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University Communications

University of Richmond Presents WomenROCK: Innovators, Leaders and Seismic Shifters

August 2, 2002

A series of performances, exhibits and lectures by women in the arts, titled WomenROCK: Innovators, Leaders and Seismic Shifters, will be held throughout the 2002-03 academic year at the University of Richmond.

The series is anchored by female performers, visual artists and writers of extraordinary stature, including Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison, dancer Twyla Tharp and Broadway actress Christine Ebersole, who will appear in "Gypsy."

"These are women who have influenced the growth and development of arts and culture in their respective fields," said Kathy Panoff, director of the Modlin Center for the Arts. In addition to Modlin Center performances, the university will sponsor six art exhibitions by women artists, and the Women Involved In Living and Learning (WILL) program is devoting its entire lecture series to women in the arts. Morrison is appearing Oct. 3 under the auspices of the Quest program, which is dedicating a year to exploring the concept of when discovery leads to change. She will discuss literature as an agent of social change during her 1 p.m. talk in the Robins Center.

"A gathering of this many women artists of such a high caliber during the course of one year is unprecedented," Panoff said. The performances, presentations and exhibits "will educate university students and our public audience about the diverse contexts and ways in which women challenge the conventional norms through individual and collective expression and the ways in which they have changed or even revolutionized their respective fields."

WomenROCK: Innovators, Leaders and Seismic Shifters includes the following performance events. All are in the Modlin Center, unless otherwise noted. For ticket or other information, call the Modlin Center box office at 804-289-8980.

  • Dianne Reeves, Sept. 18, 7:30 p.m.; Grammy-nominated singer draws upon a world of influences from African, Brazilian and Caribbean to gospel, R&B, and classical and contemporary pop.
  • Vicki Goldberg, Sept. 26, 7:30 p.m.; photography critic, scholar and author of "The Power of Photography: How Photography Changed our Lives."
  • Sweet Honey in the Rock, Sept. 29, 7:30 p.m., Carpenter Center for the Performing Arts; a cappella ensemble of six African-American women who have become a stereotype-shattering, global phenomenon.
  • "Tales of the Lost Formicans" by Constance Congdon, Oct. 3-6. Off-Broadway hit that deflects the story of a man with Alzheimer's disease into a travel guide of Middle America conducted by aliens.
  • Chava Alberstein in Concert, Oct. 9, 7:30 p.m.; first lady of Israeli song performing a soulful blend of traditional folk and pop music.
  • Laurie Anderson: "Happiness," Oct. 23-24, 7:30 p.m.; music, video and spoken word, featuring stories and acoustic instruments.
  • Third Practice II - Music of Our Time/Music of Our Future, Oct. 30-Nov. 3. The second annual festival of new electro-acoustic works, including pieces for instruments and computer, video projection and electronics; one world premier by guest composer Natasha Barrett.
  • Anoushka Shankar, Nov. 13, 7:30 p.m.; daughter of internationally beloved sitar player Ravi Shankar, she is known as the "successor to his throne;" a contemporary artist with an understanding of the musical traditions of both the East and West.
  • Christine Ebersole in "Gypsy," Nov. 21-24; Broadway star Ebersole will spend several weeks at Richmond working with students and performing as Ma Rose in the legendary musical.
  • Twyla Tharp Dance, Jan 28, 7:30 p.m., Carpenter Center for the Performing Arts; two-time Emmy award-winner Tharp has created conceptual pieces for major ballet companies and choreography for television, Broadway and feature films.
  • "Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)" by Ann Marie MacDonald, Jan 31-Feb. 2 and Feb. 5-8; highly original comedy-social satire in which a drab junior academic believes she has found the original source for Shakespeare's "Othello" and "Romeo and Juliet" and soon finds herself transported into their magical worlds.
  • Philadanco, Joan Myers Brown, artistic director, March 12-13, 7:30 p.m.; dancers famed for innovative choreography, blending African American-based dance with ballet, jazz and modern.
  • Eileen Ivers Band, March 17, 7:30 p.m.; the world's preeminent exponent of the Irish fiddle, Ivers fuses Celtic roots with world music influences.
  • Dame Gillian Weir, March 21, 7:30 p.m., Cannon Memorial Chapel; named one of the 100 greatest organ players of the century, she will help rededicate the Beckerath organ.

Art Exhibitions, in Marsh Art Gallery unless otherwise noted, include:

  • True Grit: Seven Female Visionaries Before Feminism, Aug. 21-Sept. 29; paintings, sculptures and drawings made between 1951 and 1975 by seven American female artists.
  • Going with the Flow: Prints by Pat Steir, Aug. 21-Dec. 15; four recent large prints by an American artist known for unique gestural style that resembles waterfalls in her abstract works.
  • Mary Stewart: Seeing Voices, Jan. 7-July 26, 2003; contemporary Illinois artist's series of large-scale drawings created as a site-specific installation for the Marsh Gallery.
  • Virginia Women Artists: Prints from the Permanent Collection, Jan. 7-June 28, 2003, Joel and Lila Harnett Print Study Center; lithography, etchings and other media created by women working with the Richmond Printmaking Workshop from 1978-1991.
  • Mary Frank: Experiences, Jan. 17-Feb. 28, 2003; organized in cooperation with the DC Moore Gallery, New York, includes recent paintings and other works on paper by American artist Mary Frank.
  • Transitions: Recent Photographs by Adrienne Azhderian-Kelly, Feb. 9-March 13, 2003; adjunct assistant professor at Richmond, she creates selenium-toned gelatin silver prints depicting scenes of nature consuming the vestiges of man's mark on the environment.

WILL lecture series events:

  • Carol Highsmith: An American Century in Freeze Frame, Sept. 12, 7:30 p.m., Jepson Hall 118; noted landscape and architectural photographer will discuss the history of women in photography in the United States; includes slide show.
  • Barbara Ehrenreich: Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, Nov. 7, 7:30 p.m., Tyler Haynes Commons; nationally known journalist and political essayist will relate her experiences working minimum-wage jobs across the country.
  • Megan Holley: "The Snowflake Crusade": A Screening and Talk with the Filmmaker, Feb. 12, 7:30 p.m., Tyler Haynes Commons; Richmond filmmaker will screen her first film, which explores the search for individual identity in an age of cloning and genetic manipulation.
  • Janine Bell: Women and West African Cultural Tradition, March 27, 7:30 p.m., Tyler Haynes Commons; women's roles in the transmission of West African music, dance and oral tradition; includes a performance by Elegba Folklore Society.