Take a look at your Orientation guide and you'll notice that Tufts is crazy for the arts: this week you'll see a capella concerts, super-abridged Shakespeare, and musical theater, but the Tufts arts scene doesn't end there. The school that gave you Peter Gallagher and Tracy Chapman also has clubs where future Sylvia Plaths and Mikhail Baryshnikovs can get their starts. If you're looking to get inspired (or catch a glimpse of rising stars at work), read on and find your niche.
Pen, Paint, and Pretzels (colloquially known as 3Ps) is responsible for this week's "Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)." If each of the different performing arts groups is a different Brady, 3Ps is the whole Bunch: it's an umbrella organization that is responsible for many of the shows you'll see this year. In addition to the Orientation show, 3Ps produces two major and various minor productions every year.
The songs from "Avenue Q" are brought to you by Torn Ticket II, the only musical theater group at Tufts. It does one major production and occasional minor shows. No stranger to Broadway and film adaptations, past Torn Ticket hits have included "Newsies" and "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."
Tufts theater eventually trickles down into even more specialized outlets. There's Bare Bodkin, which specializes in (but doesn't limit itself to) theater written or otherwise created by students. The Black Theatre Company<$> provides an opportunity for students of color to perform dramatic and musical works by Black artists.
Younger Jumbos (think of your 7-year-old brother, not your 17-year-old roommate) will be overjoyed to learn about Traveling Treasure Trunk, the children's theater company that performs at local hospitals and schools.
They said "Send in the clowns," and we responded: budding comedians have several options to hone their "interrupting cow" knock knocks. There's pink-shirted Cheap Sox, Tufts' beloved improvisational comedy group, and new kid in town Major: Undecided, which writes and performs sketch comedy.
Students plagued by the feeling that they're trapped in a box no one else can see will find solace (or at least a nonexistent ledge to lean on while they sip an invisible cocktail) in HYPE!, Tufts' mime troupe. Surprisingly, the mimes use music in their routines; maybe they're compensating for the various a capella groups' flagrant disregard for musical accompaniment.
Like any good New England university, Tufts is home to a myriad of a capella groups. In alphabetical order, they are: the Amalgamates (co-ed), the Beelzebubs (all-male), Essence (music of the African diaspora), the Jackson Jills (all-female), Shir Appeal (co-ed, Jewish), and sQ! (co-ed).
Are you more "La Boheme" than "Rent"? Then look into the Tufts Opera Ensemble. Students interested in a singing experience but frightened away from opera because of Andrew Lloyd Webber should contact the Chamber Singers or the Chorale.
Classical fans need not limit themselves to vocal endeavors: the Tufts Symphony Orchestra and the Wind Ensemble have spots for all of you who have endured years of "One time, at band camp..." jokes. Note: those inclined to be hollaback girls should call up the Pep Band, because that stuff is bananas!
Providing a less traditional form of music is BEATS (Bangin' Everything At TuftS), the student-formed "percussive performance group" you may have heard about on your tour of the school.
Rounding out the musical groups is the Jumbo Audio Project. Its members put together a CD every year of the best acts Tufts has to offer, combining genres as disparate as rap, rock, funk - everything, in fact, except a capella.
If you like to dance for inspiration, well, we've got that too. Tufts' most forgiving dance group is the Tufts Dance Collective (TDC), which has no tryouts and several hundred members.
Not to be confused with TDC, SoC (Spirit of Color) is a mostly hip-hop and jazz but also occasionally ballet and tap dance group. Sarabande is sort of the reverse of SoC; it's a repertory dance ensemble that is prone to ballet, modern dance and, to a lesser extent, hip-hop.
Poppers and lockers should check out TURBO, the break dancing troupe; clappers and stompers will probably be more inclined to look into BlackOut, the all-male step team.
Those interested in dance with a more ethnic spin will take to Tufts Capoeira (an Afro-Brazilian dance/martial art) or the Bhangra and Garba (two traditional Indian dances) teams.
Finally, don't forget about the joys of becoming a media star. TUTV, the school's official television station, was recently upgraded and now broadcasts edgy new shows like "Haters" and "Anything Eni," as well as guilty pleasure "Jumbo Lovematch." If you have the face for radio, sign up for a show at WMFO. You may get scheduled for 3 a.m. on Tuesdays, but you'll have an hour all to yourself! Of course, most people agree that the pinnacle of Tufts arts-related media is this very Daily Arts section. Reading (or writing for) is the only way to keep track everything happening on the hill.
