test events

Description

Join the Department of Performing and Media Arts for Is a Hum a Warning? a performance-lecture and Q&A by accomplished choreographer Roya Carreras Fereshtehnejad on Wednesday, October 15, 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm, in the Class of '56 Dance Studio Theatre (SB 10), Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts. As a certified instructor in the American Ballet Theatre Method, Roya will also teach an open level ballet class on Thursday, October 16, 7:30 pm – 10:00 pm, in Studio 320, Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts. This event is free and open to the public; all dancing bodies welcome and embraced.  

Choreographer Roya Carreras Fereshtehnejad shares and reflects on her interdisciplinary work and career shaped by her upbringing as a first-generation Persian and Spanish American. Working at the intersection of dance, writing, film, and visual art, she approaches the body as protest, archive, and mirror.   

She moves through improvisation, magic realism, and embodied storytelling to excavate themes of migration, surveillance, femme experience, and collective humanism. Her recovery from cancer has further expanded her research into movement as survival, healing, and futurity, opening new dimensions in her practice around care and resilience, weaving personal and cultural histories into contemporary performance. 

This artist talk includes fragments from her newest research, Is a Hum a Warning?—a performance-lecture that explores how rupture becomes reclamation and how sound and gesture can hold protest, pleasure, and futurity as part of her ongoing work as a Persian artist-researcher. 

Is a Hum a Warning?  is curated by Assistant Professor of the Practice Danielle Russo and the 2025/26 PMA Dance Programming: Dancing Home/Land. 

 Made possible by the generosity and support of the Department of Performing & Media Arts at Cornell University.  

Content warning: Themes around trauma will be discussed during the performance-lecture event on October 15. 

Roya Carreras Fereshtehnejad is a half-Persian, Andalusian first-generation artist raised Muslim in the U.S. Working at the intersection of dance, writing, and visual art, she approaches the body as protest, archive, and mirror. Her practice moves through improvisation, magic realism, and embodied storytelling to excavate themes of migration, surveillance, femme experience, and collective humanism. Her recovery from cancer has further expanded her research into movement as survival, healing, and futurity, opening new dimensions in her practice around care and resilience. Her most recent work premiered at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston with Boston Dance Theater. She has also created original works for Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company and Peridance Contemporary Dance Company. Alongside her concert work, Carreras has developed notable commercial and film projects, collaborating with recording artists such as Paris Paloma (for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”), Laura Dreyfuss, Angélica Garcia, and Pussy Riot, as well as platforms including Spotify, Jolie, and Facebook—expanding her practice across mediums and audiences. As a performer, she has worked closely with Barak Marshall at BODYTRAFFIC, Bryan Arias, Danielle Russo Performance Project, and Lux Boreal Danza Contemporánea in Tijuana, Mexico. She holds an MFA in Dance from Bennington College, where her research into recovery and futurity culminated in  Is a Hum a Warning?—a performance lecture exploring sound, rupture, and reclamation. 

Description

Join the Department of Performing and Media Arts for Is a Hum a Warning? a performance-lecture and Q&A by accomplished choreographer Roya Carreras Fereshtehnejad on Wednesday, October 15, 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm, in the Class of '56 Dance Studio Theatre (SB 10), Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts. As a certified instructor in the American Ballet Theatre Method, Roya will also teach an open level ballet class on Thursday, October 16, 7:30 pm – 10:00 pm, in Studio 320, Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts. This event is free and open to the public; all dancing bodies welcome and embraced.  

Choreographer Roya Carreras Fereshtehnejad shares and reflects on her interdisciplinary work and career shaped by her upbringing as a first-generation Persian and Spanish American. Working at the intersection of dance, writing, film, and visual art, she approaches the body as protest, archive, and mirror.   

She moves through improvisation, magic realism, and embodied storytelling to excavate themes of migration, surveillance, femme experience, and collective humanism. Her recovery from cancer has further expanded her research into movement as survival, healing, and futurity, opening new dimensions in her practice around care and resilience, weaving personal and cultural histories into contemporary performance. 

This artist talk includes fragments from her newest research, Is a Hum a Warning?—a performance-lecture that explores how rupture becomes reclamation and how sound and gesture can hold protest, pleasure, and futurity as part of her ongoing work as a Persian artist-researcher. 

Is a Hum a Warning?  is curated by Assistant Professor of the Practice Danielle Russo and the 2025/26 PMA Dance Programming: Dancing Home/Land. 

 Made possible by the generosity and support of the Department of Performing & Media Arts at Cornell University.  

Content warning: Themes around trauma will be discussed during the performance-lecture event on October 15. 

Roya Carreras Fereshtehnejad is a half-Persian, Andalusian first-generation artist raised Muslim in the U.S. Working at the intersection of dance, writing, and visual art, she approaches the body as protest, archive, and mirror. Her practice moves through improvisation, magic realism, and embodied storytelling to excavate themes of migration, surveillance, femme experience, and collective humanism. Her recovery from cancer has further expanded her research into movement as survival, healing, and futurity, opening new dimensions in her practice around care and resilience. Her most recent work premiered at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston with Boston Dance Theater. She has also created original works for Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company and Peridance Contemporary Dance Company. Alongside her concert work, Carreras has developed notable commercial and film projects, collaborating with recording artists such as Paris Paloma (for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”), Laura Dreyfuss, Angélica Garcia, and Pussy Riot, as well as platforms including Spotify, Jolie, and Facebook—expanding her practice across mediums and audiences. As a performer, she has worked closely with Barak Marshall at BODYTRAFFIC, Bryan Arias, Danielle Russo Performance Project, and Lux Boreal Danza Contemporánea in Tijuana, Mexico. She holds an MFA in Dance from Bennington College, where her research into recovery and futurity culminated in  Is a Hum a Warning?—a performance lecture exploring sound, rupture, and reclamation. 

Description

Join PMA for a production of I Want a Country, a play by Andreas Flourakis, translated by Eleni Drivas, and directed by Samuel Buggeln, Artistic and Executive Director of The Cherry Arts. The show will take place in the Flex Theatre, Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts, on Friday, October 24, at 7:30 pm; Saturday, October 25, at 7:30 pm; Friday, October 31, at 7:30 pm; and Saturday, November 1, at 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm. Get your free tickets here.

What do you do when the country you considered yourself at home in suddenly seems to be falling apart? What even makes it the same country that it was in the past? What is the status of the migrant who no longer has a country? In general: are we all doomed, or is there hope?  

In the decade since it was written, I Want a Country has been produced over 25 times around the world. Since its debut in London, the play has had productions in New York, Greece, Mexico, Germany, India, Colombia, Peru, Switzerland, and beyond. This playful, passionate, unlikely script has rapidly become one of the most important pieces of international theater writing in the last decade.  

This event is co-sponsored by the Einaudi Center for International Studies.

Sam Buggeln is the founding Artistic and Executive Director of The Cherry Arts, as well as an award-winning theater translator and one of the US’s preeminent directors of new international plays. Learn more about his work.

Andreas Flourakis is a playwright. He has written more than thirty works for theater, which have been translated into many languages. Learn more about his work.

Description

Join PMA for a production of I Want a Country, a play by Andreas Flourakis, translated by Eleni Drivas, and directed by Samuel Buggeln, Artistic and Executive Director of The Cherry Arts. The show will take place in the Flex Theatre, Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts, on Friday, October 24, at 7:30 pm; Saturday, October 25, at 7:30 pm; Friday, October 31, at 7:30 pm; and Saturday, November 1, at 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm. Get your free tickets here.

What do you do when the country you considered yourself at home in suddenly seems to be falling apart? What even makes it the same country that it was in the past? What is the status of the migrant who no longer has a country? In general: are we all doomed, or is there hope?  

In the decade since it was written, I Want a Country has been produced over 25 times around the world. Since its debut in London, the play has had productions in New York, Greece, Mexico, Germany, India, Colombia, Peru, Switzerland, and beyond. This playful, passionate, unlikely script has rapidly become one of the most important pieces of international theater writing in the last decade.  

This event is co-sponsored by the Einaudi Center for International Studies.

Sam Buggeln is the founding Artistic and Executive Director of The Cherry Arts, as well as an award-winning theater translator and one of the US’s preeminent directors of new international plays. Learn more about his work.

Andreas Flourakis is a playwright. He has written more than thirty works for theater, which have been translated into many languages. Learn more about his work.

Description

Join PMA for a production of I Want a Country, a play by Andreas Flourakis, translated by Eleni Drivas, and directed by Samuel Buggeln, Artistic and Executive Director of The Cherry Arts. The show will take place in the Flex Theatre, Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts, on Friday, October 24, at 7:30 pm; Saturday, October 25, at 7:30 pm; Friday, October 31, at 7:30 pm; and Saturday, November 1, at 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm. Get your free tickets here.

What do you do when the country you considered yourself at home in suddenly seems to be falling apart? What even makes it the same country that it was in the past? What is the status of the migrant who no longer has a country? In general: are we all doomed, or is there hope?  

In the decade since it was written, I Want a Country has been produced over 25 times around the world. Since its debut in London, the play has had productions in New York, Greece, Mexico, Germany, India, Colombia, Peru, Switzerland, and beyond. This playful, passionate, unlikely script has rapidly become one of the most important pieces of international theater writing in the last decade.  

This event is co-sponsored by the Einaudi Center for International Studies.

Sam Buggeln is the founding Artistic and Executive Director of The Cherry Arts, as well as an award-winning theater translator and one of the US’s preeminent directors of new international plays. Learn more about his work.

Andreas Flourakis is a playwright. He has written more than thirty works for theater, which have been translated into many languages. Learn more about his work.

Description

Join PMA for a production of I Want a Country, a play by Andreas Flourakis, translated by Eleni Drivas, and directed by Samuel Buggeln, Artistic and Executive Director of The Cherry Arts. The show will take place in the Flex Theatre, Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts, on Friday, October 24, at 7:30 pm; Saturday, October 25, at 7:30 pm; Friday, October 31, at 7:30 pm; and Saturday, November 1, at 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm. Get your free tickets here.

What do you do when the country you considered yourself at home in suddenly seems to be falling apart? What even makes it the same country that it was in the past? What is the status of the migrant who no longer has a country? In general: are we all doomed, or is there hope?  

In the decade since it was written, I Want a Country has been produced over 25 times around the world. Since its debut in London, the play has had productions in New York, Greece, Mexico, Germany, India, Colombia, Peru, Switzerland, and beyond. This playful, passionate, unlikely script has rapidly become one of the most important pieces of international theater writing in the last decade.  

This event is co-sponsored by the Einaudi Center for International Studies.

Sam Buggeln is the founding Artistic and Executive Director of The Cherry Arts, as well as an award-winning theater translator and one of the US’s preeminent directors of new international plays. Learn more about his work.

Andreas Flourakis is a playwright. He has written more than thirty works for theater, which have been translated into many languages. Learn more about his work.

Description

Join PMA for a production of I Want a Country, a play by Andreas Flourakis, translated by Eleni Drivas, and directed by Samuel Buggeln, Artistic and Executive Director of The Cherry Arts. The show will take place in the Flex Theatre, Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts, on Friday, October 24, at 7:30 pm; Saturday, October 25, at 7:30 pm; Friday, October 31, at 7:30 pm; and Saturday, November 1, at 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm. Get your free tickets here.

What do you do when the country you considered yourself at home in suddenly seems to be falling apart? What even makes it the same country that it was in the past? What is the status of the migrant who no longer has a country? In general: are we all doomed, or is there hope?  

In the decade since it was written, I Want a Country has been produced over 25 times around the world. Since its debut in London, the play has had productions in New York, Greece, Mexico, Germany, India, Colombia, Peru, Switzerland, and beyond. This playful, passionate, unlikely script has rapidly become one of the most important pieces of international theater writing in the last decade.  

This event is co-sponsored by the Einaudi Center for International Studies.

Sam Buggeln is the founding Artistic and Executive Director of The Cherry Arts, as well as an award-winning theater translator and one of the US’s preeminent directors of new international plays. Learn more about his work.

Andreas Flourakis is a playwright. He has written more than thirty works for theater, which have been translated into many languages. Learn more about his work.

Description

Join the Department of Performing and Media Arts for PMA 1183 Guest Speaker: Scholar/Musician Aaron Joseph on Wednesday November 5, 8:40am-9:55am, Hybrid: Eisner Pavillion Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts and on Zoom. This event is presented by PMA 1183 FWS: Hip-Hop’s Global Vibrations (NYC, LA, Southeast Asia), and is free and open to the public.

This session will include a talk on Aaron Joseph's research and artistry on Toronto, Black Studies, and Music at-large.

Join on Zoom: https://bit.ly/pma1183

Aaron Joseph is a graduate student in the Department of Environmental Planning & Urban Change at the University of Toronto. He is also a writer, researcher, and musician. His intellectual work revolves around the city of Toronto and its greater Afro-Diaspora—its hodgepodge urban design, sports and music histories, politics, and the expressive cultures of its Black communities. His writing functions as a form of philosophical anthropology, excavating the deeper meanings and ingrained patterns behind the seemingly mundane aspects of city life. This means that as a cultural critic, he analyzes discarded popular figures, products, and events that live outside of commodity cycles—remnants of the city’s zeitgeist that still hold profound significance. His approach, which could be called the universalizing of particulars, seeks to illuminate the shared narratives that connect us beyond our petits récits.

Description

"Chats with the Chair" invites PMA majors, minors, and those interested in the department to join the chair for food and fellowship. 

Come learn more about the department, give feedback, and talk about everything performing and media arts at Cornell and beyond! Lunch provided! 

Mark your calendar for: 

• Thursday, September 18, Noon - 1 pm (Please RSVP by September 16th to pma@cornell.edu)
• Thursday, November 6, Noon - 1 pm (Please RSVP by November 4th to pma@cornell.edu)

Location: Room 220, Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts  

Description

"Chats with the Chair" invites PMA majors, minors, and those interested in the department to join the chair for food and fellowship.

Come learn more about the department, give feedback, and talk about everything performing and media arts at Cornell and beyond! Lunch provided!

Thursday, November 6, Noon - 1 pm(Please RSVP by November 4th to pma@cornell.edu)

Location: Room 220, Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts 

Description

Join PMA for PMA 1183 Guest Performer and Speaker: DJ Rhettmatic, presented by PMA 1183 FWS: Hip-Hop’s Global Vibrations (NYC, LA, Southeast Asia). This event will take place on Zoom on Wednesday, November 19, from 8:40am - 9:55am. Join on Zoom: https://bit.ly/pmal183

DJ Rhettmatic as a Filipino-American uplifts Filipinx musical aesthetics. This visit will include a short turntablist-DJ performance, followed by an informal Q&A conversation. Attendees are encouraged to listen and watch the following media before attending: 

Listen / Watch:

• Rhettmatic — 1997 DMC US Finals
• 1998 Vol. 2 Rhettmatic Soundtrack

Interviews:

• "Roll Junkies" DJ Rhettmatic
• NAMM's 2020 and 2023 videos

DJ Rhettmatic of the World-Famous Beat Junkies has been DJing for well over 40 + years. He's done it all: a World Champion Battle DJ, mixing on commercial radio, performing with musicians & DJing in nightclubs around the world. Also, as a member of The Visionaries, Crown Royale and the Cypress Junkies, he has DJ'ed & Produced for recording artists, creating backdrops for such artists from Aloe Blacc, Dilated Peoples, to Ras Kass on well over 50 releases. Rhettmatic continues to be one of the most respected DJ's in the world.