Performance to offer reflections on war
"Reflections on Our Being a Nation at War," a multi-media presentation involving a selection of campus artists, will be presented at 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11, in the Skidmore Dance Theater. Free and open to all, the program is the latest in the "Theater of War in a House of Peace" yearlong series spearheaded by the Rev. Rick Chrisman, director of religious and spiritual life.
Presented in conjunction with the Dance Department, the program will feature different participants offering their thoughts and feelings, through various artistic media, about America being a nation at war. The program includes a performance of Denise Warner Limonli's "Da Pacem," an original work set to the music of Estonian composer Arvo Part ("Da Pacem Domine," 2004, and "Te Deum," 1984). Explained Limoli, "The piece was inspired by Part's hauntingly beautiful music, which was written as a response to the 2004 terrorist bombings in Madrid. Part composed 'Da Pacem' in response to the bombing in Madrid; I created my ballet as a response to everything that has been going on in the last decade." The dance is performed by three couples and six additional dancers.
Others participating in the Feb. 11 program include Skidaiko, the Japanese drum troupe, which will open the event with ritual drumming. Alumna Cara Benson '04 is a poet and performance artist who will premier an original work. Dan Fisher '13 will accompany himself on guitar and sing, and Laura Naparstek '13 will read an original poem.
Dean of Student Affairs Rochelle Calhoun will read selections from Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried. The book, published in 1990, "is about life, about men who [fight] and die, about buddies, and about a lost innocence that might be recaptured through the memory of stories. O'Brien tells us these stories because he must. He tells them as they have never been told before," according to a review in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
In addition, a short video by Mary Kelley titled "You Make Me Illiad" will be screened. There will also be audience participation and singing.
