The Brandeis Improv Festival is a weekend long celebration of spontaneous creativity and it's increasingly vital role in modern life. Through performances, workshops and seminars across the Brandeis campus, the Brandeis Improv Festival invites
you to explore the ways that improvisation enlivens the arts and sciences; inspires individual and group creativity; encourages cultural evolution and revolution; and invigorates everything from our personal relationships to the way we see the world.
All events are FREE and open to the public. All events to be held at Slosberg Music Center at Brandeis University (415 South Street, Waltham, Ma) except where noted. BIF is sponsored by the Brandeis Arts Council. Artistic Director, Tom Hall....
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The Brandeis Improv Festival is a weekend long celebration of spontaneous creativity and it's increasingly vital role in modern life. Through performances, workshops and seminars across the Brandeis campus, the Brandeis Improv Festival invites
you to explore the ways that improvisation enlivens the arts and sciences; inspires individual and group creativity; encourages cultural evolution and revolution; and invigorates everything from our personal relationships to the way we see the world.
All events are FREE and open to the public. All events to be held at Slosberg Music Center at Brandeis University (415 South Street, Waltham, Ma) except where noted. BIF is sponsored by the Brandeis Arts Council. Artistic Director, Tom Hall.
11:00 a.m. Keynote Speaker: Milford Graves
A talk by legendary improviser, drummer, healer and polymath Milford Graves.
1:00 p.m. Action Theater with Sarah Hickler
Tune into the present moment and find artful, spontaneous expression through movement, voice and language in this Action Theater workshop with performer, director, movement specialist and theater educator Sarah Hickler.
What are the connections between creativity, learning and improvisation? That’s the subject of this panel discussion with Contemporary Art historian Peter Kalb, improvising musician and educator Tom Hall, movement specialist and theater educator Sarah Hickler, and neuroscientist Eric Rosenbaum from MIT MediaLab.
5:00 p.m. Turntables as an Instrument
This exciting workshop with DJs Mister Rourke and Axel Foley exposes students to the art form of using the turntable as a musical instrument, offering an opportunity for music enthusiasts to learn how to DJ, from mixing and blending to scratching and beat juggling. Students will receive a DJ history lesson, equipment/cost description, review turntablist fundamentals, learn techniques and explore the latest terminology and technology. There will be a Q & A session, as well as a “hands on” opportunity for interested students to test out their own turntable skills.
6:30 p.m. Makey Makey Playshop
Experience new technologies at the intersection of music, improvisation, play and learning with neuroscientist, musician and educator Eric Rosenbaum. He believes that everyone is creative, inventive, and imaginative. He believes that everyone can create the future and change the world. So he's dedicated his life to making easy-to-use invention kits.
7:00 p.m. Brandeis Improv Festival Dance Party
The Brandeis Improv Festival Dance Party brings you a mashup of dance music from the past, present and future. Featuring the old world grooves of Guttmann’s Klezmer All Stars, turntable innovators Mister Rourke and Axel Foley, and the Moroccan dosed dub-trance-electronica excursions of Club d’Elf; along with the live video art of Greg Kowalski, and special guest dancers.
7:00 p.m. Guttmann’s Klezmer All Stars with Mimi Rabson-Violin, Michael McLaughlin-Keyboards, Accordion, Jim Guttmann-Bass, Grant Smith-Drums
8:00 p.m. DJs Mister Rourke & Axel Foley with video projection artist Greg Kowalski
10:00 p.m. Club d’Elf with Mister Rourke-Turntables, Tom Hall-Saxophone, Paul Schultheis-Keyboards, Mike Rivard - Bass, Dean Johnston-Drums
For more information: www.freeimprovisation.com
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