April is National Poetry Month, and Trexler Library is celebrating with our third annual Poetry Contest! The contest is open to the entire DeSales community, and students are eligible for our $50 Bookstore gift card first place prize. In addition, we’ll select a second place student winner who will receive a $25 Bookstore gift card. The contest is open from April 1-30, 2021.

You can enter the contest at the Poetry Month display in our lobby, where you can post your original poem. You can also submit your poem through email to reference@desales.edu. All entries will be posted online at our National Poetry Month guide.

The Academy of American Poets began National Poetry Month in 1996 in order to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the US. Since then, it has grown to become the largest literary celebration in world.

Questions? reference@desales.edu

Two years ago, in association with Cedar Crest College, we hosted our first Out of the Darkness Campus (OOTD) Walk. Our goal was to raise awareness about suicide prevention among students and hopefully raise money for this cause. We exceeded our goal with both participation and donations. Last year’s walk, planned for Cedar Crest College campus, went virtual due to the pandemic, but we again exceeded our mark. We were glad to get out of our homes and breath fresh air while we videoed our solo walks in support of our cause.

This year we will be streaming live from the DeSales campus with in-person walks (in small groups) at DeSales, as well as other campuses and neighborhoods. The scope of our walk has changed dramatically as we have grown from two to five colleges in the area. Sponsors include such groups as LVHN, New Vitae Wellness, Frey’s Better Foods, LV Treatment Trends and LV Martial Arts. To date, we have hundreds of walkers registered from as far away as California and Florida, and have raised over $28,000, the second highest OOTD walk in the country, with three weeks yet to go before the big event!

This issue touches the lives of many people.  If we can raise awareness, educate ourselves and others about suicide prevention, offer support to our fellow walkers and raise money to sponsor this cause, then we will all benefit at the end of this walk. Register to walk and support others at afsp.org/desales and join us on April 17!

Questions? Karen.Peterson@desales.edu

The DeSales Dance Ensemble Concert will highlight an excerpt from Paul Taylor’s “Cloven Kingdom,” re-constructed by former Paul Taylor dancer and Lehigh Valley native AnnMaria Mazzini.

The Dance Ensemble Concert will also feature exciting works by dance faculty and guest artists, and a Screendance film.

Take advantage of our special price for DSU faculty, staff & students: only $5 per viewer!

The Division of Performing Arts proudly presents the climax of the dance season, the Dance Ensemble Concert, streaming Saturday, April 10, and Sunday, April 11, 2021.

Under the artistic direction of the Chair of the Dance Department, Julia Mayo, The Dance Ensemble Concert features a beautiful blend of new and innovative choreographic premieres. Recorded on our Main Stage, the Dance Ensemble concert showcases the stunning versatility of our talented dance majors. “This year’s Dance Ensemble Concert is not only a showcase of our students’ talents, but the determination and ingenuity of our faculty and staff,” says Mayo, “We have embraced the challenges of the pandemic and hosted virtual residencies via Zoom and commissioned a new work from Nicole Wolcott specifically for the screen. Our students have really risen to the artistic challenges of remote residencies and adapted to the social distancing protocols and masks required to safely perform the work.”

The highlight of this season’s production is a reconstruction of renowned choreographer Paul Taylor’s “Cloven Kingdom”. Based on Baruch Spinoza’s “Man is a social animal.” With dancers in tuxedoes and gowns, formal music drives formal dance. When the music shifts to contemporary cacophony, the behavior shifts as well. 

“Cloven Kingdom” was staged by the DeSales dancers by former Paul Taylor company member and Lehigh Valley native, AnnMaria Mazzini. “The DeSales dancers are a powerhouse ensemble who bring a wonderful sense of intensity and authority to the stylized animalism of Paul Taylor’s movement for “Cloven Kingdom”, says Mazzini. “I am so excited to see them onstage at the Labuda Center, with full lighting and costumes, where I know they will bring this special dance to life in a way that honors not only Mr. Taylor’s legacy, but this uniquely challenging year, in which, despite the circumstances, we were still able to come together and make art. I am so grateful to DeSales, and especially to Julia Mayo and the Dance Division, for making this safe, socially distanced—but nonetheless triumphant!—production possible.”

In addition, the concert presents work commissioned by New York-based performer, educator, and choreographer Caroline Fermin as well as a commissioned Screendance work by Brooklyn-based movement artist and teacher Nicole Wolcott, who spent 2 weeks working with the talented senior class in a unique virtual residency. in residence with the talented senior class. The Dance Ensemble also features pieces by our esteemed dance faculty members, Angela Sigley Grossman, E’lise Jumes, and Julia Mayo.

The Dance Ensemble Concert will stream on Vimeo Saturday, April 10, and Sunday, April 11. Viewing passes are available by visiting the Labuda Box Office or by calling extension 1276. The day prior to your selected production date, you will be sent a reminder email which will include your production link & password with instructions on how to view it.

Take advantage of our special price for DSU faculty, staff & students: only $5 per viewer!

The Division of Performing Arts is happy to announce the DeSales University Film Festival, now in its 21st year, will stream live on April 9, 2021. Please note that, due to careful timing, this event will only be available starting promptly at 8PM on Friday, April 9.

An exciting showcase of world premiere films, the DeSales University Film Festival—DUFF for short—features the emerging voices of film directors, screenwriters, producers, cinematographers, designers, editors, animators, and actors in the DSU film department. The event also includes photo highlight segments, showcasing beautiful and compelling art by the talented photographers of the TV/Film Department and the entire University.

Each film in this year’s DUFF demonstrates the craft, hard work, creativity, and dedication that is necessary to tell a captivating story. The theme this year is “Back in Action.” 

[Read more…]

As a reminder, Susan Hurd, Sodexo Registered Dietitian, will be hosting “Ask A Dietitian” on Wednesday, April 28, from noon-1PM.  Susan will be answering all of your nutrition questions.  To better prepare Susan to answer your questions, we ask that you submit them ahead of time.  Please submit your question(s) to Lisa.Lightcap@desales.edu by April 16. Everyone who submits a question will have their name entered into a raffle.  The raffle winner will be announced at the end of the presentation.

Please register for this presentation and other upcoming wellness events!

Sponsored by the Wellness Task Force: Lisa Lightcap, Mary Ann Falk, Wendi Hontz, Kathy Krause, Mike Latham, Tim Cox, Carrie Ellis, Nichole Hartman, Kat Lehman, Jodie Morgan, Karen Peterson, Colleen Petrick.

Questions? Lisa.Lightcap@desales.edu

Join Eric Bartosz, Founder and author of BAR40, for a 45-minute presentation that will provide techniques and insights into how to achieve tangible improvements in every area of your life.  Mindset, diet, fitness, the power of habit, and goal setting strategies are core components of this comprehensive and highly relatable session. Participants will come away with a solid understanding of the next steps to take in order reach a higher level of daily productivity using personal accountability tools to achieve goals.

The BAR40 virtual presentation will be held on Wednesday, April 14, at noon.

Please register for this presentation and other upcoming wellness events!

Sponsored by the Wellness Task Force:  Lisa Lightcap, Mary Ann Falk, Wendi Hontz, Kathy Krause, Mike Latham, Tim Cox, Carrie Ellis, Nichole Hartman, Kat Lehman, Jodie Morgan, Karen Peterson, Colleen Petrick

Questions? Lisa.Lightcap@desales.edu

Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival announced this week the 2021 summer season. The upcoming season reflects the Festival’s continued commitment to creating world-class professional theatre in the Lehigh Valley, and celebrates both the re-opening and the Festival’s 30th anniversary. PSF has assembled an exciting and diverse summer lineup featuring a beloved comedy by William Shakespeare on a new outdoor stage, Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning playwrights, a one-night-only concert with a Broadway artist, virtual performances, and a company of acclaimed actors and directors. 

“In this time of extraordinary change, we have worked to re-open with a season that will be refreshing, a season that aligns with what is possible and what is needed,” says Producing Artistic Director Patrick Mulcahy. “So many of us need to reconnect, have some fun, and experience the arts again. And in support of our communities, of PSF’s commitments, and our mission of reaching the widest possible audience, our season also aims to achieve greater diversity and inclusion.” 

The season will open June 25 and run through August 1 at the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts at DeSales University in Center Valley, PA. The Festival will prioritize the safety and comfort of its patrons, artists, and community and adapt to current and anticipated circumstances with socially distanced seating, limited capacity performances, upgraded HVAC filtration systems, and other safety measures.

[Read more…]

Join the Oxfam organization tonight, April 8, at 8PM in the Dooling Auditorium to celebrate the earth!

We’ll be watching an episode of Zac Efron’s Down to Earth, do an upcycling project, and enjoy some milkshakes.

First-year students can earn a Character U Justice or Service point for participating.

Register on Engage.

Questions? jaime.gerhart@desales.edu.