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SHSU Update For Week Of Sept. 29
- Dance Gallery To Bring Professional Companies To Campus
- Professor To Share Beast-Inspired Poems For Forum
- New Professor To Introduce Musical Style With Sax Recital
- Students To Show ‘We Art Here’ With Juried Exhibit
- Audiences To See ‘Red’ At University Theatre Center
- LIFE Conference Focuses On Female Leadership
- Submit Update Items Here
Dance Gallery To Bring Professional Companies To Campus
Professional dance companies from around the country, and the world, will get the “Texas Experience” when they visit Sam Houston State University for the fourth annual Dance Gallery Festival, Oct. 4-5.
The two-day festival will feature original works from emerging and renowned choreographers from 10 dance companies and independent artists who will spend three days teaching master classes to upper class dance students and give two public performances for the Huntsville and surrounding communities.
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| Professional dancers who will share their skills with the SHSU and area communities as participants in the 2013 Dance Gallery Festival : Texas Experience include (above) Lauren Edson (photo by Jack Hartin) and (below) David Justin (photo by Amitava Sarkar). |
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Performances will begin at 8 p.m. on both days in the James and Nancy Gaertner Performing Arts Center Dance Theater.
“The Texas venue of DGF cultivates relationships between students and professionals and provides exposure for participating companies in the Houston area,” said Dionne Sparkman Noble, assistant professor of dance. “Nationally recognized critic Nancy Wozny has hailed, ‘the evening's polish, fine dancing and choreographic invention made one memorable night.’”
This year’s resident guest artists are Enzo Celli, of Celli Contemporary Ballet from Italy, and Amy Cain and Dawn Dippel, from Houston’s contemporary jazz-based company Revolve Dance Company.
“These one-to-two week residencies include choreographing a new work with Sam Houston’s students to be performed at their fall concert as well as teaching technique and choreography classes,” Noble said. “A juried panel comprised of Sam Houston faculty and area artists select the resident artists.”
Other choreographers and companies featured in this year’s festival include Idaho-based Lauren Edson, Florida-based Andee Scott, New York-based Dante Brown and Von Ussar danceworks, Houston-based NobleMotion Dance and Laura Harrell, Austin-based David Justin, and Dallas-based Dark Circles Contemporary Dance.
The Dance Gallery Festival began as a collaboration between SHSU and Von Usssar danceworks in 2009.
Since then, the program has proven mutually beneficial for students and the performers, as students benefit through the skills and techniques they acquire in the master classes, while performers benefit from new connections.
“Several of our students have moved into different dance companies from past festivals either as interns or dancers,” she said. “It’s an incredibly unique opportunity.”
Tickets are $15 and are available at shsu.edu/dance or by phone at 936.294.2339.
Professor To Share Beast-Inspired Poems For Forum
In Nick Lantz’s latest creative writing endeavor, You, Beast, he explores the relationship between humans and animals through fables, science, mythology, art, politics and popular culture.
The Sam Houston State University assistant professor of English will share some of the poems that will comprise the collection with the Bearkat and Huntsville communities on Friday (Oct. 4), during the English department’s Friday Faculty Forum.
His presentation will be from 3-4 p.m. in Evans Complex Room 212.
Lantz, who came to SHSU last year to teach in the English department’s new Master of Fine Arts in creative writing, editing and publishing program, will share some of the unpublished poems from his in-progress manuscript that includes titles such as "From Tail to the Tooth," "Randy Johnson Fastball Kills Dove," and "Judas Hangs Himself with Rope He Finds on the Neck of a Dead Donkey."
“My inspiration for You, Beast is my ongoing obsession with animals and all the ways in which they intersect with our lives, as symbols, as stories, as food, as pets, as funny videos on the Internet, etc.,” he said.
“I use traditional forms like the sonnet, the villanelle, and the pantoum, but I also write a lot of ‘found poetry,’ poems that cut up pieces of a preexisting text and rearrange them into a poem, and I experiment with some of my own forms. One of these I call the ‘lyric play:’ a poem written in the format of a play script,” he said.
Lantz is the author of two award-winning collections of poetry—We Don’t Know We Don’t Know (Graywolf Press, 2010) and The Lightning That Strikes the Neighbors’ House (University of Wisconsin Press, 2010)—and his upcoming collection How to Dance as the Roof Caves In, which will appear in March 2014.
He earned his MFA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has participated in fellowships with the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference.
His work has appeared in Mid-American Review, Prairie Schooner, Gulf Coast, Indiana Review, Poetry Daily, Blackbird, jubilat, and FIELD and has been featured on the nationally syndicated radio program The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor.
The English Friday Faculty Forum is designed to highlight research by graduate faculty and fellow graduate students.
“The forum is a great opportunity for faculty to share their current research with their peers and the SHSU community. Because I'm a poet instead of a scholar, my ‘research’ is a bit different from that of many of my colleagues, so I hope I can bring something a little out of the ordinary to the forum,” Lantz said.
For more information, contact forum coordinator Paul Child, professor of English, at 936.294.1412.
New Professor To Introduce Musical Style With Sax Recital
Sam Houston State University’s School of Music will introduce one of its newest faculty members, who will showcase the diversity of his primary instrument with a recital on Thursday (Oct. 3).
The Masahito Sugihara Saxophone Recital will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Gaertner Performing Arts Center Recital Hall.
Sugihara, an assistant professor of saxophone, will perform an “eclectic mix of genre and instrumentations,” with the help of fellow faculty saxophonist Seth McAdow; members of the SHSU saxophone studiop; marimbist Joseph Gonzalez, a doctoral student at the University of Texas; and piano accompanist Tiberiu Chiranus, an SHSU graduate assistant from Romania.
“I will start off with a set of pieces for saxophone and piano. Rather than performing multi-movement pieces in their entirety, I chose four movements from works by different composers and made them into a suite. All four movements have quite contrasting characters but I believe there is a nice flow and coherence as a set,” Sugihara said.
“Next, the saxophone is paired with a marimba for ‘Suite’ by Gaspar Cassadó, originally written for unaccompanied cello. I heard this piece a few years ago and fell in love with its virtuosic and rhythmic energy. The marimba’s percussiveness works well in combination with the lyrical nature of the saxophone,” he said. “The last piece on the program is ‘First Suite for Military Band,’ transcribed for six saxophones. I programed this arrangement because I wanted to share the stage with my students.”
Sugihara joined the SHSU faculty this year from Morehead State University, where he also taught saxophone.
He earned his doctorate and master’s degrees from Northwestern University under the tutelage of Frederick Hemke, also studying with Marshall Taylor at Temple University and a master class with Claude Delangle.
He has appeared as a recitalist and clinician in Brazil, Canada, Norway, Japan, Scotland and United States.
“I am very happy and honored to be a part of the university,” he said. “I am inspired and motivated everyday by exceptional colleagues and hardworking students.”
Admission to the recital is free and is expected to last approximately 45 minutes.
For more information, call the School of Music at 936.294.1360.
Students To Show ‘We Art Here’ With Juried Exhibit
SHSU’s Student Art Association will showcase the talent of their peers through Oct. 5 when they host their “We Art Here” annual Juried Art Show in the Lowman Student Center Art Gallery.
The exhibit allows current art majors and minors to submit their works to compete for cash prizes, which will include a $150 “Best of Show” award and a $100 “Honorable Mention” award, sponsored by the Lowman Student Center.
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| A perspective of an altered refrigerator by senior studio arts major Laura Pregeant, which is among the installations that will be found in the Lowman Student Center Art Gallery competing for prizes as part of the SAA Juried Exhibit Sept. 27 through Oct. 5. —Submitted photo |
“The purpose of ‘We Art Here’ is to represent what is happening in the art department within the sphere of main campus and give students the chance to show their work to a wider audience,” said SAA president Emilia Bates.
Submissions for the fall show range in medium and content, including photography, paintings, sculptures and mixed media.
“I think visitors to the gallery will be impressed by the range of work, both in material form and content,” said Annie Strader, assistant professor of art and SAA adviser. “The exhibit demonstrates the great talent that exists in our student body but also displays the hard work and commitment our students have to their creative research, which is equally important in pursuing a career in the arts.”
Dan Phillips, former SHSU dance faculty and founder of Huntsville’s own Phoenix Commotion, will be this year’s guest juror, who will select the competition winners.
“The Student Art Association Juried show provides an excellent opportunity for student artists to submit and exhibit their research in a professional quality juried exhibit,” Strader said. “The student officers typically invite a regional or local person involved in the arts to be a juror for the exhibit as a way of reaching out to the community and creating a dialogue between their work and a professional working in a creative field.
“The show is a great experience for students because a freshman who just started at SHSU five weeks ago can enter alongside graduating seniors, so you really see students’ work in different stages of their academic careers and development,” she said. “The SAA sponsors this exhibit to promote the arts on campus and community, to give students a chance to get feedback about their work from someone outside of the university, to provide a professional resume building opportunity and as a great way to make new connections and win some prizes, too—which is always a good thing.”
The winners will be announced at a public reception on Thursday (Oct. 3) from 6-7 p.m. in the LSC Gallery.
For more information, contact SAA president Emilia Bates at emb010@shsu.edu.
Audiences To See ‘Red’ At University Theatre Center
The SHSU Department of Theatre and Musical Theatre will paint the portrait of an artist whose struggle to accept his growing riches and praise become his ultimate undoing.
John Logan’s “Red” will be presented Wednesday through Saturday (Oct. 2-5), at 8 p.m. each day, with a 2 p.m. Saturday matinee, in the University Theatre Center's Showcase Theatre.
Winner of the 2010 Tony Award for Best Play, “Red” tells the story of abstract expressionist Mark Rothko, who has just landed the biggest commission in the history of modern art: a series of murals for New York’s famed Four Seasons Restaurant.
In the two fascinating years that follow, Rothko works feverishly with his young assistant, Ken, in his studio on the Bowery. But when Ken gains the confidence to challenge him, Rothko faces the agonizing possibility that his crowning achievement could also become his undoing.
Directed by senior mass communication major Matthew Stepan, “Red” stars senior musical theatre major Tyler Martin as Rothko and junior musical theatre major Brandon Whitley as Ken.
Designers include senior theatre major Marissa Hetzer (set) and junior construction management major Malcolm Nichols (sound).
Tickets are $10 for general admission and are available online at shsu.edu/academics/theatre/tickets/.
For more information, call the University Theatre Center box office at 936.294.1339.
LIFE Conference Focuses On Female Leadership
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| The first alumnae of the LEMIT Leadership Inventory for Female Executives conference, developed to increase the representation of women in law enforcement administration. —Submitted photo |
Women represent 10 to 15 percent of law enforcement nationally, but only 1 to 5 percent make it into top leadership ranks; only 2 percent of women in Texas occupy the highest position—that of chief of police.
To combat that trend, the Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas added an annual conference to help participants engage in continuing education and networking opportunities.
LEMIT’s professional development program has introduced “Leadership Inventory for Female Executives,” the first offering in a suite of specialized, personalized development opportunities. Six classes of women have graduated from the program, including representatives from China and Phoenix, for a total of more than 100 alumnae.
“We have seen quite a lot of promotions among these groups of women,” said Magdalena Denham, former LEMIT program manager. “We have seen a lot of networking and quite a bit more momentum. We expect to see more transformational roles for women in law enforcement over the next couple of years.”
Approximately 30 LIFE program graduates participated in the July conference, which included sessions on wellness and nutrition, recruitment of minorities, local issues in homeland security, portfolio development, and leadership. The program was developed and presented by LIFE graduates, with only one outside presenter during the two-and-a-half day program.
The sessions also discussed ways to empower female leaders through continuing education, taking advantage of training opportunities, overcoming obstacles and addressing change.
In addition, the group discussed how LIFE can leave a legacy through its quarterly newsletter and social media, as well as the development of a password-protected social media site that will provide more timely information on topics of importance to the membership.
Submit Update Items Here
In order to assist members of the Sam Houston State University community in publicizing events, the SHSU Communications Office (Today@Sam) is now requesting that students, faculty and staff submit information about events, accomplishments or ideas for feature stories online.
Submission criteria and guidelines, including deadlines, have now been placed online, at /guidelines.html. This information is also accessible through the “Submissions” link in the right-hand navigation on Today@Sam.
From there, those submitting ideas can access forms that will allow them to provide detailed information about their idea, as well as attach event calendars, vitas/resumes or photos, depending on the type of submission.
Ideas submitted to the SHSU Communications Office are directly utilized in several ways: as news stories, “slider” or SHSU home page stories, hometown releases, and on the Today@Sam calendar.
If your submission qualifies for distribution, we will either contact you for more detailed information, or we will edit the information using SHSU/journalistic style and forward the final release to the appropriate media.
All information is verified before release, so please provide complete, accurate and timely information. Please type all responses in appropriate upper and lower cases.
For more information, contact the Communications Office at 936.294.1836 or today@sam.edu.
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SHSU Media Contacts: Julia May, Jennifer Gauntt
Sept. 27, 2013
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu
This page maintained by SHSU's Communications Office
Associate Director: Julia May
Manager: Jennifer Gauntt
Located in the 115 Administration Building
Telephone: 936.294.1836; Fax: 936.294.1834
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu.
