Motion-Controlled Music
Dance Luminary Judith Jamison to be Honored at Commencement 2013
Amidst the highly choreographed pomp and ceremony of Duke University's Commencement this year, an honorary doctorate will be awarded to a true pioneer in choreography, Judith Jamison. For Duke's flourishing Dance Program, it will be an occasion to savor. Barbara Dickinson, the program's Director of Undergraduate Studies, will present Jamison at the May 12 ceremony in Wallace Wade Stadium.
"Judith Jamison is my inspiration and my hero," said Andrea Woods Valdes, Assistant Professor of the Practice of Dance. "This is a very proud moment for Duke, during a time when the arts and especially the Dance Program are growing and being recognized within the University, as well as in the academic, professional and creative world. Jamison is extraordinary in that her career reflects the complete artistry of a dancer, choreographer and artistic director. Honoring her achievements is a capstone moment for Duke."
In 1965, Jamison joined the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, a company founded to bring African-American cultural expression and the American modern dance tradition to the world. She was a principal dancer in the company for 15 years, inspiring and creating some of Ailey's most memorable roles. She left in 1980 to star in Sophisticated Ladies, a Broadway musical based on the music of Duke Ellington. Subsequently, she founded a dance company, The Jamison Project, to present her own work.
After nearly a decade as an independent artist, Jamison returned to Ailey company to take up one of his greatest and most significant roles—Artistic Director. During her 21 years at the helm of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, she created many noted works for the company and led it through two historic engagements in South Africa and a 50-city global tour to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary.
Thomas DeFrantz lauds Jamison for not only creating a terrific body of modern dance work but also for her institutional leadership, which included such pathbreaking efforts as the Alvin Ailey Women's Choreography Initiative. DeFrantz is Professor of African and African American Studies, Dance and Theater Studies at Duke and author of the 2004 book Dancing Revelations: Alvin Ailey's Embodiment of African American Culture.
"All of us who have come into her orbit have benefitted from her large generous creative spirit." DeFrantz said.
Ciompi Quartet Presents 2013 Summer Chamber Music Series in Duke Gardens
Photos
The Duke University Department of Music, Office of the Vice Provost for the Arts and Sarah P. Duke Gardens are pleased to announce the Ciompi Quartet Presents 2013 Summer Chamber Music Series in Duke Gardens, curated and presented by members of the Ciompi Quartet.
Each concert will feature a member of the Ciompi Quartet joined by guest artists. Ciompi Quartet Presents is an opportunity for members of the Ciompi to create a musical dialogue with the audience where they express their creative drive through performance and in conversation. Both new and celebrated chamber masterworks are explored musically to establish a deeper relationship between the composers, guest artists, and the audience.
Ciompi Quartet Presents 2013 Summer Chamber Music Series will take place on three Tuesday evenings at 7:30 pm in Kirby Horton Hall at Sarah P. Duke Gardens. The dates are May 28, July 2, and August 13. Series subscription packages for all three concerts go are available for $50. Single tickets $20; Duke employees & Students $15. Duke students & Youth $10; Group Discounts are also available. Purchase tickets at: duke university box office, 919-684-4444 or www.tickets.duke.edu
Historian Wesley C. Hogan named Director of Center for Documentary Studies at Duke
Photos
Wesley Hogan is a noted documentary historian of the civil rights movement.
Durham, NC - Wesley C. Hogan, a historian widely honored for her documentary work on the civil rights movement, has been named the new director of the Center for Documentary Studies (CDS) at Duke University.
She begins her appointment on July 1. Hogan will be only the third director of CDS, which was founded in 1989 as the first university-affiliated institution in the United States dedicated solely to the legacy and continuing practice of the documentary arts tradition.
Read full story in Duke Today.
Graduation with Distinction in the Arts
The Graduation with Distinction program in Trinity College of Arts and Sciences allows students to pursue individual research and creative projects at the culmination of their undergraduate studies. The projects can be within their major or outside of it. This year, as always, there is a diverse array of distinction projects in the arts, including original creative work in many genres as well as productions and performances and works of scholarship.
Projects are listed below by department or program. Click on a link to jump to the appropriate section:
- Documentary Studies
- Visual Arts
- Visual & Media Studies
- Art History
- Arts of the Moving Image
- Creative Writing
- Music
- Web Design & Product Marketing
Exhibitions
There are two end-of-year exhibitions that will feature many of these works.
- Beyond the Front Porch 2013—the CDS Capstone exhibition, presented by the Center for Documentary Studies, features the work of students in the CDS Capstone Seminar. Exhibit opening and BBQ, 3-7pm on Friday, April 26 at the Center for Documentary Studies. The work will be on view through August 31.
- Senior Visual Arts Capstone, Graduation with Distinction (GWD) in the Visual Arts and Practice-Based Visual & Media Studies Student Exhibition, presented by the Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies, features Capstone and Graduation with Distinction projects in Visual Arts and Visual & Media Studies. The gala opening is 6-9pm on Thursday, April 25 in Bays 11 and 12 of Smith Warehouse. The show will be on display through May 13.
Film and Music Collaborations Concert with Wet Ink Ensemble
Photos
On April 30 the series Encounters: with the music of our time presents the Wet Ink Ensemble and guests in concert. The event will feature film and music collaborations between Duke graduate student composers—Vladimir Smirnoff, David K. Garner, D. Edward Davis, Tim Hambourger, and Jamie Keesecker—and film/media artists Marika Borgeson, Lisa McCarty, Peter Lisignoli, Jolene Mock, and Annabelle Manning. There will also be new works by Duke graduate student composers Bryan Christian and Jamie Keesecker. The event is part of the 2011-13 Wet Ink residency sponsored by the Department of Music and a Visiting Artists grant from the Office of the Vice Provost for the Arts.
Founded in 1998, Wet Ink has presented over 80 concerts featuring a wide range of artists, both established and emerging. Their repertoire ranges from scores of rigorous notational complexity to indeterminate and improvisational music, from the American experimental tradition to the contemporary European avant-garde, and from acoustic to amplified to electronic works and works for homemade instruments.
For more information contact Elizabeth Thompson in the Music Department.
Sponsored by Office of the Vice Provost for the Arts, Master of Fine Arts in Experimental & Documentary Arts (MFAEDA) and Art, Art History & Visual Studies.
