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Creating Connections through Class Divide

The Hopkins Center for the Arts has just concluded Class Divide, a three-year, cross-campus/
community programming initiative featuring a thought-provoking series of events, performances and residencies to raise awareness and spark discussion about Class Divide in our Upper Valley communities. Class Divide was the first substantial cross-campus/community project in the country to examine the issue of class through the arts. It offered a transformational framework for artists, students, faculty and community members to engage with this timely and important topic, bringing people into the minds and hearts of others they'd never met and creating connections within Upper Valley communities.

Download Secrets of Class at Dartmouth

Class Divide Programming

The 08-09 season began with a performance of the commissioned work by playwright Anne Galjour, now available on DVD at the Jones Media Center.

Explore Sights and Sounds From Anne Galjour's World Premiere

Views from the Green: Podcast
Interview: Podcast
Galjour provides a voice for those who need one
Anne Galjour Brings New Show to Gallery 51
Production explores class issues in rural New England
Hopkins Center Commissions New Work by Anne Galjour
Anne Galjour: 'Class' act

Programming continued with a capella singers Sweet Honey in the Rock. In mid-February, following an opportunity to hear Peter Sellars' perspective on "New Crowned Hope: Arts in the Age of Obama," the Dartmouth Theater Department presented Frank Galati's Grapes of Wrath based on the John Steinbeck novel.

The remarkable story of one American's experience crossing divisions of class was presented by Dartmouth President Jim Wright in an informal personal conversation and interview by a student actor from the cast of "Grapes of Wrath." In Mining an American Story: Personal Reflections on Class Divide President Wright reflected on his own upbringing in a rural American mining community, his experiences as an American historian, his recent work with U.S. military veterans, the impetus for Dartmouth's recent financial aid improvements—
and America's challenges concerning economic class. New York jazz critic Howard Mandel and jazz saxophonist Steve Wilson explored class issues embedded in jazz music in conjunction with the Blue Note Records 70th Anniversary performance. Watch the discussion.

In June 2009, Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars performed an irresistible mix of West African and reggae dance rhythms in a free outdoor concert.

Hopkins Center 07-08 Class Divide performing arts events included theatrical performances by Rik Reppe and Anne Galjour, musical evenings with Old School Freight Train and Carolina Chocolate Drops and the World Music Percussion Ensemble, and a multi-media performance by William Yang.

Anonymous community sharing circles told stories of Class Divide in Upper Valley communities. Community Responses

Class Divide grounded these issues in Dartmouth's Upper Valley community through a Community Advisory Board, residencies in two local high schools, and local research done by commissioned playwright Anne Galjour. The Hopkins Center's Class Divide Employee Task Force reviewed the accessibility of Hopkins Center programs and facilities, and guided policy development to increase access on all levels.

This project is made possible in part by a grant from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Creative Campus Innovations Grant Program, a component of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.