NVCC Hosting Annual International Center for the Arts Festival

Naugatuck Valley Community College Hosting Annual International Center for the Arts Festival

WATERBURY- Naugatuck Valley Community College (NVCC)
is hosting its annual International Center for the Arts (ICA) Festival celebration Monday, April 11 through Thursday, April 14. The ICA Festival, a celebration of global expressions of art that capture traditional and contemporary forms, creates a gathering
place for discovery, engagement, and learning about the many ways to reflect human experience. The four-day event features the talents of NVCC students, staff, and present and past Fulbright Scholars-in-Residence.

Dr. Stacey Sacks, NVCC’s Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence for 2021-22, is a comedian, writer, producer, and director of short films. She has been teaching Acting, Improvisation,
and Plays in Production at NVCC since her arrival in August 2021. A leading performer as a clown, Dr. Sacks has shared her talents in Sweden, Germany, Austria, and other countries. As a member of Clowns Without Borders, Dr. Sacks has brought joy and light
to children and families in war zones, refugee camps, and in other settings of human suffering in countries including Myanmar/Burma, Jordan, Rwanda, and others. As a comedy improviser, she has performed in Johannesburg, London, and Cape Town.

Aguibou Bougobali Sanou, NVCC’s Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence in 2018-19, is returning to NVCC to perform at the festival. Hailing from Burkina Faso, Aguibou is founder and choreographer of the Tamadia Dance Company in Bobo-Dioulasso,
and several regional collaborative projects. He has developed a very personal approach to contemporary dance, mixing traditional Mandinka and contemporary dance repertoires, storytelling, and strong elements of animism and spirituality. Aguibou has actively
worked to give African contemporary dance a strong identity and legitimacy in the global art world.

Highlighting the ways in which creativity manifests itself, four NVCC students will demonstrate the aeronautic drone they designed, engineered, and constructed. Under
the leadership of Rob Sheftel, director of NVCC’s Academic Center of Excellence (ACE), who secured the College Quadcopter Challenge grant through the NASA CT Space Grant Consortium to support this project, students Jonathan Escobar, Albert Lagerman, Anthony
Lane, and James Petkin will present the skills they have honed before competing in a state-wide competition later this month.

These events are highlights of the many that will take place on the multi-day celebration, and all events are free and open to the public. Events will be held on both
the Waterbury and Danbury Campuses. No registration is required.

WATERBURY CAMPUS

Monday, April 11 & Tuesday, April 12, 9:30-1045am:
Revolt, Revive, Renew: A Progressive Poetry event. (Poet’s Circle and the Plaza)

Poems and readings will be shared by students, faculty, and staff and will culminate in Room L501, featuring an art installation and readings from Prof. Steve Parlato,
creator of a “Black Lives Matter” series of collages and poems honoring lives we have lost.

Monday, April 11, 12:30-1:45pm: Film – Clowns Without Borders documentary (Café West)

Dr. Stacey Sacks, NVCC’s Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence for 2021-22, has worked for years with
Clowns Without Borders, an international organization that offers joy and laughter to relieve the suffering of persons living in areas of conflict and crisis. She will engage in a talk-back following the documentary.

Tuesday, April 12, 12:30-1:45pm:
RoboArt, featuring the NVCC Quadcopter Team (The Plaza)

NVCC students competing in a state-wide competition will demonstrate the aeronautic drone they designed, engineered, and constructed.

Wednesday, April 13, 9:30-1045am:
Le Chant et la Danse des Oiseaux (Vivaldi’s “Spring”), a Music and Flora collaborative event (Tech Hall foyer)

This event showcases the work of students in the NVCC Horticulture program, under the direction of Prof. Chris Tuccio and Michael Schwartz, and features
the instrumental music of Prof. Lou Romao. The centerpiece of this creative installation is
a Grand Piano filled with Water, cascading onto an array of plants.

Wednesday, April 13, 12:30-2:30pm:
Art Attack! (Leever Auditorium) - Featuring Aguibou Bougobali Sanou, NVCC Fulbright Scholar-in Residence 2018-19 from Burkina Faso.

ArtAttack! features interactive
Art, Dance, Video, vocal and instrumental Music, and Cakes of many nations, Art Attack is a non-stop festival of visual and performing arts… plus
Cake.

Wednesday, April 13, 7:00pm:
UBU TOXICA!
(Playbox Theater) – Playbox Theatre seats 60 attendees, w/more seating in the Leever Atrium.

UBU TOXICA! is an original play
created by NVCC students in conjunction with Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Dr. Stacey Sacks. The story is a parody of Shakespeare's
Macbeth and some parts of Hamlet and King Lear, reset to a vaguely despotic location, with creative references to current and recent political events.

Thursday, April 14, 5:00-6:00pm:
Événement Final du Festival, a final Performative Essay
by Dr. Stacey Sacks (Tech Hall foyer)

Join us as Dr. Sacks celebrates a
Year in the Life of a Fulbright.

DANBURY CAMPUS ONLY

Thursday, April 14, 9:30-10:45am: Revolt, Revive, Renew: A Progressive Poetry
event. (Student Lounge, D207)

This event will begin at the Danbury campus Student Lounge, then moves to St. James Church and Danbury Library; poems will be shared focusing on the ICA
Festival theme of Revolt, Revive, Renew.

Thursday, April 14, 12:30-1:45pm: Film – Clowns Without Borders documentary (D203)

Reprise of the film shown on the Waterbury campus on Monday, 4/11. See above. Dr. Stacey Sacks will engage in a talk-back following the documentary.