Summer's shaping up nicely

So, I got some excellent news last week. I'd been worried: As a Ph.D. student, I'm entitled to some kind of assistantship -- usually, marking/grading or research -- over the summer, but earlier in the spring there were alarming rumours afloat that the Faculty of Grad Studies didn't have nearly enough assistantships to go round, and that some of us were going to be left hanging. Indeed, I got word early last week from the department that they couldn't find me anything in either Arts & Sciences or Atkinson, the two faculties with philosophy programmes. Crap! But then Cristal, the very helpful grad assistant in my department, did some calling around, and requests from other faculties were considered, and the upshot is, I have the best summer work placement! It has nothing to do with philosophy! I'm going to be helping out at the Department of Dance, and specifically, working at the World Dance Alliance Global Assembly in July.

Picture: "Momentos 2," Jorge Amarante company, Argentina

This conference is going to be amazing. There will be dozens of academics, performers and choreographers flying in from Europe, Asia and the Americas, and lots of lectures and panel discussions as well as performances. There will be a performance that involves dancers dangling off the side of the new Accolade Building; a youth program that, if all goes according to plan, will culminate on the last day with "100 underprivileged teens dancing on the lawn in front of Vari Hall"; and one choreographer wants to construct a bonfire at night in the middle of the pond and put together a performance around that. Furthermore, there will be a 2-day World Indigenous Dance mini-conference right before the week, then a ballet conference right after. Oh, and all this very conveniently kicks into gear a few days after the Scream wraps up. Tickets to individual performances at the WDA will be on sale to the general public as well as to conference delegates, so if you love dance, keep an eye on this page.

It's going to be a busy summer! But it'll be a good busy!