Arts & Culture

Brett Bailey’s exploration of the South African psyche is based on a true story; it’s a show “about fear, how it hypnotizes society and destroys community.”

She will also be in residence with the Dance Program Jan. 27-Feb. 1 to conduct a series of master classes with intermediate and upper-level dance students.

You don’t have to be an art major to create and exhibit artwork, and Washington University’s 2nd Annual Graduate Student Visual Arts Exhibit is a testament to that. Washington University graduate students from all disciplines were invited to submit visually compelling creations for an exhibit at Baseline Gallery, 1110 Washington Ave., in the downtown loft district. When the exhibit opens with a reception from 6-10 p.m. Jan. 28, more than 65 graduate students representing disciplines ranging from chemistry, medical sciences, engineering and law to anthropology, architecture, art and English, will have their creative sides on display. The exhibit, titled “Offcourse,” runs through Feb. 4.

Dawn Majors, Post-DispatchPerry sings for his students about Parkinson’s disease to the tune of “Torna a Surriento.”When students show up for class with Arie Perry, associate professor of pathology, they’re not sure if they’ll be getting a lecture or a concert. Chances are good it will be a little of both. Perry takes otherwise mundane medical jargon, adds a little guitar, and sings informative songs for students with hopes of helping them better retain the knowledge.

Courtesy imageSoweto Gospel ChoirThe Soweto Gospel Choir — an all-star “super group” drawn from churches and congregations in and around Soweto, South Africa — will bring their vibrant mix of African Gospel, popular songs, folk anthems and traditional Zulu, Xhosa and Sotho spirituals to Washington University’s Edison Theatre for a special, one-night-only concert Feb. 11.

The program will range from Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, probably Mozart’s most popular and best-known work, to the less-familiar Adagio and Fugue in C Minor, K. 546.

The Turtle Island String Quartet and the all-sibling Ying Quartet will perform selections from their genre-defying collaboration 4 + Four, starting at 8 p.m.

The three recipients will spend a semester in residence with the center, researching a new book project while attending a variety of presentations.

Her five novels are Labrador, The Girl Who Trod on a Loaf, Hell: A Novel and The Walking Tour and Versailles; her sixth, The Thin Place, is forthcoming this month.

Courtesy photoMichel YangMichel Yang, the 2005-06 Marcus Artists for the Dance Program in Washington University’s Performing Arts Department (PAD) in Arts & Sciences, will present an informal concert of improvisational works at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 1. In addition, Yang will be in residence Jan. 27 to Feb. 1 to conduct a series of master classes with intermediate and upper-level dance students.