Hello! As the year wraps up and people begin to leave Ann Arbor the online performance opportunities are not quite through yet! Here are the links to some to keep your eye out for!

Dance Mix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drn-R1_jC3s

Traditionally Dance Mix is an evening performance in the Power Center with about 8 dance groups. Each group gets to performance two dances or sets on stage. All of the dancers participating claim Dance Mix is the christmas of dance performances because it is THE BEST time of the year. This year they found a way to bring dance mix to everyone since performing on that large of a scale is just not feasible. The video was directed and edited by the amazing Emma Zordan. Please take a look at all of the hard working teams.

Dance Department Senior BFA Concerts: https://www.u-mseniordance.com/

Again, there are usually four performances spread out throughout the entire year for the senior dance majors to present their capstone projects. However, the dancers have created a website to share each of their works. The three shows are available through Monday May 3rd. It is free to watch!

Dance Department Power Center Performance:  https://www.facebook.com/umichsmtd

The Dance Department annually presents works of faculty members and invited choreographers. The show is not available yet but if you follow the SMTD Facebook page they will be sure to post about the show and update their followers on the availability.

Musical Theatre Senior Send-Off: https://www.facebook.com/umichsmtd

Again, the senior send-off will be premiering after graduation, keep your eye out on the Facebook for when it becomes available!

Godspell: https://www.facebook.com/umichsmtd

Godspell is a musical that some of the musical theatre students have adapted and performed it for the screen! The choreographer for this adaption is a senior musical theatre major.

Be sure to follow the Facebook and Instagram pages for UmichSMTD to keep up to date with the upcoming performances.

Hello everybody! I hope that you are all doing well and that final exams are treating you all well. This past year of blogging has been an amazing experience, something that I plan to continue during my time at the University of Michigan and even beyond. Who mighta know!

I truly believe that blogging and writing about my art has helped me to reflect on my culture and feelings towards my upbringing. Not only was it a beautiful experience for me, but it also was a wonderful way for me to spread Indian culture. The biggest goal of mine coming to Arts, Ink. was to find a way through my art to spread an amazing culture and set of traditions to readers and students at U of M. Growing up in a predominantly Caucasian society, I didn’t have much exposure to different cultures, traditions, or diversity in general. So, coming to U of M, I wanted to do my part to spread awareness about different cultures and diverse groups.

Art has been one of my truest passions from a very young age. My mother likes to joke saying that I came out of the womb holding a paintbrush in one hand and a surgeon’s scalpel in another. I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in helping others while never letting go of my art. So, during this past year of staying at home and stuck in my room, I sought to find a way to hold on to my art in some way while opening up conversations about diversity, equity, inclusivity, and unique cultures.

I wanted to thank you all for giving me the ability and platform to speak about my beautiful culture and demonstrate it through my art. This past year has been very difficult for me, but being able to openly write about my art has been so cathartic. I hope that you have gained something from my writing and articles each week! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my words. I look forward to coming back next semester with new ideas, outlooks, and thoughts. For the last time this semester, if anything that I discussed in this post stands out or if any questions arise please comment and share your thoughts!!

Good luck with finals! Looking forward to next semester!

~ Riya

As the semester is coming to a close, I’ve been thinking about what I want to play in the summer. It’s a strange time of year, days the never end; lazy and unkempt days, unstructured and amorphous. I’ll be staying in Ann Arbor for some of it, to soak in the sunlight and float along the Huron. I think I will give myself a week of break to do whatever my heart desires. No plans, just do whatever pops into my mind- roll around in the grass of the Arb or make some smores with some friends. I think I’ll live life at large and really savor everything in life. The bird songs I hear when I first crack open my eyes, the quiet rustling of trees as I lay engrossed in a book, the simple pleasure of running in the rain– careless and spontaneous.

Then I’ll make a schedule for practicing- work hard and perhaps prepare for a recital and competition.

This recording above is a competition I decided to do on a whim last summer. It’s a new prelude composed for this competition and we just had to learn it and record it for the composer to hear. It was a strange experience, without any guideposts to listen to or reference and I truly had to study the score to see what the composer really wanted.