An image from Sama Alshaibi’s 2017 video projection “Wasi (Union),” in her series “Silsila” at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art.

Things to Do, Nov. 3-10, 2017

Courtly choreography, recreated

The Department of Music offers a fascinating look at music and movement from the Renaissance and Baroque eras in “The Art of the Dance,” free and open to the public Nov. 4 at 8 p.m. in Barnes Hall Auditorium.

The performance features renowned dancer and scholar of historical choreography Hubert Hazebroucq, with musical accompaniment from the Cornell Early Music Lab, Cornell Viol Consort and guest soloists Luke Conklin on Baroque oboe and Boel Gidholm playing Baroque violin. The Cornell ensembles – composed of undergraduates, graduate students, staff and community members – specialize in historically informed performance practice of past musical repertoire.

The program ranges from dances of the French and Italian Renaissance to solo dances reconstructed from surviving notations in the comic and noble styles from the court of Louis XIV circa 1700, and mid-18th century dances of the Italian grotesque era, including pantomime ballet excerpts. Throughout the program, audience members will see clear links from these styles to the later ballet form.

Professor of music Rebecca Harris-Warrick gives a pre-concert talk at 7:15 p.m., on historical dance notation used to recreate the choreography seen onstage.

Cosponsors include the Institute of European Studies, Society for the Humanities, Department of Romance Studies, French Studies Program and Renaissance Colloquium.

Watergate, then and now

Cornell Cinema revisits “All the President’s Men” Nov. 8, the first anniversary of the 2016 election, with a 7 p.m. screening followed by a faculty panel, discussing the current state of the Trump presidency and comparisons to the Watergate investigation and the Nixon White House detailed in the 1976 Academy Award winner.

Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford in a scene from "All the President's Men."

The panelists are assistant government professor David Bateman, sociology professor Mabel Berezin and law professor Gerald Torres, with Jeff Cohen, director of Ithaca College’s Park Center for Independent Media. The event is co-presented by the Cornell Democrats.

Also screening: “The Creature from the Black Lagoon” in 3-D, Nov. 9 and 11; and four Eastern European films dealing with corruption and its consequences, as part of this semester’s Contemporary World Cinema series – “Glory,” Nov. 2 and 4; “Leviathan,” Nov. 7; “The Teacher,” Nov. 11-12; and “Graduation,” Nov. 16. Romanian playwright Saviana Condeescu of Ithaca College will introduce “Graduation;” she is an associate of the film’s director, Cristian Mungiu, and a Cornell Institute of European Studies regional visiting fellow.

Puerto Rico and “floating citizens”

The Puerto Rican Student Association hosts a faculty panel discussing the political status of Puerto Rico and its citizens in relation to the United States, Nov. 6 at 5:30 p.m. in Lewis Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall. Light refreshments will be provided.

“Floating Citizens: P.R.’s Place in Today’s Political Climate” will address the complex issues affecting the island commonwealth and the mainland United States, and what independence and statehood would mean for each. The panelists include law professor Aziz Rana, government assistant professor Jamila Michener, and anthropology and Latina/o studies associate professor Vilma Santiago-Irizarry.

Rhodes Symposium on immigration

The Center for the Study of Inequality and the Cornell Population Center

will host a conference Nov. 9-10, “Criminalizing Immigrants: Border Controls, Enforcement, and Resistance,” supported by the Frank H.T. Rhodes Annual Symposium and Atlantic Philanthropies.

The event begins Thursday, Nov. 9, at 4:30 p.m. in G10 Biotechnology with a keynote, “How Nation-States Enforce Boundaries: The Reconciliation of People and Markets Through Migration Policy,” by David Cook-Martín, professor of social research and public policy at New York University, Abu Dhabi.

A discussion will follow with Cook-Martín joined by Mathew Coleman, a scholar of immigration law and geopolitics at The Ohio State University; Stephen Yale-Loehr, professor of immigration law practice; and moderator Shannon Gleeson, professor of labor relations, law and history. The keynote and panel are free and open to the public.

The conference moves to the Statler Conference Amphitheater Friday, Nov. 10, with a keynote by Coleman at 8:30 a.m. followed by four panels. Presenters include Daniel Costa of the Economic Policy Institute; sociologist and Cornell postdoctoral fellow Asad L. Asad; migration and public policy scholar Natasha Iskander and political scientist Tom Wong. To attend the Nov. 10 keynote and panels, RSVP to inequality@cornell.edu.

Graduate panel: art as inquiry

Cornell graduate students will present scholarly and artistic work at “Silsila: A Panel Discussion on Environmentalism, Migration and Displacement,” Nov. 9 at 5:15 p.m. at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, in concert with the exhibition Sama Alshaibi: Silsila.

Participants include doctoral student in English Ruoji Tang, doctoral student in socio-cultural anthropology Emiko Stock, and alumna photographer/multimedia artist Na Chainkua Reindorf, MFA ’17.

The panel focuses on art as a mode of inquiry and expression for addressing issues and themes in Alshaibi’s art, including ecology, environmentalism, and personal and cultural narratives of place and migration. There will be time for questions and discussion.

The museum is open Thursdays until 7:30 p.m. through Nov. 30 (except Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 23). Admission is free. Regular museum hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. For more information, email museum@cornell.edu or call 607-255-6464.

Labor trends

Labor leaders, union representatives and social justice organizations will participate in the 2017 ILR Labor Roundtable, Nov. 10, 1-5 p.m. in the Statler Hotel Carrier Ballroom. Through in-depth conversations and small group discussions, the roundtable exposes students to current trends in the labor movement and its fundamental role in bringing about social change.

The event is open to students from all Cornell colleges and degree programs, as well as students from Tompkins Cortland Community College and Ithaca College; register online.

St. Thomas Choir

The Cornell Concert Series’ 115th season continues Friday, Nov. 10 with the St. Thomas Choir of Leipzig at 8 p.m. in Sage Chapel. Tickets are $36 general admission, $19 for students, available online.

Established in 1212, the choir (“Thomanerchor” in German) is touring to mark the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s Reformation. Their performance features the voices of 50 boys and men with organ and cello continuo accompaniment, in a program of sacred works by Felix Mendelssohn and noted St. Thomas cantors Johann Schein and Johann Sebastian Bach. One of the oldest cultural entities in Europe, the choir was led by Bach for 27 years (1723-1750) and premiered many of his works.

For more information or accommodations to attend the concert, call 607-255-5144. The concert series’ spring season begins Feb. 10 with classically trained gospel and jazz vocalist Alicia Olatuja and her band in Bailey Hall.

Media Contact

Lindsey Knewstub