University-Wide Exploration into Arts and the Human Condition

University-Wide Exploration into Arts and the Human Condition
I
t all started with the Dean’s Book
Group.
For some years now, the
University of Michigan deans
have met regularly to discuss
books on a variety of subjects. As it turns
out, the gatherings have become both an
inspired means for very busy people to
find the time to read thought-provoking
books—you wouldn’t want to show up
in front of this group not having done
your homework—and a way to provide
an informal environment for connection
and discourse among university leaders.
One of the books discussed last year was
Thomas L. Friedman’s The World Is Flat:
A Brief History of the 21st Century. On the
best-seller list for months, the book posits
that the globalization of commerce
and information technology in recent
years has rendered the international
trade playing field “flat.” Now, with the
digital revolution, when you make that
desperate call for technical support,
you may be talking to someone in New
Jersey—or India.
There was something about The World
Is Flat that bothered the performing
arts dean in the group. For Christopher
Kendall, Friedman’s book echoed a
certain cognitive dissonance that had
visited him before. And it was not the
premise of the book that rekindled this
unease. “I realize that Friedman was
looking at other facets of globalization,
but the conspicuous absence of culture
or the arts in Friedman’s envisioned
world is troubling. A future without the
richness and multiple dimensions the
arts and culture provide truly would be a
‘flat’ world.”
Such concerns had resonated for our
dean in the past. In the fall of 2003,
while still Director of the University
of Maryland’s School of Music,
Christopher Kendall launched a
campus-wide initiative to explore the
undeniable importance of cultural
communication and the arts in the
globally connected and diverse world
we inhabit today. “The institutional
response to 9/11 was focused almost
exclusively on security issues: intelligence, biotechnology, defense. What got
lost in that viewpoint were the powerful
and complex cultural issues and forces
involved.”
Cultures in Counterpoint took as its inspiration a rare period in history, an era in
medieval Spain known as al-Andalus,
when Jews, Christians, and Muslims
co-existed in relative peace, maintaining
their own cultures but also adopting the
customs, arts, and languages around
them. Was this moment of accord
among religions and cultures a onetime fluke, counter to human nature
and never to be repeated? The project
featured a three-day symposium and a
semester of music, theatre, and dance
drawn from that era and explored the
role of the arts and arts education in
promoting ways to build and inform
intercultural understanding.
When Kendall arrived in Ann Arbor
in the fall of 2005 as new Dean of the
School of Music, Theatre & Dance,
the impetus for creating a forum to
explore these themes was rekindled.
“Of all institutions of higher education,
Michigan was one of the most fertile
for undertaking projects of this scope
because of the quality across disciplines
and also the value that’s placed on
exploring complex issues and providing
interdisciplinary experiences.”
Thus was born Arts on Earth.
Now working in collaboration with the
other arts deans—Bryan Rogers of
the School of Art & Design and Doug
Kelbaugh of the College of Architecture
and Urban Planning—and with support
from the Office of the President, the
Provost, and VP for Communication,
Upcoming Events:
Rituals & Reveries
February 1-4, 2007, The Power Center
The University Dance Company explores rites of passage through this
performance which includes a restaging of Martha Graham’s seminal work
for thirteen women, Primitive Mysteries. Guest faculty member Leyya Tawil
presents Raincoat Rebellion which explores regeneration through the setting
of the exact moment of exaltation when the old is shed and the new is
embraced (see article on Leyya, p. 24).
University Symphony Orchestra: Verdi’s Requiem
February 20, 2007, Hill Auditorium
Conducted by Kenneth Kiesler, Director of University Orchestras, choirs
prepared by Paul Rardin, this enduring masterpiece, through eloquent melodies, vigorous rhythms, and dramatic contrasts, evokes the universal feelings
of loss and sorrow and the human desire for forgiveness and mercy.
UMS: Tamango’s Urban Tap
March 14, 2007, Michigan Theater
A native of French Guiana, Tamango is a master tap artist who combines
a unique blend of jazz tap and Afro-Caribbean dance. His revolutionary
approach to tap both transforms the art form and pays homage to the
rhythms and culture of Tamango’s Creole heritage.
UMS: Rahim AlHaj and Souhail Kaspar
March 23, 2007, Rackham Auditorium
Rahim AlHaj, an Iraqi born oud player, was forced to leave Iraq in 1991
after the first Gulf War because of his political activism against the Saddam
Hussein regime. After a time in Jordan and Syria, he moved to the U.S. as
a political refugee. Known for delicately combining traditional Iraqi music
with contemporary influences, Rahim AlHaj now resides in Albuquerque,
NM. Souhail Kaspar, Lebanese percussionist whose skill and virtuosity at
improvising off the rhythmic patterns of Arabic
music have led to collaborations with such
western artists as Sting and the Kronos
Quartet, will join Rahim.
University
Symphony Band
March 30, 2007, Hill Auditorium
Conducted by Michael Haithcock,
this concert will draw from
many cultural perspectives of
mythology set in a wide variety
of musical languages.
Rahim AlHaj
www.artsonearth.org
Scenes from productions at the
School of Music, Theatre & Dance
w w w. a r ts o n ea r th . org
Arts on Earth will launch in January of
2007 and continue for the foreseable
future.
Described as “a university-wide initiative
that stimulates, explores, and celebrates
the dynamic relationship between people
and their arts worldwide,” Arts on Earth
has identified at least six key areas of
exploration:
Intrinsic Value and the Arts: What
are the deeply-felt experiences we try to
capture when we refer to the “intrinsic
value” of the arts?
Science, Technology, and the Arts:
What can the sciences tell us about the
effect of the arts—both the creation and
engagement—on functions of human
individuals in different cultures?
Conscience and the Arts: When
and how can it be said that the arts
can or should function as a ‘voice of
conscience’ for a public?
The Socio-Cultural Reach of the
Arts: How and when are people able
to effect social transformations through
their arts?
The Arts and the Environment:
What is ‘environmental art’? What are
the historical precedents for current
interest in the relationship between
humans, their arts, and their environment?
Economics and the Arts: How do
different cultures and states facilitate
and/or restrict access to the arts? How
are new technologies and other cultural
shifts worldwide affecting conceptions,
pricing, and distribution of art?
The schedule of events for Arts on Earth
is still taking shape as we go to press.
A March 2007 three-day symposium
on “The Arts and War” is firm. Arthur
Miller’s Playing for Time, which will
also mark the grand opening of the
new Arthur Miller Theatre on North
Campus, is scheduled for late March/
early April (see sidebar).
In the fall of 2007, a symposium on
“Science and the Arts” will u
include a look at the fascinating work of
Judith Becker, professor of musicology,
comparing “deep listeners” of music
with religious ecstatics and the biological
changes their bodies manifest.
Other definitive events include performances on the University Musical
Society schedule that shed light on the
subjects under consideration: An Iraqi
artist forced to perform his music in
exile; a tap artist who has revolutionized the approach to his art form while
paying homage to his heritage.
The School of Music, Theatre & Dance
will explore rituals of grief and loss as
well as moments of exaltation through
the February Department of Dance
concert Rituals and Reveries and a March
performance of Verdi’s Requiem, an
enduring masterpiece and expression of
our common humanity. Also in March,
the University Symphony Band will
present From Around the World, an exploration of compositions from disparate and
diverse cultures.
Still shaping up: Arts on Earth will bring
experts from fields as wide ranging
as neuroscience, cognitive science,
moral philosophy, evolutionary biology,
economics, social and political science,
and anthropology to campus to add
to the ongoing dialogue. “Learn-ins,”
where participants can take part either
experientially or as an observer, will also
be scheduled around the topics under
consideration.
Visit the Arts on Earth Web site—www.
artsonearth.org—for ongoing information about events planned at the
University of Michigan and to find
links to other calendars and organizations engaged in complementary
activities. Also keep an eye on the
School’s Calendar of Events, either by
subscribing to receive the printed version
(call 734-764-0594) or by consulting the
on-line calendar at www.music.umich.
edu.
“The job of the artist is to remind people
of what they have chosen to forget.”
—Arthur Miller
Playing for Time
March 30-April 8, Arthur Miller Theatre
A true portrait of the multifaceted and ambiguous role music can play
during times of duress, Arthur Miller’s Playing for Time, first produced as a
teleplay in 1980 and later adapted for the stage, is based on the harrowing
biographical account of a cabaret singer forced by the infamous Dr.
Josef Mengele and the Nazis to play in an all-women’s orchestra at the
Auschwitz death camp. The play dramatizes that theme from a thoughtprovoking and decidedly ambivalent point of view. How does the innate
and undeniable love of music play out against the specter of cruelty and
the power of life and death? “If we fall below a certain level,” one of
the characters says, “anything is possible.” This inaugural production
represents the moral and emotionally complex terrain that distinguishes
Miller’s finest works. Robert Chapel, U-M alumnus, former chair of the
Department of Drama at the University of Virginia, and, since 1996,
producing artistic director of the Heritage Repertory Theatre, will direct.
The Global Miller Symposium
March 29-April 1, 2007
A three-day symposium, organized by Enoch Brater, professor of English
Language & Literature, and author of two books on Miller—the third,
Global Miller, scheduled for a March 2007 release—will examine Miller’s
influence, impact, and legacy on international theatre. The symposium will
bring together scholars, directors, actors, and other theatre practitioners
from around the world, including Christopher Bigsby, a renowned expert
on Miller.
For more information on all Grand Opening events, visit www.music.
umich.edu or call 734-647-7698.