Students always want to know what they can do on campus, and the Student Activities Board and Fine Arts departments have been hard at work coming up with some fun activities:
SAB
The buzz word for SAB this year is Friday.
“Almost everything we have planned this year is on a Friday,” Coordinator of Student Activities Paul Daigle said. “Now students will always know when student activities events are being held.”
Every weekend is scheduled with activities ranging from coffee houses to dances. One new feature is Weekly October Pictures at which a different movie will be shown every Friday night. Some events will specifically occur on Saturdays, so be on the lookout for those.
The most important event this semester will be the return of Dia del Este. It will now be on Sept. 18 to correspond with the opening of the KaGe (see article on page 1).
“We hope that with Dia del Este earlier in the year, it will get students more engaged and kick off the year with more energy,” Daigle said.
Theatre department
With a line-up including Waiting for Godot on Sept. 16-20 and My Soldiers on Nov. 11-15, the theatre is aiming to deliver some truly mind-blowing performances.
One of the biggest changes is the Opera Workshop that the department will hold in the spring. Associate Director of Theatre Teresa Moyer will be running the workshop for students who either take the THR230A class, perform in the Actor’s Lab or have special permission.
“Voice majors and other singers need to be trained in acting and truthful theatrical performing,” Moyer said in an e-mail. She also hopes to have her students work together on a bi-yearly musical.
There will be no spring musical this year because the Opera Workshop will take all of Moyer’s time. But one thing remains the same in the theatre department: its goal.
“(Our goal is) to elevate the arts,” said Mark Duska, Technical Director for Fine and Performing Arts and Production Manager for Theatre.
Director of Theatre Mark Hallen agreed with Duska, adding that re-integrating alumni with current students is another integral part of their goal.
“If that’s what growing is, that’s what we want to do,” he said.
Music department
Little has changed for the folks in Workman Hall. Their big event is still the Winter Music Festival, occurring this year on Nov. 20-22.
The new thing that the music department wants to happen is the construction of a new concert hall. And with the music major being one of the top four majors of the incoming class, it is no surprise that it needs this larger building.
“There really is administrative support” for the concert hall, music department chairperson Dr. Ron Matthews said.
In the meantime, the music department hopes to go more digital with the help of John Greenland, Director of the Electronic Music Studio. Together with EUMedia, they plan to put excerpts of performances online.
“I believe that it will stimulate participation and creativity in multimedia performance and composition by both faculty and students, while affording a common virtual stage for both,” Greenland said in an e-mail.
Dance department
“Our goal this semester is to continue to build on the success of last year and improve curriculum for the students,” dance department chairperson Dr. Karen Clemente said.
Last April, the dance department was in fine form at Spirit Dancing, its final show of the year. The pieces varied in theme and difficulty, but the one that shone most was “In the Making,” choreographed by Dr. Joselli Deans.
“In the Making” was a unique piece that showed the process of dance, with dancers moving from warm-up to performance.
What made this dance special was the cooperation of music department professor David Bryant who wrote music specifically for the dance. A recording of the music was played during the performance of “In the Making” last April.
This year at the Fine Arts Festival on Oct. 9, “In the Making” will be performed again, this time with live musicians playing Bryant’s composition. The dancers will also receive acting lessons from one of the theater department’s alumni, making the piece a collaborative effort.
There will also be a dance concert on Dec. 4-6.