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NEWS
November 4, 2011
Serendipity Planning Committee aims to hold mnsic-lilled, inclusive festival
COMMITTEE SEEKS STUDENTS TO BRAINSTORM
& PLAN WELL IN ADVANCE FOR THE HIGHLY
ANTICIPATED SPRING FESTIVAL
By Ellen Nicholas
Staff Writer
In addition. Serendipity is going to shift its focus this
year.
"This year one of the changes is that we're putting an
emphasis on music again because I think it really brings
people together as an art form," said Chafin. "So we're
having (music) on Thursday with WQFS, Friday with one
band, and then Saturday with another headliner, which is
Serendipity is one of Guilford College's biggest and
most highly anticipated events of the year. Students look
forward to that spring weekend of carefree fun all year, all
the while dreaming about what new and exciting things
Serendipity will have to offer this time.
While the festival itself is a hot topic of discussion, the
careful, arduous work of the people who plan Serendipity
is not as public.
"One of the challenges is (the student body's)
perception of Serendipity," said senior Shanon Rule, co
chair of the Serendipity Planning Committee. "It's so
huge and everyone cares so much about it ... which puts
a lot of pressure to do it and do it right."
The Serendipity Planning Committee is a sub
committee of the Campus Activities Board and has been
meeting since the beginning of the semester to plan
Serendipity. The committee is trying to bring Guilford
together not only in experiencing Serendipity, but in
planning it as well.
"We're trying to make the planning process open to the
entire community," said Rule. "So whoever wants to have
a say in what's going on has a legitimate ability to do so."
Junior and fellow co-chair Grace Chafin agreed, saying,
"Anybody can come to any of the meetings."
I'm mostly excited about the music,
because I feel that music brings everyone
together as a community ... and I think
it would be a great way for everyone to
communicate, make new friends, and just
chill out and have fun."
Alexandria Smith, first-year and committee member
new this year because ... in the years past we usually just
did one headliner that everybody voted on."
In past years there has been music all three nights of
Serendipity. The difference is that this year the student
body will get a chance to vote on more than one band.
Continuing with their efforts to involve the whole
campus, the committee wants to include Guilford bands
in the music-centered festivities this year.
"On Saturday we're looking to have music literally
all day," said senior and planning committee member
Bennett Christian. "And we're going to shout out to
Guilford and be like, 'Hey, prepare a set and we're going
to have a battle of the bands,' and from there we're going
to choose a few bands that seem prepared to play."
"I'm mostly excited about the music, because I feel
that music brings everyone together as a community
... and I think it would be a great way for everyone to
communicate, make new friends, and just chill out
and have fun," said first-year and committee member
Alexandria Smith.
Along with the musical focus, the Serendipity Planning
Committee^is also concentrating on including the entire
Guilford community in the event in myriad ways.
"We're getting all the clubs that want to be involved,
involved," said Rule. "And we're also trying to reach out
to the different residence halls on campus and give them
an opportunity to throw an event. ... Also, for the street
fair, we're going to be using exclusively Guilford clubs
and organizations. ... So we're just excited to see what
everyone comes up with and how it all comes together."
Events to look forward to include the traditional kick
off dinner, a street fair and potential events hosted by
residence halls
Above all, the planning committee wants input from
the student body to make sure that Serendipity is a fun,
memorable time for everyone. They encourage anyone
to come to their open meetings, which are Wednesday
nights at 9:00 p.m. upstairs in Founders Hall, and to email
any suggestions to serendipity@guilford.edu.
THARP
The Gteenleaf Review
wants YOU to...
Twyla Tharp offers jokes and
advice for Bryan Series attendees
Continued from page I
there every day," according to Tharp.
One of the main tenets of Tharp's
book, "The Creative Habit," is that there
are a variety of factors which hold most
people back from harnessing their creative
potential. Many of these are discussed in
the chapter "Rituals of Preparation" and
include the self-deprecating statements that
many people formulate, including "people
will laugh at me" and "this idea will never
be as good in reality as it is in my own
mind."
Throughout her speech, Tharp mixed
a great deal of engaging and thought-
provoking advice on how we can best
engage our minds creatively with a decent
dose of sarcastic and occasionally over-the-
top humor.
Tharp described one of the worst
experiences that can occur to someone
embarking on a creative project — the
experience of being caught in a rut — and
subsequently asked audience members to
"expose themselves" if they felt themselves
in a rut by coming onto the stage with her.
One student, named Emma, raised her
hand and came up to the stage, only to be
asked to kneel face-down for approximately
fifteen minutes while Tharp continued
her discussion with two different panel
members. Once her "rut" was finally
addressed, Tharp showed her ability to mix
in humor with relevant advice.
"I'm graduating in May and scared to
enter the real world," said Emma. "My
parents want me to go to Social Work School,
but I'm unsure if that's what 1 want to do,
and I would rather pursue dance."
"Well, it sounds to me like you're not
actually in a rut — you're simply conflicted
— so Tm not sure why you raised your
hand," said Tharp.
"Also, the economy is terrible, so you
really don't have anything to lose by
becoming a dancer," added Tharp.
In between the moments of humor, there
were also pieces of advice for those searching
for their inner creativity as well as moments
of genuine contemplation on her own career.
Student reaction to Tharp's speech was
largely positive. However, there were some
who felt let down by Tharp's performance.
"I really don't think that her speech was
an adequate representation of what she
does," said senior theatre studies major
Jacob Kresloff. "It took her at most twenty
minutes to plan and was basically her
commercially marketing her book."
"What she said about the task of having
to sift through a huge amount of research
and drudgery when facing a void at the
beginning of an artistic endeavor was
accurate," said Kresloff. "However, it
doesn't compensate for how demeaning
she was to some of the students or how she
essentially stroked her own ego."
Despite criticism, Tharp defended the
altruistic value of her work.
"If my work does not send people out
feeling better than they did before, we have
failed to do our jobs; if it does, then we
have," said Tharp.