Q&A with Jennifer Ware

Jennifer Ware, a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at UNC, is collaborating with Carolina Performing Arts and the Institute for the Arts and Humanities to celebrate the 100th anniversary of “The Rite of Spring.”

Staff writer Sarah Rutherford spoke with Ware about her yearlong fellowship and how she will explore several mediums of communication to generate a digital archive and facilitate interaction between the arts and the classroom.

DAILY TAR HEEL: What led you to partner with CPA and the Institute for the Arts and Humanities?

JENNIFER WARE: I saw it as a unique opportunity to bring my documentary and story-telling skills to “The Rite of Spring.”

I have a background in broadcast journalism. I worked for a (top) 30 market in Milwaukee straight out of college — the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. I have a master’s in film directing and I recently graduated in August from N.C. State University with a doctoral degree in communication, rhetoric and digital media.

DTH: Can you expand on the work that you are producing here at UNC?

JW: When artists visit the campus, I videotape those experiences so we can see those interactions.

Part of the materials I videotape will be turned into small stories that are shared online. They’ll be put up throughout the year. We’re looking into putting some on UNC public TV to give students more of an opportunity to hear from the artists and get their stories.

DTH: What is the most rewarding part of this experience?

JW: For me, the thing I enjoy the most is seeing how excited the artists get when they talk to students and share their stories about why they are interested in music or performance.

It’s not every day that you get to meet with The Silk Road Ensemble and hear them play instruments in your classroom.

DTH: What class are you teaching this semester and how are you connecting the coursework to “The Rite of Spring?”

JW: It’s English 318: Multimodal Composition. It looks at different ways we communicate and explores print-based text and multimedia.

In my class, we have used “The Rite of Spring” as a way to explore social media marketing techniques. We looked at how to use memes to promote “The Rite of Spring.”

We will put some of the students’ work on The Rite of Spring at 100 blog later this year.

DTH: At its core, The Rite of Spring at 100 is about allowing artists to express their interpretation of the original work. What does “The Rite of Spring” mean to you?

JW: For me, I think the “Rite of Spring” broadly means taking a step back and changing the way we look at things. When I was talking about “The Rite of Spring” project with students earlier in the semester, I told them “The Rite of Spring” pushed the boundaries.

It’s an example of using the elements that you have available to you in different ways — exploring technology in different ways.

Contact the desk editor at arts@dailytarheel.com