The world of Jane Austen comes to the Warch Campus Center Friday, May 6 at 6:30 p.m. when the Lawrence Baroque Ensemble presents “An Evening of Baroque Dance: Pride & Prejudice Edition.” The event, scheduled for the Esch-Hurvis Room, is free and open to the public.
The “interactive performance” will feature instruction in two English baroque dances led by Lawrence President Jill Beck and members of the Meleé Dance Troupe, historical and literary notes by Lawrence English professor Timothy Spurgin and Lawrence music historian Sara Ceballos and musical selections performed by the ensemble. The audience will be invited to perform the dances taught by Beck and Melee members accompanied by the Lawrence Baroque Ensemble. A dessert reception will conclude the evening.
As a preview to Friday’s event, the 2005 film “Pride & Prejudice” starring Keira Knightley will be shown Wednesday, May 4 at 10:30 p.m. in the Warch Campus Center cinema.
In conjunction with the evening of baroque music and dance, pianist Elizabeth Morgan will present the guest lecture-recital “Keyboard Works from the Musical Notebooks of Jane Austen” Tuesday May 10 at 8:15 p.m. in Harper Hall. Morgan, a specialist on keyboard and chamber music of the late 18th- and early 19th-centuries, will explore music in Austen’s life and works.
The Lawrence Baroque Ensemble was founded in 2010 by four students as part of the economics course “Entrepreneurship in the Arts & Society.” It seeks to study, rehearse and perform baroque music that enriches students’ liberal arts experience, inspires passion for period-instrument performance, preserves tradition and celebrates individual creativity. Lawrence Baroque connects audiences to history through unique concert experiences, community education, outreach and access for all.
The ensemble is supported in part by a Class of 1965 Student Activity Grant.
