Vanessa Daou Visits Mercer County Community College 3/27

The Academic Theatre and Dance Programs at Mercer County Community College are hosting a campus visit by #1 Billboard Dance Artist Vanessa Daou on Friday, March 27 at 12:30 p.m. The community is invited to join Ms. Daou for a Q&A session in the Studio Theatre (CM 122), located next to Kelsey Theatre on the college's West Windsor campus, 1200 Old Trenton Road. The event is presented free of charge.

According to MCCC Theatre Program Coordinator Jody Person, Ms. Daou's visit to campus represents an extraordinary opportunity for Mercer students and members of the community who are musicians, graphic designers, dancers, programmers, visual artists, performers and writers. Says Person, "Vanessa has performed everywhere from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles to the Olympia Theatre in France. She's also an interdisciplinary artist who works with music, poetry, visual art, graphic design, and interactive digital art. Most importantly, she's a thinking artist, and this is precisely the quality we are working to nurture in students of the Theatre and Dance Programs at MCCC."

Daou's newest album, "Joe Sent Me," is the premiere release on her current imprint, Daou Records. She has five other successful solo albums, recorded for both major labels and as an independent artist, including "Zipless," her definitive 1994 breakthrough debut and collaboration with lauded feminist writer and poet Erica Jong. Known internationally for her signature breathy vocal style, Daou mixes musical influences into a unique hybrid of jazz, blues, rock, folk and electronica. Daou was a Visual Arts and Art History major at Barnard College who approaches her art as a synthesis of sight and sound, written word and song. She began her career recording for NuGroove Records, one of New York's seminal underground experimental electronica labels.

In further collaboration with the MCCC Theatre and Dance Program, Daou's music will be featured in "Joe Sent MDE," a performance by the Mercer Dance Ensemble, composed of MCCC Dance students and dancers from the community. The event takes place on Saturday, May 16 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 17 at 2 p.m. at MCCC's Kelsey Theatre. The show is choreographed by MCCC dance instructor Janell Byrne with additional choreography by Jody Person. For ticket information, visit www.kelseyatmccc.org/reunion.