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CFA DAYS
Learn about music, creative writing and artistic expression during these informal performances and talks. Each event begins at 12:10 and is free.
Arabic Music Lecture-Demonstration
With Sami Abu Shumays
Tuesday, June 29 in the World Music Hall
Free admission
Sami Abu Shumays is a spirited violinist, vocalist, composer and the director of the New York City-based musical ensemble Zikrayat. He was born in the United States of mixed Palestinian and American descent, but returned to the Arab world to develop a richer connection with his cultural heritage. Seeking immersion in Arab musical culture, Sami studied in Cairo, Egypt on a Fulbright fellowship and continued his studies in Aleppo, Syria. At Wesleyan, he will perform Arabic music selections, discuss and demonstrate the rhythms, and vocalizations used in classical and folk traditions.
Drawing Obsessions
Talk by artist Julia Randall
Tuesday, July 6 in the CFA Hall
Free admission
Julia Randall uses her obsession with drawing to craft images that humorously challenge what is “natural” about desire. She has had solo exhibitions in New York City at Jeff Bailey Gallery, and in Sydney, Australia at Esa Jaske Gallery. Her drawings have been featured in numerous group exhibitions, including the Tang Museum at Skidmore College, the National Academy in New York and many commercial galleries. Randall is an Assistant Professor of Art at Wesleyan.
From Vine Street to Sesame Street—A Musical Journey
Conversation with Bill Sherman
Tuesday, July 13 in the CFA Hall
Free admission
Bill Sherman ’02 returns to Wesleyan to discuss his work as a composer and producer, including winning a Tony Award for Best Orchestrations for Lin-Manuel Miranda’s ‘02 In the Heights, and a Grammy Award as the co-producer of the In The Heights Original Broadway Cast Album. Bill is also the music director and composer for “Sesame Street,” and is the composer for Barrio Grrrl!, a children’s musical commissioned by The Kennedy Center that was recently nominated for a Helen Hayes Award. Bill is also a proud member of NY’s premier hip-hop, improv and comedy group, Freestyle Love Supreme, which traveled to the Aspen, Edinburgh, Melbourne and Montreal comedy festivals.
Why Theater Today?
A Talk by Eric Ting, Associate Artistic Director, Long Wharf Theatre
Tuesday, July 20 in the CFA Hall
Free admission
How should we re-center the value of live performance in our changing digital and global world? Ting, recognized by American Theatre Magazine as one of twenty-five artists to watch for in their 25th anniversary issue, will discuss how theatre is being redefined in the 21st century. His directing credits at New Haven’s Long Wharf Theatre include Underneath the Lintel, The Bluest Eye, the world premiere of his adaptation of The Old Man and the Sea, and most recently, A.R. Gurney's Sylvia.
PRICE KEY
A General
B Seniors/Wesleyan Faculty & Staff
C Students
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Sami Shumays
Julia Randall
Eric Ting
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CFA NIGHTS
Burkina Electric
Thursday, July 1, 7pm
CFA Courtyard (rainsite: CFA Theater)
Free admission
"An irresistible blend of West African music and electronica."
—New York Times
Burkina Electric is the first electronica band from Burkina Faso, in the deep interior of West Africa. Their music combines the traditions and rhythms of Burkina Faso with contemporary electronic dance culture, sampling unusual rhythms and incorporating sounds of traditional African instruments and “found” sounds recorded in Burkina Faso. The group is composed of four musicians and two dancers who collaborate to create their unique music and dance fusion, including Mai Lingani (vocals), Wende K. Bass (guitar), Pyrolator (electronicist/VJ), Lukas Ligeti (drummer/electronicist), as well as Zoko Zoko and Vicky (dancers/choreographers). Since its formation, Burkina Electric has performed all across the globe, at venues such as the Festival Jazz a Ouaga in Burkina Faso, Joe’s Pub in New York City, and the Arab-American National Museum in Detroit, and has collaborated with an array of talented artists including Toumani Diabate.
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Joel Frahm Jazz Quartet
“state-of-the-art straight ahead jazz”
Thursday, July 8, 8pm
CFA Theater
$18 general; $16 senior citizens, Wesleyan faculty/staff; $10 students
"Joel Frahm, one of the young band leaders often heard in New York’s small jazz clubs, sounds supremely comfortable playing the tenor saxophone."
—New York Times
Joel Frahm has made a name for himself after nearly two decades on the jazz scene as a saxophonist and composer. Having explored the genre with singer Jane Monheit and boyhood friend, pianist Brad Mehldau, Frahm earned his B.A. in Jazz Performance at the Manhattan School of Music. His latest release, We Used to Dance, features six original compositions and earned him the title of “Rising Star” in the category of tenor saxaphone in DownBeat Magazine’s Critics Poll. Joel has also worked with a vast array of musical peers and jazz legends including Maynard Ferguson, Betty Carter, Lee Konitz, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and the The Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. Frahm is joined for this performance by Orrin Evans on piano, Omer Avital on bass, and Mark Ferber on drums.
Battleworks Dance Company
Thursday & Friday, July 15 & 16, 8pm
CFA Theater
$24 general; $19 senior citizens, Wesleyan faculty/staff; $10 students
"Robert Battle’s dances are as confounding as they are riveting. The choreographer seems to delight in defying expectations. Battle’s choreography is dazzling”
—Boston Globe
In 2003, Robert Battle was awarded the CFA’s Mariam McGlone Emerging Choreographer Award when he burst on the scene with his own company, Battleworks, after years as a principal dancer and choreographer for Parsons Dance. In April, Battle was named Artistic Director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and in 2011 will take the helm of one of this country’s most important and influential cultural institutions. This summer, Battleworks returns to Wesleyan with its signature movement vocabulary: arresting, moving, humorous and virtuosic. After eight years of touring nationally and internationally at such venues as Dance Theater Workshop, the Joyce, Jacob’s Pillow and the American Dance Festival, Battleworks is required to disband as its artistic director assumes his new post at Ailey. Performing signature works including Takademe, Juba and Ella, Battleworks will perform for the last time at Wesleyan.
RELATED EVENT
Master Class with Robert Battle
Saturday, July 17, 10am
Bessie Schönberg Dance Studio
$25 general; $22 students; $20 for groups or eight or more
Eiko & Koma: Raven and White Dance
Friday, July 23, 8pm
CFA Theater (Please note change of location)
$18 general; $16 senior citizens, Wesleyan faculty/staff; $10 students
Japanese-born choreographer/dancers Eiko & Koma have created a unique theater of movement out of stillness, shape, light, sound, and time since 1972. They have collaborated with a wide range of artists but, for most of their works, Eiko & Koma create their own sets and costumes, choreographing on their own bodies. The motifs of their most recent performance piece Raven (2010) originate from their 1991 work Land, made in collaboration with Native American musician Robert Mirabal, and Hunger (2008). Raven meditates on how land, though often assaulted by humans, perseveres while also remembering its past. Eiko & Koma will also share an excerpt from White Dance (1976), the first piece that they performed in the United States. Both Raven and White Dance were previewed at Wesleyan in the fall of 2009, when Eiko & Koma launched their Retrospective Project at the CFA’s Zilkha Gallery. For more information about the Retrospective Project (2009-2012), please visit www.eikoandkoma.org
All programs, artists and dates are subject to change. Outdoor events will be moved indoors in the event of rain.
PRICE KEY
A General
B Seniors/Wesleyan Faculty & Staff
C Students
Back to top | Box Office
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Burkina Electric
Joel Frahm
Battleworks Dance Company
Eiko& Koma
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