After many spending many hours in preparation and rehearsal, the BYU Ballroom Dance Company will travel abroad for its 2013 performance tour, May 24—June 17. Every three years the dance company competes in the prestigious Blackpool Dance Festival in England. This year, the group will compete in the competition and will also perform in 10 additional performances across England, Germany, and Switzerland. The Blackpool Dance Festival is an annual competition that draws the best ballroom teams and dancers from around the world. In 2010 the modern formation team from BYU returned home with its 11th win while the Latin formation team earned its 12th win. Although we know the competition will be high, we hope the hard work of the company will once again pay off. For more information regarding BYU performing groups, visit pam.byu.edu. To book a performance, contact Performing Arts Management at (801) 422-3576 or perform@byu.edu.

The 2013-2014 Brigham Young University Performing Arts Series launches a new season with a new name – BRAVO! – featuring a dynamic roster of celebrated guest artists, as well as a new contemporary theatre initiative – OFF THE MAP – showcasing an eclectic mix of work from across the globe. From the theatre scene in Iran to the music of New York City’s famed Carnegie Hall, the 2013-14 season welcomes to campus one of the most exciting groups of dancers, theatre performers and musicians in BYU history. Most performances will begin at 7:30 p.m. Individual tickets will be available at the Fine Arts Ticket Office, (801) 422-4322 or at byuarts.com/tickets. Season ticket packages will be available for purchase beginning Tuesday, May 28; new subscribers may also submit order forms at this time. Ticket orders will be filled beginning May 28 in the order they are received. The BRAVO! schedule: Fall 2013 Audra McDonald, renowned singer and actress with unparalleled breadth and versatility, will start off the season Thursday and Friday, Sept. 5-6, in the de Jong Concert Hall. Winner of five Tony Awards and two Grammy Awards, she is one of today’s most highly regarded performers. Blessed with a luminous soprano and an incomparable gift for dramatic truth-telling, she is equally at home on Broadway and opera stages as on film and television. Single ticket sales begin July 25. Hexnut, a modern band of five soloists, comes to BYU to present “Wrench — A Choreography Between Music and Image” Wednesday, Sept. 25, in the de Jong Concert Hall. Hexnut mixes the styles, sounds and playing techniques of contemporary classical, jazz, metal, improvisation and cartoon music. “Wrench” will blend a program of new music and the images of award-winning photographer Edward Burtynsky into a performance of integrated sound and projected image. The compositions by Jan-Bas Bollen, David Dramm, Anthony Fiumara, Ned McGowan, Mayke Nas, Seung-Ah Oh, Felipe Waller and BYU music professor Steve Ricks combine into a single set without pause. Admission is free. Also “Edward Burtynsky: The Industrial Sublime,” an exhibition of the artist’s work, will be on display at the BYU Museum of Art through Nov. 16, 2013. Admission is free. Frank Wildhorn, pop music songwriter and Broadway composer (“The Scarlet Pimpernel,” “Jekyll & Hyde,” “The Civil War,” “Wonderland” and “Bonnie & Clyde”), will take the audience on a concert journey through his celebrated catalog of music Thursday, Oct. 3, in the de Jong Concert Hall. A trio of Broadway and recording artists with Wildhorn at the piano, “Frank Wildhorn and Friends” will celebrate the man’s greatest songs in a personal and thrilling way. This multi-Grammy and Tony Award-nominated composer and producer's work spans popular, theatrical and classical music. Artists who have recorded and performed Wildhorn’s music include Whitney Houston (the international hit'Where Do Broken Hearts Go?'), Natalie Cole, Kenny Rogers, Sammy Davis Jr., Liza Minnelli, Julie Andrews, Freddie Jackson and more. Single ticket sales begin Aug. 26. The Zagreb Saxophone Quartet from Croatia will perform Wednesday, Oct. 30 in the Madsen Recital Hall. With a repertoire ranging from Bach to Gershwin and Mozart to Bernstein, Croatia’s esteemed classical woodwind ensemble has become a premier interpreter of new and established works for saxophone. The Zagreb Saxophone Quartet is renowned for their exceptional musicality, interpretative focus and technical supremacy and has performed in more than 20 countries since the quartet’s formation in 1989. After a five-year absence, the group returns to BYU with special guest and master saxophonist Eugene Rousseau. Single ticket sales begin Sept. 30. Austria’s Salzburg Marionette Theatre will present “The Sound of Music” Friday and Saturday, Nov. 1-2 and “Hansel and Gretel” Saturday, Nov. 2, in the de Jong Concert Hall. To experience the Salzburg Marionettes is to witness the beauty and magic of a group rarely seen outside of Europe. For 100 years the company has performed dramatic presentations utilizing the remarkable life-like movements of its elaborate costumed, two-foot tall, string-manipulated puppets on lavish backdrops set to beautiful recorded music. Featuring a skilled ensemble of behind-the-scenes professional puppeteers, the performance presents the charm and wonder of a long-standing European tradition in a fresh, exciting way. Single ticket sales begin Sept. 30. Joshua Bell, whom the Boston Herald praised as “the greatest American violinist active today,” will perform Thursday, Nov. 14, in the de Jong Concert Hall. Often referred to as the “poet of the violin,” Bell is one of the world’s most celebrated violinists. His restless curiosity, passion, universal appeal and multi-faceted musical interests have earned him the rare title of “classical music superstar.” Bell has played recitals in the most esteemed venues across the globe, including his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 17. He can be heard on numerous recordings, including his latest release “French Impressions” and film scores, including the 2009 film “Angels and Demons”. In 2007, Bell performed incognito in a Washington, D.C. subway station for a Washington Post story by Gene Weingarten examining art and context. The story earned Weingarten a Pulitzer Prize and sparked an international discussion about perception and priorities. Single ticket sales begin Oct. 14. Winter 2014 The Utah Symphony returns to BYU with a program of classical masterworks featuring guest conductor Matthias Pintscher and pianist Inon Barnatan Thursday, Jan. 9, in the de Jong Concert Hall. The symphony will play Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8, and Matthias Pintscher’s “Towards Osiris.” Single ticket sales begin Dec. 9. China’s Golden Dragon Acrobats visits BYU with “Cirque ZÁva,” a technically innovative show featuring a large athletic cast and spectacular scenic and lighting elements, Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 6-8, in the de Jong Concert Hall. With superb artistic merit, high production values and a solid commitment to cultural exchange, “Cirque ZÁva” demonstrates why the Golden Dragon Acrobats have been recognized as the preeminent Chinese acrobatic company touring the United States. Filled with contemporary music, impressive acrobatics, theatrical enhancements and Chinese traditional dance, “Cirque ZÁva” promises to thrill the young and the young at heart. Single ticket sales begin Dec. 9. John Lithgow, world-renowned actor, presents “Stories by Heart,” featuring works by P.G. Wodehouse and Ring Lardner Friday, Feb. 28, in the de Jong Concert Hall. Following his triumphant appearances at New York’s Lincoln Center and London’s National Theatre, the Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning actor offers a touching and humorous reflection on storytelling as the tie that binds humanity. Invoking memories of his grandmother and father before him, Lithgow traces his roots as an actor and storyteller, interspersing his own story with two tales that were read aloud to him and his siblings when they were children — 'Uncle Fred Flits By' by P.G. Wodehouse and 'Haircut' by Ring Lardner. In the first, a fretful young Englishman is taken on a wild afternoon escapade in suburban London by his irrepressible uncle. In a hilarious tour de force, Lithgow performs with zany abandon, portraying ten distinct, outrageous characters (including a parrot). By contrast, 'Haircut' is a darkly comic look at Midwestern American implacability. Single ticket sales begin Dec. 9. The Diavolo Dance Theater will perform Wednesday, March 19, in the de Jong Concert Hall. Internationally renowned for the unique way in which it reinvents dance, reimagines theatre and redefines thrills, Diavolo Dance Theater takes movement, athletics and daring to the extreme, creating abstract narratives about the human experience through surreal tableaux. The company has an extensive performance history in its home city of Los Angeles, as well as throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia and Latin America. In more than 14 seasons of touring, Diavolo has performed for hundreds of thousands of concertgoers worldwide, as well as millions more on television. For its BYU debut, the company will present two of its most celebrated and exciting pieces, “Transit Space” and “Trajectoire.” Single ticket sales begin Feb. 18. The OFF THE MAP BYU International Theatre Festival schedule: Winter 2014 Iran’s Leev Theater Group will present “Hamlet, Prince of Grief” Thursday through Saturday, Jan. 23-25, in the Margetts Theatre. Household objects and children’s toys are used to play out a domestic and political history of betrayal and death as Shakespeare’s tragic hero comes to terms with his violent fate through an obsessive retelling of the moments preceding the tragedy. “Hamlet, Prince of Grief” was first presented in Iran by Leev Theater Group, featuring acclaimed Iranian actor Afshin Hashemi. It was chosen as Iran’s Best Theater Group by the Critics and Writers Association of Iran’s Theater House and was named Tehran’s Best Theater Group by the Dramatic Arts Center. Single ticket sales begin Dec. 9. The Theatre Ad Infinitum will perform “Translunar Paradise” Thursday through Saturday, Jan. 23-25, in the Pardoe Theatre. “Translunar Paradise” takes audiences on a journey of life, death and enduring love. After his wife, Rose, passes away, William escapes to a paradise of fantasy and memories, a place far from the reality of his grief. Returning from beyond the grave, Rose revisits her widowed companion to perform one last act of love: to help him let go. With live accordion accompaniment, this exquisite piece of mask and movement theatre was a multi-award winning, critically acclaimed sellout at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2011. Theatre Ad Infinitum is an award-winning international ensemble based in London, developing new and original theatre for a multi-cultural audience. Single ticket sales begin Dec. 9. Australia’s Perth Theatre Company will present “Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer” Thursday through Saturday, Jan. 23-25, in the Nelke Theatre. This multi-award-winning one-man micro-epic puppet show melds technology and multimedia into a touching story of enduring love and the end of the world. Creator and performer, Tim Watts employs a unique blend of mime, puppetry, live and recorded music, and live animation to present an exploration of the oldest and next frontier: the deep blue sea. The seas have risen, billions of people have died and those who are left live on farms on mountaintop skyscrapers. The scientists have tried everything. Floating islands sank, space probes found nothing, and the giant sponges, visible from the moon, are now rotting icons of failure. Now science and humanity are turning to the oceans. A last ditch effort to save the human race requires journeying down through the mysterious depths of the deep blue sea to find a new place to live. These are the dire circumstances that surround the tale’s central hero, Alvin Sputnik. Having just lost his wife, Alvin accepts this perilous mission to follow her soul down to the underworld to be with her once more. Single ticket sales begin Dec. 9. For more information, contact Jeff Martin, (801) 422-6340 or visit byuarts.com. Source: BYU News

For many of the students in the group, the Central America Tour seemed so far away. After many hours of practice and regional shows, the moment everyone had been waiting for had now come. As usual, Living Legends started their tour off by meeting at the Richards Building. After weighing everyone's bags to make sure they met the 22-pound requirement they loaded the bus headed for the SLC Airport. Once at the airport the group began to check-in all the costumes, props and tech equipment at Delta Airlines. Thanks to John Shurtleff's years of experience and his tech crew, check-in was quick and well organized. After two flights, a stop at LAX, and a red-eye flight to Guatemala, the group had finally arrived.

Week one of The Young Ambassadors' eighth visit to China was full of surprises. After traveling for over twenty hours from Salt Lake City, sponsors with the China Performing Arts Agency greeted the group with an unexpected challenge upon landing in the Beijing Airport. They informed the group that all of the props, equipment and musical instruments which had been transported by ship to Tianjin would not be released by Customs officials in time for the first major performance in Beijing.

The Young Ambassadors’ three-week tour of China is now a week underway, and already they have met with great success.

The Society of Professional Journalists recognized BYU broadcast journalism students today in their annual Mark of Excellence Awards. ElevenNEWS at Noon was named the Best All-Around Television Newscast in the country and Brittani Good was named a finalist in Television Sports Reporting for her story on ultimate frisbee, “Ultimate Thrill.” The Mark of Excellence Awards honors outstanding student journalism at colleges and universities. According to their website, more than 4,600 entries were submitted this year by students from many different colleges and universities. ElevenNEWS is a student newscast that broadcasts daily from their lab in the Brimhall Building. The lab contains 20 student work stations high-tech software and a news set with ParkerVision computer controlled cameras. ElevenNEWS is sponsored by the BYU Department of Communications and the College of Fine Arts and Communications.

528 bachelor’s and 35 master’s students were graduated from the College of Fine Arts and Communications last week, concluding years of dedicated study at Brigham Young University.

Issues about women’s work and gender roles have recently been at the forefront of Utah’s news media, and an upcoming contemporary art exhibition at the Brigham Young University Museum of Art will weigh in on the topic.

The Young DanceMakers of Brigham Young University will present “Tell Me a Story” during their annual “Evening of Dance” Friday and Saturday, May 17-18, at 7:30 p.m. in the de Jong Concert Hall, Harris Fine Arts Center.

On Tuesday, May 7, the Wheatley Institution welcomes philosopher Roger Scruton, who will present the final lecture in the Wheatley Institution lecture series on Science, Scientism, and the Public Good. Scruton’s lecture, “Scientism and the Humanities,” will be held at 4 p.m. in the Harold B. Lee Library Auditorium. Members of the College of Fine Arts and Communications will be particularly interested in this lecture, as Scruton has written extensively about the arts and aesthetics, including his 1997 book, The Aesthetics of Music. Scruton is a†¨senior research fellow of†¨Blackfriars Hall, Oxford†¨and a visiting research†¨professor at St Andrews†¨University, Scotland. He†¨is well known on both†¨sides of the Atlantic as a†¨prolific writer and public†¨intellectual, author of over†¨thirty books, including†¨works of criticism, political†¨theory and aesthetics,†¨as well as novels and short stories. In addition to his authoritative compendia, Modern Philosophy: An Introduction and Survey (1994), and A Dictionary of Political Thought (3rd Edition, 2007), Scruton has written three important studies in applied philosophy: The Aesthetics of Architecture (1979), Sexual Desire (1986) and The Aesthetics of Music (1997). Scruton is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, the European Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the British Academy. He lives with his wife and two children in Malmesbury, England.

Ryan Holmes, director of Digital Media Group at BYU Broadcasting, will give an address titled 'The Truth of All Things' at the Brigham Young University campus devotional Tuesday, May 7, at 11:05 a.m. in Joseph Smith Auditorium.

Comedic animated short caps 10 years of national accomplishment for the programRecent animation grad Lauren Taylor will add to the well-stocked BYU Center for Animation trophy case after winning first place in the animation category last weekend for Estefan at the 34th College Television Awards.It’s the 12th College Television Award, commonly called a “student Emmy,” in the last 10 years for the animation program.During that decade BYU students were awarded for other animated favorites like Pajama Gladiator, Kites and DreamGiver, providing a tradition of excellence for future students to follow.“Winning an Emmy is awesome,” said Taylor, producer of Estefan. “The animation program has a long history of entering the student Emmys. It’s kind of a relief that we can continue that tradition and heritage and hit that benchmark that we set for ourselves.”Estefan is a six-minute 3D animated short. The production was a senior project that took two years in the making and included the work of anywhere from 25-40 different students at any given time.Some of the past BYU animation films have had much heavier thematic elements, but Estefan’s lightheartedness allowed the animators to go much more over the top.“Animation lends itself to exaggeration, and Estefan is all about exaggeration,” said story and layout lead Lauren Oppenlander.Estefan the character, Oppenlander’s brainchild, is a Spanish hairdresser. But more than that, he’s an artiste. He’s the best hairdresser in the world, and he knows it. In the short, Estefan is faced with a challenge he’s never faced before when a woman walks into his salon and has no hair. His search for a solution for her takes some outside-the-box thinking on his part and makes for some entertaining viewing.In preparing to animate Estefan, the students examined film of flamenco dancing to capture certain movements and expressions. They also looked at bull fighters. Every little aspect was scrutinized.“People are always surprised that a five-minute film could take two years to make,” Taylor said. “But because we’re not filming live action, we need to create a person and an environment and all of the little objects that are in their environment.”The process of creating Estefan was an invaluable learning experience for the students as they were able to mirror how a professional studio would work. In fact, DreamWorks, Pixar and Sony served as mentors on the project. Recruiters from all three studios asked if they could help after seeing Estefanand worked very closely with the students, providing feedback and coaching.According to Kelly Loosli, head of the animation program and theatre and media arts assistant professor, this sort of experience is setting his students up for success in the future. The program has a history of placing graduates consistently in the top studios in the business. He said the key is in the collaboration. Students are able to work together, as a team extensively, putting away egos and working for a common goal.In Estefan, Loosli said he saw the group come together quickly, work extremely hard and have a lot of fun in the process.“I think there are a number of factors that make it an emmy winner,” Loosli said. “I think this is probably the best character animation we’ve ever put into an animated film, which is unique for us because we don’t really focus on character animation in our program. And then secondarily, I think it’s the most solid story in terms of the way that it’s structured, the way it sets up, builds and then pays off.” About the BYU Center for Animation Established in 2008, the BYU Center for Animation operates under the direction of two colleges–the College of Fine Arts and Communications and the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. The animation major is intended to provide students with the skill sets necessary for success in the animation, live-action, special effects and game industry with emphasis on both the artistic and technological avenues. The computer science animation emphasis gives students the opportunity to learn both the technical and artistic side of creating and implementing digital animation and games, preparing them for technical careers with animation and game programming studios.Source: BYU News