Center for World Performance Studies
Upcoming Events
Dancing with the Dragon Exhibit
November 4 through December 11, 2026
Open Monday – Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm (Closed Nov. 26-27)
Room 547 – Weiser Hall / Central Campus
Experience a curated experience of the imaginary, featuring the LRCCS Fortune and Longevity Dragon, a 25-ft long, Asian-inspired full-body dragon sculpture for use in the traditional “dragon dance” crafted by renowned international artist Zhen Guo with U-M faculty arts lecturer Raymond Wetzel, artist Jeri Rosenberg, students, and volunteers. The exhibition highlights the story of the dragon’s fabrication and its impact on community.
Leyya Mona Tawil and collaborators in “Happy Days Finale”
Multipurpose Room, Trotter Multicultural Center, 428 S State St, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Free - no tickets required
The Center for World Performance Studies hosts an informal showing of Happy Days Finale, a new performance work by Leyya Mona Tawil in collaboration with Zari Lionudakis (dance), John MacDoughall Parker (music), and Scott Tallenger (costume). What does happiness mean in a time of revolution? With each day anew, what is our capacity for communion, grief, resistance, chance? In a world of relentless injustice and collapse, we question what is ending and what is beginning. DANCE ELIXIR’s Happy Days Finale is an invitation to test these questions, in body and time. This work-in-progress showing will be followed by Q&A with the guest artists.
Whose City? Street Art and the Performance of Belonging in Tbilisi, Georgia
Michigan League
Free - no tickets required
Join us in the Michigan League’s Vandenberg Room (2nd floor) for a presentation by Greta Uehling, a 2025-26 Faculty Fellow with the Center for World Performance Studies. Street art is often understood as a form of cultural resistance in politically constrained societies like Georgia. Professor Greta Uehling will draw on ethnographic fieldwork in Tbilisi, including interviews with artists, activists, and viewers supported to explore the forces that complicate its communicative potential. Uehling extends a Barthian approach that foregrounds the reception of street art and the contested meanings that emerge around it. In this talk, she will explore the state’s appropriation of street-art aesthetics through government-sponsored projects, as well as private citizens’ power to veto murals on their buildings. She will then turn to gender as a contested terrain where Georgia’s European aspirations meet enduring social norms.
John Santos Sextet
Keene TheaterEast Quadrangle
Free - no tickets required
Led by seven-time Grammy nominee John Santos, the John Santos Sextet brings Afro-Latin jazz to life through irresistible rhythms, bold improvisation, and deep musical connection. The ensemble blends jazz with the rich traditions of the Caribbean and Latin America, creating music that is both rooted in history and vibrantly contemporary. Known for its dynamic performances and exceptional musicianship, the sextet invites audiences into a joyful, soulful exploration of rhythm and culture. Expect an unforgettable evening of percussion-driven grooves, spirited collaboration, and music that moves both body and mind. Presented by the Center for World Performances Studies with support from the SMTD Percussion Program.
Nora Sharp in Performance
Dance Performance Studio TheatreDance Building
Free - no tickets required
Join us for a Work-In-Progress showing with guest artist Nora Sharp, followed by Q&A. Presented by Daring Dances and the Center for World Performance Studies.
Recent Event Videos
TeAda Productions | January 2026
Pamela Z & The Living Earth Show | November 2023
Autophysiopsychic Millennium | March 2023
Ancestral Haiku ft. Marion Hayden, M. Saffell Gardner, and Robin Wilson | September 2022
Guinea Sweet Suite – T. Ayo Alston/Ayodele Drum & Dance Performance at the Keene Theater | March 2022
Makuyeika Colectivo Teatral at the University of Michigan | October 2019
Anishinaabe Theater Exchange at University of Michigan | February 2019