Panel Discussion & Performance
Sunday, February 22, 2015 │3 PM
Brooks Concert Hall
Free and open to public. Closest parking available at Loyola Lot.
From February 20-24, 2015, ATB hosts a group of young women performers from Aceh, Indonesia, on the first stop of their first-ever US tour that includes Wesleyan University, Wellesley College and the Asia Society in New York. Their dances, inherited from their ancestors, are stunning in their synchronicity and include rhythmic body percussion and the singing of both Islamic liturgical and folk texts, accompanied by percussion. The dancers are between the ages of 14 and 24, and are associated with the Syiah Kuala University, located in Banda Aceh, the capital of the Aceh province on the western Indonesian island of Sumatra. The dances are some of the best illustrations of the trans-cultural blending of Islamic and Indonesian culture. Originally performed by men, the dances were taught to women in the 20th century and in some districts are forbidden.
PANEL DISCUSSION preceding the performance will be moderated by Lynn Kremer, Professor, Theatre, with panelists:
Dr. Eka Srimulyani, Faculty member, Arts and Humanities at the Islamic State University of Ar-Raniry, Banda Aceh, Indonesia; author of Women from Traditional Islamic Educational Institutions in Indonesia: Negotiating Public Spaces (University of Amsterdam Press, 2012)
Maho Ishiguro, Ph.D. candidate, Ethnomusicology, Wesleyan University
Ari Palawi, Ph. D. candidate, Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Additional media:
Co-sponsored with the Asian Studies program and funded in part by the Expeditions program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional support from the six New England state arts agencies.
The U.S. tour of Tari Aceh! Is organized by Wesleyan University’s Center for the Arts and The Asia Society on the occasion of the 2015-16 Muslim Women’s Voices at Wesleyan. It is made possible with leadership support from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters: Building Bridges: Campus Community Engagement Grants Program, a component of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art.