Nick Foti ’19 offers his selection of events and activities to check out this weekend. Log in to the University Events Calendar for more things to do. The calendar features a variety of events at all campuses, including the River Campus, Eastman School, Memorial Art Gallery, and Medical Center.
#1: Talk and listen with your community
A “Conversation on Race” will be hosted at the Paul J. Burgett Intercultural Center at Douglass Commons on Thursday, February 1, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Community members, faculty, staff, and students are invited to attend this free and facilitated conversation about race and its impact on every member of the community. Everyone participates in this two-hour conversation, which includes whole-group and small-group discussions on segregation in individual lives, awareness of racial identity, and racial privilege. The event is part of a larger community dialogue on race in the Rochester area and occurs every semester. Pizza and refreshments will be provided. The program is presented by the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, the Burgett Intercultural Center, Rochester Center for Community Leadership, and the “We’re Better Than THAT” – University of Rochester’s Antiracism Campaign, and others.
#2: Celebrate winter on the River Campus
Take part in several events happening during Winterfest Weekend on the River Campus, a college community weekend—Friday, February 2, through Monday, February 5. Highlights on Friday include Club Rochester from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in the Feldman Ballroom in Douglass Commons. The University community is invited to enjoy free appetizers and low-cost beverages at this campus happy hour. On Saturday, February 3, come back and bring the family with you for a “Winter Wonderland,” event taking place both inside and outside of Wilson Commons, from 4 to 7 p.m. The free seasonal festival features s’mores, carnival activities, cookie decorating, build-a-buddy, a light therapy display, live ice-carving demonstrations, and music by WRUR. “The program really helps us celebrate winter,” says Laura Ballou, assistant dean of student life operations and director of the Campus Center. Comedian, former Daily Show correspondent, and activist Hasan Minhaj, will perform at a sold out Saturday night show. See an online schedule of more Winterfest activities.
#3: See a snapshot of today’s feminism
The Vagina Monologues, an annual presentation by College Feminists, begins at 7 p.m. Friday, February Friday 2, in Strong Auditorium. Cast member Criswell Lavery ’19 encourages people to come out to this year’s iteration of the show. “People should attend the show, not only to enjoy a funny, heart-wrenching, and engaging show, but also to think critically about how feminism is perceived in our world, and how it affects every single one of us,” she says. “The play was first performed in 1996, and the world has changed a lot since then. We are actively working to combat some of the problematic and potentially offensive moments in the show, but we also want the audience to really engage with the show not as a direct representation of our beliefs, but as a snapshot into third-wave feminism.” Each year the cast selects a charity to donate all proceeds to and last year the group donated almost $3,000 to Planned Parenthood of Central and Western New York. This year the recipient will be RESTORE, a rape crisis program that supports survivors of sexual assault and their loved ones. Tickets are $10 for the general public and will be available at the door.
#4: Spend Friday night at the art museum
The Memorial Art Gallery will host a “$5 Friday” event on Friday, February 2, offering visitors plenty of things to do. Take part in an art social and watch artist Katie Jo Suddaby create a mandela. The casual activity begins at 5:30 in the pavilion. The cost is $15 (a $5 savings). There will be a film screening of Lighting the Way: The German Pioneers of Contemporary Stained Glass at 7 p.m., in the Auditorium. Enjoy music by Scio Saxophone Quartet in the Vanden Brul Pavillion from 5:30 to 6:15 p.m. and again from 6:30 to 7:15 p.m. The museum will also host lessons and performances by Fred Astaire Dance Studio in the M&T Bank Ballroom from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Admission to the museum is free for University students, staff, and faculty with ID.
#5: Watch opera or an ‘evening of trios’
Eastman Opera Theatre performs Les Enfants Terribles in the intimate setting of the Eastman Opera Studio, Annex 804—this weekend from Thursday, February 1 through Sunday, February 4. The hybrid dance-opera with music by Philip Glass, and text adapted from the work of Jean Cocteau by Philip Glass and Susan Marshall, is directed by Steven Daigle, the artistic director of Eastman Opera Theatre. Shows begin at 7:30 p.m. with the exception of a Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. Seating is very limited and the Eastman Opera Theatre advises attendees to arrive early; late seating will not be possible. Tickets are $24 for general admission. Eastman’s Faculty Artist Series will feature Alan Harris, professor of cello, in “An Evening of Trios” on Saturday, February 3. The program includes Bernstein’s Trio for Violin, Violoncello, and Piano and Beethoven’s Piano Trio in D Major, Op. 70, No. 1. The performance begins at 8 p.m. in the Hatch Recital Hall at Eastman. Tickets are $10 for general admission, but free to University ID holders.
