Bursting with colorful displays from cultures all over the world, the Global Arts Festival returns to Ohio University for its fourth year during the week of April 1st-6th, 2024. For those not in the know, the Global Arts Festival promises on a myriad of global, visual, and performing arts that showcase a diversity of cultures, talent, and performances. The event also focuses on research and scholarship opportunities within the field.
What Can You Expect at the Festival?
With the festival spanning almost an entire week, you can expect to see a lot of top-notch entertainment and captivating performances from various groups. Other, more specific events like international fashion shows, concerts with various global music, film screenings, art shows, and so much more are in the cards for the Global Arts Festival.
What Does the Symposium Offer Attendees?
Attendees are invited to the symposium, Performing and Visualizing the Arts: A Global and Interdisciplinary Perspective, which takes place all day from April 4th-6th. The symposium aims to create a dialogue surrounding all aspects of art and invite different, global perspectives and inspire new ways of teaching, performing, and researching. There will be presenters on a variety of topics surrounding the performing and visual arts, along with workshops to attend and participate in throughout the days of the symposium.
The keynote speaker for the symposium is Kofi Agawu, who is an authority on all aspects of African music and is a musicologist and music theorist. He is currently a Distinguished Professor at the City University of New York and has taught at a number of distinguished schools across the world.
World Music and Dance Concert
The World Music and Dance Concert will take place on April 5th at 7:30pm in the Memorial Auditorium, and the large performance features artists from all across the world showcasing different cultures’ song and dance—some highlights for the festival are bound to be the Kashtan School of Ukranian Dance, the Ohio University African Ensemble and Steel Band, percussion ensembles, and the Singing Men of Ohio.
The Kashtan School of Ukranian Dance is located in the greater Cleveland area and focuses on maintaining the beauty and rich history of folk dance. Audiences can expect to see bright and colorful costumes and plenty of energetic dancing paying tribute to Ukranian dance.
The OU African Ensemble focuses on celebrating the diversity in African music styles and their traditional dances, and they bring those to life on stage through energetic performances and their signature dance-drumming.
The Singing Men of Ohio is an ensemble at Ohio University comprised of both undergraduate and graduate students with tenor-bass vocal ranges—while they might sound like more of a local act, the SMoO have toured both nationally and internationally, showcasing their talents and voices.
All in all, the World Music and Dance Concert is one of the main attractions of the Global Arts Festival for good reason, and it shouldn’t be missed for those who are looking for a unique experience on campus and want to spend some time watching the dances and visual arts of other cultures. For OU students who are wanting to attend, a valid OU ID will get you in for free.
The Global Arts Festival promises to bring some of the best visual and performing arts out there to Ohio University, and it’s an event you don’t want to miss, particularly if you’re a fan of world music, dancing, or just talented performers showing off what they can do.