MUSIC CAFE @ BLOOMFIELD COLLEGE THIS WEEKEND

Music Café 2020

WHEN: Feb. 28. Doors open at 7 pm. Snacks will be served.
WHERE: CT+T at 198 Liberty Street, Bloomfield College. Entrance is through the College Library
ADMISSION: free, but donations are appreciated
Click here for more information

The Company @ Bloomfield College presents its first annual Music Café featuring the Z3mog Trio and Bloomfield’s own CAT prof. Abraham Gomez-Delgado, with fellow musicians Maria Christina Eisen on sax and Pablo Bencid on drums.

About his music, Gomez-Delgado writes, “The music draws from popular Afro-Puerto Rican, Cuban and South American Rhythms but is also inspired from German Cosmic music, Japanese Buto Dance, Punk Rock, Classical Minimalism and American Free Jazz. Sung in both Spanish and English, the songs deal with issues such as immigration, racism, the power of dancing together, living in-between and the balance of imbalance in life.”

The New York Times praises Gomez-Delgado’s musical style for “Twisting genres at will and singing with skewed humor.” It also notes that the music is “largely unplugged, taking the horn section and guitar vamps of Puerto Rican salsa and bending them by way of Mingus and Sun Ra.”

Gomez-Delgado will be joined on stage by Bloomfield alums: the soulful Sqootie Jackson, and John Avila. Ambience between sets will be supplied by Tommy Jesus. The show will also feature a special performance by Bloomfield’s own, Nasic.

Music Café is a benefit for The Company @ Bloomfield College. The Company is the first resident performing arts company in the history of Bloomfield College. Founded by Bloomfield students and Dr. Freddie Harris in the spring of 2015, The Company is dedicated to producing new works by emerging and/or underrepresented playwrights, and other performance artists.

In collaboration with guest artists who are professionals in the world of theater, The Company strives to create a performance outlet for Bloomfield College students, where they can evolve artistically to address and celebrate The College’s diverse setting and to work collaboratively with each other to expand and enrich their aesthetic and cultural horizons. We endeavor to evoke meaningful conversations in ways that engage with issues of social justice that affect and shape the Bloomfield College community.

The Company @ Bloomfield College Presents a Staged Reading of ANOWA

ANOWA WHEN: Thursday, April 4, and Friday, April 5. Both readings will begin at 7:00 p.m. WHERE: Center for Creativity+Technology at Bloomfield College, 467 Franklin St., Bloomfield ADMISSION: Suggested donation $15. No charge for Bloomfield College students. ANOWA, a provocative drama by acclaimed Ghanian playwright Ama Ata Aidoo, examines the tensions emanating from gender, race, and class inequalities in Victorian era Ghana. Amy Estes, a co-founder of Marvell Repertory Theatre (2011–2014), a critically acclaimed Off-Broadway company in New York, will direct the staged reading. "I loved the idea of exposing Bloomfield College students and the Bloomfield community to this play by Ama Ata Aidoo, the first woman to have a play published in Africa,” said Estes. “Anowa is an intelligent, ambitious, principled young woman who is trapped and ultimately ruined by cultural expectations that she cannot support. It struck me that even in today's America, when women and people of color challenge historically dominant cultural narratives, they face judgment and danger.” “That makes Anowa's tale of life along the Gold Coast in the 1870s especially worthy of attention right now," Estes continued. "The staged reading format, in which actors and audience focus on the language of the script rather than a play's design elements, allows The Company to give voice to a great play without the expense of a fully-staged production." The Company @ Bloomfield College's staged reading of ANOWA, under the artistic direction of professor Dr. Fiona (Freddie) Harris, features Bloomfield College students Elizabeth Agyapong, Joseph Darby, Naja Long, Joshua McLean, Precious Olubiyi, Delores Oppong Ntow, and T'shaka Thorpe, and staff member and alumna Celeste Walden-Kelley. Bloomfield College students Tenasha Simpson and Destin Johnson serve as stage manager and dramaturg. About Bloomfield College A comprehensive, liberal arts institution located in Bloomfield, New Jersey serving 1,646 students with inspiring stories. Bloomfield College offers over 40 academic programs, Division II athletics, and co-curricular clubs and organizations. The College is committed to enabling students, particularly those who have been historically excluded from higher education, to realize their intellectual and personal goals. More than half of the student body identify themselves as first-generation and are the first in their families to enroll in college. The College was ranked No. 1 in NJ and No. 20 nationally in promoting the social and economic mobility of its low-income students to high economic achievement, including top economic quintiles. U.S. News & World Report ranked Bloomfield College the 14th most diverse National Liberal Arts College in the United States.

Bloomfield College Theater Company to Host Benefit, Welcome Kyle Marshall to Campus

The Company @ Bloomfield College, the College’s first and only theater company, presents A BENEFIT & PERFORMANCE Kyle Marshall is a 2018 NY Dance and Performance “Bessie” Jury Award recipient and a 2017 NJ State Council of the Arts Fellow WHEN: Thursday, February 28. The reception (6:00 p.m.) and performances (beginning at 7:00 p.m.) WHERE: Bloomfield College’s Center for Technology+Creativity, 467 Franklin St., Bloomfield TICKETS: As this evening is designed to help raise funds for The Company @ Bloomfield College, there is a suggested donation of $20, though every donation, no matter the amount, is appreciated. To reserve your seat, please email Dr. Harris at fiona_harris-ramsby@bloomfield.edu. Please note when you RSVP if you will be attending the reception as well as the performances. “Theater is important in that teaches students about collaboration and teamwork. It helps them with time management and being prepared. And studying scripts fosters critical thinking and assessment of human psychology,” said Dr. Fiona (Freddie) Harris, Assistant Professor of Writing and Rhetoric and Coordinator of the Company. “Our students are really talented and we discovered a need for a performance outlet here at the College. We are hosting this benefit to sustain and ensure that we can keep producing theater at Bloomfield College.” At 7:00 p.m., students will perform Searching for Answers, a student improvisational piece about young people who are grappling with the aftermath of tragedy, directed by Bloomfield College’s acting teacher, Kellei Cosby. After a brief intermission, special guest Kyle Marshall's contemporary dance production of Colored will begin. Kyle Marshall, who first came to campus last year and helped Bloomfield College students tell their personal stories through contemporary dance, is a 2018 NY Dance and Performance “Bessie” Jury Award recipient and a 2017 NJ State Council of the Arts Fellow. His dance company, Kyle Marshall Choreography (KMC) has performed at venues including Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out, Joe’s Pub at the Public, Actors Fund Arts Center, NJPAC, NYC Summerstage, Wassaic Arts Project, and Conduit Dance (PDX). Commissions have included "Dance on the Lawn" Montclair's Dance Festival, NJPAC and Harlem Stage. Marshall currently dances with the Trisha Brown Dance Company and Doug Elkins choreography etc. Marshall is a graduate of Rutgers University with a BFA in Dance. “One of our aims with the Company is to have students work alongside, and be exposed to, determined people making a living in the Arts,” said Dr. Harris. “We want them to witness the sort of passion and dedication it takes to ‘make it’ as a working artist in this contemporary landscape. Kyle is a wonderful example to our students.” For those who want to contribute to The Company, but cannot attend the performance, you can make your gift online. Please select “Other” from the drop-down menu and enter “The Company” in field). Checks can be mailed to the Office of Institutional Advancement, 68 Oakland Avenue, Bloomfield, NJ 07003. Please include 'The Company' in the memo section.

FREE LECTURE BY JOYCE CAROL OATES MONDAY IN BLOOMFIELD

WHERE: Robert V. Van Fossan theater, 449 Franklin St., Bloomfield Joyce Carol Oates is a recipient of the National Medal of Humanities, the National Book Critics Circle Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award, the National Book Award, and the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction, and has been several times nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. She has written some of the most enduring fiction of our time, including the national bestsellers We Were the Mulvaneys, Blonde, which was nominated for the National Book Award, and the New York Times bestseller The Falls, which won the 2005 Prix Femina. Her most recent novel is A Book of American Martyrs (2017). She is the Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Princeton University and has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 1978. Dr. Angela Conrad, Professor of English and Women's Studies at the College, will act as program moderator during this intimate discussion with Oates, an honorary degree recipient and dear friend of Bloomfield College. All are welcome to attend this free event. To register, kindly respond to Jackie Bartley, Vice President for Institutional Advancement, at jackie_bartley@bloomfield.edu or at 973-748-9000 ext. 1293. The Bloomfield College community looks forward to this very special event.

About Bloomfield College

A comprehensive, liberal arts institution located in Bloomfield, New Jersey serving 2,000 students with inspiring stories. Bloomfield College offers 60 academic programs, Division II athletics, and co-curricular clubs and organizations. The College is committed to enabling students, particularly those who have been historically excluded from higher education, to realize their intellectual and personal goals. More than half of the student body identify themselves as first-generation and are the first in their families to enroll in college. The College was ranked No. 1 in NJ and No. 20 nationally in promoting the social and economic mobility of its low-income students to high economic achievement, including top economic quintiles. U.S. News & World Report ranked Bloomfield College the 14th most diverse National Liberal Arts College in the United States.

OFFBEAT PRODUCTION BY TEEN ENSEMBLE OF “JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH” IN BLOOMFIELD THIS WEEKEND

NiCori Studios and Productions will present The NiCori Teen Ensemble in

James and the Giant Peach
by Roald Dahl

WHEN: Friday, January 27, at 8:00 p.m., Saturday, January 28, at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, January 29, at 2:00 p.m.
WHERE: at the Westminster Arts Center at Bloomfield College, 449 Franklin St., Bloomfield
TICKETS: $15 for adults and $12 for students. 
For more information and for tickets, visit Nicori Studios and Productions' website.

The production is directed by NiCori co-founder Corinna Sowers Adler, musically directed by Deborah Martin, and features choreography by Lisa Grimes.

A delightfully offbeat adaptation of the classic Roald Dahl adventure, it tells the story of a boy named James who is sent by his aunts to chop down their old fruit tree and discovers a magic potion that launches a journey of enormous proportions. The classic adventure takes a completely new twist once they land on the Empire State Building.

A delightfully offbeat adaptation of the classic Roald Dahl adventure!

NiCori's next production at Bloomfield College is a one-woman-show featuring actress Ami Brabson entitled "Phenomenal Woman" in honor of Black History Month. (Above: NiCori Winter Gala – James and the Giant Peach cast)

About NiCori Studios and Productions
NiCori Studios and Productions is a pre-professional theater training center based in Bloomfield dedicated to educating both amateur and seasoned performing artists. Offerings include voice lessons, musical theatre classes, acting workshops, songwriting workshops, dance classes, and technical theatre workshops. 

About Bloomfield College
A comprehensive, liberal arts institution located in Bloomfield, New Jersey serving 2,000 students with inspiring stories. Bloomfield College offers 60 academic programs, Division II athletics, and co-curricular clubs and organizations. The College is committed to enabling students, particularly those who have been historically excluded from higher education, to realize their intellectual and personal goals. More than half of the student body identify themselves as first-generation and are the first in their families to enroll in college. U.S. News & World Report recently ranked Bloomfield College the 14th most diverse National Liberal Arts College in the United States.