The Big Dipper Formation explores connections among Chinese ink painting, astronomy and scientific research

NEW LONDON, Conn. — Connecticut College will present The Big Dipper Formation: Fu Xiaodong's Cosmos, the first solo exhibition in North America by contemporary Chinese artist and curator Fu Xiaodong, from Oct. 28, 2026, through Feb. 1, 2027.

Presented by the Chu-Griffis Asian Art Collection, the exhibition explores the relationship among traditional Chinese cosmology, contemporary ink painting and scientific inquiry.

Curated by Yibing Huang, professor of Chinese and curator of the Chu-Griffis Asian Art Collection, the exhibition features works created between 2020 and 2026. Fu's artistic practice draws on eight years of interdisciplinary research with scientific laboratories, connecting ancient understandings of the universe with contemporary scientific imagery.

The exhibition examines the relationships among astronomy, geography and the human body, inviting visitors to consider how different systems of knowledge shape our understanding of the world.

An opening program will take place Wednesday, Oct. 28, from 4:15 to 6 p.m. in the Charles Chu Asian Art Reading Room at Charles E. Shain Library.

The program will include an artist talk by Fu, a panel discussion, audience questions, a guided exhibition tour and a reception.

The exhibition and opening events are free and open to the public.

Exhibition details

The Big Dipper Formation: Fu Xiaodong's Cosmos

Oct. 28, 2026-Feb. 1, 2027

Charles Chu Asian Art Reading Room

Charles E. Shain Library, Connecticut College

270 Mohegan Ave., New London, CT 06320

Connecticut College’s company in residence is one of 30 projects selected from 280 eligible applications nationwide

NEW LONDON, Conn. — David Dorfman Dance, Connecticut College’s company in residence, has received a National Dance Project Production Grant from the New England Foundation for the Arts to support “The Front Line,” a new dance-theater work examining American democracy through the voting process.

David Dorfman Dance is one of 30 Production Grant recipients selected from a competitive pool of 280 applicants from 34 states, Washington, D.C., and Guam as part of the National Dance Project’s 30th anniversary awards.

Each Production Grant project receives a support framework totaling $75,000: $45,000 for creation and development, $10,000 in unrestricted general operating support and $20,000 reserved to support U.S. touring and sharing of the new work.

“The Front Line” is set in a middle school gymnasium transformed into a polling site on an imagined Election Day in 2040. Through movement, music, text and visuals, professional dancers portraying poll workers interact with community cast members playing voters and campaigners as the work explores voting and participation in American democracy.

David Dorfman Dance developed “The Front Line” in part during a May 2026 residency at Connecticut College. Company members rehearsed the work in the Martha Myers Dance Studio, where Dorfman and the dancers continued its research and development. The project also includes collaboration with C. Mara Suttmann-Lea, associate professor of government and international relations at Connecticut College, whose research focuses on election administration, voting reforms and political participation.

“The Front Line” is a Democracy Cycle commission through Perelman Performing Arts Center and the Civis Foundation. The work has received additional development support from American Dance Festival, Bates Dance Festival, Connecticut College and Yale Schwarzman Center and is scheduled to premiere at the 2027 American Dance Festival.

The National Dance Project, launched in 1996, supports the creation and U.S. touring of new dance projects. NEFA announced $2.55 million in awards for 60 projects as part of the program’s 30th anniversary, including 30 Production Grants and 30 Finalist Awards. Since its launch, the National Dance Project has invested more than $56 million in artists and organizations and supported approximately 859 choreographic works.

Dorfman ’81 founded David Dorfman Dance in 1987. He returned to Connecticut College as a professor of dance in 2004, and David Dorfman Dance was named the college’s company in residence in 2007. The company will mark its 40th anniversary in 2027.

About David Dorfman Dance

Founded in 1987, David Dorfman Dance creates dance-theater works that incorporate movement, music, text and visual elements. The company has performed throughout the United States and internationally and has served as Connecticut College’s company in residence since 2007.

Pascal and Rapp, who originated the roles of Roger and Mark, perform Sept. 25 in New London, CT

NEW LONDON, Conn. — Thirty years after originating the roles of Roger Davis and Mark Cohen in Jonathan Larson’s “Rent,” Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp will take the stage together at Connecticut College for an evening of music and stories spanning their careers and decades-long friendship.

“Adam Pascal & Anthony Rapp: Celebrating 30 Years of Friendship and Music” will be performed Friday, Sept. 25, at 7:30 p.m. in the Athey Center for Performance and Research at Palmer Auditorium. The performance opens Connecticut College’s 2026-27 onStage Guest Artist Series.

Pascal and Rapp met as members of the original cast of “Rent,” which opened off-Broadway in 1996 before moving to Broadway. The musical went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for drama and the Tony Award for best musical and became an international phenomenon.

Their Connecticut College performance brings the two longtime friends together for a concert featuring songs from throughout their careers, music that influenced them and selections from “Rent.” The evening also incorporates stories about the music, their work and a friendship that has continued since their time in the original cast.

Pascal earned a Tony Award nomination for his performance as Roger and later appeared on Broadway in productions including “Aida,” “Cabaret,” “Memphis,” “Something Rotten!” and “Disaster!” He also reprised his role as Roger in the 2005 film adaptation of “Rent.”

Rapp, who originated the role of filmmaker Mark Cohen, also appeared in the film adaptation. His stage credits include “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” and “If/Then.” He adapted his memoir, “Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent,” into a one-man stage production and played Lt. Cmdr. Paul Stamets on “Star Trek: Discovery.”

The performance also marks the first onStage season programmed by Connecticut College Director of Arts Programming Jay Silva.

“My goal is to create performances that bring people together while introducing audiences to artists and ideas they may not encounter otherwise,” Silva said when announcing the season. “There is no place I’d rather do that than here at Connecticut College.”

The Sept. 25 performance is the first of five onStage events planned for the 2026-27 season, which also includes The City of Tomorrow, Limón Dance Company, Grammy Award-winning tabla musician Sandeep Das and The Acting Company’s touring production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

Tickets

Reserved-seat tickets are $30, $40 and $50, with discounted tickets available for seniors, students, Connecticut College employees and Connecticut College students. Tickets and additional information are available through the Connecticut College onStage Guest Artist Series.

Marie Ostby’s “Genres Without Borders” explores how writers transform literary forms amid censorship, political isolation and migration

NEW LONDON, Conn. — Iranian literature has continued to circulate globally despite censorship, political isolation and efforts to restrict cultural exchange. In a new book, Connecticut College professor Marie Ostby examines how writers cross not only national and cultural borders, but also the boundaries between literary genres.

“Genres Without Borders: The Circulation of Iranian Literary Forms,” published Sept. 16 by Syracuse University Press, examines modern and contemporary Iranian literature and the ways writers have adapted, combined and transformed literary genres as their work moves across cultures and national boundaries.

Ostby, an associate professor of English and global Islamic studies at Connecticut College, argues that political and cultural constraints have not stopped Iranian literature from reaching audiences around the world. Instead, writers have reshaped genre and form in ways that allow their work to circulate while maintaining connections to Iranian and Persian literary traditions.

“I wanted to understand how Iranian writers have continued to make their work travel when political borders and censorship are designed to constrain that movement,” Ostby said. “What I found is that genre itself can become a way of crossing borders. Writers reshape literary forms so their work can move between cultures while still maintaining a connection to Iranian and Persian literary traditions.”

Ostby draws on travel writing, graphic narratives and social media alongside traditional literary forms such as the ghazal, tracing how those forms change as texts move among languages, cultures and political environments.

The book examines writers and artists including poet Forugh Farrokhzad, graphic novelist Marjane Satrapi, poet Solmaz Sharif and poet Fatemeh Ekhtesari. Through their work and that of other Iranian writers, Ostby considers how crossing the boundaries of genre can also help literature cross cultural and national boundaries.

The book comes as questions about borders, migration, censorship and cultural exchange continue to shape international conversations.

Ostby’s scholarship focuses on modern and contemporary Middle Eastern literature, world literature and literary theory. Her work has appeared in PMLA, New Literary History and Iranian Studies.

Ostby is available for interviews about the book and topics including Iranian literature, censorship and literary expression, migration and diaspora, world literature and the movement of literary forms across national and cultural borders.