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  • The Golden Age

    In the 1920’s, The Golden Age cabaret is a favorite nightly haunt. The young fisherman Boris falls in love with Rita. He follows her to the cabaret and realizes that she is the beautiful dancer “Mademoiselle Margot,” but also the love interest of the local gangster Yashka. With its jazzy score by Dmitri Shostakovich and its music-hall atmosphere featuring beautiful tangos, The Golden Age is a refreshing and colorful dive into the roaring 20’s. A historic ballet that can be seen only at the Bolshoi!

    Run time: 140 minutes 

  • Carmen Suite/Petrushka

    Carmen is as sensual and free-spirited as ever as she finds herself caught in a love triangle. The passionate one act ballet by Cuban choreographer Alberto Alonso, originally conceived for legendary Bolshoi prima ballerina Maya Plisetskaya, will captivate audiences alongside Petrushka, a new creation for the Bolshoi by contemporary choreographer Edward Clug. The double-bill event for cinemas encapsulates and showcases the soul of Russian Ballet.

    Run time: 140 minutes 

  • The Book of Ice: Multimedia Performance by Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky

    Paul D. Miller, aka DJ Spooky, will visit Monmouth University to present his The Book of Ice—a multimedia performance and discussion he will stage with musicians from campus and the region. Antarctica, the only uninhabited continent, belongs to no single country, and has no government. While certain countries lay claim to portions of the landmass, it is the only solid land on the planet with no unified national affiliation. Drawing on the continent’s rich history of inspiring exploration and artistic endeavors, Miller has put together his own multimedia, multidisciplinary study of Antarctica. The Book of Ice is one aspect of this ongoing project. In this multimedia talk, Miller discusses his journeys to Antarctica, climate change, and the creation of The Book of Ice, using Antarctica-related data to create maps, graphics, sound, music, and multimedia performances.

    Paul D. Miller, aka DJ Spooky, is an established composer, multimedia artist, and author. He travels around the world performing solo, with chamber groups, and with orchestras, while giving talks at prominent universities, museums, and conferences. His DJ Mixer app has seen more than 12 million downloads and in 2012-2013 he was the first artist-in-residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. He is also the executive editor of ORIGIN Magazine. He’s produced and composed work for Yoko Ono, Thurston Moore, and scores of artists and award-winning films. Miller’s work as a media artist has appeared in the Whitney Biennial; The Venice Biennial for Architecture; the Ludwig Museum in Cologne, Germany; Kunsthalle, Vienna; The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh; and many other museums and galleries. He has been featured everywhere from CNN to SyFy. His new book The Imaginary App, published by MIT Press, was released in 2014. National Geographic named Miller a National Geographic Emerging Explorer for 2014/2015.

    Sponsors of the event include: Monmouth University’s Urban Coast Institute, Honors School, Department of Chemistry & Physics, Center for the Arts and Monmouth Review.

  • The Jumpsuit Project: Artist Talk with Sherrill Roland

    Sherrill Roland began his socially engaged artwork The Jumpsuit Project in 2016 and continues to use his project to ignite conversations around issues related to mass incarceration. While a graduate student, Roland was wrongfully convicted and spent over ten months in prison. Although eventually exonerated of all charges and granted a bill of innocence, his experiences with the justice system had a lasting effect on both his life and his artistic practice. When he returned to campus, he wore an orange jumpsuit everyday up to and during his graduation ceremony, encouraging all who encountered him and his jumpsuit to address their own prejudices toward those incarcerated. Through sharing his own story, and creating a space for others to process, question, and share, he sheds light on the enormous darkness incarceration brings.

    Since graduating with his MFA from the University of North Carolina in Greensboro in May of 2017, Roland has been traveling widely to exhibit, perform, and discuss his experience and art. In 2017 the New York Times included Roland in their list “From the Personal to the Political, 19 Artists to Watch Next Year,” and in 2018 The Studio Museum in Harlem exhibited his The Jumpsuit Project, which they acquired for their permanent collection.

    For more information, see: https://www.jumpsuitproject.com/

  • Fred Astaire’s Dancing Lessons: Queer Mentors and Monsters: Multimedia Performance by Dustin B. Goltz

    What does it mean to be “part” of the queer community in 2019? Who tells you your story? Your history? Your future? This solo performance is a 70-minute multimedia, performative examination of shifting perceptions of queer male mentorship, LGBT aging anxieties, and the lingering cultural threat assigned to queer sexuality. The piece is an avalanche of pop culture, flamboyance and monstrosity—an intertextual interrogation of queer generational tensions- reclaiming a story of the monsters who refuse to die (for long), refuse to hide the histories their bodies carry, and who keep surviving through wit, camp, irreverence, and an ongoing commitment to the queer community.

    Dustin Bradley Goltz is an Associate Professor of Performance Studies and Communication at DePaul University in Chicago. He is a scholar and performing artist whose work examines gay aging, queer temporality, LGBTQ media representation, and personal narrative performance. His research has been published in over two dozen articles in journals, which include Text & Performance Quarterly, Critical Studies in Media Communication, and Journal of International and Intercultural Communication. His most recent book, Comic Performativities: Identity, Internet Outrage, and the Aesthetics of Communication was published by Routledge in 2017.

  • LAUGHING WITH ME! Improv workshop with Michael O’Keeffe (Ages 8-12)

    Laughing With Me! is a program designed specifically for those with Autism Spectrum Disorder that is filled with fast-paced, interactive fun!! Students think of communication issues like a game!! They will become flexible within these experiences. The outcome being that now they won’t break, but simply bend.

    They also learn that it’s OK to fail. It’s simply a part of life that’s ultimately not a big deal. Also, a common occurrence of the program is an understanding of a special kind of laughter that gives a boost to self-confidence and creates a feeling of camaraderie. This is called “earned laughter”, because the students realize that they have done something funny  on purpose, in a setting that promotes and encourages that behavior.

    Delve into the ASD workshop where we look at how we handle what comes our way – expected or not! Add in the great fun and team spirit built into our games. We’ll be playing with both our strengths and our quirks. Your child is set for laughter and learning!

    Mike O’Keeffe is a teaching artist with The Count Basie Theatre, and has been performing and teaching improv comedy professionally for over 25 years. He received his MA in Education from Monmouth University in 1996, and has been a public school teacher for 20 years. He has done regional improv touring shows with former troupe-mate Wayne Brady, and has traveled across the country performing corporate comedy and team-building.

    Recently, he presented a TED Talk on the concept of “Play” called “Using Improv to Become a Better Human”. He is an Adjunct Professor at Monmouth University, where he teaches Critical Discourse. This spring, he was a keynote speaker at the National Youth Leadership Council’s, “More Powerful Together” conference in Washington DC, which brought together educational leaders and future educators. He was a speaker at Princeton University this summer, where he demonstrated how to integrate performing arts into their Common Core curricula.

    This workshop is specifically designed for Ages 8-12.

  • LAUGHING WITH ME! Improv workshop with Michael O’Keeffe (Ages 13-17)

    Laughing With Me! is a program designed specifically for those with Autism Spectrum Disorder that is filled with fast-paced, interactive fun!! Students think of communication issues like a game!! They will become flexible within these experiences. The outcome being that now they won’t break, but simply bend.

    They also learn that it’s OK to fail. It’s simply a part of life that’s ultimately not a big deal. Also, a common occurrence of the program is an understanding of a special kind of laughter that gives a boost to self-confidence and creates a feeling of camaraderie. This is called “earned laughter”, because the students realize that they have done something funny  on purpose, in a setting that promotes and encourages that behavior.

    Delve into the ASD workshop where we look at how we handle what comes our way – expected or not! Add in the great fun and team spirit built into our games. We’ll be playing with both our strengths and our quirks. Your child is set for laughter and learning!

    Mike O’Keeffe is a teaching artist with The Count Basie Theatre, and has been performing and teaching improv comedy professionally for over 25 years. He received his MA in Education from Monmouth University in 1996, and has been a public school teacher for 20 years. He has done regional improv touring shows with former troupe-mate Wayne Brady, and has traveled across the country performing corporate comedy and team-building.

    Recently, he presented a TED Talk on the concept of “Play” called “Using Improv to Become a Better Human”. He is an Adjunct Professor at Monmouth University, where he teaches Critical Discourse. This spring, he was a keynote speaker at the National Youth Leadership Council’s, “More Powerful Together” conference in Washington DC, which brought together educational leaders and future educators. He was a speaker at Princeton University this summer, where he demonstrated how to integrate performing arts into their Common Core curricula.

    This workshop is specifically designed for Ages 13-17.

  • Nick Aristovulos 1945 – 2014

    Monmouth University celebrates the artwork of Nick Aristovulos. MU Adjunct Professor of Sculpture, 1999 – 2014.Nick was a very talented illustrator, sculptor who’s work appeared in many major publications. His works were also featured on several record albums. A beloved and inspiring teacher Nick enjoyed challenging students with his vast knowledge of sculptural techniques.

  • The Drowsy Chaperone

    The Department of Music and Theatre Arts presents The Drowsy Chaperone, directed by Prof. Sheri Anderson. When a die-hard theatre fan plays his favorite cast album, the characters come to life in this hilarious musical farce.

    Winner of five Tony Awards, including Best Book and Best Original Score, The Drowsy Chaperone is a loving send-up of the Jazz Age musical, featuring one show-stopping song and dance number after another.

    With the houselights down, a man in a chair appears on stage and puts on his favorite record: the cast recording of a fictitious 1928 musical. The recording comes to life and The Drowsy Chaperone begins as the man in the chair looks on. Mix in two lovers on the eve of their wedding, a bumbling best man, a desperate theatre producer, a not-so-bright hostess, two gangsters posing as pastry chefs, a misguided Don Juan and an intoxicated chaperone, and you have the ingredients for an evening of madcap delight.

    Hailed by New York Magazine as “The Perfect Broadway Musical,” The Drowsy Chaperone is a masterful meta-musical, poking fun at all the tropes that characterize the musical theatre genre. (source: Music Theatre International)

  • Winter Dance Showcase: Magic of The Season

    Winter brings us the joy and the wonder of the holiday season. Join us to celebrate the power of young artists’ imagination and their faculty’s interpretation of winter rhythms of the magical music of the season. Let the magic of dance be the part of your holidays! The concert is created by our talented faculty, staff and students.