Syracuse University

The sacred masked dances of the Ivory Coast performed by the New York City-based Kotchegna Dance Company will signal the beginning of "Journeys," the 2003 Syracuse Symposium at Syracuse University. The dance company will perform Feb. 11 at 8 p.m. in the University's Rose and Jules R. Setnor Auditorium in Crouse College. The artists will also present a pre-concert lecture at 7 p.m. in the auditorium. The event is free and open to the University and Central New York communities.

The Syracuse Symposium is an annual intellectual festival celebrating interdisciplinary thinking, imagining and creating. The 2003 symposium will explore "Journeys" of discovery, intellectual journeys, mythical and artistic journeys, migrations of peoples, exiles, liberations, pilgrimages and more. The series will continue throughout the Spring 2003 and Fall 2003 semesters and will include lectures, exhibits, performances and other special events.

The Kotchegna Dance Company performance is co-presented by the Setnor Tuesday Concert Series in the College of Visual and Performing Arts and the University's Arts Adventure Program.

The Kotchegna Dance Company was founded in the Ivory Coast in 1989 by Vado Diomande to promote the country's culture through chant, mime, dance and music. The company moved to New York City in 1994 after arts funding dried up in the Ivory Coast.

The company has won audience and critical acclaim for its innovative choreography, breathtaking stilt dancers, colorful costumes and pulsating drum rhythms. Diomande's choreography draws upon his country's regional dance styles and oral tradition, and the eight core members of the group perform their dances with sacred masks that represent the spirits of deities and animals. The masks are part of the country's tribal life and bring blessings and protection to important celebrations-marriages, deaths, initiations, harvesting and sowing.

The company has performed throughout the United States in concerts, residencies and festivals, and has conducted educational programs, dance classes and workshops.

Some of the other Spring 2003 "Journeys" opening events include:

• Feb. 13: Nobel Prize-winning chemist Roald Hoffmann, a survivor of Nazi Germany and the Frank H.T. Rhodes Professor of Human Letters at Cornell University, will present "Journeys Between the Sciences and the Arts" at 7:30 p.m. in the Shaffer Art Building's Shemin Auditorium.
  
  
• Feb. 13: Songwriters and political satirists Charlie King and Karen Brandow, who are the keynote speakers for the 5th Annual Sojourner Storytelling Conference, will present "Songs of the Civil Rights Movement" at 1 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel, and they will present "Journeys," a storytelling performance, at 7:30 p.m. in the Alibrandi Catholic Center, 110 Walnut St.
  
  
• Feb. 27: Former New York Times science reporter Dava Sobel will present "Charting the Journey: The Quest for Longitude" at 7:30 p.m. in the Shaffer Art Building's Shemin Auditorium.
  
  
• March 5: Artist, illustrator and writer Nick Bantock will present "From Image to Word: An Alchemical Journey" at 7:30 p.m. in the Shaffer Art Building's Shemin Auditorium. A Mail Art Exhibit with the theme "My Favorite Place" will accompany Bantock's visit. Members of the public are invited to send their favorite postcards to Mail Art Exhibit, 224 Slocum Hall, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244-1250. The winning postcards will be displayed across campus, including the Genet Gallery, the Hendricks Chapel's Noble Room and the Schine Student Center's Panacci Lounge.
  
  
• March 17: Renowned stage, film, television actor and singer Theodore Bikel, who immortalized the role of Tevye in "Fiddler on the Roof," will perform at 7:30 p.m. in the Schine Student Center's Goldstein Auditorium. This is one of two ticketed events for the 2003 Syracuse Symposium. Tickets are free for SU students, faculty and staff with a University ID and will be available Feb. 24. Tickets for the general public are $5 and will go on sale March 3.
  
  
• March 27: The second ticketed event is "A Culinary Journey," a smorgasbord of food from China through the Near East and South Asia at 5 p.m. in the Goldstein Alumni and Faculty Center. The event is open only to SU faculty, staff and students. Tickets are $7 for students and $10 for faculty and staff; they will be available for sale March 17 at the Schine Box Office. The event is co-hosted by the Nutrition and Hospitality Management faculty and students in the College of Human Services and Health Professions, the Office of Student Affairs and U-Encounter.
  
  

A complete schedule of spring 2003 Syracuse Symposium events is available on the Web at http://symposium.syr.edu. For more information about the 2003 Syracuse Symposium e-mail Eric Holzwarth, assistant dean in The College of Arts and Sciences, at eholzwar@syr.edu or call 443-7192.