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Bleasby Colloquium Set for Oct. 23

Posted on Friday, October 10, 2003

Dr. Andrew Ade, assistant professor of English at Westminster College, will present the Bleasby Colloquium, "Theater Voices in the Cenema of Jean Cocteau," Thursday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m. in the McKelvey Campus Center Theater.

"The French poet-dramatist, Jean Cocteau, turned to filmmaking in mid-career with spectacular results," Ade said. "The seven films he wrote and/or directed have become cinema classics. The wealth of visual invention in his movies often mutes the films' acoustic innovations, particularly their use of the human voice."

"Nearly all the ideas behind Cocteau's cinematic use of voice, in fact, stem from his previous work for the stage," Ade continued. "In this talk, I will demonstrate how Cocteau adapted his innovative theater vocalism to filmmaking."

Ade, who joined the Westminster faculty this year, earned his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University, and his master's and Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina. He has served as a Peace Corps volunteer teacher in the Republic of Zaire, and taught in Paris as visiting lecturer at Hautes Etudes Commerciales, the national business school of France.

This colloquium is the second in a series of five scheduled for the George Bleasby Colloquia, a series of literary events in honor of Dr. Bleasby, who chaired the Department of English at Westminster from 1954-75.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Ade at (724) 946-7349 or e-mail adeaw@westminter.edu.