Three cheers for the trustees, who unanimously approved the Wythes Committee proposal to increase the size of the student body by 500. Let the artistic flood gates open, and let the invasion of aspiring musicians, actors, dancers, writers and other tree-hugging students begin.
You will have to excuse me if my enthusiasm sounds less than genuine. I have no right to complain, technically: A large part of my Hargadon "YES!" surely came from the fact that I was a jock and a nationally ranked athlete in high school.
True, the sport was rhythmic gymnastics, which is basically an acrobatic form of ballet with balls, hoops and ribbons thrown in. Furthermore, there was no guarantee that I would bring fame to Princeton - rhythmic gymnastics is not even an NCAA sport, and I knew when I applied that my days of five-hour practices would be over as soon as I received my high school diploma.
Even so, it was not too surprising that I ended up making the transition from a retired, out-of-shape rhythmic gymnast to a just-for-kicks dancer. In addition to my participation in the performing arts - I am a former member and guest performer for Expressions and DiSiac dance companies as well as a Triangle techie - I have also come to enjoy being an audience member at the various performing arts productions on campus.
I did not arrive at Princeton expecting the performing arts to play such an enormous role in my life. I also did not expect that administrative support for them would be so lacking.
Princeton is irreproachably great about providing opportunities to see the performing arts. Passport to the Arts is a fabulous, under-utilized service that has allowed me to see numerous professional productions at McCarter Theater. My RA consistently sponsors trips to various campus productions in which her 'zees are participating, and I have enjoyed $20 Mathey College-sponsored orchestra seats to "Cabaret," "Death of a Salesman" and other Broadway shows.
The obstacles lie in getting student-organized campus productions to actually happen. On the recent Visions of Princeton survey, many respondents - some 40 percent - cited shortage of performance and rehearsal space as a major problem.
Of the three dance studios on campus, the best rehearsal space is reserved exclusively for students enrolled in the theater and dance program. It is a rare occasion that I can use a dance studio when I am choreographing a piece. Alternate practice space could be at the Dillon basketball courts, the aerobics room, the martial arts studio, the locker room lobby, the Rockefeller College common room and my own cramped common room. Those alternate locales are far from ideal - most lack mirrors; the padded martial arts room floor heightens the risk of ankle injuries; too many people pass through the lobby; and my common room is too small.
While my personal problems with finding adequate rehearsal and performance space are limited to dance, this phenomenon afflicts all the performing arts at Princeton. Undergraduates are incredibly resourceful and have put up productions in such unorthodox places as McCosh, East Pyne courtyard and the Wilson School fountain when traditional spaces were unavailable. I will not question the caliber of those productions, but they probably could be better with the professional lighting and sound effects - or even a roof - available in a true theater.
For the 2000-01 academic year, Theatre-Intime received 25 proposals for the six or seven time slots at the Hamilton Murray Theater's main stage. This leaves 18 or 19 shows that must find a home in the blackboxes, 185 Nassau, elsewhere or possibly nowhere at all. Though the new Frist Campus Center theater is a positive sign that the administration is trying to do something about the lack of performing arts spaces on campus, the Frist theater appears to be too non-specific to be considered a good venue for dance or theater performances.
I am all for making Princeton a hotbed for the arts, and the addition of 500 undergraduates will hopefully increase the number of artists at Princeton. For campus arts productions to flourish, however, the University needs to do more than just admit more artistically inclined students. The current physical space shortage must be dealt with first.
Furthermore, it should be recognized that college is a time when many students discover their artistic sides. Many students make far greater transformations than say, an ex-gymnast becoming a dancer - a track star joining BodyHype or a football player securing the lead role in a play would be more apt examples.
If I see that the University has taken proactive steps to combat the dearth of rehearsal and performance space for the current undergraduate population of 4,600, then maybe I will get excited about the prospect of the admission office admitting more aspiring Baryshnikovs or future Tom Stoppards. Until then, I just cringe at the prospect of the additional 125 students per class merely exacerbating the current performance space problem.
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Eleanor Clemans-CopeReading a series of columns by the same author is seeing things through the writer’s lens — it’s looking at campus through the ‘Christofer glasses’ or the ‘Eleanor specs.’ This is the thinking behind having named columns.
Reading a series of columns by the same author is seeing things through the writer’s lens — it’s looking at campus through the ‘Christofer glasses’ or the ‘Eleanor specs.’ This is the thinking behind having named columns.
Bring back the course packet
Abigail Rabieh“With the recent news that Labyrinth Books will no longer supply the coursebooks for Princeton classes, we are facing a new era in which all readings will only be accessible by some digital medium, whether that be via Course Reserves or online ordering from faraway publishers. While some may see this as a step in the right direction of modernity, the increasing digitalization of our scholarship hurts our learning.”
“With the recent news that Labyrinth Books will no longer supply the coursebooks for Princeton classes, we are facing a new era in which all readings will only be accessible by some digital medium, whether that be via Course Reserves or online ordering from faraway publishers. While some may see this as a step in the right direction of modernity, the increasing digitalization of our scholarship hurts our learning.”
Community is built on empathy; stop politicizing it
Ava Johnson“The idea of creating “safe spaces” has been politicized and weaponized as part of a culture war when in reality it is merely a precursor to being in community with others.”
“The idea of creating “safe spaces” has been politicized and weaponized as part of a culture war when in reality it is merely a precursor to being in community with others.”
