Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           publicinfo@selu.edu
                                           SLU 10880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           985/549-2341/fax 985-549-2061
    Date: 03/20/02
      Contact:                           Angey Saucier   46

Editors: Photo accompanies release   Please note local interest
"WE CAN DO IT!" CELEBRATES WOMEN IN THE ARTS
     HAMMOND   Students from Southeastern Louisiana University and the dance company
Sharp Edges will present "We Can Do It! An Evening of Women and the Performing Arts" as
part of the university's celebration of Women's History Month.
     The performance is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., Tuesday,  March 26 in Room 153 of the
Kinesiology and Health Studies Building.
     Directed and produced by Southeastern English faculty Rebecca Basham and Carole
McAllister and dance instructor Greta T. Sharp, the performance will include a play based on a
legendary singer's musical influence, and special performances by a Southeastern vocalist and
pianist, and Sharp Edges dance company.
     The night will open with a reading of a poem by the winner of the Women's History
Month Poetry Contest. Then, "Ruminations," written and directed by Basham, will explore the
relationships between women's relationships with art, themselves and others. The play centers
around the spirit of famed blues singer Billie Holiday and how her work embodies four women
who feel her music as a thread of womanhood and art. 
     Starring in "Ruminations" are Southeastern students Erika Dubone, Marrero; Kat Duvic,
Covington; and Annabella Andrade, Hammond, alumni Cene Robinson and Southeastern faculty
member Patsy Kay Turner.
     Following the play, vocalist Robin Smith of Hammond and pianist Lin Knutson, a
member of the Department of Communication faculty, will perform a piece written by Clara
Schumann.
     Closing the show will be Sharp's dance company, Sharp Edges, in "Without Age," a new
work choreographed by Sharp.
     "'Without Age' is my personal journey of reconnecting with my spirituality and coming
to a place in my life of great joy," said Sharp. "There are three sections to the dance: searching,
supported and free. One must look inside to find life's essence."
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"We Can Do It!" Celebrates Women In the Arts   add one
     Members of Sharp Edges performing in "We Can Do It!" are Andrade, Karolena Belak,
Hammond; Austin Branch, New Orleans; Tara Dixon, Baton Rouge; Melita Filopoulas,
Mandeville; Lesley Kernan, Prairieville; Ladazha Moll, Gonzales.
     Women's History Month will continue at Southeastern 11 a.m. March 27 and 28 with free
lectures in Sims Memorial Library. Wednesday, English professor Jana Schulman will present
"Uppity and Bloodthirsty Women," and Thursday, foreign languages professor Katherine Kolb
presents "Feisty French Poets."
     Also, on display until April 12 in Clark Hall Gallery is the exhibit "Real Women: 
Louisiana Women Artists Working in the Realist Tradition." Gallery hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
weekdays.
     Women's History Month at Southeastern is sponsored by the Women's Center, a new
service at Southeastern inspired by the success of last year's Women's History Month activities.  
This year's events are coordinated by McAllister, whose women's literature students staged the
celebration last year; instructor Susan Johnson, KSLU news director Mary Pirosko, and graduate
assistant Pat Williams.
     For additional information, contact McAllister at 985-549-2044.

                             -SLU-
Press release available online at www.selu.edu/news/spring02.html