A&E

IU students perform in D.C.

Five IU musicians received the rare opportunity to usher in the 2005 Conservatory Project Feb. 23 at the Kennedy Center. With their favorite classical and contemporary pieces on the program, these hand-selected musicians performed for audiences of fellow musicians and ensemble gurus.

Classical guitarist transcends status as former child prodigy

Many child prodigies become forgotten as they grow of age; they taste the sweetness of fame in their childhood, but the public eye eventually moves on, and they're unable to adjust to their new "common" status. Some talents shown in childhood are merely a symptom of accelerated growth rather than possessing an extraordinary gift, but a few fit the definition of genius.

Rock Steady

The fifth annual Hip-Hop Awareness Festival kicked off Feb. 22 in full force as hip-hoppers from across the nation flooded Bloomington to take advantage of a week of hip-hop culture. "The Art of Rhyme," a documentary film on the art of freestyling and battle rapping, began the week Feb. 22. A lecture by Afeni Shakur, activist and rapper Tupac Shakur's mother, and actress Jasmine Guy attracted a packed IU Auditorium Feb. 23. The event foreshadowed the success of the weeklong event, which included a poetry slam with guest poets Psalm One and Thaione Davis from Chicago.

Students finish film to graduate

Adam Carroll owes a large part of his livelihood to Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches. The sandwiches help him earn income to support his project, "Conversations with the Almighty." He also hopes he can provide sandwiches to his cast after filming.

Africana explores the motherland

Feeling American in Spain

Looking ahead to studying abroad, I expected to learn more about my country through the eyes of others, and I also expected to learn more about myself as a person. What I didn't expect was to learn about myself as an American. Sure, I identified myself as an American because I appreciated my country and because that's where I lived, but now I'm learning that I'm really inherently American. Having never lived outside of the United States before, I used to pretentiously consider myself significantly different from the average American.

'Million Dollar Baby,' Eastwood take top Oscars

LOS ANGELES -- Tough was enough in Clint Eastwood's strong-and-silent early days as a scruffy Old West gunslinger or a modern vigilante cop. With 2003's "Mystic River" and now "Million Dollar Baby," Eastwood has shown that tough doesn't begin to scratch the surface of his filmmaking talents.

Production examines female sexuality

Margaret Goodwin performed the monologue "My Angry Vagina" Thursday night.

Opera based on historical execution of nuns

Anyone going to the opera thinking they were going to see something along the lines of "Don Giovanni" or "Die Walküre" was in for a surprise.

Frank Lloyd Wright house difficult to auction

CHICAGO -- If you think selling a house designed by the most famous architect in American history is easy, think again. After several months on the market, a 1915 Frank Lloyd Wright house on Chicago's North Side is going on the auction block, with bids starting at $750,000, less than a third of the original $2.5 million asking price.

Jury selection ends in Jackson trial

SANTA MARIA, Calif. -- In surprisingly quick time, a jury was selected Wednesday that will decide Michael Jackson's fate on charges that he molested a teenage boy at his Neverland Ranch.

Exhibit features drawings by late Cuban exile

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Ana Mendieta and her sister were shipped off to the United States from Cuba by their parents, landed in a Dubuque orphanage and were shuffled among several foster homes all before graduating from high school.

'Master Harold' brings his boys to IU

Discourse about racism is alive within the IU community and the theatre department wouldn't have it any other way. "'Master Harold' ... and the boys," written by South African Athol Fugard and directed by South African IU theater professor Murray McGibbon, opens at 8 p.m. tonight in the Ruth N. Halls Theatre. The play premiered in 1982 at the Yale Repertory Theatre and was banned from production in South Africa until 1994.

Outside experience adds to writers' ability to succeed

Jennifer Fish describes the economics of a fiction writer's lifestyle. "It's hard for everyone these days," she said. "My spouse supports me by doing extra around the house so I have time to devote to writing and art. He's a coupon maniac ... I buy most of my clothes at the Goodwill or will vulture items at the recycling center.

Screen or Stage

Playwrighting has been around at least since the times of ancient Greece; screenwriting was created less than 100 years ago. Today many theaters struggle to stay in business, but films often see weekly box office revenues in tens of millions of dollars.

Ice-carving contest attracts champions

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- For three straight days, Stanley Kolonko will forsake the comforts of his job as a clubhouse chef to spend 14-hour shifts, toiling in numbing subzero temperatures, chipping and carving a block of ice into a piece of art.

Ceramic art balloons into massive undertaking

BALTIMORE -- During the next few months, it will be nearly impossible to view art in Baltimore without seeing works in clay. That's the goal of the Tour de Clay, a celebration of ceramic artwork that has ballooned into what organizers say is the largest-ever visual arts program in the United States.

'Dialogues' deeply moving for student cast members

The Catholic Church is associated with many musical genres such as the cantata and the oratorio, but it usually is never associated with the opera. French composer Francis Poulenc changed that in 1956 when he wrote "Dialogues des Carmelites."

Around The Arts

Soweto Gospel Choir sings for IU The Soweto Gospel Choir will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday at the IU Auditorium. Described as an awe-inspiring vocal ensemble, the choir performs tribal, traditional and popular African gospel music.

Cocktails the focus of New Orleans museum

NEW ORLEANS -- Start with hundreds of antique liquor bottles. Add art deco cocktail shakers, vintage swizzle sticks and Tiki cups. Mix well. Serve inside an 1823 French Quarter town house.