Nassau Notes

“Le Pas d’Acier”

Final rehearsals are under way for “Le Pas d’Acier,” one of the great lost ballets of the 20th century, which will be performed at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, April 7-9, at the Berlind Theatre.

The ballet, by legendary Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev, was written as a celebration of Soviet industrialization, but budget constraints and a change in choreographers led to a scaled-down version that mocked industrial development being performed in 1927. The Princeton production, spearheaded by assistant professor of music Simon Morrison, will render the ballet — for the first time — exactly the way Prokofiev intended it.

Performing in the lead roles (left) will be sophomore Natasha Kalimada and junior Silas Riener.

The performances will open with several short pieces thematically related to the ballet, created by University composers and choreographers and others. Rebecca Lazier (below), lecturer in the Council of the Humanities and the Program in Theater and Dance, has collaborated with Dan Trueman, assistant professor of music, on a piece called “Transparent Body,” which explores what is perceived when two bodies surround each other but never touch. The piece will only be performed during the April 8 performance.

Princeton theater and dance professor Ze’eva Cohen and music professors Paul Lansky and Barbara White have collaborated with outside artists on three other pieces titled “In the Moment,” “Island” and “Repetition Compulsion.”

Limiting seating is available; for ticket information, call the McCarter box office at 258-2787.

Constitutional amendments considered

Scholar and author Gary Jeffrey Jacobsohn will deliver the fifth annual Walter F. Murphy Lecture in American Constitutionalism, titled “By Way of Variation, Addition or Repeal: Revisiting the Unconstitutional Amendment Puzzle,” at 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 6, in 104 Computer Science Building.

Jacobsohn is the Patterson-Banister Professor of Government and H. Malcolm Macdonald Professor in Constitutional and Comparative Law at the University of Texas. He has written or co-written numerous books, including “Apple of Gold: Constitutionalism in Israel and the United States,” “The Wheel of Law: India’s Secularism in Comparative Constitutional Context” and “American Constitutional Law: Essays, Cases and Comparative Notes.”

The Walter F. Murphy Lecture Series is sponsored by the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions.

Novelist, poet to read from work

Novelist Richard Bausch and poet Alan Shapiro will read from their work at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 6, in the Stewart Film Theater, 185 Nassau St. They will be introduced by C.K. Williams, lecturer with the rank of professor in the Council of the Humanities and Creative Writing Program.

Bausch is the author of several critically-acclaimed novels and volumes of stories, including “The Last Good Time,” “Hello to the Cannibals” and “Someone to Watch Over Me.” The Heritage Professor of Writing at George Mason University, he is the recipient of the O. Henry Prize, the Best American Short Story Prize and the PEN/Malamud Award.

Shapiro’s works include: “Song and Dance: Poems,” winner of the Roanoke Chowan Award; “Happy Hour,” winner of the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award; and “Mixed Company,” winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Poetry. He teaches in the creative writing program at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

The event is part of the Creative Writing Program’s Althea Ward Clark Reading Series.

‘Rethinking the War on Terror’ is colloquium topic

Rethinking the War on Terror” will be the topic for this year’s Princeton Colloquium on Public and International Affairs Friday and Saturday, April 8-9.

The colloquium, sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School, will bring together leading practitioners, academics and policy-makers from a range of disciplines, backgrounds and countries to Robertson Hall to take stock not only of how the war on terrorism has been waged since Sept. 11, but of the concept itself.

Participants will look at issues such as: whether the war is against al-Qaeda or against terrorism itself, replacing Communism as the enemy of the age; what kind of institutional structures are best suited to fighting global networks of terrorists; and what is the appropriate balance between civil liberties and security precautions.

Featured speakers will include: Hanan Ashrawi, secretary-general of the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy; Anthony Zinni, former commander of the U.S. Central Command; and Giora Eiland, Israeli national security adviser.

The colloquium will aim to produce both frameworks of analysis and specific recommendations of direct use to policy-makers. A report will be distributed to key stakeholders following the event.

For the complete schedule and other information, visit the colloquium Web site at <www.wws.princeton.edu/pcpia/>.

Conference examines legacy of Islamic theologian Ibn Taymiyyah

The life, thought and historical legacy of theologian Ibn Taymiyyah will be explored in a conference Friday through Sunday, April 8-10, in the Friend Center Convocation Room.

Titled “Ibn Taymiyyah and His Times,” the event is expected to draw scholars from around the world to discuss this man who, although he died nearly 700 years ago, has been a major influence on the intellectual history of Islam in the 20th century.

Ibn Taymiyyah (1263-1328) wrote on every major subject of religious discourse in Islamic intellectual history, from Quranic exegesis and Sufism to political theory and inter-religious polemic. He also is regarded as the primary architect of the concept of Salafism, which aims to reform Islam through the example of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions.

Some scholars have dismissed Ibn Taymiyyah’s contribution as a rigid dogmatic agenda, and noted his modern appropriation by radical Islamist groups. Others claim that the current emphasis on Ibn Taymiyyah’s doctrine of jihad amounts to a misinterpretation of his singularly original legacy.

The conference talks will cover Ibn Taymiyyah’s theology and jurisprudence, the historical context in which he lived, and the ways in which his ideas were received and rendered over the last century.

The event is organized by the Department of Near Eastern Studies and funded by a grant from the Mellon Foundation. For further details, visit the conference Web site at <www.princeton.edu/~nes/fevents.htm>.

University Art Museum

“Walking John Hancock (Chicago),” a photograph by Laurie Simmons is among the works on view in “For Presentation and Display: Some Art of the ‘80s” at the University Art Museum through June 12. The exhibition, drawn from the museum’s holdings and private collections, includes 18 of the period’s most influential artists. A gallery talk by Ph.D. candidate Johanna Burton, who organized the exhibition, will be given at 12:30 p.m. Friday, April 8, and at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 10, at the museum. A symposium, “Working Through the ‘80s,” in conjunction with the exhibition is set for 4:30 p.m. Saturday, April 14, in 101 McCormick.

Swim club seeks members

The Broadmead Swim Club, located a few blocks from campus, is accepting members for the 2005 season.

Broadmead provides a 25-meter pool and a separate enclosed baby pool as well as recently renovated changing rooms and private bathrooms. The season runs from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day. The club, located at 184 Broadmead St., also can be rented for private parties during specific hours.

For more information and to download an application form, visit the club’s Web site at <www.princeton.edu/~bsc/Pool_Base.html> or call Noreen Vincent at 577-7425. Information also will be available at an open house from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, May 15.