Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
The blizzard has passed, and the snow is melting. In preparation for impending midterms and deadlines, you’ve probably locked yourselves away in Cornell, McCabe, Kohlberg, your rooms, and whatever other places you’ve decided are the best for studying. And, you know what? I’m right there with you, typing away in the Science Center. But, it’s the weekend, and we should probably do something fun or we’ll go insane, or, at the very least, have no fodder for conversation besides the effect of nationalism on Eastern Europe in the 19th century or the Petrarchan context of Spenser’s Amoretti.
If you want to stay on the Swarthmore campus this weekend, there are a few really interesting events you can attend! At 4:30 today in Kohlberg 226, there will be a screening of the film Uprooted, directed by Swat alum Juan Mejia Botero ’00. Uprooted illustrates the internal refugee crisis in Colombia, where over 3.5 million people have been violently displaced since 1990. Following the screening, Mejia Botero will lead a discussion and field questions. At Olde Club, Martha Graham Cracker Cabaret, voted Best Drag Show in Philadelphia, will be performing Saturday Night. Performed by Pig Iron Theatre Company, founded by Dito van Reigersberg ’94, the Martha Graham Cracker Cabaret is a real treat, combining comedy and music for a rollicking time.
Tonight there’s a special treat! The SAAC is hosting Swarthmore’s first All-Campus Pep-Rally if not ever than at least in recent memory! Pep yourself up for the men’s and women’s basketball games at home against Haverford on Saturday with performances by Rhythm ‘N Motion, Sixteen Feet, Mixed Company, and the Mariachi Band! There will be free food, free t-shirts, and a 50/50 raffle, which means that 50% of the funds go to the winner, and the other 50% goes do the charity of your choice. Have some Swat spirit, and check it out at 9:00PM on Friday night in Tarble Pavilion.
UPenn’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology is sponsoring its 21st Annual Celebration of African Cultures tomorrow from 11:00AM to 4:00PM. The Penn Museum will come alive with the music and dance of Africa and the African Diaspora, storytelling, arts and crafts, games, culture, and cuisine. The event is free with a Museum admission donation ($6 for full-time students with ID) and will feature many enthralling and exciting acts, such as Kenny J (Rhythm and Blues/Soul Line Dancing), Chosen Dance Company (Hip-Hop), and storytelling by Momma Sandi. The press release can be found here.
The Indigenous Pitch Dance Collective is presenting Zata, which means “imagine” in the African dialect of Hausa. There are several shows throughout the evening. Human Candles is a whimsical story “set somewhere between the loneliness of the city and the crush of bodies in underground dance clubs.” There is a show that combines childhood fantasy, nighttime escapades, and sexy with poetry, prose, and an original score. Gray Matters is a controversial parody that explores a world where data-filled memory chips are implanted into the human body. Showtimes are 8:00PM tonight and 2:00PM and 8:00PM tomorrow; tickets are only $10 for students! More info can be found on their website.
Another cool dance event will be performed at the Painted Bride Art Center. Called Atypical, Painted Bride will feature dance acts by Three Aksha, Sonic Liberation Front, and work by Makoto Hirano. Three Aksha will showcase Bharatanatyam, a traditional dance from South India. Sonic Liberation Front merges jazz with traditional Afro-Cuban Yoruba music, and Makoto Hirano will feature multi-disciplinary performance works that investigate broad social questions. This performace will take place on Sunday night at 7:00PM. Find more info here!
City of Numbers: mixtape of a city…, performed by the InterAct Theatre Company, closes this weekend, and you should really see it before it’s gone! City of Numbers is a play written by Christopher Lewis as a part of an outreach effort in which he interviewed lifetime inmates at Graterford Prison about their work as mural artists. The show weaves together the stories of dozens of Philadelphians, from convicted murderers to victims’ relatives, physicians, artists, and community leaders. Tonight student tickets are $18, tomorrow and Sunday, they’ll be $20. You should really go check it out!