Mid-Winter Arts Events (Part 1)

Tuesday January 26:

The Russell Library "Anime Film Series" returns (by popular demand) to the Hubbard Room at 4 p.m. with a showing of "Princess Mononoke." The 1997 classic, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki,  is described thusly: the film "centers around a cursed prince who travels to the Far East in search of a cure. Soon, Prince Ashitaka finds himself caught in a battle between a mining village, Iron Town, and the forest denizens it’s threatening. Leading the animals is Princess Mononoke, a brave, gun-wielding human princess raised by wolves."  The screening is free and open to the public.  For more information, call 860-347-2528, extension 135.

Oddfellows Playhouse, 128 Washington Street, is holding auditions on this day and Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. for the Teen Repertory Company April performances of "The Oresteia", the trio of tragedies written by Aeschylus in 458 B.C. Interested actors (ages 14-20) must have attended 2 of the workshops held last week by OP.  Questions? - call 860-347-6143.  

Wednesday January 27:

The Buttonwood Tree presents a screening of "Baraka", the 1992 "non-narrative" film created and directed by David Fricke and featuring a soundtrack by Michael Stearns.  If you've seen the film "Koyaanisqatsi", you have an inkling of how a 'non-verbal" movie works. The Internet Movie Database offers the following plot summary: "Without words, cameras show us the world, with an emphasis not on "where," but on "what's there." It begins with morning, natural landscapes and people at prayer: volcanoes, water falls, veldts, and forests; several hundred monks do a monkey chant. Indigenous peoples apply body paint; whole villages dance. The film moves to destruction of nature via logging, blasting, and strip mining. Images of poverty, rapid urban life, and factories give way to war, concentration camps, and mass graves. Ancient ruins come into view, and then a sacred river where pilgrims bathe and funeral pyres burn." The screening, free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Buddhist Faith Fellowship and is part of its 2010 Film Festival. For more information, go to www.bffct.net.

Thursday January 28:

The Opening Reception for the new exhibition at the Davison Art Center takes place at 5 p.m.  The exhibition, titled "Imitation & Invention", features works from the DAC's permanent collection by artists such as Antonio Pollaiuolo, Andrea Mantegna, Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt van Rijn and Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, whose etching "The Genius of Castiglione" (circa 1648) is pictured to the left. Davison's Curator Claire Rogan will deliver the "Gallery Talk" at 5:30 p.m.  The exhibition will be on display through March 4 - gallery hours are 12noon - 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. For more information, go to www.wesleyan.edu/dac.