Cultural Events Calendar

To run Wednesday, Feb 28

BENEFITS

NORTHAMPTON – Northampton Survival Center presents their Fourteenth Annual Benefit Boogie, featuring the band Trailer Park and a giant raffle, from 8 to 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 10 at the Inn at Northampton. Proceeds will help to provide food boxes to people in need. Tickets are 15 dollars, and are available at Beyond Words bookshop in Northampton. Call (413) 586-6564 for more information.

CONTESTS

DEERFIELD – “Bright Spots.” Create and submit 30 or 60 second video shorts promoting nonviolence and peacemaking. $2,000 in prizes will be awarded to groups and individuals in several categories. For more information and entry forms, see www.crocker.com/~traprock or call the Traprock Peace Center at (413) 773-7427.

SOCIAL EVENTS

UMASS – “Just a Nosh,” presented by FORUM. Eat lunch with other Jewish UMass students and have an informal discussion about Jewish love. This event takes place every Wednesday in the Bluewall from 12:15 p.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, contact Hillel House at (413) 549-1710.

FILM/VIDEO SCREENINGS

UMASS – A multicultural film festival, “Border Crossing: Cinema and Video at Century’s Turn,” will be held on dates from February 16 to May 10. The series highlights the fluidity and permanence of artistic, technical, geographic, cultural, political and personal borders and includes film and vide screenings and panel presentations. On April 5 at 7:30 p.m. in Herter 231 will be “Hamburger and Dolma: Cross Cultural Identities” presented by the director Caroline Babayan. Five Armenian women’s stories are interwoven to shape a collective narrative about the intergenerational transmission of trauma, the complexity of identity and the abiding power of family and friendship. For more information, call Film Studies at 545-3659.

RELIGIOUS

AMHERST – Shabbat services are held on Fridays at 6 p.m. followed by Shabbat dinner at 7:15 p.m. in Hillel House.

LECTURE/READING/DISCUSSION

UMASS – “The Gender of Development: Reproductive Politics and the Birth of Development Policy in Puerto Rico.” Laura Briggs, from the University of Arizona (Women’s Studies), will give this lecture at 5 p.m. in Campus Center 905 on Thursday, March 1. For more information, contact the UMass Women’s Studies office.

UMASS – “Caridad de la Luz,” a reading by an acclaimed Bronx-born performance artist, will take place at 7 p.m. in the Augusta Savage Gallery on Thursday, April 5. For more information, call (413) 545-5177.

SMITH COLLEGE – The second installment of “Words She Spoke” will be performed by Tracie Morris at 7:30 p.m. in Davis Center on March 1. The final poetry-in-performance will feature Caridad de la Luz at 7 p.m. in UMass’ Augusta Savage Gallery on April 5.

CONFERENCE

SMITH COLLEGE – A four day international conference will mark the launch of Smith College’s new women’s studies journal “Meridians: feminism, race, transnationalism” amid worldwide celebrations of international Women’s Day on Thursday, March 8. Conference events are open to the public, free, and accessible. Registration is requested. See www.smith.edu/meridians for details. For more information, call (413) 585-4222 or 585-2206 (TTY).

THEATER/DANCE

UMASS – “Cliff Matias.” This event, which features the demonstration of traditional Native American dances by a Taino/Cherokee performer and educator, will take place at 7 p.m. in the Augusta Savage Gallery on Tuesday, March 6. For more information, call (413) 545-5177.

UMASS – The Stonewall Center will host a 15th Anniversary Celebration, featuring celebrity comics Harvey Fierstein and Kate Clinton, at 8 p.m. in the Fine Arts Concert Hall on Saturday, March 10. Fierstein is an award-winning playwright, actor and gay rights advocate. Clinton is a political monologist and comedian. For tickets, call the Fine Arts Center box office (545-2511).

UMASS – “Stop Kiss” traces the experiences of Callie and Sarah, two young women who are dealing with all the usual young adult issues as well as falling in love with each other. The show explores the theme of honesty, and the hostility of a homophobic society to such honesty. The show will take place at 8 p.m. in the Curtain Theater on April 5 through 7, and April 10 through 13. For tickets, call the Fine Arts Center box office (545-2511).

UMASS – “Nuyorican Stories” will be performed with sidesplitting humor by the members of Culture Clash, who blend poetry, dance, music and visual arts. The show will be performed at 8 p.m. in Bowker Auditorium on Thursday, April 19. For tickets, which range from 5 to 10 dollars, call the Fine Arts Center box office (545-2511).

UMASS – “I Remember Mapa,” a comical one-man show starring Alec Mapa, will be performed one night only at 8 p.m. in Bowker Auditorium on May 10. Based on his true-life experiences, the piece chronicles Mapa’s colorful adventures through rise, fall and rebirth as a gay Filipino American actor in the entertainment industry. For tickets, which range from 5 to 10 dollars, call the Fine Arts Center box office (545-2511).

MUSIC PERFORMANCE

UMASS – “The Grieg Trio in Concert.” Praised widely for their outstanding musicianship, technical polish and rich sonority, the Norwegian group will perform works by Haydn and Ravel, as well as a new work commissioned by the Trio, at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 1 in Bezanson Recital Hall. For tickets, call the Fine Arts Center box office (545-2511).

UMASS – “The National Orchestra of Spain.” Celebrated guitar player Pepe Romero joins the renowned National Orchestra of Spain in a concert featuring the works of three nineteenth and twentieth century composers on Thursday, March 8 at 7:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Concert Hall. For tickets, call the Fine Arts Center box office (545-2511).

SOUTH HADLEY – Andrew Russo, a graduate of the Juilliard School, has been called “a reincarnated Liszt.” He will perform a program including Chopin, Copeland, Crumb, and Borodin at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 11 in the Kosciuszko Foundation Southern New England Chapter. For more information, call (413) 734-7052 or 532-1546.

UMASS – “AEROS” features gold medal-winning gymnasts from the Romanian Gymnastics Federation, directed by Daniel Ezralow, David Parsons and Moses Pendleton in collaboration with “Stomp” creators Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas. This unusual performance troupe will perform at 7:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center Hall on Wednesday, March 14.

UMASS – “Musical Illuminations from the Middle East.” Hear cutting edge world music from Anatolia, a Massachusetts ensemble combining Turkish and Arab traditions to showcase the arts of the Middle East. The event will take place in Bowker Auditorium at 8 p.m. on Sunday, March 10. Tickets range from $7 to $20, and are available through the Fine Arts Center box office (545-2511).

GALLERY EXHIBITIONS

This calendar, which previews local events of interest to under-represented groups on campus and in the community, runs on Wednesdays. Submit notices of events to Tanya Mannes, Diversity Editor. Standard entry forms are available in the Collegian office.