Ronald K. Brown and First Year Matters
After Adam’s post about the arts scene at Wesleyan, I wanted to let you know quickly about an exciting event from this past weekend. For the past two years, Wesleyan has put together a “common reading” for first year students that allows them to come to campus with a shared work to discuss. At many other schools, this might be a novel or an essay, but at Wesleyan it’s a dance. After the great success of Bill T. Jones’s visit last year with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, the Center for the Arts (CFA) commissioned a new piece of choreography from Ronald K. Brown for his Evidence Dance Company. The dance was based on the photographs of Charles “Teenie” Harris, which evoke the spirit of mid-twentieth century black urban America. On September 7, Brown attended the opening reception of a show of Charles “Teenie” Harris’s work at the Zilkha Gallery in the CFA. The following Thursday, Brown gave a lecture on his new piece, “One Shot,” and its connections with Harris’s photographs. The lecture, part of Wesleyan’s First-Year Matters Program, was geared especially for first-year students, who attended in groups from their dorms. The lecture and the discussion that followed provided an opportunity to think about the connections between dance and photography, in addition to connecting the dance to students’ lives using photographs they had brought from home. The culminating event in this week-long residency was the premiere of Brown’s piece at the CFA Theater. The dance blended elements of African, modern, ballet and hip-hop styles, incorporating Harris’s photographs with the movement and various musical styles.
This is just one example of the kind of events that Wesleyan brings through the CFA every semester, and the kind of involvement those visiting artists have with the community. For more listings, check out the CFA’s events page.
Peter Hill ‘08
Senior Interviewer
