The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center

Interview with Walter Dallas: Changing the World with Chekhovian Passion and Love

Last year, Walter Dallas, the Senior Artist-in-Residence for the UMD School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies, directed his first play at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, an adaptation of Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye. Now he prepares for his next production from February 25 to March 5, Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull.

The first of Chekhov’s four major plays, The Seagull was first staged in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1896.

Erica Philpot: Post-Show Blog for Am I Black Enough Yet?

I’m currently a sophomore theatre performance major here at UMD, and I didn’t hear about Am I Black Enough Yet? until last semester when I learned that the theatre department was doing the show. I wanted to learn more about it because it sounded interesting — but more so, after reading the script, I knew I wanted to audition for it, because it addressed many questions I’ve had in my own life.

The script addressed many questions I’ve had in my own life.

Interview with Leon Major: The Power of Art and the Power of Magic

The first Spanish-language opera to be commissioned by major United States opera houses, Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas premiered in 1996 and has been presented by less than a dozen companies.

Although it’s a rarely performed work, Maryland Opera Studio director Leon Major knew that the current class of singers in the Studio would be an outstanding fit for the roles and music in Florencia — and now it’s coming to the stage at the Center November 19–23, 2010.

Interview with Daniel Phoenix Singh: Touching Hearts, Tackling Issues and Inspiring Audiences

Daniel Phoenix Singh — who earned his BA and MFA in Dance from UMD — returns with his company, Dakshina, to remount four works by one of the most dynamic and uncompromising figures in American modern dance, Anna Sokolow.

Recently Singh shared his thoughts with us on returning to his alma mater, working with Lorry May and Sokolow’s influence on the modern dance world.

Interview with KJ Sanchez: Directing Feel-Good Theatre at a University

KJ Sanchez is the guest director of Enchanted April, the debut performance of the UMD School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies.

We recently asked KJ some questions about the play and the UM students she’s directing.

Interview with choreographer Liz Lerman & physicist Bill Dorland: Rearranging the Way We Think About Things

Choreographer Liz Lerman and physicist Bill Dorland sat down together in the Dance Exchange studio in July for a wide-ranging conversation about our season opener, The Matter of Origins (Sept. 10 & 12) — where the project has taken them, what new ideas it has revealed and how it has affected their thinking about their own fields.

Interview with Choreographer Lauren Withhart: Femininity within the Architecture of the Body

Each year, third-year students in the Dance MFA program present their thesis concerts. In October 2010, we present Lauren Withhart’s They are of threaded glass.

Withhart recently shared with us the meaning of her concert’s title and explained how she will use the performance space to give each audience member a unique experience.

Interviews with Angel Gil-Ordóñez & Joseph Horowitz: Reintroducing Gershwin to American Audiences

This fall the Post-Classical Ensemble brings The Gershwin Project: Russian Gershwin to the Clarice Smith Center on September 24. Featuring Russian pianists Genadi Zagor and Vakhtang Kodanashvili, the program focuses on four pieces by the iconic American composer that straddle the worlds of classical, pop, jazz and folk music — Rhapsody in Blue, Three Preludes, Concerto in F and Cuban Overture.

Placing Space

Interdisciplinary exchange is vital to any creative endeavor. This concept took on new meaning in June 2006, when the Clarice Smith Center brought together established visiting choreographers Dana Reitz and Bebe Miller with Visiting Associate Professor Ronit Eisenbach from the School of Architecture, Planning, & Preservation.

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Placing Space