Spring-Festival

The spring semester is almost over! The sun is shining, finals season is around the corner, Commencement plans are underway, and it is time to move out of our beloved dorms. For those of us who are living on campus this year, the spring 2021 move-out process might be a bit different, not least of all because it is happening in April instead of in May. Here is an overview of how check-out will work for Columbia and Barnard housing and some tips to make the transition smoother, whether you are heading back home or moving into another residence hall for the summer semester.

Sitting inside the dark black box theater is a simple wooden structure—the bones of the house. Over the course of one weekend, this house will hold religious icons, a moonlit window, and the ghosts of women sacrificed in Greek mythology as three different stories come to life.

As the weather gets warmer, it is the perfect opportunity to go outdoors—keeping in mind COVID-19 guidelines of course. If you are in the city, you’ll find that a number of events and activities will finally be open and available to the public after almost a year of restrictions, though many familiar events still operate under some alterations. To take full advantage of the spring weather and the extra hour of sunlight we get with daylight saving time, here are some events to look out for.

After a cancelled 2020 festival, the Low Steps were replaced by the virtual world of Virbela for this year’s Bacchanal. Students chatted with each other over Zoom or wandered around as Virbela online personas. Attendees were welcomed by flashing DJ lights and 1920s-themed decor at the coveted Columbia event.

In an apartment full of cinnamon candles and pill organizers, dementia carves a wide gulf between a mother and her daughter. In a shoeshine shop in 1944, an army volunteer stakes his life on an empty promise. Together, they tell a story of personal and historical erasure, 75 years apart.

“I went to death row and really just saw what America says are the worst of the worst, and realized they’re human beings at the heart of these cases that you hear about.”

In the film industry, the adjective “emerging” typically has a negative connotation. However, this need not be the case, as the process of emerging is never-ending—the process of reinvention is constant in a world where success is not easily defined. To emerge in the film world, one must grow and evolve into a successful individual.