Cal State Long Beach has no shortage of entertaining events scheduled throughout the Spring 2014 semester.
Whether you like music, art or theatre, students at CSULB will have a large selection of activities to choose from. The first few weeks alone have enough variety to entice the most hard-to-please students.
Last semester, the Carpenter Performing Arts Center launched Arts for Life, a comprehensive education program that provides interactive, wide-ranging arts activities for all ages. The goal of Arts for Life is to provide opportunities and access to arts experiences for everyone in the Carpenter Center area. These experiences are accessible regardless of age, education and economic capability.
According to Amanda Meek, the education coordinator at the Carpenter Center, “there is a need in the community and on campus to be exposed to the arts, and the response has been overwhelming.”
The first Arts for Life event of the year, Shakespeare Aloud, will be held on Saturday. Students and members of the community are invited to attend and participate in reading parts of Shakespeare’s classics throughout the year.
Later that evening, the Carpenter Center will host The Irish Rovers’ Long Farewell Tour. The Irish Rovers are best-known for their drinking songs and original ballads. The band is set to retire in 2015, so this will be one of the last chances to catch one of their exciting shows.
In the fall semester, the Carpenter Center and the Martha B. Knoebel Dance Theatre hosted some exciting dance performances, including performances from the renowned Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company in October.
This spring, talented individuals in CSULB’s dance program and respected dance companies such as the Ate9 Dance Company, will continue to drive the campus’ efforts to provide quality dance performances accessible to all students.
Once again, the popular student- and faculty-choreographed dance concerts will make their way to the stage. The 2014 Contemporary Dance concert is a presentation of choreography by undergraduate choreographers and will showcase from Feb. 13 to Feb. 15.
In March, a second performance is scheduled by the MFA students. In celebration of 20 years of dance in the CSULB Dance Center, CSULB Dance will present an evening of original dances choreographed by the faculty and guest artist.
With showings from the Glenn Miller Orchestra, SIRO-A The Digital Experiment and the Stunt Dog Experience, there won’t be any shortage of entertainment on campus.
Beginning next week, the University Art Museum will feature “Materials and Applications: Building Something (Beyond) Beautiful, Projects 2002-2013,” with an opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. on Saturday.
The UAM partners with Materials and Applications, an experimental architecture and design organization, to present two projects: the exhibit inside the UAM as well as an architectural installation on the north end of campus. The structure is to be fittingly named MatterApp: Pyramidial. CSULB alumni as well as design students collaborated with M&A to assemble the well meditated installation.
The line-up of performances and exhibits for the spring semester is brimming with talent. Whether you’re in the mood for a few art shows, watching some outstanding dance performances or reading Shakespeare in a large group, CSULB is the place to be for access to the arts.
For a full calendar of this semester’s events scheduled on campus as well as ticket pricing and information, visit the Carpenter Center web site at www.carpenterarts.org, The Martha B. Knoebel Dance Theatre website at www.csulb.edu/depts/dance/performance.html, and the UAM website at www.csulb.edu/org/uam/.