‘World’ event celebrates Folt’s installation

The world is coming to Memorial Hall Friday evening in celebration of UNC’s new chancellor.

Carolina Performing Arts’ free event, “The World Comes Here: Celebrating the Performing Arts at Carolina,” presents performances by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Charanga Carolina, Dom Flemons from the Carolina Chocolate Drops with Hogmaw, Jason Moran and the Clef Hangers.

The show is in honor of the installation of Carol Folt as the University’s 11th chancellor.

“At Dartmouth, she was a huge proponent of the arts and right away, she wanted to indicate that here,” said Joe Florence, CPA’s marketing manager.

He said the show was curated as per Folt’s request.

“She understands the important critical nature of the arts within an educational curriculum,” said Rick Davis, the General Alumni Association’s director of enrichment programs.

The performers were selected based on their previous involvement with UNC.

“These are folks who really engage with the campus community, when they are here to perform, outside of their performance,” Florence said.

“For instance, Hope (Boykin from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater) will do a master class every year over in Gerrard Hall where dance students can come and learn from an Alvin Ailey dancer.”

Boykin will be performing a piece that incorporates Indian Kathak dance rhythms. She is a Durham native and a three-time recipient of the American Dance Festival’s Tuition Scholarship.

Jason Moran, a jazz musician performing in the show, finds his inspiration from other art media, such as 20th-century painters like Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Dom Flemons, a member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, will perform solo, but will also do a few numbers with Hogmaw, a folk band from Pennsylvania. His life in Chapel Hill and interaction with other North Carolina artists helped to develop Flemons’ style. His goal is to link blues and jazz with the string band while retaining the traditional aspects of all of the genres.

Charanga Carolina, a group of student Cuban-style music performers enrolled in Music 213, will start off the show with a lively, contemporary Cuban song.

For music professor David Garcia — director of Charanga — and his students, the performance is not only a way to show support for the new chancellor but also for Folt to learn about Charanga.

“I treasure this opportunity, in particular, knowing that if she doesn’t already, she will know about Charanga Carolina,” Garcia said. “It is a special opportunity for me as a representative of the department of music at this concert to demonstrate to the chancellor that we are a vibrant and diverse faculty in terms of the types of music we teach.”

Charlie Harris — a senior public policy major and president of the all-male a cappella group, the Clef Hangers — said he views the opportunity to perform with the variety of groups as the most beneficial part of the performance.

“It is called ‘The World Comes Here,’ and for the past four years of my schooling, I have literally seen that happening at Memorial Hall,” Harris said.

Davis views the arts as a key part of education at UNC.

“The traditional classroom instruction is certainly critical, but the arts widens our scope of thinking in a way that sometimes a lecture cannot do,” he said.

He hopes that the performance will reaffirm the global reputation of the arts at UNC.

“In one night you have that depth and breadth of variable arts experiences and I’m amazed that we offered it free and open to the public.”

arts@dailytarheel.com