Play Hard Play Hard is a multicultural art project that combines thought-provoking theatre with global music from the Middle East & beyond. Play Hard Play Hard disrupts the traditional conversation around cultures whose names one encounters often only in the news. It is an invitation to experience a culture beyond the headlines. Play Hard Play Hard has two parts: one play & one party. It first challenges you to join the conversation through a play that poses complex questions about cultural identities and realities. It, then, invites you to a party filled with dancing and vibrant music by DJs who bring their cultural rhythms and sounds to life. Come join Play Hard Play Hard on Feb 8th at the Virgil.

A play. A party. An invitation to experience a culture beyond the headlines.

Master Classes are in-depth, interactive learning experiences focused on craft and career building and led by renowned industry experts. Topics include fiction and documentary filmmaking, TV writing and production, and navigating and succeeding in the entertainment industry. 

What do Bottle Rocket, Whiplash, and Honk for Jesus, Save Your Soul have in common? All three films started out as shorts before being reimagined and expanded into feature-length films. One of the best ways to showcase your craft as a filmmaker is to write and direct a short film. Over the years, many independent filmmakers have used their short as a proof-of-concept and learning opportunity for a feature-length project. But how do you make that leap from short to feature? What should you consider creatively? How do you leverage the success of your short to find opportunities for financing? In our live, interactive three-hour Master Class, twin sisters/filmmakers Adamma and Adanne Ebo will guide you through the journey from short to feature, sharing the journey from award-winning short film to their critically acclaimed feature film Honk for Jesus, Save Your Soul (SFF ‘22) as a case study.

Topics covered include:

• Crafting your short film as a proof of concept for a feature
• Understanding each format’s strengths and weaknesses
• Expanding your story and character arcs (and letting things go)
• Financing your feature
• Building an audience through your shortlist of donors
• Evaluating attachments for cast and crew
• Production considerations when setting up your feature

If you have a disability and require accommodation in order to fully participate in this event, please complete this form, contact us at (435) 776-7790 or email us at [email protected] to discuss your specific needs. Every effort will be made to accommodate advance requests; requests made within 5 days of the event may not be guaranteed.

More info HERE.

The Sundance Episodic Program is an entry point for emerging scripted fiction writers that includes alumni like Katori Hall (Starz's PVALLEY), Barry Jenkins (Amazon's UNDERGROUND RAILROAD), and Heather Rae (Amazon's OUTER RANGE). We provide artists with the tools, guidance, and industry access to move your projects and careers forward. The Lab is the cornerstone of the program, an immersive six-day opportunity to develop original series under accomplished showrunners, creative producers, and development executives at the Sundance Mountain Resort. Pitch Parlor, is a separate event held in Los Angeles, to showcase alumni and their projects in front of the wider Hollywood industry. So how will your submission cut through and bring you into the fold? Join us for a direct Q&A with the program director and recent alumni who will give you all the pro tips when you're ready to apply! Submissions Open FEBRUARY 9th & Close MARCH 9th.

More info HERE.

This exhibit showcases the results of the Fall 2022 course Material Systems: Digital Design and Fabrication offered at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD). For over a decade, faculty from the GSD have collaborated with the Harvard Ceramics Program to offer an experiential learning opportunity for design students that links research and experimentation in emerging digital technologies with the context of ceramic material systems. The course combines technological developments relating to the way in which things are designed (digital modeling, simulation, generative design, etc.) and the way things are made (automation, computer-controlled equipment including robotics, advanced materials, etc.) in search of new opportunities. Each object exhibited here is the result of prototyping and experimentation during the pursuit of a research question – it represents a step in a process of exploration, rather than a finished product. 

This reception is free and open to the public. RSVP is appreciated.

Two events, one address! On the same evening, the Harvard Ed Portal right next door will hold a reception for the exhibition Derealization: Kurdistan, Art & Memory by Kamal Ahmad, in partnership with Artisans Asylum. More details & registration link for the Ed Portal event here.

More info HERE.

Register HERE.

Saturday & Sunday, March 4 & 5, 2023
10am to 5pm each day

Lindsay Rogers will demonstrate her making and surfacing processes in this two-day workshop. Demonstrations will include throwing and finishing pots, and how to use a Cricut® cutting machine to make tools for creating layered surface designs on greenware and bisque. Decorative methods will employ the use of photography, design software, paper masks, texture, rolling mats, silk screen printing, and vinyl resist. While using the Cricut cutting machine will be a topical focus (as it is one of Rogers’ primary tools), participants can readily utilize many of the techniques shown without a machine after the workshop.

Students will have the opportunity to try several of these techniques on clay tiles provided by the studio on Sunday afternoon. Tools will be provided for all students.

ARTIST BIO:
Lindsay Rogers is a potter, educator, and gardener living in the mountains of East Tennessee. She received her BA with a concentration in printmaking from Sarah Lawrence College and an MFA in ceramics from the University of Florida. Over the years, Lindsay has used her work as a ceramic artist to advocate for a more locally based, sustainable food system. She has participated in collaborations with artists, chefs, and farmers. Her pottery and words can be found in a range of publications from books to blogs, magazines, and podcasts. She is currently an Associate Professor of Ceramics at East Tennessee State University.

Cost: $25 for Harvard College Undergraduates, $200 for adults and Harvard Graduate students enrolled in a course at the Ceramics Program, and $250.00 for those not enrolled in a course.

More info HERE.

Register HERE.

April 1 & 2, 2023
10:00am-5:00pm each day

AFRICA ADORNED: SURFACE DECORATION TECHNIQUES INSPIRED BY THE CONTINENT

This workshop will consist of fundamental surface decorating techniques used to articulate an African aesthetic. Atoe and MacDonald will share their influences and how they each developed a decorating language that connects them with their heritage. The artists will demonstrate their individual carving techniques used to create rhythmic geometric patterns, including David MacDonald’s method using his handmade ebony wood carving tool. The artists will also demonstrate how they use slip trailing, stamps, and other techniques to create texture and visual interest. Students are welcome to bring up to four leather hard items to decorate. Leather hard tiles and tools will be made available to those who do not have pots available. For those not enrolled in a course at the Ceramics Program, bisque firing of student work will be made available at a cost of 2 cents per cubic inch.

Cost: $25 for Harvard College Undergraduates, $200 for adults and Harvard Graduate students enrolled in a course at the Ceramics Program, and $250.00 for those not enrolled in a course.

More info HERE.

Register HERE.

11 am–1 pm PT / 1–3 pm CT / 2–4 pm ET

PREREQUISITE: Completion of The Career Center Orientation | Weekly on Mondays & Wednesdays and a 15-minute phone consultation with a career counselor 

This workshop is highly interactive and includes activities and discussion. For the best learning experience, we strongly recommend signing into the workshop from a laptop or desktop computer. 

Performing arts and entertainment professionals often experience a myriad of transitions in their careers. This can lead to stress, burn-out and/or feelings of being stuck.  

This three-week career support group is specifically designed to help performing arts and entertainment professionals: 
•    Identify THOUGHTS that can help you move forward in your career 
•    Develop ACTIONABLE STEPS to get unstuck in your career  
•    Process FEELINGS related to career change  
All participants are required to introduce themselves to the group but can share as little or as much as preferred.  

This group is limited in size. Thus, registration is limited.  

Please note that this is not a psychotherapy group and does not provide mental health treatment. If you are seeking mental health services, please visit entertainmentcommunity.org/MentalHealth to learn more and be connected to a social worker.

More info HERE.

RSVP HERE.

Infinite Possibilities Part 2 is a continuation of a two-day free event series, presented by Harvard Dance Center, on the history, culture, and concepts behind freestyle dance. Both days feature Boston-based dancer, educator, curator, and community organizer Ashton Lites, aka Stiggity Stackz, founding creative director of Stiggity Stackz Worldwide, and curated into three parts: panel discussion, workshop, and mini battle. 

Infinite Possibilities Part 2 will be held at Lowell Lecture Hall and begin with a conversation with Stiggity Stackz, Chad Shabazz, and popping OG Megatron– one of the founding members of the original Floor Lords Crew– around the history of freestyle dance in Boston. Stiggity Stackz will then lead a workshop providing an introduction to popping, one of the pillar traditions within freestyle dance. The event will culminate into a session/mini battle where the winner and runner-up will be invited to a popping battle organized by Megatron later in the month. The Harvard Breakers’s event, Breakeasy 9, will immediately follow.

Free and open to the public! 

About Stiggity Stackz

Ashton Lites, also known as Stiggity Stackz, is regarded as one of Boston's most renowned veteran freestyle dance specialists. With 15+ years of intensive training in many different street styles and classical dance forms including Krump, Popping, Locking, House, Hip Hop, Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Modern, Afro- Haitian, and beyond. Lites is an experienced event organizer, instructor, and choreographer, and is well-traveled in the underground Hip Hop competition circuit. Beyond dancing and instructing, Ashton has established himself as a creative inspiration specialist and life coach through his journey of activism and public speaking in the city of Boston, focusing on improving artists' finances, health, spirituality, purpose, and creativity. He believes that if artists can succeed in these aspects in their own life, they can be of better service to their community.

More info HERE.

Register HERE.

Infinite Possibilities Part 1 is the first of a two-day event series, presented by Harvard Dance Center, introducing and inviting the public into the history, culture, and concepts behind freestyle dance. Both days feature Boston-based dancer, educator, curator, and community organizer Ashton Lites, aka Stiggity Stackz, founding creative director of Stiggity Stackz Worldwide, and curated into three parts: panel discussion, workshop, and mini battle.  

Infinite Possibilities Part 1 will begin with a panel discussion on the history and culture of “the battle” and its place within freestyle dance. Moderated by Aysha Upchuch, Lecturer on Education and Director of HipHopEX at Harvard Graduate School of Education, the panel will include Stiggity Stackz and two guest dancers, NaShaya “Shay” Wornum and Jennifer “Lady Beast” Vaud, who will share their own stories and perspectives on the battle and freestyle dance community in Boston. Stiggity Stackz will then lead a workshop on foundational freestyle dance concepts. Attendees will have the option to participate in the workshop or watch. The event will culminate into a high-energy mini battle jam session where attendees will also have the option to participate as a dancer or audience member.

Music for the evening will be provided by DJ SC-ONE!  Food offered at the top of the event.

Infinite Possibilities Part 1 is part of ArtsThursdays, a university-wide initiative supported by Harvard University Committee on the Arts (HUCA).

About Stiggity Stackz

Ashton Lites, also known as Stiggity Stackz, is regarded as one of Boston's most renowned veteran freestyle dance specialists. With 15+ years of intensive training in many different street styles and classical dance forms including Krump, Popping, Locking, House, Hip Hop, Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Modern, Afro- Haitian, and beyond. Lites is an experienced event organizer, instructor, and choreographer, and is well-traveled in the underground Hip Hop competition circuit. Beyond dancing and instructing, Ashton has established himself as a creative inspiration specialist and life coach through his journey of activism and public speaking in the city of Boston, focusing on improving artists' finances, health, spirituality, purpose, and creativity. He believes that if artists can succeed in these aspects in their own life, they can be of better service to their community.

More info HERE.

Register HERE.

Ceramics Program 2022-23 Visiting Artist In Residence Nicolas Touron is a storyteller. Born in France, he graduated from the Gerrit Rietvelt Academy in Amsterdam before coming to the USA with a Fulbright grant to complete an MFA at School of Visual Art (SVA) in New York City where he currently teaches. Nicolas Touron’s work has been featured in art galleries, museums, and public spaces in both the U.S and abroad. His work is in numerous private collections around the world. Residencies and awards include Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Space, Socrates Sculpture Park, Lower East Side Printshop and Sculpture Space NYC.

More info HERE.