Arts & Culture

Provocative questions of activism, justified violence and making a difference lie at the heart of “underground,” an ambitious evening-length multimedia dance piece by acclaimed choreographer David Dorfman Sept. 25 and 26.

Fairytales do come true — sort of. Just ask Sleeping Beauty, whose 900 years of enchanted rest finally come to an end in a modern-day sleep disorder clinic, far from the land of far far away. Welcome to Sleeping Beauty Wakes, an artfully twisted take on the classic children’s story, by theatrical power-pop trio GrooveLily. In October these acclaimed indie troubadours will return to St. Louis for a pair of performances as part of the Edison Theatre OVATIONS Series.

Fiction writer Lydia Millet will read from her work at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17, for Washington University’s Writing Program in Arts & Sciences Millet is the author of six novels, beginning with the subversive coming-of-age tale Omnivores (1996), which centers on a young woman whose megalomaniac father turns their home into an armed camp after seceding from the United States. Her third novel, My Happy Life (2002), won the 2003 PEN-USA Award for Fiction. Her latest book is the forthcoming story collection Love in Infant Monkeys.

Julie Otsuka will present the Assembly Series and Neureuther Library lecture at 3:30 p.m., Tuesday, September 15 in Graham Chapel. Otsuka’s debut novel, “When the Emperor Was Divine” is this year’s Freshman Reading Program selection.

Around the world dance is often quite literally the physical embodiment of cultural identity and practice. Yet for individual dancers, the power of such traditions can give rise to certain expectations and even stereotypes based on perceived identity. On Sept. 12 the Dance Program in the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences will explore the role of ethnicity in contemporary dance with “Dancing Who I Am,” a panel discussion and informal concert featuring faculty members as well as leading critics and choreographers from around the country. The event comes as part of the semester-long series “Ethnic Profiling: A Challenge to Democracy,” organized by the Center for the Study of Ethics and Human Values. Also as part of the series, the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies will screen Ancestor Eyes, an award-winning Native American short film, Sept. 13.

Violinist Erin Schreiber, assistant concertmaster of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, will join pianist Martin Kennedy, assistant professor of composition and theory in the Department of Music in Arts & Sciences, for a free concert Thursday, Sept. 3.

Four years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita led to devastating floods, the city of New Orleans still lacks a comprehensive plan for dealing with water, argues Derek Hoeferlin, a senior lecturer in the College and Graduate School of Architecture in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts. Hoeferlin has led a series of Post-hurricane architecture and urban design studios, including most recently Gutter to Gulf, which explores spatial strategies for a potential water plan. He outlined his views in an Aug. 30 commentary for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and is available for further discussion of planning and recovery issues.

Jazz at Holmes will open its fall series of free Thursday night jazz concerts Sept. 10 with an outdoor jazz tribute to the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. The concert will feature a six-person jazz ensemble led by William Lenihan, director of jazz performance in the Department of Music in Arts & Sciences. “The connections between rock music and jazz of the era of Woodstock are many,” Lenihan explained, “and not just that which the sonic possibilities of electric and electronic musical instruments brought to the stage.”

World-renowned artist and computer scientist John Maeda will serve as opening speaker for “Economies: Art Architecture,” the first joint conference of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture and the National Council of Art Administrators. The conference, which takes place Nov. 4-7, will be hosted by the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts. In conjunction with the event, the Sam Fox School and the Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies are collaborating to present three Skandalaris Awards in art and design.

Students who learn history by watching historically based blockbuster movies may be doomed to repeat the historical mistakes portrayed within them, suggests a new study.