There has never been a more perfect time for a multimedia event to hit Tuscaloosa's campus than now.

Dr. Hank Lazer, accomplished poet, is teaming up with New College professors and innovative musicians Andrew Dewar and Jennifer Caputo to put on Beginning, Begin Again on November 16th at 7:30 pm in the Allen Bales Theater (located in Rowan-Johnson Hall on the campus of University of Alabama).

This event promises to be one of the more experimental performances to come to the UA campus as it will be an improvisational show featuring thirteen artists performing a variety of media including music, poetry, video, sculpture, and dance.

Beginning, Begin Again is a multimedia event in which a collective of artists will use a combination of music, poetry, vocalization, dance, and sculpture installation to create a live collage of these materials.

Nothing like Beginning, Begin Again has ever been seen before on this campus. Students, faculty and citizens alike will greatly benefit form viewing the collaboration and endless possibilities for inspiration and interaction.

The concept design has been a few years in the making for Lazer who worked on various multi-arts collaborative projects over the years. His experiences have led to his desire to stage a grand and unique multimedia project here at UA. After collaborative events with poet Jake Berry, Lazer found new inspiration and energy for the multimedia event with the enhancement of musicians - Dewar and Caputo - living and teaching in Tuscaloosa.

Lazer first approached Dewar when he arrived on campus because of Dewar's previous relationship and performance background with legendary saxophonist/composer Steven Lacey (who also shares a passion for poetry and music collaboration).

Lazer and Dewar, along with musician/poet Berry, have conceived this "experimental" or "avant-garde" event in order to excite and entice the campus community to explore art forms that may take viewers out of their comfort zones.

Beginning, Begin Again is composed of thirteen performers, each representative of a different artistic medium.

Hank Lazer - poetry
Jake Berry - poetry and video
Rich Curtis - sound performance
Andrew Raffo Dewar - saxophone
Jennifer Caputo - percussion
Wayne Sides - percussion and video
LaDonna Smith - violin
Chris Kozak - double bass
Susan Perry - visual arts
Stella Nystrom – dance
Celeste LaBourde – dance
Brian Elliot - lighting/tech
Neal Riley - electronics/tech

One of the most unique aspects of Beginning, Begin Again is that the thirteen performers will not only be creating a situation in which they can come together for this one time and experiment together within their disciplines, but also that audience members will get a one time chance to see them all on stage at once.

Beginning, Begin Again is also a question mark, because the final form it takes will be determined during the course of the performance, as the artists shape and mold the event in real time

"So much of what happens will be shaped by the collaboration of all twelve people involved as the artists shape and mold the event in real time," Dewar said.

Beginning, Begin Again is organic and unpredictable as the collage of artistic performances will reveal itself at the time of the event. It’s a performance of individuals, sharing the stage, layering each performance and morphing it into the next. The challenging performance is a onetime assembly of an intriguing crew of artists.

"I hope it [Beginning, Begin Again] is a catalyst to encourage more and more experimentation and collaboration as well as help to develop an audience for innovative improvisatory jazz," Lazar said.

So, all in all why attend this event?

To be apart of a unique experience, of course.

It is art that falls between the cracks and cannot be placed in the normal collection of boxes to leave the audience asking, "Is it music? Visual art? Theatre? Poetry? Dance? Or will it be all things at once?"

Come on over to the Allen Bales Theatre on Monday, November 16 at 7:30 pm to see some of your University of Alabama professors experiment with other professional artists to create an event that will ultimately manifest itself in front of an audience for this one special night!

Space is limited to registration for free ticketing is encouraged. Please visit http://crimsonartstickets.universitytickets.com/user_pages/category.asp?id=16.

by Courtney Marr