copyright © 1998-2008
Durham Arts Council, Inc.
120 Morris Street
Durham, NC 27701
919.560.ARTS

Building hours are 9:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1:00-6:00 p.m. on Sundays. We are located at 120 Morris Street, Downtown Durham. For further information contact us via email or at (919) 560-2787.

PLAYING AT THE
NEW! PSI Theatre

FLYING MACHINE THEATRE COMPANY presents All My Sons by Arthur Miller Fri - Sat, June 11 - 12 at 8:00pm Sun, June 13 at 7:00pm Thu - Sat, June 17 - 19 at 8:00pm Sun, June 20 at 7:00pm Thu - Sat, June 24 - 26 at 8:00pm Sun, June 27 at 7:00pm Call 919.594.1140 for tickets and information Tickets $12 / $9 Seniors / $5 Students

At the height of WWII, Joe Keller and his partner Steve Deever were brought to trial for manufacturing faulty aircraft parts that killed twenty-one pilots. Deever went to prison, while Keller was exonerated of the crime. Two years later, Keller is one of the most successful manufacturers in the Midwest . Now his son Chris is determined to marry the daughter of Keller’s former partner, setting in motion a devastating series of revelations that threaten to destroy both families.

More information including discounts, reservations and special nights at their website.

For information on upcoming events at the Durham Arts Council's NEW! PSI Theatre, please call our front desk at 919-560-2787. Thank you very much! We look forward to seeing you at the PSI Theatre!

Click here to see a list of events previously held at the NEW! PSI Theatre.

WHERE IS THE
NEW! PSI Theatre?
For descriptive directions to the Durham Arts Council as well as parking information, please click here. For a map, please click here.

durham event calendars

• Downtown Durham, Inc. (DDI) compiles and distributes an excellent calendar of events. Contact Trudy Burdette to receive their weekly email calendar.
• Downtown Durham, Inc. -- Downtown Durham Event Calendar
• Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau -- Durham Community Calendar
• The Herald-Sun -- whatwhenwhere triangle online calendar
  

• Independent Weekly -- Best Bets, Arts & Entertainment Calendar, Eight Days a Week
  
  
  other durham exhibits & events

• The Carolina Theatre of Durham -- (919) 560-3030 http://www.carolinatheatre.org/
• Downtown Durham, Inc. -- (919) 682-2800 http://www.downtowndurham.org/
• Duke University... (919) 684-4444 www.duke.edu/main/news/arts.html
• Hayti Heritage Center -- (919) 683-1709 http://www.hayti.org/
• North Carolina Central University -- (919) 560-5170 http://www.nccu.edu/
  

Visit our Links Page for direct connections to more than 100 arts organizations and resources.

For further information on Durham, visit the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau
(800) 446-8604

PREVIOUSLY AT THE
NEW! PSI Theatre

ROTIMI FOUNDATION PRESENTS
Holding Talks by Ola Rotimi
Thu -- Sat, Aug 28 -- 30 at 7:00pm
Sun, Aug 31 at 2:30pm
Call 919.680.6237 for tickets and information
Tickets $15
This is the inaugural project of the newly established Rotimi Foundation, whose mission is to preserve and promote established and emerging African Arts and Artists. Directed by the playwright’s son and Durham resident, Kole Heyward-Rotimi, Holding Talks was written as a satire of Nigerian politics, but is universal in its appeal.
"Ola Rotimi’s works reveal the stories of Africa and the human condition," says V.Y. Mudimbe, Philosopher & Newman Ivey White Professor of Literature at Duke University.

FRONT PORCH ENTERTAINMENT presents Bird of Paradise Dew Drop Inn - The House of Blues by Dorothy Clark Thu -- Fri, Oct 2 -- 3 at 8:00pm Sun, Oct 5 at 3:00pm Fri -- Sat, Oct 10 -- 11 at 8:00pm Sun, Oct 12 at 3:00pm Call 919.479.1165 for tickets and information Tickets $10

The Bird of Paradise is a juke joint run by Eula Mae Johnson. During the play, we see her regular patrons enjoying themselves at a show. While the regulars watch the show at Eula Mae's, the audience learns the secret lives of those same patrons; their trials, their loves and their losses. The sound of the blues music keeps them coming back to soothe their soul. This promises to be a fun and lively show. Everybody fits in at the Bird of Paradise Dew Drop Inn! The audience is invited to come dressed in any costume of their choice. Each evening, secret judges will chose a "Best Dressed" audience member.

CAROLINA WREN PRESS presents Preston L. Allen fiction-writer, author of Churchboys and Other Sinners Sat, Oct 18 at 7:30pm Call 919.560.2738 for more information www.carolinawrenpress.org

Men are little piglets, don't you know? They just are. Thus begins "Is Randy Roberts There?" the first of ten extraordinary short stories in Preston L. Allen's Churchboys and Other Sinners. Allen's stories explore the boundary between boy and man, church and smut shack in spare, deadpan prose.

"Preston Allen's writing is in the tradition of writers such as James Baldwin.... His work is especially important because he reveals within the consciousness of young Black men, who have too often been the targets of vilification and shame, a tortured beauty. Every generation needs writers to interpret and re-interpret the canon and contemporary events in a novel way. Preston Allen is such a writer." -Geoffrey Philp, author of Benjamin My Son, xango music, and Uncle Obadiah and the Alien.

About the author: Preston L. Allen is the author of the novel Hoochie Mama. He has published stories in numerous magazines and journals, including Seattle Review, Crab Orchard Review, and Drumvoices. He teaches at Miami-Dade Community College.

Preston Allen will also be available for workshops, signings and visits with classes. Check our website for a full calendar. Please contact the press if you would like to host Allen at your college or university. This program was made possible with the support of the Durham Arts Council, Inc.

The talented students of Dana C. Gorzelany present a recital of songs from the musical theatre and classical repertoire.

"My educational background and diverse experiences as a music educator, scholar, conductor, and performer, allow me to teach singing from a unique perspective. I stress the importance of a healthy vocal technique and teach my students age appropriate repertoire and vocal exercises that promote proper breath control and a tension-free, resonant tone. I incorporate the fundamentals of notation, sight singing, and ear training into weekly lessons in order to help students become well-rounded musicians. Most importantly, I encourage students to strive for their personal best and teach them self-confidence and independence though music. My students have gone on to win competitions and participate in studio recordings as well as theatrical performances. Most recently, five of my students participated in the studio cast recording of a new musical titled, A Little Princess."
-- Dana C. Gorzelany

DANCER4HIM4EVER presents It's Time to Dance! produced by Wanda Boone President, Dancer4Him4Ever Fri, Oct 24 at 7:00pm Sat, Oct 25 at 4:00pm Call 919.491.0630 for more information Tickets $6 dancer4him4ever@aol.com

It's Time to Dance! is a unique musical and movement experience. Tapping into the sounds of the human experience, It's Time to Dance! reaches into the heart to bring hope, joy, reflection, peace and victory. It's Time to Dance! will leave you dancing too. Dancer4Him4Ever holds regular Dance Togethers (rehearsals). Come and join us!

Dancer4Him4Ever is a nonprofit, dance association, launched to bring participants from diverse backgrounds and levels of experience together in the harmony of dance.

Come out and see the critically-acclaimed September 11th drama that inspired a major motion picture with Sigourney Weaver and Anthony LaPaglia!

Less than two weeks after the September 11th attacks, New Yorkers are still in shock. One of them, an editor named Joan, receives an unexpected phone call on behalf of Nick, a fire captain who has lost most of his men in the attack. He’s looking for a writer to help him with the eulogies he must present at their memorial services. Nick and Joan spend a long afternoon together, recalling the fallen men through recounting their virtues and their foibles, and fashioning the stories into memorials of words. In the process, Nick and Joan discover the possibilities of friendship in each other and their shared love for the unconquerable spirit of the city. As they make their way through the emotional landscape of grief, they draw on humor, tango, the appreciation of craft in all its forms — and the enduring bonds of common humanity. The Guys is based on a true story. The Guys is directed by Grace Smiley and stars David Berberian and Jen Wichman.

"A small jewel of a play." -Chicago Tribune. "Ms. Nelson’s play...gives credible and powerful voice to a very specific kind of pain." -NY Times. "A generous, sad, touching play about the braveries of grief." -NY Post. "A courageous and riveting...play that tackles the horror of September 11th with an intimacy that’s both unsettling and healing." -Christian Science Monitor.

DURHAM ARTS COUNCIL presents The Emerging Artists Awards Ceremony Friday, January 16 at 6:00pm Call 919.560.2787 for more information

FEATURING: Footnotes Tap Ensemble, Laura Thomasson, Riverside Dance Theatre, Cai Flamenco, Choreo Collective, Jodi Aleen Obeid and the Enloe Dance Ensemble, and more!

ANIMA DANCE presents Whoever Finds This, I Love You new modern dance work by Rachel Brooker Saturday, January 24 at 3:00pm and 8:00pm Feedback session following 3:00pm performance Call 919.560.2787 for directions only Visit www.animadance.org or Email rachel_brooker@yahoo.com for more info Tickets Pay-as-you-can

Once upon a time there was a little girl. She had parents, naturally, but they went away when she was nine. She wasn't a pretty girl, and people never told her: "Isn't she darling!" She didn't have any relatives, so someone from an orphan's home took her. There were many children at the orphanage, so no one paid much attention to the little girl, and she was alone much of the time. She played by herself since the other children thought that she was quite unattractive and a bit strange. She had big eyes and would stare at people with a curious preoccupation. She liked to walk around the grounds of the orphanage, stopping occasionally to pick up a leaf... or to watch a bird... or just to stop. Her only friends were the beautiful green things, the warm sunny days, and her own thoughts...

So begins the the text of Love, by Lowell A. Siff, and the text accompaniment to Whoever finds this, I love you, a new dance work by Rachel Brooker of Anima Dance. The work, a trio for Brooker, Jodi Obeid and Amelia Burch, examines loneliness and intimacy, finding each at unexpected times and in the strangest places. Playing with weight, blindfolds and flowers, Obeid and Brooker have collaborated to create the movement of this highly physical duet/trio, with Burch performing an original score and occupying the space both as a mover and a musician.

Anima Dance, a three-year-old dance company formerly known as Brookerdance, performs at venues across the state. Past showings by the company have been reviewed in the Raleigh News & Observer, the Spectator and Independent Weekly. Anima Dance has received funding for their 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 seasons through the Durham Arts Council, including gifts from donors to the United Arts Fund and the National Endowment for the Arts and support from the City of Durham.

Louie the Moon begins as a large family gathers for a family reunion, spaghetti dinner style. Throughout the weekend, patriarch Louie tells stories of his past. Nobody believes his outrageous tales-at first.

Even if family members do not accept some of the stories that imply Mafia connections, these tales weave their way through the family's lives, often with hard and tragic results. Family members are faced with a difficult decision in the shockingly calm conclusion to Louie the Moon.

BK ACTING STUDIO presents BK Acting Studio Actor's Workshop Roy B, Actor/ Director and CEO of BK Actors Studio Saturday, February 7 at 10:30am $99 (4 hours) Call 323.627.3319 or 888.503.9292 for more information Call 919.560.2787 for directions

LEARN HOW TO GET STARTED IN SHOW BIZ: techniques to control nervous tension, breathing for control, relaxation and pace, movement and body awareness, thinking on your feet, on camera techniques and presence.

LEARN THE SECRETS OF SELF-CONFIDENCE AND ACTING FROM A WORKING PROFESSIONAL! Whether it's a speech to give, audition to do, meeting to lead, presentation to deliver or the performance of a lifetime?

IT'S TIME TO BE PUSHED TO THE NEXT LEVEL!
Seating is limited. Activate your creativity and improve your self-confidence! Reserve your spot today!

Roy B. Experience and credits include:
FILMS: The Meteor Man, The Five Heartbeats
TELEVISION: The Shield (FX), Will & Grace (NBC), Jamie Foxx Show (WB), Martin (FOX), Hangin' With Mr. Cooper

Program includes: J. S.Bach: Concerto in c minor for two harpsichords and strings; Astor Piazzolla: Fuga y Misterio for Flute, Clarinet, Cello, Piano, and Tuba; Also works for bassoon quartet, including a preview of our March 14 concert: "Peter and the Wolf" arranged for 4 bassoons. The cello section will perform double quartets including homage to Shastakovich.

Reception follows to meet the Durham Symphony Orchestra artists.

THREAD DANCE THEATER presents Lace Saturday, February 21 at 8:00pm Call 919.560.2787 for directions and parking info Call 919.949.0849 for ticket reservations Tickets $9 adults / $7 students & NCDA members

In addition to TDT repertory, guest artists from Choreo Collective, Meredith Dance Theater, and Riverside High School will grace the event. Choreo Collective will reprise three of their 86 second "8 Files", accompanied by Jim Schaeffer on the bassoon, and MDT will share "Glory", choreographed by Carol Finley. TDT will share "Nest", "Cave", and "Sanctuary" choreographed by Amy Beth Schneider, who is an alumnus of Choreo Collective.

Ms. Films Festival Movies by Independent Women + workshops & panels, Saturday & Sunday Friday, February 27 at 7:00pm Saturday, February 28 at 7:00pm LIMITED SEATING Tickets $6 single screening or workshop $8 screening pass | $15 full festival pass more info at www.msfilms.org

Why Ms. Films?
The number of films made by women in movie theaters, film festivals, and on TV are significantly less than the number of films made by men. Ms. Films is a non-profit, all volunteer-run organization that attempts to address this gap with a multi-facted approach.

[Screenings + Workshops + Panels]
With so few avenues of distribution for women filmmakers and artists who choose to work in the short format, Ms. Films is a showcase for women filmmakers to exhibit their work. Ms. Films offers workshops and panels to help get women of all ages started, to give them the tools and resources to make their own movies. Ms. Films is a place where filmmakers of all experience levels can come together to discuss, learn and collaborate. Ms. Films' workshops and panels are presented by women filmmakers, scholars, and artists to give us all the chance to learn from their unique experience and expertise.

More information is available at www.msfilms.org