PlacesA preview of Performing Arts at

Johnson County Community Collegewww.jccc.edu/TheSeries

The Joffrey Ballet

The Joffrey Ballet

Fleck, Hussain, Meyer

Spamalot

Andes Manta

Pinnacle Award

Summer Movies

Andrew Jenks

April-May 2011

The Joffrey Ballet has been hailed as “America’s Ballet Company of Firsts.”The Joffrey Ballet’s list of “firsts” includes first dance company to perform at the White House at Jacqueline Kennedy’s invitation, first to appear ontelevision, first American company to visit Russia, first classical dance company to go multimedia, first to commission a rock ‘n‘roll ballet and firstand only dance company to appear on the cover of Time magazine.

And a first for Performing Arts Series at Johnson County Community College — The Joffrey Ballet will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 2, in Yardley Hall, Carlsen Center. The one-and-a-half hour program will feature Reflections, choreography by Gerald Arpino, music byTchaikovsky; … smile with my heart, choreography, Lar Lubovitch,music, Richard Rodgers; Sea Shadow, choreography, Arpino, music, Ravel;and Age of Innocence, choreography, Edwaard Liang, music, Philip Glassand Thomas Newman. … smile will be accompanied by live solo piano.Ashley Wheater will give a pre-concert lecture at 7 p.m.

The company was founded in 1956 by visionary teacher Robert Joffrey whodiscovered and introduced innumerable modern dance choreographers toballet audiences. He invited great living ballet choreographers to revivesome of their “lost” masterworks and, in the process, assembled one of themost diverse repertoires in the world. His own ballets indicate his varied interests, from the classical Pas Des Déesses to the multimedia Astarte(seen on the cover of Time magazine in 1968), the romantic Remembrancesto the evocative Postcards (the last piece Joffrey made for the company).

After Joffrey died in 1988, Gerald Arpino, company co-founder, assumed therole of artistic director while continuing his title of resident choreographer.

Arpino produced America’s first full-evening rock ballet, Billboards, set tothe music of Prince.

The Joffrey Ballet continues under internationally renowned Ashley C. Wheater,named as artistic director in 2007, an appointment approved by Arpino before his death. Wheater, who was born in Scotland and raised in England,had a long and successful career as a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet,Joffrey Ballet and San Francisco Ballet. Wheater’s dancing career endedafter he suffered a major neck injury. As the new artistic director of the 40-member Joffrey Ballet, Wheater is dedicated to the values of Joffrey andArpino, reviving iconic classics as well as staging premieres.

Today, the Joffrey, which has been hugely successful in its former residenciesin New York and Los Angeles, lives permanently in a new facility, Joffrey Towerin Chicago’s theater district. The company’s commitment to accessibility is metthrough the most extensive touring schedule of any dance company in history,an innovative and highly effective education program and collaborationswith a myriad of other visual and performing arts organizations.

Classically trained to the highest standards, the Joffrey Ballet expresses aunique, inclusive perspective on dance, proudly reflecting the diversity ofAmerica with its company, audiences and repertoire that includes majorstory ballets, reconstructions of masterpieces and contemporary works. The Joffrey was the first U.S. ballet company to do away with ranks, insteadlisting dancers in alphabetical order on programs. Joffrey Ballet has becomeone of the world’s most revered and recognizable arts organizations inAmerica and one of the top ballet companies in the world.

Tickets $55, $65

The Joffrey Ballet

Joffrey Ballet is America’s ‘first’

It’s a small world after all – especially in the world of music. On tourwith their newest CD, Melody of Rhythm — Triple Concerto and Musicfor Trio, Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain and Edgar Meyer combine Indian classical rhythms, bluegrass and Western orchestral style to createsounds of global harmony. Grammy award-winning banjoist Fleck; the greatest-living tabla player Hussain; and classical/jazz double-bassvirtuoso Meyer, will perform in trio and stunning solos at 8 p.m. Saturday,April 16, in Yardley Hall.

Three of the most prolific creators and composers in the history of music,Fleck, Hussain and Meyer share an unprecedented array of projects andpairings. Together they touch every geographical and stylistic corner of themusical world. The trio released Melody of Rhythm, featuring The Melody ofRhythm Concerto commissioned for the opening of Nashville Symphony’sSchermerhorn Concert Hall in 2009, alongside their previous innovative CD— Triple Concerto for Banjo, Tabla and Double Bass.

Béla Fleck has been called the premier banjo player in the world and hasvirtually reinvented the image and the sound of the banjo to combine classical, bluegrass and jazz music. Equally at home in the great classicalhalls and concert arenas of the world, Fleck has won 11 Grammy awardsand has been nominated in more categories than anyone in Grammy history.

Zakir Hussain is today appreciated both in the field of percussion and in the

music world at large as an international phenomenon. A classical tabla(Sanskrit for “drum”) virtuoso of the highest order, Hussain’s consistentlybrilliant performances have not only established him as a national treasurein his own country, India, but earned him worldwide fame. Widely considered a chief architect of the contemporary world music movement,Hussain’s contribution has been unique, with much historic collaboration.Hussain appeared with Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, santoor, in Yardley Hall in March 2009.

Edgar Meyer is prominently established as a unique and masterful instrumentalist and has an active career as both a performer and a composer.As a solo classical bassist, he has performed on CD with prestigious chamber orchestras and artists such as Yo-Yo Ma. He won a Grammy for thealbum Appalachian Journey, recorded with Yo-Yo Ma and Mark O’Connor.As a composer, he premiered a triple concerto for double bass, banjo andtabla for the opening of the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville,as well as a piece for double bass and piano that he performed withEmanuel Ax. His uniqueness in the field was recognized by a MacArthurAward in 2002.

Each a master of his own instrument and music genre, their collaborationmoves music to an unexpected place, with predicted greatness.

Tickets $35, $45 and $80 (orchestra pit)

Fleck, Hussain and Meyer

Three masterful genre benders, genre blenders

Lovingly ripped off from the classic film comedy Monty Python and theHoly Grail, the Tony Award-winning Monty Python’s Spamalot bringsknights in tights to the local stage for one night only at 7 p.m. Sunday, May 1, in Yardley Hall.

Telling the legendary tale of King Arthur, his knights of the Round Tableand their quest for the Holy Grail, Monty Python’s Spamalot features a chorus line of dancing divas and knights, flatulent Frenchmen, killer rabbitsand one legless knight.

Spamalot is not exactly like the film. For example it doesn’t come in ametal canister, but it does feature many of the same characters and thesame sense of Python humor. Songs include Find Your Grail, He Is NotDead Yet, The Song That Goes Like This, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life and You Won’t Succeed on Broadway.

Monty Python’s Spamalot “raises silliness to an art form” (The SundayTimes) and has been hailed as “a no-holds-barred smash hit.” (The NewYorker)

Monty Python's Spamalot was the winner of three 2005 Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Director, as well as the Drama Desk andOuter Critics Circle awards for Best Musical. The original cast recording ofMonty Python’s Spamalot won the 2006 Grammy Award for Best MusicalShow Album.

Based on the Tony Award-winning direction of Mike Nichols and the riotous choreography of Casey Nicholaw, Monty Python’s Spamalotfeatures a book by Eric Idle, based on the screenplay of Monty Python and the Holy Grail by Monty Python creators Graham Chapman, John Cleese,Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin, with music and lyricsby the Grammy Award-winning team of Idle and John Du Prez.

The fictitious Monty Python, first created in 1969 for their British comedytelevision show, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, has grown to have a life ofhis own becoming the impresario who fronts films like The Holy Grail, The Life of Brian, The Meaning of Life, And Now for Something CompletelyDifferent and books including The Big Red Book and The Papperbok. This is his first Broadway show.

Spamalot’s medieval merry-making is best suited for those over the age of 12.

Tickets $50, $60

Knighted and tighted, ‘Spamalot’ plays at JCCC

Andes Manta invites audiences to take a musical journey to the Andeanmountains of South America as they perform vibrant music on morethan 35 traditional instruments at 9:45 a.m. Friday, April 8, in YardleyHall in a community and school show sponsored by the Performing ArtsSeries arts education program.

From the lyrical sounds of the quena, or Andean flute, to the haunting tone of the 6-foot panpipe, Andean music is one of few authentic prehistoric culture forms to survive the 500 years of European occupationof South America. Many indigenous South Americans believe that it is themusic that preserves the heart and soul of the ancient ones.

Andes Manta performs time-honored music rooted in the cultural heritageof the Incas and their ancestors. The dynamic and mystical songs that theyplay are filled with the exquisite sounds of an ancient, yet still vital civilization.This music continues to be widely performed in the modern Andean nationsof Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela and Argentina.

The four musicians who comprise Andes Manta today are brothers fromQuito, Ecuador: Fernando Lopez, Luis Lopez, Bolivar Lopez and Jorge Lopez.Andes Manta has emerged as a musical force under the direction offounders Fernando (Wilson) Lopez and Luis Lopez. The members of this

group began playing at an early age using their distinct musical form to express the richness of their culture and traditions.

They have performed at Carnegie Hall, Smithsonian Institution, MetropolitanMuseum of the Art, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Yale University, VassarCollege and hundreds of other schools and universities. Andes Manta haswritten and performed part of the score for the Discovery Channel special,Rediscovering America, as well as performing Latin American music for theWorld of Music series by Silver Burdett-Ginn. Andes Manta has recordedwith Koch International, Narada Records and Living Music.

The Lopez brothers as a group had no formal education in learning to play the instruments they themselves make by hand. Much of their musicrecreates the vitality of nature, the sound of wind, rain and birds.

“Our music is the music of the people,” says Wilson Lopez. “With it we celebrate harvest, carnival, solstice, village life and religion.”

“Our parents took us to village festivals, carnivals and ceremonial gatherings,” he explains. “We listened and observed the musicians andsingers. This is the way children in our country learn to play melodies and fashion musical instruments.”

Tickets $5

Mountains breathe music into Andes Manta

Andes Manta

Angel Mercier, program director for PAS artseducation, was one of four people to receive a2010 Pinnacle Award from the Johnson CountyLibrary Foundation in fall 2010. The honoreeswere selected because they demonstrate excellence in their professional fields or philanthropic pursuits.

Mercier was honored for excellence in the arts.She’s been the director of JCCC’s PerformingArts Education program since 2000, serving asa liaison between JCCC and professional artistsand teachers, developing teacher workshopsthat tie the arts to the core curricula and stateacademic standards in both Kansas and Missouri.

We caught up with Mercier to ask her threequestions.

Q: Why is arts education important?

A: I don’t know another area of study that canteach creativity as well as the arts. It’s that inherent freedom in the arts for discovery and expression. If you take away arts, you take awaycreativity. The arts allow you to escape to a partof your mind that you don’t go to every day,bringing new perspective.

Arts are also a great way to communicate diversity and new ideas. I look forward to workingwith artists from all over the world and artistswho bring all ages and different kinds of peopletogether. Quixotic Fusion (a group that performedat JCCC in October), for example, presentedworkshops in various software applications, lighting, 3-D animation, architectural mapping,fashion ... That’s what it’s all about, openingminds, a variety of learning environments … .

Q: What are the biggest challenges toteaching arts in schools?

A: The delivery system for the arts. It’s theamount of time that’s available in the classrooms.And for teachers, it’s the training needed tointegrate arts into other classroom subjects. Weprovide teachers with arts integration training,while aligning with state standards. These aretools that give children a chance to learn differently … You can have a huge impact in an hour, and give students a vehicle to expressthemselves. I think good teaching provides

subject information and then gives the studentspermission to explore concepts, abstract ideasand different outcomes.

Another challenge is public understanding of theessential life skills the arts teach: problem-solving,listening, analyzing, evaluating, discipline, all ofwhich provide support systems for learning andcritical thinking.

Q: How can arts keep a high profile in atime of such economic uncertainty, whenbudget cutters are looking for places totrim costs?

A: We have to have a collective voice in the community of what we want for our children. We need to work together, step up and stop marginalizing the value of the arts. Every positionyou lose in the arts takes years to get back, andthe only way to stay above water is to work incollaboration. We can’t work separately for thearts any more. The Kansas Alliance for Arts Education is one unified response for Kansas educators and artists. We need to create anawareness of the 21st-century skills global movement to prepare students for our complexworld by incorporating the four C’s (critical thinking and problem solving, communication,collaboration and creativity and innovation) withthe 3 R’s. Every child deserves an education that develops imagination and builds 21st-centuryskills, and the arts provide the tools to accomplishthat goal.

Mercier receives Pinnacle Award Story by Melodee Blobaum

Summer movie funThe Performing Arts Series will once again offer four free vintage movie musicals at 10 a.m. Wednesday, June 8-29, in Yardley Hall of theCarlsen Center. No tickets or reservations are required.

• June 8 — Kiss Me Kate (Turner/MGM, 1953)

• June 15 — Gigi (Turner/MGM, 1958)

• June 22 — Bye Bye Birdie (Columbia Pictures, 1963)

• June 29 — West Side Story (United Artists, 1961)

“This is a good time for people from the community to come and visit the performing arts spaces,” said Emily Behrmann, general manager, Performing Arts Series. “The movies offer entertainment and a cool place to be on a hot summer day.”

Patrons are encouraged to come early for parking since classes are in session. Pastry and coffee will be available for purchase before the films begin. Also, Café Tempo in the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art is open for lunch, creating a fun movie-and-lunch outing.

Angel Mercier

Performing Arts EventsJ o h n s o n C o u n t y C o m m u n i t y C o l l e g e

April 2011Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Purchase live online

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The Joffrey Ballet8 p.m. Yardley Hall

$55, $65

Andes Mantacommunity/school show9:45 a.m. Yardley Hall $5

Andrew Jenks, filmmaker, Campus Activites Board7 p.m. Polsky Theatre

($5 JCCC students) $15

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*Kimberly Krutz, bassoon

Ruel Joyce Recital Seriesnoon Recital Hall

Kansas City SymphonyFamily Series

The Composer Is Dead2 p.m. Yardley Hall

$12 -$38

*Mirage QuartetRuel Joyce Recital Series

noon Recital Hall

*Lisa Bergman, hornRuel Joyce Recital Series

noon Recital Hall

Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Edgar Meyer

8 p.m. Yardley Hall$35, $45, $80 orchestra pit

*Rob Whitsitt QuartetJazz Series

noon Recital Hall

*Richard IIIJCCC music and theatre department

7:30 p.m. Polsky Theatre

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*Richard IIIJCCC music and theatre department

7:30 p.m. Polsky Theatre

*Cowboy Indian BearLight Up the Lawn Concert8 p.m. Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art lawn*JCCC Jazz Night

7:30 p.m. Yardley Hall

*Moonlight Serenade Orchestra

reception 6:30 p.m. lobby7:30 p.m. Yardley Hall

Kansas City Symphony SundayBeethoven, Brahms

and Prokofiev2 p.m. Yardley Hall

$18-$58

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Spamalot7 p.m. Yardley Hall

$50, $60

*Richard IIIJCCC music and

theatre department2 p.m. Polsky Theatre

*Johnson CountyChorus Concert

3 p.m. Yardley Hall

*JCCC Concert Band7:30 p.m. Yardley Hall

*JCCC Choir Concert7:30 p.m.

Polsky Theatre

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*free-admission event

For best seats, order early. Call 913-469-4445or buy tickets online www.jccc.edu/TheSeries for tickets and information. Service fee applicable.

Box Office: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday • Call 913-469-4445 • Tickets are required for mostevents in Polsky Theatre and Yardley Hall. Programs, dates and times are subject to change. Discountsare available for music, theater and dance students.

PAS Administrative Office: Open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday • Call 913-469-4450 • A request for interpretative services must be made 72 hours before a performance. Call the box office at 913-469-4445 or TDD/TTY 913-469-4485.

Persons with disabilities who desire additional support services may contact services for patrons with disabilities, 913-469-8500, ext. 3521, or TDD/TTY 913-469-3885.

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JOHNSON COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE

12345 COLLEGE BLVD

OVERLAND PARK KS 66210-1299

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Johnson County

Community College

www.jccc.edu/TheSeries

Andrew Jenks stops at JCCC during campus tourIn the hit MTV documentary, World of Jenks, award-winning documentaryfilmmaker Andrew Jenks takes viewers on unforgettable journeys as he captures on film a wide range of voices and personal stories.

Jenks will appear in person sharing highlights of those stories in AnEvening with Andrew Jenks at 7 p.m. Friday, April 8, in Polsky Theatre.

In each episode of his MTV series, Jenks, 24, focuses his lens and creates a bond with his subject to tell the story of one person’s life, bringing viewers closer to understanding someone else’s reality — everyone from a platinum-selling recording artist to a young homeless woman, from a pro-cheerleader to a young adult with autism. Jenks dives into disparatelives and, in the process, pioneers a new style of storytelling for a new generation.

On April 8, Jenks will talk about his film experiences and challenges students “to make a difference and leave their own unique stamp on society.” There will be a meet-and-greet in the lobby afterwards.

In conjunction with Jenks’ college tour circuit is his World of Jenks on Campus Bone Marrow Drive. Jenks has teamed up with DKMS Americas,the largest bone marrow center in the world, to save lives by recruitingbone marrow donors for leukemia patients. Volunteers, trained by DKMSstaff, will use two cheek swabs for testing potential donors.

An Evening with Andrew Jenks is co-sponsored by JCCC’s Campus ActivitiesBoard and the Performing Arts Series. Students will be helping with thebone marrow drive.

Tickets can be purchased from the PAS box office, 913-469-4445, and theStudent Activities and Information Desk, first floor Student Center. For moreinformation, contact JCCC Student Activities at 913-469-3807.

Tickets: $5 (for JCCC students), $15

Andrew Jenks