Driving in my car today, I heard “George Washington University” mentioned on the radio: it was an interview of the former President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg by Mark Plotkin, and he was being asked some serious questions like “why did you deserve such a large salary?” “why is the students’ tuition so expensive?” “how do you respond to the rankings of schools in the U.S. News & World Report ‘Best Colleges’ issue?” and my favorite “I’ve heard that GWU was called a ‘lackluster’ school decades ago. Is this true?”
I was impressed not only by how unflappable Trachtenberg was in his responses, but also by his perspective on the positioning of universities and their reputations. His insistence that his salary was justified, that the tuition reflects the quality of the education, and that GWU’s reputation has evolved were substantiated with anecdotes and examples. [full interview available here: http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=524&sid=611202]
Working in the Theatre & Dance, I interact with a small sliver of a very large institution, but I appreciated Trachtenberg’s comments because they bore relevance with changes happening in our own department. This month Chair Dana Tai Soon Burgess will initiate a collaboration between GWU and the U.S. State Department called DanceMotion. The project will send three internationally-celebrated dance companies to represent the USA on tours abroad, and their repertory will be unveiled at George Washington University. On January 22, the three companies, Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, Urban Bush Women, and ODC/Dance, will perform at The Marvin Center. It is an occasion that not only affirms the value of cultural diplomacy, but also attests to GWU’s unique position as a platform for artists and innovative ideas.
In the January issue of Dance magazine, an article about DanceMotion is given prominent placement in the section “Dance Matters.” It describes how each of the three companies will tour to one continent: Evidence to Africa, Urban Bush Women to South America, and ODC/Dance to Southeast Asia.
How does this connect to Trachtenberg’s interview? It exemplifies the significance of universities in taking an essential role in a community of thinkers and leaders. As Chair, Dana Tai Soon Burgess is savvy about the importance of visibility and giving both artists and students occasions to interact. As GWU is emerging as the institution that not only gives future politicians, lawyers, doctors, businessmen and scientists the skills to excel within their profession, Burgess is making it possible for artists to engage in innovative collaborations through their experiences at GWU.
DC has a history of nurturing important artists and events, such as the premiere of Robert Rauschenberg’s “Pelican” in 1963 with painter Per Olof Ultvedt and Cunningham dancer Carolyn Brown. Now it is becoming the place that offers possibilities to a new generation of dancers, choreographers, artists and musicians. As I learned from my meeting today with the Commissioner Philippa Hughes, who serves on DC’s Commission on the Arts & Humanities, the capital is home to a small and vibrant group of creators and thinkers. Many people know about the magnificent museums and cultural institutions like The Kennedy Center that make the nation’s capital an art-lover’s mecca. But alongside these staid buildings, Hughes and others are finding warehouses and galleries that can house exhibits and cabarets. These venues for younger artists give DC a cultural vitality that balances its political reputation and governmental prestige.
As new projects seek homes and collaborators, GWU holds the potential to become a partner in creative thinking and a place for ongoing dialogue.
Elliot Caplan, a film-maker best known for his documentary “Cage/Cunningham” showed a new film he made recently at the National Galley of Art. It is called “15 Days of Dance” and was created through a collaboration with the University at Buffalo. During a Q&A that followed the screening on January 3, a lively discussion about the importance of documentation, the ephemerality of the art of dance, the behind-the-scenes events that are so rarely revealed, and the role of universities in supporting dance documentation and sustaining dance history were raised and discussed. Most memorably, Caplan said several times, “The university today is the place that can launch culture.” An invigorating idea for a new semester.
-Kate Mattingly
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