AMERICAN STUDIES Mark Morris Dance Group Sat, September 15 at 8 p.m.(Post-performance Q&A with Artistic Director Mark Morris) One of America’s preeminent modern dance companies. Performance includes live music. Carolina Chocolate Drops Sat, September 22 at 8 p.m. Grammy Award-winning all-black string and jug-band from North Carolina. Bringing to light the importance of African-Americans in the evolution of Americans in old-time, fiddle and banjo- based music. Hot 8 Brass Band Friday, September 28 at 8 p.m. (Post-performance Q&A with members of the Hot 8 Brass Band) Has epitomized New Orleans street music for over a decade. The band plays the traditional Second Line parades, infusing their performances with the funk and energy that makes New Orleans music loved around the world. Featured in HBO’s Treme and Spike Lee’s When the Levees Broke (being screened at the Quick on Sun, Sept. 23) and If God is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise. Glengarry Glen Ross Wed, October 3 - Sat, October 6 at 8 p.m. Written by David Mamet // Directed by Alistair Highet Presented by The Humanities Institute of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Charles F. Dolan School of Business, in collaboration with the Quick Center for the Arts In David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1984 play Glengarry Glen Ross, four desperate real estate agents are prepared to lie, bribe, steal, and betray one another and their clients in order to keep their jobs - a play about survival of the fittest in the workplace, and the most powerful indictment of the underside of the American dream since Death of a Salesman. The 2005 Broadway production won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. Student tickets are available for FREE until next Wed, Sept. 12. After that date, all tickets are release for public sale. New Duke Fri, October 12 at 7 p.m. & 9 p.m. (Post-performance discussion after the 9 p.m. set) Brian Torff is joined by Fairfield U jazz professors as they put a new spin on classics by Duke Ellington, one of the most important composers in American music. More info here. Ellis Marsalis Quartet presents A Very New Orleans Christmas Fri, December 7 at 8 p.m. (Discussion with Ellis Marsalis and students – time/date TBD) One of the premiere American modern jazz pianists and a winner of the NEA Jazz Master Award performs a Christmas concert with his quartet. Bang on a Can Sat, January 26 at 8 p.m. (pre-performance discussion at 7:15pm with the artistic directors) Founded in 1992 by three American composers, Bang on a Can All-Stars is at the forefront of new music today, freely crossing the boundaries between classical, jazz, rock, world, and new music. At The Quick they'll perform their newest evening-length project - Field Recordings - with specially commissioned new music and projections by some of the world's most questioning musical thinkers - from the indie pop world (Owen Pallett, Tyondai Braxton, Nick Zammuto from The Books), the art world (Christian Marclay), electronica (Mira Calix), and experimental classical (Michael Gordon, David Lang, Julia Wolfe, Evan Ziporyn), Brian Eno, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, Dave Longstreth of Dirty Projectors, and Bryce Dessner of The National. Rennie Harris Puremovement Fri, Feb. 22 at 8 p.m. (Free hip-hop master class on Thurs, Feb. 21 at 7pm) Choreographer and international ambassador of hip-hop dance Rennie Harris founded Rennie Harris Puremovement in 1992, after working with Run-DMC and Kurtis Blow. Puremovement's virtuosic dancers stretch brilliant street moves to high art in works that have helped to deconstruct popular perceptions of hip-hop dance on concert stages around the world. Stephanie Blythe (mezzo-soprano) in All American Song Fri, Feb. 1 at 8 p.m. (7:15 p.m. - Pre-performance discussion with Dr. Laura Nash, Fairfield University associate professor of music) Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe is one of the most critically-acclaimed artists of her generation (frequently seen performing center stage at the Met Opera, among other illustrious venues). A champion of American song, at the Quick Center, Ms. Blythe will perform a program which surveys the Tin Pan Alley era of American music, featuring the work of James Legg, Samuel Barber, Scott Joplin, and Irving Berlin, among others. SITI Company Fri, March 1 at 8pm (7:15 p.m. - Pre-performance discussion with Dr. Orin Grossman, Fairfield University professor emeritus // Post-performance Q & A with members of the cast and Dr. Marti LoMonaco, Fairfield University professor of theatre) Winner of seven Obie Awards, SITI Company is one of America’s leading theatre ensembles. Café Variations is a celebration of café culture, vignettes from Charles Mee's Café Plays combined with Gershwin's music from the American songbook. Incorporating dialogue, music, and dance, members of SITI Company create an iPod-like shuffle of scenes and songs, featuring the romantic vignettes and philosophical characters ubiquitous to the lively world of the café. In creating the piece, SITI utilized Erving Goffman’s Human Relationship Categories of Behavior to analyze the characters’ relationships with each other. Film: When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts Directed by Spike Lee Sun, Sept. 23 at 3 p.m. Spike Lee's intimate, heart-rending portrait of New Orleans in the wake of the destruction tells the heartbreaking personal stories of those who endured this harrowing ordeal and survived to tell the tale of misery, despair and triumph. The documentary looks at a community that has survived death, devastation and disease at every turn. Yet, somehow, amidst the ruins, the people of New Orleans are finding new hope and strength as the city rises from the ashes, buoyed by their own resilience and a rich cultural legacy. Features the Hot 8 Brass Band, a New Orleans legend, which will perform on Fri, Sept. 28. Film: Do the Right Thing Directed by Spike Lee Tues, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. What begins as an uproarious comedy evolves into a provocative, disquieting drama as director Spike Lee chronicles trivial events that bring festering racial tensions to the surface on a sweltering day in a largely black Brooklyn neighborhood. The film won numerous awards and accolades, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay and one for Danny Aiello for Best Supporting Actor. Film: Belly of the Basin A documentary by Tina Morton and Fairfield University assistant professor Roxana Walker- Canton (post-screening discussion/Q & A) Sun, April 14 at 3 p.m. Bombarded with sensationalized media coverage of Hurricane Katrina, audiences around the world watched as the media focused on the criminalization of African American survival as opposed to focusing on the overwhelming psychological and physical displacement and dislocation that the hurricane created for the black, indigenous, and poor communities affected by the hurricane. Through individual stories of survivors and volunteers, Belly of the Basin poses questions about the value of human life in relationship to race, class, and politics. Open VISIONS Forum: Lesley Stahl, “Inside 60 Minutes” Wed, Sept. 19 at 8 p.m. Lesley Stahl has been a 60 Minutes correspondent since March 1991. Her reporting of political and impactful stories has won countless Emmy awards throughout her career. Prior to joining 60 Minutes, Stahl served as CBS News White House correspondent during the Carter and Reagan presidencies and part of the term of George H. W. Bush. At the podium, Stahl discusses her professional and personal life as one of the first female television reporters. Stahl was first hired at CBS News in 1972, the same day that affirmative action was passed. Open VISIONS Forum: Dana Perino/Donna Brazile, “America at the Crossroads: Election 2012” Mon, Oct. 1 at 8 p.m. Dana Perino, the first female GOP White House Press Secretary and DNC spokesperson Donna Brazile take the stage together to discuss the upcoming election. Open VISIONS Forum: Barry Lewis, “New York City: Past + Present / Fact + Fiction” Mon, Feb. 11 at 8 p.m. Architectural historian Barry Lewis is also an acclaimed speaker, teacher, and author. Among many projects, Lewis is known for his WNET Channel 13 series of video walks co-hosted with David Hartman, including 42nd Street, Broadway; Harlem; Brooklyn; Greenwich Village; and Central Park. Lewis is one of the most sought-after tour guides and will share with us a panoramic view of the city he loves and the people who make it work. ASIAN STUDIES National Circus of the People’s Republic of China – Cirque Chinois Fri, Nov. 2 at 8 p.m. Founded in 1953, The National Circus of the People's Republic of China is one of the longest running and most distinguished circus troupes in China. The company has won more than 20 Gold and Silver medals and various other awards at international circus festivals including the Monte Carlo International Circus Festival, Cirque de Demain, Wuqiao International Circus Festival, Wuhan International Circus Festival and China National Acrobatic Competition. Helen Hwaya Kim & Friends – An Evening in France and Spain Sat, May 4 at 8 p.m. (educational activities TBA) Korean-American Helen Kim is one of the most dynamic and exciting violinists performing in America today, and will be presenting music of France and Spain. BIOLOGY Open VISIONS Forum: Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, “This Just In: Latest Discoveries in the Universe” Mon, April 22 at 8 p.m. Dr. Tyson is an astrophysicist, science communicator, the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space, and a research associate in the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History.