VILLANOVA, Pa. – Villanova University’s Asian Studies Program will launch a semester-long celebration of Asian culture and arts beginning on January 18. The 2013 Asian Arts Festival will feature a number of cultural events– from art exhibits to traditional Japanese theatre – to honor the Asian tradition and its world-wide influence. 

With support from the Theatre Department and Villanova University Art Gallery, the Asian Studies Program has arranged a wide variety of performances, lectures and workshops, each dedicated to a specific area in Asia.  Japan, Pan Asia, China, India and Tibet will be represented by events geared toward specific national customs and themes. The festival begins with a staged reading of The Beautiful Life of the Woman Komachi, a play in five acts written by Joanna Rotté, Ph.D., Professor of Theatre and Director of the Asian Studies Program at Villanova University.

The following is a full schedule of events.

• JAPAN
  January 18-20, 2013
  The Beautiful Life of the Woman Komachi
  A staged reading of a new play in five acts: an adaptation in English of five short plays from traditional Japanese Noh Theatre.

        January 19, 2013
       The Musical Elements of Japanese Noh
        Music performance and talk.

• PAN ASIA
  February 1, 2013
  Fusion and Invention: adapting Asian and Western theatre classics for the new century in consideration of theatre casting, directing and design.
  Keynote speech by Tisa Chang, Artistic Producing Director, Pan-Asia Repertory Theatre, NYC.

• CHINA
  February 22, 2013
  Synthesizing Artistic Traditions, East & West
  Artist talk and calligraphy workshop; also, art exhibit opening: Lampo Leong's Enchanted Brushwork

• INDIA
  March 22, 2013
  Contemporary Expression in Traditional Bharata Natyam
  Dance performance and workshop.

• TIBET
  April 19, 2013
  Contemplative Ceremony: Sand Mandala Dissolution
  The meticulous creation, in colored sand, and dissolution of a Tibetan Buddhist mandala depicting the Wheel of Life.

Villanova University's interdisciplinary Asian Studies Program was launched in 2004. Today, the program has a body of faculty from a variety of departments, resulting in a growing number of courses offered in Asian Studies. For more information on the program, and for more details on the Asian Arts Festival, click here.

About Villanova University: Since 1842, Villanova University’s Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition has been the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University's five colleges – the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the College of Nursing and the Villanova University School of Law. As students grow intellectually, Villanova prepares them to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them.