Arts Week a 'cultural gem'

Working to bridge various aspects of the performing arts, Bloomington's 18th annual Arts Week celebration will begin today and run through March 2. The week-long celebration's opening reception is at 6 p.m. tonight in the new Theatre/Neal-Marshall Education Center in the Ruth N. Halls Theatre foyer.\nArts Week showcases the finest work of theater presentation in Bloomington, allowing IU students, faculty and Bloomington residents to experience the best of the many artistic performances in town. Most Arts Week events are free and require no tickets, but for those events that do require admission, tickets can be purchased from individual venues.\nHosted by IUB Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Moya Andrews and Bloomington Mayor John Fernandez, the Arts Week opening reception will feature presentations by the Bloomington Early Music Festival minstrels and the IU Children's Choir.\n"It's going to be a real great opportunity for people to see the riches we have here in Bloomington," said Ruth Boshkoff, director of the IU Children's Choir. "We have children from not just Bloomington, but from other areas around the \ncounty. We hope these events will make more people aware that even though we're sponsored by IU, we're open to every child."\nThe reception will kick off a week that will feature a wide array of local and world-recognized performers and instructors including Rudy Pozzatti, Violette Verdy, Janos Starker, Malcolm Dalglish, Jacques Cesbron and Glenn Gass. Also featured during the week are presentations by the Southern Indiana Youth Symphony, the Bloomington Playwrights Project, the African American Dance Company and many more. Programs during the scheduled week will run every day from as early as 9 a.m. until midnight.\n"It encapsulates what the arts are really all about," said Alain Barker, executive director of the BEMF. "The core of Arts Week's mission is to work between the community and campus."\nThe BEMF will have a storytelling of Grimm's fairy tales for children Feb. 23 at the Unitarian Universalist Church on the corner of Fee Lane and the bypass. Barker said the event will be especially exciting for children, as the IU Young Recorder Players will be playing as well. Admission is free and parents are also encouraged to attend.\nAlso featured during Arts Week is the IU Broadway Cabaret. The singing and dancing group is made up of IU students who perform a number of famous Broadway hits.\n"Arts Week brings all the different forces of the arts together. Bloomington is such a cultural gem with so many different facets," said George Pinney, professor of theatre and drama and head of the ensemble. Pinney will hold a free lecture and demonstration on musical theater choreography Feb. 23 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Neal-Marshall Grand Hall.\nBecause of cross advertising, people are exposed to events that they might not generally attend. Theater, dance and music productions, along with museum exhibits, creative writing lectures and various youth events and tours, are open to the campus and Bloomington community throughout the week.\n"This really brings together all the forces of art in Bloomington," Pinney said. "One night, a couple may decide to go to the theater and find out they want to try out opera the next. It really broadens people's horizons."\nFree parking is available for all who attend Arts Week events from Feb. 22-25. Locations include the Atwater, Poplars, Jordan and Tenth Street garages. Parking attendants will need to know the name of the event spectators have attended upon leaving.\nFor a complete listing of Arts Week activities, people can visit http://www.indiana.edu/~artsweek/ to see the many other happenings the week-long celebration has to offer.