The Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts and the Department of Theatre, Film and Dance will present a new Performance Encounters theater series and the Locally Grown Dance Festival 2011, in addition to four mainstage shows during the 2010-11 season.

Performance Encounters, co-founded by assistant professors of theater Sara Warner and Nick Salvato, is dedicated to bringing innovative and contemporary productions to Cornell and supporting socially engaged artists whose work expands the parameters of theatrical forms and traditions.

The series will feature performances by playwright and actor David Greenspan Sept. 27, and Obie Award-winning writer and performer Lisa Kron Feb. 17.

The Locally Grown Dance Festival 2011 is a two-week-long exhibition of original choreography and related arts, created in the Ithaca area and supported by dance at Cornell. Performances March 4-12 will involve such local dance organizations as the Ithaca Ballet, and student and faculty dancers from Cornell and Ithaca College. Senior Dance Lecturer Byron Suber coordinated a preview of the festival May 6-9, with five performances featuring a variety of work from Cornell and Ithaca College.

The 2010-11 mainstage theater season will begin in late September with Obie winner Charles Mee's poignant "Big Love." Based on "The Suppliant Women" by Aeschylus, Mee's play explores the power and passion between the sexes as it follows the sometimes violent rebellion of 50 brides against their arranged marriages.

The 2010 holiday season offering is Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Our Town," chronicling everyday life in a small American town and reminding contemporary audiences to experience joy in simple wonders.

In February, the Cornell Playwrights Project will present the regional premiere of "Precious Little" by Madeleine George '96. The play centers on an aging lesbian linguist who discovers her baby-to-be may have a genetic abnormality, and the unexpected discoveries that follow as she gains a new understanding and appreciation for those less fluent than herself.

The Cornell Playwrights Project brings new works by emerging alumni playwrights to the Schwartz Center stage. The center's 20th anniversary season last year included a regional premiere of "God's Ear" by Jenny Schwartz '95 and an Alumni Playwrights Weekend of readings and workshops with five Cornell playwrights.

The season concludes in April with Moliére's most popular comedy: "The Learned Ladies," a satire of chaotic young love and academic intellect and pretensions.

Subscriptions to the Schwartz Center theater season are available until Sept. 24 by visiting the box office in the center's lobby at 430 College Ave.; calling 607-254-ARTS or subscribing online at http://www.schwartztickets.com. Subscriber benefits include discounts on tickets, the best seats, guaranteed seats for sold-out shows, exchange privileges and behind-the-scenes events. For information, visit http://www.theatrefilmdance.cornell.edu.