Fulbright Alumnus Ron Jenkins to Present 2007 Selma Jeanne Cohen Fund Lecture at Fulbright Association 30th Anniversary Conference

            WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 19, 2007) -- The Fulbright Association announced today that Ron Jenkins, professor of theater at Wesleyan University, will present the 2007 Selma Jeanne Cohen Lecture in International Dance Scholarship on Saturday, Nov. 3, at The Madison Hotel in Washington, D.C.  Dr. Jenkins will speak on "Sacred Dance and Secular Law in Bali."

            The lecture will explore the significance of Balinese sacred dance by examining a landmark 2007 court case involving renowned painter Nyoman Gunarsa who alleged that several of his paintings of dancers had been counterfeited.  He attempted to demonstrate the illegitimacy of the forged paintings by dancing in the courtroom.  Dr. Jenkins conducted primary research for the paper during his time in Bali as a Fulbright scholar in 2007.

            "The paper will analyze Balinese dance in a context that removes it from its typically exotic setting in Hindu temple festivals," Dr. Jenkins said.  "In doing so, I hope to encourage future dance scholars to look past the intoxicating surface spectacle of Balinese dance to its more mundane functions as a cultural point of reference that helps the Balinese make sense of their world in concrete ways."

            Dr. Jenkins is the author of several books on performance and translator of numerous plays by Italian Nobel Laureate Dario Fo.  He has studied Balinese performance since 1976, when he lived in a Balinese village for a year and performed with a troupe of temple dancers.

            "I am happy and honored at having been chosen to deliver the Selma Jeanne Cohen Fund Lecture," Dr. Jenkins said.  "Many years ago, Dr. Cohen's sponsorship of the International Encyclopedia of Dance allowed me to write about masked performance in Indonesia, so I feel this lecture will be the continuation of an ongoing dialogue about the importance of dance in a culture where the arts are essential to the life of the community."

            Dr. Selma Jeanne Cohen, preeminent dance historian and founding editor of the International Encyclopedia of Dance, endowed the dance lecture at the Fulbright Association's annual conference to highlight dance scholarship in a multidisciplinary, international forum. Previous lecturers are Leslie Friedman, the Lively Foundation, San Francisco (2000); Robin Marshall Grove, University of Melbourne, Australia (2001); Gretchen Ward Warren, University of South Florida (2002); Wayne B. Kraft, Eastern Washington University and the Erdély (Dance) Ensemble (2003); London-based Millicent Hodson, dance historian and choreographer (2004); Richard Semmens, University of Western Ontario, Canada (2005); and Barbara Browning, New York University (2006).

            The Fulbright Association is a private, non-profit organization that supports and promotes the Fulbright Program, an international educational and cultural exchange initiative created in 1946 by legislation sponsored by the late Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas.  There are now over 275,000 Fulbright alumni worldwide.

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