2008/9 Season at '62 Center for Theatre and Dance at Williams College
WILLIAMSTOWN – The ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance today unveiled its fourth season of diverse and challenging theatre, music, and dance programming for the Williams College community and beyond.Continuing its mission to contextualize arts within scholarly inquiry, the Center will be presenting an impressive body of work that sets student work side-by-side with that of professional artists. This season will challenge traditional forms, engage with a larger political dialogue and allow students to explore diverse modes of expression. Not content merely to present popular work, the Center’s professional performances, workshops and students productions are designed to invite the entire academic community to engage, debate, and celebrate the experience of both witnessing and creating live art.
The CenterSeries will have five productions this season. The real life drama of life in an age of war and terrorism are brought to life by dai (enough) by Iris Bahr (September 20th and 21st), set in a Tel Aviv café moments before a suicide bombing, and Betrayed by George Packer (April 16th and 17th), an exploration of the relationship between Iraqi translators and their American supervisors. Both shows are recipients of a 2008 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Achievement.
The series will also feature a special preview performance of Michael Gordon and the Ridge Theatre’s new production of Lightning at our Feet (October 4th). This multimedia production explores the work of Emily Dickinson, whose exquisite insights created some of the most moving and personal poems ever written in English.
The dance component of the Series will comprise performance and residency programs for two world-class companies, DanceBrazil (February 14th) and the Limón Dance Company. “There can’t be much anywhere to match the strength, flexibility, speed, and idiomatic allure of the dancers and musicians of DanceBrazil,” says the Washington Post. With the live performances by the Williams Jazz Ensemble, Limón will revive Anna Sokolow’s seminal masterwork Rooms (January 24th). “The reason we need major moderns such as Limón . . . on our dance menus is not just because they’re part of our artistic heritage but because they’re often better than contemporary choreographers who attack the same scores, subjects or themes . . . the millennial Limón dancers still satisfy and then some.” The Los Angeles Times.
Critical to the ’62 Center’s mission of bringing academic context to our productions is the Integrated Programming. Each CenterSeries production will feature panels, movies, lectures, workshops, and master classes. All of these events are free and open to the public. Please see our website for the latest details. http://62center.williams.edu
The Williams College Theatre Department continues to engage its students and audiences through contemporary and historical modes of performance with a wide or diverse spectrum of productions. This season will feature Machinal by Sophie Treadwell (October 23rd to November 1st), directed by department chair, Robert Baker-White; the second annual Dialogue One Festival for Solo performances (November 20th to 22nd), directed and curated by Omar Sangare; and Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet (March 12th to 14th), directed by David Eppel. Rounding out the season will be a special series of entirely original performances in April created by the collaborative student ensemble of "Theatre 228," mentored by department faculty members Deborah Brothers and David Evans Morris.
The Williams College Dance Program’s five ensembles continue to excite and challenge with new works. INISH, directed by Holly Silva, will perform October 24th and 25th and March 13th and 14th. Dance Company, also directed by Holly Silva, will perform November 7th and 8th and April 10th and 11th; the spring performance will feature live music performed by members of Symphonic Winds. Sankofa, the student-run Step company, will perform on November 21st and 22nd and May 8th and 9th. Kusika and the Zambezi Marimba Band, directed by Sandra L. Burton and Ernest D. Brown, will perform December 5th and 6th and April 24th and 25th; both performances will have a special Saturday family day matinee with children’s activities.
Some other highlights if the ’62 Center’s fourth season include: Laylah, the Creature Beyond Dreams by Israeli artists Gil & Moti with Arab violist Yossi Gutmann (September 9th); The Box, Music by Living Composers, curated by David Kechley (September 12th, January 9th, and March 17th); Peter Singer Lecture: The Ethics of What We Eat (October 16th); The Williamstown Film Festival (October 17th); the 8th annual Williamstown Mountain Film Festival (November 7th and 8th); Stalwart Originality: New Traditions in Black Performance celebrates the 100th birthday year of choreographer/scholar/activist Katherine Dunham with the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Company, residency and performance (February 23rd to 28th); Awaji Puppet Theatre Company (March 2nd); Ritmo Latino (March 6th and 7th); Dance Dhamaka (March 13th to 14th); the 18th annual Intercollegiate Jazz Festival (May 1st & 2nd); and the 11th annual Williamstown Jazz Festival (May 2nd).
This is just a taste of what to expect this season as this award-winning building throws its arms wide open to the arts on campus and the Berkshires. A complete calendar follows, and for tickets, prices and additional information, please call (413) 597-2425 (Tuesday through Saturday 1:00pm to 5:00 pm and one hour before each performance) or visit http://62center.williams.edu/ Tickets on sale starting Saturday, September 6th at 1 pm!
