As the nation marks the birth bicentennial of our 16th president, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company's Serenade/The Proposition is a lively, colorful rumination on the nature of history that focuses on the achievements of Abraham Lincoln. During the work, the refrain "It could be said that history is..." emerges and lays bare our connection to the history of our country.

Video projections fill an iconic set of movable columns that evoke the architecture of history: the White House, the Parthenon, or the ballroom of an elegant plantation parlor. The spare staging is occupied by a cast of turbulent dancers in exquisite costumes performing flowing movements that regularly assemble into moments of still portrait like postcards from the past. The original score draws from Mozart's Requiem, Battle Hymn of the Republic, and Dixie to create a contemporary, playful, musical collage for cello, piano, and soprano.

The Fine Arts Center is proud to bring this important work to the Concert Hall. For more information and to order tickets to the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company performance on Thursday, November 5 at 7:30 PM, see the FAC website or call the Box Office at 545-2511 or 1-800-999-UMAS.

The Bollywood film Om Shanti Om was a big hit with Amherst Audiences. Join us for another extravaganza on Saturday, November 7, 8:00 PM at the Fine Arts Center Concert Hall, when the Asian Arts & Culture Program presents Kehkashaan Live, Washington DC's hottest Bollywood band. This extraordinary eight member band with male and female vocalists, guitars, keyboards, and drums from around the world delivers a high-energy rocking good time.

Audiences young and old in western Massachusetts crowded into the Amherst Cinema Arts Center on a cold and rainy afternoon for the Valley's first screening of Om Shanti Om, a Bollywood extravaganza. Presented in partnership with the Amherst Arts Cinema, "the film was great fun—the audience was laughing and seemed to be really enjoying themselves," said Carol Johnson, Executive Director of the Amherst Cinema Arts Center. "It was such a wonderful explosion of color and music."

If you missed the film (or are craving more Bollywood!) you'll have another chance to experience the Bollywood phenomenon with Kehkashaan Live.

Opening for the Kehkashaan Band will be the UMass Fusion Dance Team, whose dancers will groove Bollywood dance style to popular Bollywood film tunes. The orchestra pit will be available for any folks who want to show off their hip thrust, quick dip, step and touch that exemplifies the Bollywood style!

Sunday, November 8, 2:00 – 4:30 PM, Concert Hall Lobby, free and open to all ages!

An interactive circus adventure appropriate for a wide range of skill levels and ages. Participants can partake in the entire workshop or leave at any point. Equipment to be taught may include, but is not limited to: juggling scarves, balls, rings, and clubs, spinning plates, devil sticks, diablos, feathers, hula hoops, and jump ropes. Plus, human stunts such as clowning and entertaining tricks for all will be taught. A former international performer with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Troy Wunderle is the founder of Wunderle's Big Top Circus and is the Big Top Tour Director of Circus Smirkus in Vermont.

Wunderle's Big Top Workshop is presented in anticipation of the appearance of Cirque Mechanics in Birdhouse Factory: an extraordinary troupe of Cirque du Soleil, Pickle Family Circus, and Moscow Circus veterans who transform the mundane into the magnificent. Cirque Mechanics will perform at the Fine Arts Center Concert Hall on Tuesday, November 10 at 7:30 PM.

For more information on Wunderle's Big Top Workshop, see www.bigtopadventures.com. Information and tickets for the November 8 performance by Cirque Mechanics are available at the FAC website.

Date: Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Time: 5:30 – 7:30 PM
Location: University Gallery

Rob Pruitt, whose conceptual practice is rooted in a pop sensibility and a playful critique of art world structures, has come to be viewed by many critics as one of the most relevant artists of our time. His most recent work, iPruitt (2008), is currently on display in the University Gallery's Connecting the Dots…. The Warhol Legacy: Tom Friedman, Ellen Gallagher, Vik Muniz, Rob Pruitt exhibition through December 13th.

Pruitt has re-conceived his scheduled lecture as a performance-based artwork for a discussion of his iPruitt exhibition in the University Gallery.

iPruitt is a stream-of-consciousness photo diary created with an iPhone that captures Rob Pruitt's lifestyle, his travels, his moments of intimacy, and moments of voyeurism. Most of all, iPruitt captures the artist's sense of humor and ability to extract details from his surroundings and transform them into statements. Rob Pruitt is represented by the gallery Gavin Brown Enterprises in New York.

FAC Honorary Board Member and Emmy-winning producer Michael Haley '65 will discuss Reality, Morality and Mortality in the Arts on Thursday, October 29 at 4:00 PM in the Memorial Hall lobby as part of the Alumni Association's Eleanor Bateman Alumni Scholar in Residence program. The culmination of a four-day residency, Haley will be working with students and faculty in Theater, Communications, Film, Music, and the Fine Arts Center's The Lively Arts, a general education class serving over 200 students. The public is welcome to attend the 4:00 PM talk, but registration is requested.

As a successful actor, director, and producer (A League of Their Own, Angels in America, Working Girl, Charlie Wilson's War) Haley will give you an insider's look at the behind the scenes action of creating movies and television shows. He will share his insights on a long career "living the life" in Hollywood.

Register online to hear this award-winning, nationally prominent personality speak on campus!

Immediately following the talk, all guests will have the opportunity to visit with Mr. Haley at a complimentary reception.