The first ever Festival D'artmouth will be held this Saturday, where the talents of the premier comedy, dance, drama and musical groups will be displayed, as well as the works by the studio art majors of the College.
Never before has so many of the campus' talent groups been brought together in such unique venue.
The festival is to be held in the Top of the Hop and Alumni Hall, with various entertainment groups performing in both Halls simultaneously. Each group will be performing for approximately 20 minutes.
At 7 p.m. the Aires will begin singing on stage in Alumni Hall and will be followed by all of the other a cappella groups, including the Dodecaphonics, the Rockapellas, the Cords, Decibelles and Final Cut.
There will be more than just singing as dance troupes ranging from hip-hop Sheba and Fusion to tap Steppin' Out will be taking the stage.
The Top of the Hop will have more theatrical offerings. The improvisational comedy troupe Dog Day Players will be bringing their irreverent style to the festival. The Latino-oriented performance group Nuestros Voces will be showing their talent off as well. Also coming are the Untamed Shrews with their unique brand of female based performance art.
Such student musicians as Britt Myers '00 and Dan Zimmerman '01 will be performing in the Top of the Hop as well.
Also in Alumni Hall, the visual art of the studio art majors will be on display all evening.
Festival D'artmouth is sponsored by the Programming Board and is a Class of 2000 Council event. As President of the Class of 2000 Noah Phillips '00 commented, "This event should reach all of the Dartmouth community and should familiarize the students with the number of cultural outlets at the college."
At the beginning of Fall term, the Class of 2000 Council was considering the various events that they could plan for the coming year when they stumbled upon the clever idea of sponsoring an arts festival with a name that is equally creative.
Other possibilities included a formal of some sort but it was agreed upon that an arts festival would draw more people and would provide more entertainment.
The co-chairs of the Festival D'artmouth are Eric Buchman '00 and Julie Kachniasz '00. The two co-chairs, along with the Class of 2000 Council, have been planning this event with the aid of the programming board since the beginning of the fall term and are expecting the festival to draw 500 to 700 or more students.
The festival is free of charge and food will be catered by the Hanover Inn.
It is hoped that the Festival D'artmouth will become an annual tradition in the years to come, and although the festival is free of charge there may be a contribution box to support arts for the children in the Upper Valley area.
