Free thinking at UNC this week

I’ve been blabbing a lot in various places about Carolina Performing Arts’ crazy big season focusing on Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, which is coming up on its 100th birthday. The academic centerpiece of this series is a multi-topic conference in Chapel Hill this Thursday-Sunday, October 25-28. An impressive array of scholars and critics will present papers and discuss just about any aspect of The Rite and its influence that you could possibly wish. There’s a ticketed opening performance, but other than parking, the rest is all FREE, and you don’t even have to register. See the schedule at  http://tinyurl.com/9pop5gd. I’m looking at Mary Davis (Fashion Institute of Technology) “Styling Le Sacre: The Rite’s Role in French Fashion” from Friday’s Session 1, and SESSION 3: DANCING THE RITE AFTER ITS PREMIERE, with several dance historians and critics.