April 29 Is Family and Community Day!

Jill

On Sunday, April 29, in celebration of Leonard Bernstein's commitment to engaging young people in the arts, Brandeis sponsors an afternoon of free performances, family and children's events, and art exhibitions and demonstrations. Events run continuously from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the Rose Art Museum, Shapiro Campus Center, the Great Lawn and on Bernstein-Marcus Plaza.

Thursday, April 26: Art Activates the Imagination

Art Activation: The Opening Celebration

5:10 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. 
Shapiro Campus Center Atrium

Activate creativity and community at an unpredictable, improvisational performance art event led by students in the Brandeis School of Creative Arts.  

Art and Angst: Is Pain Necessary? 
12:15 p.m.
Women’s Studies Research Center

Composer Dana Maiben, poet and writer Diana Durham, music scholar and viola da gambist Laury Gutierrez, and artist Michele L’Heureux discuss whether anguish activates the creative process. Panel moderated by writer Rosie Rosenzweig, with harpsichordist/fortepianist Vivian Montgomery as respondent.

Ponder
6:00 p.m.
Chapels Pond

Slip from afternoon into twilight and enjoy a composition for brass instruments by Travis Alford Ph.D ‘13, inspired by Handel’s “Water Music” and the unique acoustic and aesthetic properties of the land and water around the three Brandeis chapels.

Next to Normal
6:30 p.m.  
Schwartz Hall Auditorium

Free Play Theater Cooperative presents the Tony Award-winning musical with a soaring pop rock score about a family’s struggle with mental illness. Directed by David Benger '14, music direction by Bryan Belok, and stage managed by Rachel Huvard ’14 and Jessica Pizzuti ’15. Ages 16 and older. (Also Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 8 p.m.)

Brandeis Early Music Ensemble: “En las Riberas Ultimas de Espana”
7:00 p.m.
Harlan Chapel

Spanish music in the Renaissance offered a rich palette of strong emotions: passion, longing, fervor and jealousy seethed in the oppressive heat and repressive climate. The Early Music Ensemble explores “the furthest shores of Spain,” where love, lust and religious passion were often painted in the same feverish colors. Sarah Mead, director.

Music and Dance of Ghana
8:00 p.m. 
Slosberg Music Center

Students in MUS 87, as the ensemble Fafali (“there is peace”), will perform instrumental music and dance from the Ewe tradition of West Africa, led by master drummer Nani Agbeli.  

Slam Poetry Performance and Workshop
8:00 p.m.
The Lurias, Hassenfeld Conference Center

Featuring the Lady GaGa of Slam Poetry, Regie Cabico! All are welcome to attend this event led by the acclaimed Regie Cabico, a first-generation Filipino-American. Regie will give a performance, discuss his queer of color identity, lead a writing workshop, and engage in an audience talkback. Topics will include intersectional identity, especially nationality, ethnicity, and sexuality. Sponsored by the Queer People of Color Coalition, a branch of Triskelion, Brandeis' GLBT/Queer and Allied Student Organization.

Feel the Pulse
8:00 p.m. 
Usdan Student Center, Levin Ballroom

The undergraduate Adagio Dance Company performs original hip-hop, contemporary, tap and jazz. You won't want to miss a beat! Suggested $5 donation; free for Brandeis community. To purchase $10 $15 reserved seats, email Marla Merchut (mmerchut@brandeis.edu). (Also Saturday at 8:00 p.m.)