Interdisciplinary Arts Symposium runs January through April

            The third annual Interdisciplinary Arts Symposium hosted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts will focus on "Immigration, Migration and Transplantation in Performance." The symposium is composed of several key events including lectures, performances, workshops and a movie screening. IAS 2012 is supported by the Cooper Foundation.

            This season explores the theme of transforming, transferring or hybridizing cultural identity, and its expression in drama, music and dance. IAS 2012 looks particularly at how immigrants use performance to tell their stories. Nebraskans interested in learning more about multicultural issues and their intersection with the arts are encouraged to attend.

            To start off the season, IAS presents a screening of the movie-musical "West Side Story" at 7 p.m. on Jan. 26 at the Ross Media Arts Center, 313 N. 13th St. The 1961 movie is based on the award-winning stage musical by Leonard Bernstein with words by a young Stephen Sondheim. The movie is an introduction to the theme of IAS 2012. Tickets are free for UNL students with a valid ID and $5 for the public.

            IAS 2012 features three major performance events. On Feb. 10 at 8 p.m., New York City trombonist Chris Washburne and his jazz group, SYOTOS, perform live the Rococo Theatre, 140 N. 13th St. The performance is preceded at 5:30 p.m. by an talk by Washburne, "Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington Do the Rhumba: The Rebirth of Latin Jazz," followed by a dinner. Tickets are available through the Rococo Theatre Box Office and online at www.rococotheatre.com. Prices are $12 for the performance only or $27 to also attend the lecture and dinner.

            Washburne is an internationally known musician, composer and scholar who serves as associate professor of music and founding director of the Louis Armstrong Jazz Performance Program at Columbia University. He has published numerous articles on jazz, Latin jazz and salsa. He is author of the book, "Sounding Salsa: Performing Latin Music in New York" (2008), and editor of the book, "Bad Music" (2004).

            On March 2 and 3, IAS co-presents performances of the hit Broadway musical, "In the Heights," at the Lied Center for Performing Arts, 301 N. 12th St. The musical won four Tony Awards in 2008, including "Best Musical," and at its core deals with the conflict between first-generation immigrants to the United States and their first- and second-generation U.S. citizen children. Tickets are free for UNL students through the "Arts for All" program (http://marketplace.unl.edu/liedcenter/). Tickets are available to the public at various prices at www.liedcenter.org. In addition to the performance, UNL students will take part in a special post-show conversation on March 2 with the show's artists and will participate in music and dance workshops on March 3.

            IAS will also present the stage production, "This Is Tango Now: Identidad," on April 14, also at the Lied Center. "This is Tango Now" explores the issues of identity and willpower in a breathtaking performance told as a story, with powerful dancing, live music, lights and pure spectacle. Tickets are available at the Lied Center Ticket Office and online at www.liedcenter.org. Prices are $18 for adults and $9 for students/youth.

            Free public lectures offered as a part of IAS include:

• Feb. 16, 5:30 p.m. -- "Immigrants and Cities: Old and New Destinations," by Caroline Brettell, university distinguished professor of anthropology at Southern Methodist University, Jackie Gaughan Center, 15th and S streets; and
• April 5, 5:30 p.m. -- C. Daniel Dawson, artist, photographer and New York University faculty member, "WIDI MAMBO -- Listen to the Important Matter," Van Brunt Visitors Center, 313 N. 13th St.

            The Interdisciplinary Arts Symposium is sponsored by the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts, presented, in part, by the Lied Center for Performing Arts, and funded, in part, by the Hixson-Lied Endowment. IAS 2012 is supported by the Cooper Foundation. More information on all IAS 2012 events can be found at www.unl.edu/ias.

Writer: Shannon McClure