Anyone out there who misses their African drumming class? (Or who wanted to take it at Dartmouth, but never made it off the waiting list?) What about anyone interested in applying the arts to activism, sustainability or cross-cultural collaboration? Anyone interested in local cheese and Lou’s pie? (Yeah? I thought so.) If at least one of these three piques your interest, join me this Thursday (4/27) when the perfect trifecta—that’s percussion, partnership and pie—will come together to create Collis Cabaret. Collis Cabaret is a free termly concert, usually featuring visiting artists … [Read more...]
What’s intriguing this spring: Hot tips from Hop interns
Six Dartmouth seniors are beginning their third and final term as Hop Interns - terms in which they spent hours each week learning the ropes of various aspects of the Hop. So when they tell you what most interests them at the Hop this term, you best listen up. Here goes: Performance: Made in China by Wakka Wakka Productions Emily Neely: US-China relations get lots of press, especially these days—but a puppet show highlighting consumerism, human rights and American-Chinese relations? Definitely something different from the nightly news, and a highly relevant must-see! Catherine … [Read more...]
Dartmouth grad’s group are Grammy winners
The Silk Road Ensemble, which at the 59th Grammy Awards February 12 won "Best World Music Album" for its recording Sing Me Home, includes a Dartmouth graduate with close ties to the college and the Hop. Kojiro Umezaki--a composer and renowned virtuoso of the Japanese shakuhachi flute who holds a 1993 master's degree in electro-acoustic music from Dartmouth's music department--is a founding member of the ensemble. A frequent visitor to the Music Department since his graduation, Umezaki was introduced to cellist Yo-Yo Ma by Arthur R. Virgin Professor of Music Ted Levin, who in 1998 had … [Read more...]
Uniting across cultures to tell a story of love
By Mary Versa '20 The Mark Morris Dance Group and Silk Road Ensemble collaborated to tell the story of Layla and Majnun (in the Hop's Moore Theater January 6 and 7) in bold colors. The performance was a feast for the ears, eyes, and mind. Composers, musicians, choreographers, and dancers contributed layers of storytelling to this piece. Their work culminated in a rich and enriching experience for the audience. Layla and Majnun is an Azerbaijani opera about the forbidden passion of a couple fated to be together only in death. Musically, it incorporates the improvisational genre of mugham. … [Read more...]
Windsor middle schoolers learn from music and dance masters
The Windsor, Vt., middle school students of music teacher Carol Cronce and theater teacher Julie Aylward had a chance to learn from world-class artists in workshops January 5 with performers connected with the show Layla and Majnun, presented at Hop January 6 and 7. (To hear VPR reporter Rebecca Sananes’s firsthand account of the workshops, click here.) Layla and Majnun is a show of live music and dance based on an ancient tale from the Islamic world and a gorgeous century-old opera from the Republic of Azerbaijan. It’s a collaboration of two world-renowned artistic groups: the Silk Road … [Read more...]
Hop interns tell you what not to miss this winter!
While winter weather may or may not thrill you, there's lots of great indoor activity at the Hop this time of year. What should you make sure you don't miss winter term? The Hop Interns have a few suggestions! Layla and Majnun, by the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Silk Road Ensemble (January 6 & 7) I’m really excited not only to watch the collaboration between two world-class ensembles, but to see the Howard Hodgkin-inspired set! This performance is definitely going to be a highlight of the first week back. Emily Neely '17 Brown Bear, Brown Bear, and Other Treasured Stories … [Read more...]
Ancient, iconic story and musical work of Persian and Islamic worlds
HANOVER, NH—A gem of Central Asian and Islamic music and storytelling makes a rare Western appearance in Layla and Majnun [mazh-NOON], an enthralling new hour-long chamber opera by the Mark Morris Dance Group and The Silk Road Ensemble with “living treasure” singers Alim Qasimov and Fargana Qasimova, coming to The Moore Theater of the Hop Friday, January 6, at 8 pm, and Saturday, January 7, at 2 and 8 pm. This is the East Coast premiere of the work, which was co-commissioned by the Hop. The work unfolds against a boldly hued backdrop, the 10 musicians and two singers at center with the 16 … [Read more...]
College employees join in this year’s Christmas Revels, onstage and off
When the big, multi-generational chorus of singers and dancers throngs the stage in the annual Christmas Revels show at the Hop (December 15-18) , there are always some familiar Dartmouth College faces among them. This year’s Revels travels to the beautiful province of Québec in a magical, mischievous French Canadian tale embellished with traditional music, dancing, storytelling and tomfoolery. Helping to take the audience there are a number of college employees who are Revels regulars, including Geisel School of Medicine Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Obstetrics and Gynecology Julie … [Read more...]
Magical, mischievous, moonlit tale from Québec animates The Christmas Revels
HANOVER, NH—This year’s Christmas Revels travels to the beautiful province of Québec in a magical, mischievous French Canadian tale embellished with traditional music, dance, storytelling and tomfoolery, December 15-18 at Hopkins Center for the Arts, Hanover NH. In the story of The Flying Canoe (la chasse-galerie), a group of lonely voyageurs in the northern timberland go to extraordinary (one might say devilish) lengths to meet up with their faraway sweethearts on New Year’s Eve. This traditional tale gets the full Revels treatment with colorful, high-energy songs, dance and pageantry, a … [Read more...]
Pizza and percussion in Brace Commons
Photos by Rob Strong Well, you'll want to wash your hands between these two activities but, yes, pizza and percussion do go together nicely, as an event in Brace Commons on Monday, November 7, demonstrated. World Music Percussion Ensemble director Hafiz Shabazz and two of his ensemble members filled a mini-van with drums and brought them to Brace Commons, in the East Wheelock Cluster, for a hands-on percussion session for whomever happened by. Shabazz plans to do this more often as part of a campaign to get young people to set aside virtual music accessed through electronics and earbuds and … [Read more...]
