhibition includes figures of gods, spirits, and ancestors, as well as ceremonial masks, headdresses, and ritual objects created by the peoples of West and Central Africa. These stunning works, which date from the seventeenth through the twentieth century, reveal the richness of traditional African culture and also serve as potent reminders of the aesthetic influence of African art on European Modernism. This exhibition is a collaboration between the Museum for African Art and the New Orleans Museum of Art. Frank Herreman is the guest curator. Free
September 19, Wednesday
Lecture and Discussion: Visiting Artist Patrick Dougherty
4:30 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
Dougherty will discuss his numerous projects around the world and the work he is creating on the front lawn of the Center for the Arts. Cosponsored by the Committee on Art in Public Places and the Middlebury College Museum of Art. Free
September 20, Thursday
Addison County Chamber of Commerce Mixer
5:00-7:00 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Lower Lobby
Chamber members and their guests are invited to an exclusive viewing of the Museum's two fall exhibitions: Resonance from the Past: African Sculpture from the New Orleans Museum of Art, and Art Now: Patrick Dougherty. RSVP to the Chamber at 388-7951 or ted@midvermont.com.
September 20–22, Thursday–Saturday
Niles Ford Residency and Dance Party
Mahaney Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre and Lower Lobby
New York dance artist Niles Ford, Artistic Director of Urban Dance Collective, teaches Afro-Jazz and modern techniques, shows his choreographic work, and DJ’s a nighttime dance party, in conjunction with the exhibit Resonance from the Past: African Sculpture from the New Orleans Museum of Art. “His vast background has enabled him to develop a unique American cultural voice as a performer, choreographer, and instructor”—composer Anthony Scott. Sponsored by the Dance Program with the Middlebury College Activities Board, Ross Commons, and the Middlebury College Museum of Art. Free
EVENTS:
September 20, Thursday:
Master Class, Beginning Modern Technique
3:00 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre
September 21, Friday
Master Class: Afro-jazz technique
2:45 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre
Performance and Discussion
4:30 P.M. Mahaney Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre
September 22, Saturday
Dance Party
10:00 P.M.-1:00 A.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Lower Lobby
Niles Ford spins Cuban, Brazilian, East African and West African Rhythms, and current hip hop/global house.
September 21, Friday
A Far Cry: From Darkness to Light
8:00 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
A Far Cry, the up-and-coming, Boston-based, conductorless string orchestra, appears at Middlebury College for the first time, presenting their program "From Darkness to Light" featuring flutist Karen Kevra. Pieces by Arvo Part, Handel, Quantz, and Tchaikovsky will be played with the passion and precision that has led to rave reviews. Benjamin Zander wrote, "It's not just that their playing is polished and immaculate, but they play with exuberance, palpable joy, exquisite ensemble and, most wonderful of all, a deep love of music and each other." Please visit http://www.afarcry.org for more information. Free.
September 22, Saturday
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
3:00 and 8:00 P.M., Dana Auditorium
A tragic night unfolds as Mr. Lazarescu, an elderly man, calls an ambulance at the first sign of sickness. He is sent to one hospital after another as his health rapidly diminishes. Brilliantly directed by Cristi Puiu, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu is a simple story about loneliness and misfortune, yet the film’s creativity and intelligence make it compelling. “A rich, strange, and weirdly gratifying odyssey.”—Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune. Film festival prize winner at Cannes, Copenhagen, and Chicago. In Romanian with English subtitles. Sponsored by the Hirschfield International Film Series. (Romania, 2005, 150 minutes) Free
September 22, Saturday
Brahms’ String Sextets
8:00 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
Featuring members of the performance faculty of Middlebury College, Dartmouth College, and the Vermont Symphony, this ensemble comes together to perform both string sextets by Johannes Brahms. Among the favorites in chamber music literature, these works are beloved for their lush texture and feeling. The performers are violinists Katherine Winterstein and Kathy Andrew, violists Paul Reynolds and Marcia Cassidy, and cellists Dieuwke Davydov and John Dunlop. Free
September 27, Thursday
Beyond the Object: The Concept of Power in African Art
7:30 P.M., Dana Auditorium
In this slide lecture, Rowland Abiodun—John C. Newton Professor of Fine Arts and Black Studies and Chair of the Fine Arts Department at Amherst College, and author of many scholarly articles on African art—explores the “inner eye” of the African artist, the special aesthetic consciousness through which he strives to capture the life force of his subject in the form, color, and rhythm of the completed work. Cosponsored by the Middlebury College Museum of Art, the Department of History of Art and Architecture, the Office of Institutional Diversity, and the Rohatyn Center for International Affairs. Free
September 28, Friday
Off the Grid Performance Series: Rebecca Marcus’08
5:00 P.M., Battell Lawn
Marcus investigates the ways in which a change in location affects a developing dance. Rain date: Saturday September 29
September 28, Friday
Closing Celebration for Patrick Dougherty Project
5:00 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, front lawn
The Middlebury College Museum of Art throws a celebration to honor all those who have been involved with the sculpture that Patrick Dougherty has been creating on the front lawn of the Mahaney Center for the Arts. At that time the sculpture will be given its formal name and a photograph of all of the project’s volunteers will be taken. Anyone who has participated in the project during the last three weeks is welcome to participate in the photograph. The entire community is welcome to join the celebration.
Visit the Dougherty Project website and check out the live webcam.
(For a full schedule of campus events, go to http://cat.middlebury.edu/events/.)
This week's events
September 29, Saturday
A Celebration of Theatrical Design
All events take place at the Mahaney Center for the Arts.
1:00–6:30 P.M.: Design Workshops, visit the Symposium website for details
2:00 P.M.: Design Exhibition (on view through October 14), Seeler Studio Theatre
6:30 P.M.: Pre-performance Dinner: Rehearsals Cafe, Tickets: $15
8:00 P.M.: Panel Discussion, Concert Hall
9:30 P.M.: Reception, Seeler Studio Theatre
The Department of Theatre and Dance’s second Theatre Design Symposium includes exhibits, workshops, and discussions about costume, scenic, and lighting design, featuring the work of visiting artists, students, faculty, staff, and alumni in the field. Except for the dinner, all events are free.
September 29, Saturday
The Lives of Others
3:00 and 8:00 P.M., Dana Auditorium
East Berlin, 1985: the Communist Party is determined to know everything about everybody. Stasi officer Gerd Wiesler is assigned to spy on a playwright and his girlfriend to gather evidence of seditious activities, but the task is complicated when the ruthless Wiesler comes face to face with his own humanity. A tragic but inspiring tale of oppression and resistance from director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. In German with English subtitles. Sponsored by the Hirschfield International Film Series. (Germany, 2006, 137 minutes) Free
September 30, Sunday
Emory Fanning, organist:
Music of César Franck
3:00 P.M., Mead Memorial Chapel
Though he wrote just a dozen organ works, César Franck (1822-1890) is considered the most important composer for the organ in the nineteenth century, for his use of traditional musical forms in a new and unique tonal language. The Gress-Miles organ in Mead Chapel has all the necessary resources to bring Franck’s great music to life. Professor Emeritus Fanning joined the Middlebury faculty in 1967. As Fletcher Professor of the Arts, he conducted the College Choir, taught a variety of music courses, and accompanied numerous student and faculty recitals. He has been College Organist since 1997 and is a specialist in Franck’s music. Free