A century of Martha Graham Dance Company’s artistry is coming to the Hancher stage March 29 in “GRAHAM100,” with University of Iowa dance students in the opening spotlight. As the legendary late Martha Graham intended.
“Having the students on the program and (doing) some residency activities, it just makes a world of difference,” Janet Eilber, the company’s artistic director since 2005, said by phone from her office in Manhattan’s West Village.
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The Gazette - Thursday, March 21, 2024
Little Village - Thursday, March 21, 2024
At just 40 years old, poet and essayist Hanif Abdurraqib has covered a hell of a lot of ground in his career. A 2021 MacArthur fellow, his work has earned him an Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence (for A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance) as well as landed him on the National Book Award longlist (for Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest). He’s the subject of a mural in his hometown of Columbus, commissioned by Cbus Libraries, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the library system in central Ohio. He’s been a visiting professor at institutions including Butler University and the University of Iowa, and he holds an honorary degree in the field of human ecology from the College of the Atlantic.
University of Iowa Dance - Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Before the semester began, during a week of snowstorms and below-zero temperatures, UI student dancers collected in Halsey Hall for a week-long intensive to learn Martha Graham’s Panorama, led by Virginie Mécène, the current director of Graham 2 (the dance company comprising the most advanced students of the Martha Graham School) and program director at the Martha Graham Center for Contemporary Dance.
The Daily Iowan - Wednesday, March 6, 2024
Upbeat, jazzy tunes filled the halls of the University of Iowa School of Music Voxman building Tuesday night as the “accidental brass quartet,” known as the Westerlies, took center stage at their latest musical recital.
“I feel grateful every day to get to do what we do, truly. To get to make music is a privilege,” said Andy Clausen, one of the band’s two trombone players.
Both Sarah Hayes and Amy Rodriguez were present at the national Broadway tour stops of “Rent” at Hancher Auditorium — Hayes as an audience member in 1999 and Rodriguez as a student stagehand in 2019.
This weekend, the two will return to Hancher. This time, however, they will both be centerstage, costarring in the Tony Award-winning national tour of “Hairspray.”
While a theatre arts major at the University of Iowa, Rodriguez spent three years working on touring productions at Hancher. Often, she would envision herself in the spotlight rather than operating it.
The Gazette - Thursday, February 15, 2024
Big hair, big heart, big dreams, big change. That’s “Hairspray” in a nutshell.
It’s all that, and so much more — including two cast members with Hancher ties. They’ll be returning to the University of Iowa’s premiere venue in Iowa City for four performances Feb. 23 to 25, 2024.
The Gazette - Thursday, February 15, 2024
All-male troupe returning to Iowa City, keeping audiences and dancers on their toes.
The Gazette - Thursday, January 25, 2024
Jeff Parker is as versatile as he is inventive.
The jazz guitarist, who incorporates elements of hip-hop, funk and R&B, consistently challenges his audience whether as a solo artist, playing with avant-garde indie rockers Tortoise or performing with left of center jazz artist Joshua Abrams.
Parker, 56, who will perform Saturday, Jan. 27.2024, at Hancher with his eclectic ensemble, The New Breed, always is pushing the envelope. The Berklee College of Music alum was as impacted by his university years as he was by hip-hop from a generation ago
The Real Mainstream - Thursday, January 25, 2024
A phrase from the late experimental jazz guru Sun Ra helps shape almost everything that Jeff Parker does as a musician.
“Sun Ra said … ‘If you deal with what you know, you’re dealing with what’s finite. And if you deal with what you don’t know, it’s infinite. ” says Parker, who will perform at Iowa City’s Hancher Auditorium Saturday with his band The New Breed, recalling advice passed on to him by one of his mentors.
The Gazette - Saturday, January 20, 2024
“To Kill a Mockingbird” is a masterpiece in any era, in any medium.
Aaron Sorkin’s 2018 stage adaptation is a profound indictment of hatred and prejudice, and Tony-winning director Bartlett Sher brilliantly directs that toward the audience, using the youngest player to intone: “All rise.” So many meanings out of two simple words.