Tag Archives: UA Little Rock

Historian Dr. John Kirk is new director of UALR Institute on Race and Ethnicity

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JohnKirk_history1aDr. John A. Kirk has been named the new director of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Institute on Race and Ethnicity.  A native of Great Britain, he has garnered international acclaim for his research and writings on race and the civil rights movement — with a particular focus on Little Rock.

Kirk has been a member of the Chancellor’s Committee on Race and Ethnicity since he arrived at the university more than five years ago and has been involved with the institute since its inception about four years ago.

“I have a deep personal and professional commitment to the pursuit of racial and ethnic justice, and I think that should be the primary reason anyone takes on the job of director of UALR’s Institute on Race and Ethnicity — it is at the very heart of what the institute does,” Kirk said.

Kirk plans to connect with and engage as many students, faculty, and community members as possible in achieving the goals of the institute, which include:

  • Raising awareness of race and ethnicity issues
  • Providing research-based information and policy recommendations
  • Building bridges and seeking reconciliation through interracial and interethnic dialogue
  • Engaging students
  • Serving as a clearinghouse for on- and off-campus initiatives related to race and ethnicity
  • Holding UALR accountable for becoming a more diverse and multi-ethnic community.

For the past 25 years, Kirk has researched and written about issues of race and ethnicity in the United States, especially in Little Rock and Arkansas. He’s the author of numerous books, including “Race and Ethnicity in Arkansas: New Perspectives,” “Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement,” and “Beyond Little Rock: The Origins and Legacies of the Central High Crisis.” He also recently partnered with the BBC on its Martin Luther King Jr. web display that serves as an information resource for an international audience.

In announcing Kirk’s appointment, UALR Chancellor Joel E. Anderson noted the professor’s knowledge and passion for civil rights-related topics were ideal fits for the institute’s leadership role.

“It is a rare opportunity to work with someone who grew up in Great Britain but whose knowledge of Arkansas civil rights history is probably greater than anyone else’s in Arkansas or the United States,” Anderson said.  “Dr. John Kirk is a well-known resource in our community for his expertise on the many ways race has shaped our city and state. I am confident that under his leadership the UALR Institute on Race and Ethnicity will continue to grow in influence and will help shape a better future for the people of Arkansas.”

Kirk replaces Dr. Michael R. Twyman, who resigned in July to take a position at the Indiana Black Expo organization.

With Kirk’s new director responsibilities, he will remain the Donaghey Distinguished Professor of History  but no longer will serve as the UALR History Department chair.

“I am excited by the challenges and opportunities that the director’s job brings with it,” Kirk said. “I particularly look forward to getting to know more about and working with students, faculty, and community members who are learning, teaching, researching and serving on issues of race and ethnicity.”

See 5 Choreographers’ VISIONS tonight with Ballet Arkansas

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visions posterFive new ballet pieces will be premiered tonight in Little Rock as part of Ballet Arkansas’ second VISIONS choreographic competition.

VISIONS began as the vision of Ballet Arkansas’ Artistic Director, Michael Bearden, who wanted to create a event that would give choreographers an opportunity to have their works seen and appreciated by audiences and the dance community, as well as have the opportunity to receive a contract to have their choreography fully produced.

This season, Ballet Arkansas will present Visions Choreographic Competition at the UALR Center for Performing Arts on August 22, 2015 at 7:00 pm.

Thirty-one emerging choreographers from around the country competed for five spots in this year’s competition of which the winner will receive a commission to expand their new work for Ballet Arkansas’ company dancers for our spring mixed repertory show.

This year’s selected choreographers include Boston Ballet’s Boyko Dossev, former Houston Ballet’s Ilya Kozadayev, former Ballet West and Visceral Dance Chicago’s Tom Mattingly, former Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Barry Kerollis and Post: Ballet’s Aidan DeYoung.

A week before the VISIONS Competition, the choreographers drafted their cast of dancers and have a total of 11 rehearsal hours over 5 days to set their choreography on their cast. The night of the competition, the resulting works of choreography are performed for 4 judges, 3 of those judges are professionals in the local and national dance community, with the audience counting as the 4th judge.

The big finale of the competition is the announcement of the VISIONS Winner, who receives a contract with Ballet Arkansas to expand their choreography to have it fully produced for performance in Ballet Arkansas’ spring mixed repertory show, “Under the Lights”, to be held May 20-22 at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre.

Guido Ritchie and Steve Hudelson at Local Live tonight

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llsom s gTonight at 7:30pm at is this week’s installment of Local Live concert series at South on Main.  The artists tonight are Guido Ritchie and Steve Hudelson!

Presented by the Oxford American magazine, Local Live showcases the best of local and regional music talent and is always free and open to the public. Call ahead to South on Main to make your reservations and ensure a table: (501) 244-9660. Local Live is made possible by the generous sponsorship of Ben and Jane Hunt Meade.

Guido Ritchie and Steve Hudelson have been performing together as a duo for over twenty years, presenting some the finest jazz Arkansas has to offer. They first began playing together in the early 90’s where they were both music majors at UALR. Hundreds of gigs in restaurants, private parties, and concert stages later, Ritchie and Hudelson have honed their unique trumpet and guitar pairing into a beautiful and exiting sound. Recently, both musicians were added to the Arkansas Art Council’s Arts on Tour roster.

Little Rock Look Back: Judge Eisele rules HAIR must flow at Robinson Auditorium

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Ad for the original production of HAIR in Little Rock. Note the ticket prices. And that they could be purchased at Moses Music Shops.

Ad for the original production of HAIR in Little Rock. 

Forty-four years ago today, on August 11, 1971, Nixon appointee Federal Judge G. Thomas Eisele ruled that the musical Hair must be allowed to play in Little Rock in 1972 at Robinson Auditorium.

In February 1971, a young Little Rock attorney named Phil Kaplan petitioned the Little Rock Board of Censors to see if it would allow a production of Hair to play in the city. He was asking on behalf of a client who was interested in bringing a national tour to Arkansas’ capital city. The show, which had opened on Broadway to great acclaim in April 1968 after an Off Broadway run in 1967, was known for containing a nude scene as well for a script which was fairly liberally sprinkled with four-letter words. The Censors stated they could not offer an opinion without having seen a production.

By July 1971, Kaplan and his client (who by then had been identified as local promoter Jim Porter and his company Southwest Productions) were seeking permission for a January 1972 booking of Hair from the City’s Auditorium Commission which was charged with overseeing operations at Robinson Auditorium. At its July meeting, the Commissioners voted against allowing Hair because of its “brief nude scene” and “bawdy language.”

Kaplan decried the decision. He stated that the body couldn’t “sit in censorship of legitimate theatrical productions.” He noted courts had held that Hair could be produced and that the Auditorium Commission, as an agent for the State, “clearly can’t exercise prior censorship.” He proffered that if the production was obscene it would be a matter for law enforcement not the Auditorium Commission.

The Commission countered that they had an opinion from City Attorney Joseph Kemp stating they had the authority. One of the Commissioners, Mrs. Grady Miller (sister-in-law of the building’s eponym, the late Senator Robinson, she had served on the Commission since 1940), expressed her concern that allowing Hair would open the door to other productions such as Oh! Calcutta!

On July 26, 1971, Southwest Productions filed suit against the Auditorium Commission. Four days later there was a hearing before federal Judge G. Thomas Eisele. At that hearing, Auditorium Commission member Lee Rogers read aloud excerpts from the script he found objectionable. Under questioning from Kaplan, a recent touring production of Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite was discussed. That play has adultery as a central theme of one of its acts. Rogers admitted he found the play funny, and that since the adultery did not take place on stage, he did not object to it. Among those testifying in favor of it was Robert Reddington, who was director of performing arts at the Arkansas Arts Center.

Judge Eisele offered a ruling on August 11 which compelled the Auditorium Commission to allow Hair to be performed. Prior to the ruling, some of the Auditorium Commissioners had publicly stated that if they had to allow Hair, they would close it after the first performance on the grounds of obscenity. To combat this, Judge Eisele stated that the Commission had to allow Hair to perform the entire six day engagement it sought.

Upon hearing of the Judge’s ruling, Commissioner Miller offered a succinct, two word response. “Oh, Dear!”

On January 18, 1972, Hair played the first of its 8 performances over 6 days at Robinson Auditorium.  In his review the next day, the Arkansas Gazette’s Bill Lewis noted that Hair “threw out all it had to offer” and that Little Rock had survived.

Little Rock was by no means unique in trying to stop productions of Hair.  St. Louis, Birmingham, Los Angeles, Tallahassee, Boston, Atlanta, Charlotte NC, West Palm Beach, Oklahoma City, Mobile and Chattanooga all tried unsuccessfully to stop performances in their public auditoriums.  Despite Judge Eisele’s ruling against the City of Little Rock, members of the Fort Smith City Council also tried to stop a production later in 1972 in that city. This was despite warnings from City staff that there was not legal standing.

Little Rock author Frank Thurmond book signing today at That Bookstore in Blytheville

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Thurmond photo1Little Rock author-filmmaker-actor-musician Frank H. Thurmond will have a book signing for his latest work Ring of Five: A Novella and Four Stories, published by Et Alia Press.  It will take place today (August 1) from 1pm to 3pm at That Bookstore in Blytheville.
 
In this historically grounded thriller, Ring of Five recounts the Cold War intrigue of real-life British master spy Kim Philby, the inspiration behind Ian Fleming’s James Bond.  When the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) discovers a mole is betraying deadly secrets to the enemy, it assigns its best agent to investigate.  But what if this spy hides a shocking secret of his own and the investigator becomes the investigated? This riveting story is a thrilling and timely adventure blending espionage, politics, and love and betrayal.
 
Of Thurmond’s book, actor Michael York, whose films include Cabaret and Austin Powers and who is author of Accidentally on Purpose, states, “I’m enormously impressed with Ring of Five. It is a beautifully constructed story that holds the attention—and the tension—to the end. This is all the more laudable as it’s a known story, but Thurmond makes the historical facts come dramatically alive. Ring of Five is a most engrossing and enjoyable read. ” 
 
Thurmond learned of the story while living and studying in Oxford, England where he was intrigued to hear of the so called “Cambridge Spies,” known as the most notorious double agents of the Cold War era.
 
Thurmond was born in Paragould and grew up in Crossett and Little Rock, where he attended Hall High School.  He studied English and music as a Donaghey Scholar at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and pursued graduate degrees at Southern Methodist University and Oxford University. Thurmond is a Visiting Assistant Professor of English at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and is a visiting writer in residence at Lyon College in Batesville.
 
Thurmond’s first book was a memoir entitled Before I Sleep: A Memoir of Travel and Reconciliation, which recounts his adult experience of meeting his previously unknown birth father.  It was featured in the 2014 KUAR’s Arts & Letters Father’s Day special, which is available on KUAR.org.
           
Previously, Thurmond’s work has appeared in various publications, including the International Herald Tribune; The Best of Tales from the South, Volume 6; Toad Suck Review; and in William Safire’s language book, No Uncertain Terms.

Tonight at Wildwood – Maria Natale & Kyong-Eun Na in concert

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Tonight at 7:30pm, Wildwood Park  plays host to a recital by guest artist Maria Natale.

Hailed by The New York Times for her “plummy, penetrating voice”, soprano Maria Natale is quickly becoming noticed as a rising talent in the NYC area. At the Manhattan School of Music, she sang the role of Lady Macbeth in Ernest Bloch’s only opera Macbeth and was praised for her “high voltage vocal thrills” (OPERA NEWS). This year, she was selected by OPERA NEWS to sing in Lincoln Center in a Masterclass with legendary tenor Placido Domingo.

Ms. Natale will be joined on piano by Dr. Kyung-Eun Na. Dr. Na is a performer, educator, opera coach, and radio program director. She has served as a vocal coach and collaborative piano faculty at UALR and as adjunct faculty at Seoul Arts High School and Sungshin Women’s University in Korea.  Tickets are available here.  WAMA students and their families attend free.

Little Rock Look Back: Mayor Buddy Villines

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judgebuddyOn this date in 1947, future Little Rock Mayor Floyd G. “Buddy” Villines was born.  A 1969 graduate of Hendrix College, he served in Vietnam in 1970 and 1971. He later graduated from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law School.

Villines’ first interaction with Little Rock City Hall was as an employee in the City Manager’s office.  After joining the private sector, he returned to City Hall in 1985 serving on the Little Rock City Board of Directors.  He was re-elected in 1989.

While on the City Board, he was chosen as Vice Mayor for a two year term in 1987 and 1988.  The following year he was selected as Mayor for a two year term.  In 1990, Villines was elected Pulaski County Judge; he resigned from the City Board in December 1990 to take office.

Villines served as Pulaski County Judge for 24 years, from January 1991 until December 2014.  He is the longest serving County Judge in Pulaski County history.