A Student's First Meany Dance Experience

UW Computer Science and Engineering sophomore Jennifer Kang had never seen dance performed in Meany Hall.

But when the opportunity arose in February for free tickets to attend UW World Series’ performance of New Zealand dance troupe Black Grace, Jennifer jumped at the chance.

“Their performance was just phenomenal,” Jennifer says. “The dancing combined with the lighting and the music created this mesmerizing performance. After every dance, I would turn to my friend and comment on how quickly time had passed because I was just so enthralled by the dancers and their movements that I had lost track of time.”

Thanks to the generosity of longtime UW World Series donors Susan Knox and Weldon Ihrig, Jennifer was able to attend a concert at Meany Hall for free.

Susan and Weldon established the Arts Al!ve Student Fund for Exploring the Performing Arts, a fund that provides complimentary UW World Series performance tickets to UW students. Vouchers are distributed across campus, which students may pick up and redeem at the Ticket Office prior to a show.

“It’s a wonderful program for students like myself who would like to be able to see these high class performances without worrying about the cost,” Jennifer says.

Drawn to the fusion of New Zealand culture and modern dance, Jennifer and a friend attended the performance, then ventured to Cultivate in Elm Hall for the after party with company dancers and the artistic director in tow.

“Personally, the combination of both seeing Black Grace and then talking with the dancers of Black Grace right after the performance was just a phenomenal experience,” Jennifer says. “It was like getting an inside look of how dance isn't just a passion, but also a career for these individuals. One dancer described his journey into Black Grace and [what] life is like on the road, going from city to city, country to country, sharing their dance and culture with others. This experience was definitely a highlight of my sophomore year.”

Often studying on a shoe-string budget, university students must be selective about their time spent outside the walls of academia.

“Now that I’ve left my teens, it’s a little harder to attend performances because the ticket prices are higher,” Jennifer says. “So I have to be a bit more selective about which performances fit in my budget.”

Endowment founders Susan and Weldon wanted to give students an opportunity to foster love of the arts at a young age and to provide a source of inspiration. The couple found UW World Series to be the premier place to realize their vision.

Jennifer's experience was exactly what we envisioned when establishing the Arts A!ive endowment.  We wanted to give UW students the opportunity to experience live performances of internationally-renown artists presented by the World Series and find their own passion for the performing arts that will give them joy throughout their lives.

Our hope is that other arts patrons will join us and contribute to the Arts A!ive endowment so that even greater numbers of students will have the opportunity to attend future UW World Series performances. 

Jennifer, a Tri-Cities native, hopes to be one of many future students who share in the Pacific Northwest’s vibrant arts scene.

“It would be wonderful if more students like me were able to experience these performances,” she says.

To make a gift that inspires creativity and brings live performance to students year-round, contact Cristi Benefield at 206-616-6296 or cristi@uw.edu.

A Culturally Accelerated Week, Driven by Artistic Force - By Freddie Micheal Minda

Freddie Micheal Minda is an undergraduate at the University of Washington majoring in chemistry. Freddie grew up in Malaysia and speaks many languages. He is a member of the UW World Series' Student Engagement Team (SET).

This week, the materials covered in my Physics class mostly revolved around the formula F=ma. It is fine if you do not know what it means (if you are intrigued, it is just a formula explaining the relationship between force, mass and acceleration).

However, my cultural experience dictated a different meaning to this formula: Fun = Meany * Arts. Pretty neat, eh? Alright, maybe some of you think it is lame, oh well.

Anyway, as a UW student, I have realized that there are plenty of new experiences from different fields that we can discover on campus. One of those experiences includes becoming an audience member in Meany Hall. Just by viewing one performance (or in my case, two) one can really gain something new. For me, I obtained new perspectives in regards on how I view live performance arts.                                       

On Tuesday, April 9th, my friend Nathan invited me to a piano recital by Daniil Trifonov. That performance was under the President’s Piano Series organized by the UW World Series. The repertoire of that night included Chopin and Rachmaninoff, in addition to Trifonov’s own work, a “tribute to Rachmaninoff”, entitled Rachmaniana. Honestly speaking, I have never really listened to classical music before I entered UW, so to me, after watching Trifonov’s performance, my interest in that genre was piqued further. I would not consider myself well-versed in that musical genre right now, but presently I am hooked with Chopin’s Funeral March from Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat Minor.

Two days after that, on April 11th, I attended a dance performance presented by contemporary dance group Trey McIntyre Project (TMP) with Monica, a good friend of mine. I do not usually entertain myself by watching contemporary dance, but that night I surely enjoyed myself. The movements were physically strong, but sensual. One thing I like about dance pieces is that they are so open-ended (like a Dickinson poem!) that I am free to interpret them in any way I love. I particularly loved the piece Pass, Away in which the dancers executed the performance in pairs. I found it gorgeous and smooth. Moreover, the interactions between the female and male dancers showed great degree of intimacy.

Did I mention that there was a student-exclusive party right after the TMP performance? The party, handled by UW World Series Student Engagement Team, was a success – very classy!

In a nutshell, that week has been great. The performing arts are definitely something new for me. What does something foreign call for? Your exploration!

Trey McIntyre Project Alum's Inside Story

This week's guest blogger is Ilana Goldman, former Trey McIntyre Project dancer and current UW MFA candidate in the Dance Program.

In 2010, I came to Meany Hall to perform with Trey McIntyre Project as part of the UW World Series. I had been fortunate to perform at Meany once before with Alonzo King LINES Ballet and was excited to return. I remembered that the stage and theater itself were especially nice to perform in and the audience was supportive and enthusiastic. This visit to Seattle was particularly memorable—the trees in the quad were in bloom and all of the students were basking in the early spring sunshine. I remember thinking to myself, “It would be really wonderful to go to school here.”

 

I had just recently decided that I wanted to meet with the UW Dance program graduate advisor to talk to her about the graduate program in dance at the UW. At the time, I wasn’t exactly sure if I wanted to go to grad school quite yet, but I did know that the program at the UW was the one I was most interested in. It turns out that I applied to the school and was accepted within that year.

Ilana Goldman in Wild Sweet Love. © Jay Mather.

The program that we brought to Seattle was also very memorable. We performed one of my favorite pieces called Wild Sweet Love. I was in the original cast and it was an incredible gift to have Trey create such a "meaty" role on me. It is an extremely fulfilling dance to perform, as it challenges me to go to my limits both physically and emotionally. I think it is a wonderful ballet and I am so honored to have been a part of its creation. I remember that the Seattle audience really seemed to love it.

Trey's choreography is artistically sophisticated, yet accessible at the same time, and I love that about his work. He uses a wide range of music and I tend to really like his musical choices, as do the audiences. I really enjoy watching and dancing in his work because it employs ballet technique, but has a very modern feel, which matches my background in both ballet and modern dance.

Dancing with Trey McIntyre Project (TMP) has been a huge influence in my current interest and research in dance and community.

Ilana Goldman in Wild Sweet Love. © Brian Mengini.

  

As a TMP dancer, I participated in many community engagement activities that included dancing in hospitals, schools, nursing homes, as well as spUrbans (spontaneous urban performances), and innovative projects like 9+1, which commissioned Boise artists to create visual, culinary, and musical works inspired by the TMP dancers. The company not only makes an effort to engage with the community in Boise, where the company is based, but the communities in the cities where it performs on tour.

This month, when TMP returns to Meany, I will be helping with the company’s engagement activities, such as a master class for local dancers and spUrbans (UW students will join with TMP dancers in very short performances of less than 5 minutes in locations around campus). Keep a look out for these fun surprise performances!

For a behind-the-scenes glimpse of Wild Sweet Love featuring Ilana, watch TMP's video here.

TMP performs at Meany Hall for the Performing Arts on April 11-13 at 8 p.m. For more information and tickets, click here.

UW Residence Hall Concert with Pianist Khatia Buniatishvili

Freddie Micheal Minda is an undergraduate at the University of Washington majoring in chemistry. Freddie grew up in Malaysia and speaks many languages. He is a member of the UW World Series' Student Engagement Team (SET).

From the country of Georgia to University of Washington’s Pompeii Room at McMahon Hall, pianist Khatia Buniatishvili brought her distinctive brand of charm and channeled it to the students through her skillful performance. From Stravinsky’s Petrushka to a Georgian folk song to Liszt’s Liebestraum and a Prokofiev Sonata, Ms. Buniatishvili mesmerized the crowd.

However, Ms. Buniatishvili’s performance in the Pompeii Room was not restricted to auditory experience of music alone, it also included an intimate exploration of musical enjoyment. While Ms. Buniatishvili’s music was captivating, the night’s performance was embellished with a personal Q&A session between her and the audience. This was the moment when Ms. Buniatishvili shared her opinions on music – and most importantly, how imagination is crucial to enjoying, playing or making music.

 

As I listened to Ms. Buniatishvili’s performance, being a Chemistry-major student that I am, I could not help but to picture certain images that were closer to my heart. Ms. Buniatishvili’s performance was energetic, chaotic and elegant. It reminded me of many different ideas and pictures. I thought of hopping rabbits. I thought of the Second Law of Thermodynamics and entropy concept. I thought of dark staircases. And when Ms. Buniatishvili played Liszt’s Liebestraum, I thought of my family. Why? Simply because my sister used that song as her phone ringtone once.

Ms. Khatia Buniatishvili is definitely a beautiful, talented and engaging performer. The performance in the Pompeii Room gave me a new perspective on music: that music is just stories that we make with our own imagination.

Tafelmusik's 5-Home Tour Through Europe

Imagine drinking tea in a Mayfair townhouse, observing how Watteau applied his brushstrokes to a portrait, while listening to Handel rehearse a new composition.

Baroque orchestra Tafelmusik helps audiences do just that by virtual tour of London, Venice, Delft, Paris, and Leipzig through five art-filled homes alive with music played by leading 17^th and 18^th century performers. Tafelmusik’s latest work, House of Dreams, transports audiences to that very scene to experience music the way it was originally performed.

The five European cities are home to some of the most exquisite works of art and music, and Tafelmusik invites you to explore each at their performance at Meany Hall on March 7.

London

Handel House near London’s Mayfair is the place composer George Frideric Handel called home from 1723 until his death in 1759. Today, the house is a museum filled with galleries and his private collection of 50 paintings and 64 engravings, as well as a recreation of the rooms as Handel lived in them. The home served as a great arbiter of inspiration for Handel, as his opera Alcina, like Messiah and Hercules, was composed and rehearsed on an upper floor of this house.

Listen to Handel’s Dances from Alcina performed by Tafelmusik.

 

Handel House, London. Photo courtesy of Tafelmusik.org.

 

Venice

The Palazzo Smith Mangilli-Valmarana, former residence of British Consul Joseph Smith, is nestled between two exquisite Venetian buildings overlooking the Grand Canal. As Italian landscape painter Giovanni Canaletto’s agent, Smith enjoyed a vast personal collection of works ranging from paintings to drawings. Smith helped Canaletto launch his career working as a set painter for Antonio Vivaldi’s operas. The home was renowned in artistic circles as a place of intellectual ferment and artistic activity, and even stored a collection of instruments played at house concerts.

Listen to Vivaldi’s Allegro from Concerto in G Minor for 2 cellos performed by Tafelmusik. 

View of the Grand Canal from Smith’s balcony. Photo courtesy of Tafelmusik.org.

Delft

Het Gulden ABC is located in a tiny city in the Netherlands and has retained much of the character Vermeer would have known in the 17^thcentury. Formerly a street-level bookshop owned by Dutch bookbinder Jacob Dissius, the home grew to hold a treasure trove of 21 paintings, and is now a restaurant housing reproductions of the original Vermeer paintings on view during Dissius’ time.

Listen to Purcell’s Fantasia in 3 parts upon a ground performed by Tafelmusik.

 

Christina Mahler & Jeanne Lamon of Tafelmusik. playing in Het Gulden ABC. Photo courtesy of Tafelmusik.org

Paris
The Palais-Royale just north of the Louvre was theatre-loving Cardinal Richelieu’s residence and continued through the 18^thcentury as home to the dukes of Orléans. Complete with a private theatre in the east wing, the Palais eventually came to be known as the sparkling center of Parisian social life. The Palais housed over 500 paintings by renowned artists– becoming the most important private collection of art in Europe.

Listen to Marais’ Suite from Alcyone performed by Tafelmusik.

 

The Palais-Royale.

Leipzig
This German city once known as “little Paris” is now home to the Bach Museum and Archive, in which 12 themed rooms are dedicated to the life and works of Bach. The home brings Bach’s music to life through its collection of instruments, including a double bass built in 1672 by Bohemian luthier Leonhardt Pradter. Just next door to Bach’s actual home, the museum even contains the beautifully restored Sommersaal, the music room where Bach’s family is thought to have played chamber music.

Listen to Bach’s Concerto for 2 violins in D Minor.

 

Bach Museum and Archive. Courtesy of Bach-Archiv Leipzig.

 

Coming to the show? Catch the pre-performance lecture from 6:30-7 p.m. in Meany Hall's West lobby, on art and architecture with House of Dreams creator Alison Mackay.

Juilliard String Quartet in UW's Alder Hall

By Freddie Micheal Minda

Freddie Micheal Minda is an undergraduate at the University of Washington majoring in chemistry. Freddie grew up in Malaysia and speaks many languages. He is a member of the UW World Series' Student Engagement Team (SET).

Thanks to the collaborative effort done between UW World Series Student Engagement Team (SET) and UW’s residence halls (HFS), students can now enjoy a series of music performances at their own living abode. This February we saw the second event of the series, a free concert by the Grammy-winning group the Juilliard String Quartet!

The concert was held at Alder Hall auditorium. Despite the prestige that was carried by the quartet, the atmosphere of the event was very casual and laid-back. Juilliard String Quartet opened the show with Mozart’s String Quartet No. 21 in D Major, K. 575.

Still, the Mozart performance was just a lovely appetizer. The main highlight of the night was the Elliott Carter Quartet. Unlike Mozart’s more melodious quartet, the Elliott Carter Quartet was brasher. Personally, I enjoyed the Elliott Carter Quartet too. I really loved the way it portrayed a conversation. Every member of the quartet represented a different person each having his own distinct personality “talking” to each other.  On most parts, the music sounded distorted, as it represented disagreements in conversation. On the other hand, certain parts were harmonious – the representation of consensus. Nonetheless, I could still sense a form of pleasant melody in the discordant parts, as compared to the more harmonious parts, which one audience member noted as “ominous”. This build-up of character and eccentricity is why I really liked this performance!

Unfortunately, this concert was quite short, only 1 hour. Nevertheless, I believe the audience enjoyed the show – and of course, got to treat themselves with cookies, coffee and hot chocolate after the performance ended.

The next event the UW World Series Student Engagement Team (SET) is planning is an After-party on Thursday, April 11 after the dance performance of the Trey McIntyre Project in Meany Hall. Students with UW ID are welcome to stay after the show to socialize, snack, and meet the TMP dancers in the upstairs lobby of Meany Hall.

Pianist Christopher O'Riley Takes the Stage - Meany Hall Studio Theater

The UW World Series Education and Outreach department launched it's Student Engagement Team (find out more info here) this year (2013) and this is the first blog post by one of our student members! 

Freddie Micheal Minda is an undergraduate at the University of Washington. Freddie grew up in Malaysia and speaks many languages. He is a chemistry major. 

On January 28^th 2013, Christopher O’Riley delivered a night of beautiful idiosyncrasy at UW’s own Meany Hall. The show, entitled “Out of My Hands”, featured Mr. O’Riley’s takes on the covers of popular rock music by well-known acts such as Nirvana, Radiohead, and Pink Floyd. Nonetheless, Mr. O’Riley gave a stunning performance as he instilled his own personal and fluid piano treatment into the songs.

As Mr. O’Riley prepared himself at the piano with his sheet music on his iPad, he began the recital with Radiohead’s “Airbag”. That performance was succeeded by Tears for Fears’ “Mad World”. One of my favorites from the night was his cover of Nirvana’s “Heart Shaped Box”, an absolutely melodious tune. Its piano cover possessed an extra “cold” tingle. Remarked by Mr. O’Riley as “Radiohead’s most symphonic”, “Paranoid Android” was one of the songs that stood out too – one that was very characteristic with its varied tempos.

Of course, famous artists were not the main focus of the night. Mr. O’Riley introduced one favorite singer-songwriter of his – Elliott Smith – and played two songs: “True Number” and, as a final number, “Bye”. In addition, Mr. O’Riley also performed his own arrangement, entitled “Chintana’s Waltz”.

Mr. O’Riley’s performance was indeed wonderful that night. Not only did he successfully perform great music with perfection, he also injected his own style into each individual performance. As the recital concluded, audience members treated themselves in a nice, lovely reception party hosted by the UW World Series Student Engagement Team.