The Hopkins Center. It stands at the edge of campus, across from the Green -- a display of urban architecture in the midst of all the red brick buildings and rural New England landscape. But it carries with it more than just the look of the city, but all the cultural outlets associated with it.
Within the Hopkins Center for the Performing Arts, completed in 1962, is housed a series of rehearsal studios, theaters, art galleries, wood shops and auditoriums. Artists from around the world come to display their work at the Hop.
Mikhail Baryshnikov came and danced with his White Oak Dance Project last year. August Wilson sat and watched students perform his "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" this past winter. Oliver Stone and Meryl Streep made appearances. A Tony Kushner play was workshopped there a few summers back. The work of Winslow Homer has been displayed in its Hood Museum. And many lesser known and rising stars have appeared over the years.
The Hop promises a different event each weekend, and many during the week. Many shows have little appeal to students, and only the gray-haired minions of surrounding towns will venture in to catch the show. But many shows are a huge draw to students, and the line for tickets can be pretty long and slow.
The Programming Board is in charge of, among other things, setting up big concerts for the students. The Programming Board will have a few smaller concerts in fraternities or other smaller areas featuring rising bands, but, about once a term, a big band will roll into Hanover.
Last year they brought us the Indigo Girls, the Steve Miller Band, Ziggy Marley, Live and Wyclef Jean. Past years have brought us, among others, the Dave Matthews Band, the Violent Femmes, The Temptations, George Clinton, The Roots and Rusted Root. Tickets for students are relatively inexpensive.
The Programming Board also provides a free Midnight Movie -- featuring a recent first run film -- once a term at the Nugget, Hanover's local theater.
More than just bringing talent to Dartmouth, the Hopkins Center and the College help to foster and display students' own talents. New performing groups spring up each year, some die out, but mostly the number of outlets for students to perform in keeps on growing.
Of those groups sponsored by the Hopkins Center are the Barbary Coast Jazz Ensemble, the Chamber Singers, the Glee Club, the Handel Society, the Gospel Choir, the Symphony Orchestra, the Marching Band, the Wind Symphony and the World Music Percussion Ensemble.
The Barbary Coast Jazz Ensemble, founded in 1924, performs once a term with a featured artist, last term it was jazz great Oliver Lake. Others such as Max Roach, Joseph Buoy, Dexter Gordon and the Heath Brothers have come up to play.
The Chamber Singers, which focus on classical, madrigal and even contemporary music, is another popular singing group. Their annual "Feast of Song," in which a play, music and good food is combined into one sensational evening, is always a big draw, as are their other concerts throughout the year.
The Glee Club, aside from singing at the annual lighting of the Christmas Tree on the Green, gets showcased in a big concert once a term. Even though it is the most musically contemporary of the above groups, it has been around for over 125 years.
The oldest of the groups, the Handel Society, was founded in 1807 and has retained its classical character over the years. Their music consists of Bach, Handel and Brahms, among others. The Handel Society consists largely of community residence.
The Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra combines the talents of students with those of surrounding communities. The 100-plus member group has one big concert a term.
The Marching Band is the most visible, and audible, of the groups, especially in the fall during football season. The Marching Band pride's itself on its quirky sense of humor, featured in their half-time skits and chants. Enthusiasm is a must, musical talent is optional.
The Wind Symphony, which plays all sorts of classical music, the World Music Percussion Ensemble, which plays Caribbean, African and hip-hop music ad the Gospel Choir each give a big concert once a term.
Student-performed, and often student-written, plays are often running at the Hop. From the Main Stage Production once a term -- which this past year has been Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" and August Wilson's "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" -- to the smaller features which are performed on the Hop's smaller stages, students' talents are always on display.
For those who can't find what they want in the Hopkins Center-sponsored groups, you'll probably find what you're looking for outside of it.
A cappella groups are very popular on the Dartmouth campus, two new groups have sprung up just this year. There are male a cappella groups -- The Aires, The Cords, Final Cut. There are female a cappella groups -- The Decibelles, The Rockapellas and The Subtleties. There is a co-ed group, the Dodecaphonics.
And there's also X.ado, a Christian a cappella group, and Kol Koreh Bamidbar, a Jewish a cappella group. Not to mention the Modern Madrigal Singers, who play older music that was actually intended for a cappella.
There's also the Dog Day Players, an improvisational comedy troupe, Sheba and Fusion, hip-hop dance troupes, and more.
Whatever your talent, you'll find an outlet to showcase it.
