Text by Maggie Baird '18 Photos by members of the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble As the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble prepares for its spring concert, Saturday, May 6, 8 pm, DCWE member Maggie Baird '18 looks back on the trip that got the group fired up for this spring's power-packed concert program. In the break between winter and spring terms, the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble and members of the Dartmouth Dance Ensemble travelled to Costa Rica for an incredible week of music-making and movement. The groups performed fives times both alone and with other groups around the country. … [Read more...]
“This jazz thing”—and life: a conversation with Don Glasgo
[Editor's note: The Barbary Coast Jazz Ensemble performs its spring concert—director Don Glasgo's last before retirement—on Saturday, May 13.] By Sophia Kinne '20 I’ve been playing the trumpet since I was in fourth grade. I was introduced to jazz, as I knew it at the time, in fifth grade with a generic “Latin tune” called El Gato Gordo. Fifth grade me could not have imagined what this beginner’s jazz would later lead to: for one, playing the works of contemporary jazz musicians Joe Bowie and Peter Apfelbaum in my 2016 fall and 2017 winter terms with the Barbary Coast. I could never have … [Read more...]
A trombonist speaks, from inside the May 6 Wind Ensemble Concert
By Maggie Baird '18 Maggie Baird '18 is a member of the trombone section of the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble. She shares what she finds especially compelling in the DCWE's spring concert (Saturday, May 6, 8 pm, Spaulding Auditorium). The concert presents modern wind band masterworks by Frank Ticheli, Karel Husa, William Schuman, Vincent Persichetti and David Maslanka. Matthew M. Marsit directs. What's your favorite piece in the upcoming concert? Why? I absolutely love the Ticheli. We play a lot of music in DCWE that is very innovative and pushes us to our limits, but the Ticheli is … [Read more...]
An Arts Amabassador’s favorite arts moments at the Hop
By Yusuf O. Olokoba '20 Emotion in Motion: Acting at Dartmouth It is always fascinating to witness the student-actors on stage become someone else. They lose themselves to become another. On stage, they bring to life some of the most captivating plots and characters. Their ability to communicate the thoughts and feelings of their characters by moving — closer, farther, subtly, abruptly — manifests utter realism. Throughout the term, we have seen shows like Intimate Apparel and Urinetown where the actors play characters so powerful, so moving that they continue to live on in our minds. … [Read more...]
Moonlight: A Magnificent Coming of Age Tale
By Anthony Robles “At some point, you gotta decide for yourself who you’re going to be.” Eight years after his feature debut Medicine for Melancholy, director and co-screenwriter Barry Jenkins returned to the screen last year with his sophomore effort Moonlight. Lavished in praise, the film won Best Motion Picture – Drama at last month’s Golden Globes ceremony and was nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Picture. Based on Tarell Alvin McCraney’s play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue, the film traces the journey of Chiron, a gay black man growing up in the drug-ridden Miami … [Read more...]
Hope, a lion, a baby: URINETOWN progresses
By Sam West '20 The second update on Urinetown, the winter MainStage show of the Dartmouth Department of Theater. The first update was URINETOWN: The clock is ticking. Writing this on February 1, we have just finished our first "stumble-through" of Act 2 of Dartmouth’s winter production of Urinetown. In a couple of days, we will have our first runthrough of the entire show. As of now, the countdown stands at 16 days until opening night. In just over one week we begin technical and dress rehearsals. At that stage all of the different facets of the production start to come together. This … [Read more...]
Chamber music inspiration from the Danish String Quartet
By Betty Kim '20 As I gain more experience playing in quartets, I realize just how difficult it is to produce a unified, sonorous sound between four different people. Great musical ensembles have it down to a science: it’s not enough to just have the correct intonation, since a seemingly perfect line can be disruptive if it doesn’t blend well with the three other instruments’ sounds. Silences a millisecond shorter than what’s ideal might sound too hurried; a millisecond longer might sound like a gaping abyss. A breath before a beat might change the trajectory of your bow by just a little bit, … [Read more...]
Nocturnal Animals: A violent, mysterious story-within-a-story
By Tracy Mutoni '20 The film Nocturnal Animals (at the Hop January 28) is a multi-layered story of violent romance. The movie features Susan (played by Amy Adams), a wealthy art gallery owner married to a man who doesn't wait a blink of an eye before cheating on her. The movie becomes exciting when Susan receives a book titled Nocturnal Animals dedicated to her by Edward (played by Jake Gyllenhaal), her ex-husband. Writing about a character named Tony (also played by Gyllenhaal), Edward writes a melancholy and extremely violent fictional story about a woman who resembles his ex-wife (named … [Read more...]
“Creativity is at the heart of a Dartmouth education”: Dartmouth an the Arts
By Ishaan Jajodia '20 Since its inception in 1769, Dartmouth has been inextricably connected with the arts. The Founder of the College, Eleazar Wheelock, wanted to use the arts and humanities to help educate Native Americans, the original mission of the College as written into the Royal Charter issued by the Governor of New Hampshire, John Wentworth, in the name of King George III, in December of 1769. Dartmouth has a proud tradition of fostering creativity and extolling artistic talent. This has culminated in the vast array of programs the college now offers to promote and appreciate arts, … [Read more...]
14 feet of Black Tuxedo Pants and Other Necessary Garments
By Saba Maheen '20 Of the several factors that must be considered when putting on a theatrical production, wardrobe and costuming is one of the most complex and essential. I certainly did not fully appreciate this upon beginning work as a Costume Shop assistant last September. I walked down the Hop ramp every day, as many Dartmouth students have before me, unaware of the costume stock rooms that reside in the bowels of the same building. A few weeks pass and I explore these rooms swiftly. Before I know it, I am working opening night backstage as a wardrobe tech. Nancy Heyl, … [Read more...]
