On March 11-12, 2016, DJ Kid Koala’s graphic novel Nufonia Must Fall will come to life on stage at the Power Center in Ann Arbor. This live adaptation unfolds via real-time filming of more than a dozen miniature stages and a cast of puppets, while Kid Koala and the Cecilia Quartet provide original live scoring on piano, strings, and turntables.

Win tickets by showing us your robot dance moves!

What: A contest of robot dances. Three winners will receive a pair of tickets to see Nufonia Must Fall. The first place winner also receives goodies from our friends at Green Brain Comics!

How to enter: Create a robot dance video to the music in the above contest video. Upload your video and share the link with us via the comments below, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

• On Facebook, enter by posting your video on our wall. Be sure to include “robot dance contest” in your video description.
• On Twitter, enter by tweeting your video @UMSNews. Be sure to include “robot dance contest” in your tweet.
• On Instagram, tag @UMSNews in your video. Be sure to include “robot dance contest” in your post description.
• Post a link to your video in the comments below.  Be sure to include “robot dance contest” in your post description.

Contest timeline: Tuesday, March 1 at 9 am to Wednesday, March 9 at 5 pm.

Winners announced: Morning of Thursday, March 10.

Questions? Ask them in the comments below.

Photo: A scene from Kiss & Cry. Photo by Marteen Vanden Abeele.

A diverse group of Belgian artists is coming together to perform Kiss & Cry in Ann Arbor on October 10-12. The work is a blend of film, dance, text, and theater; the audience witnesses a film screened and simultaneously made in front of their eyes. Hands visually portray the main characters, as in the photo above.

The company calls these vignettes “nano dances,” and for this contest, we’re asking you to try your hand (get it?) at nano-dancing yourself.

What: A contest of nano-dances. Three winners will receive a pair of tickets to see Kiss & Cry.

How to enter: Create a nano-dance using your hands. The setting is up to you (Ann Arbor has many landmarks and picturesque locations!). Enter your dance video, or a still photo of a moment in your dance, via Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

• On Facebook, enter by posting a photo or video on our wall. Be sure to include #umslobby in your photo description.
• On Twitter, enter by tweeting a photo @UMSNews. Be sure to include #umslobby in your photo description.
• On Instagram, enter by posting a photo or video with #umslobby. Note: If your account is set to “private” we won’t be able to see your entry!

Contest timeline: September 22 at 9 am – October 3 at 5 pm.

Questions? Ask them in the comments below.

For inspiration, a photo submitted by the company from a visit to France. Courtesy of the artists.

Photo: Jake Shimabukuro. Photo by Merri Cyr.

We can’t wait until ukulele wizard Jake Shimabukuro takes the stage at Hill Auditorium on November 19, 2014.

In the meantime, we want photos of you and your ukulele for our Ukulele Hall of Fame. Check out our UMS Student Committee’s photo shoot of ukulele’s all around town to get inspired, and then submit by:

• Tagging UMS on Facebook. (How to)
• Sharing your photo with #umslobby on Twitter or Instagram. (How to)
• Emailing your photo to ums-lobby@umich.edu

We’ll add you to the Ukulele Hall of Fame photo gallery on our Facebook page! Enjoy:

Do you play the ukulele? How did you start? Share your ukulele story in the comments below.

Looking for an adventure? Go to a mystery UMS performance.

What: You and a friend get a pair of tickets to a UMS performance. Which one? It’ll be a mystery pick from the first half our 2013-2014 season. [We’ll give you another mystery option if the initial mystery date doesn’t work.]

How to enter: Fill out the form below and follow us on Facebook or Twitter. We’ll select 3 pairs of winners, to be announced on Monday, September 16.

What’s the catch? No catch. Your mystery tickets will be free! We’ll ask you to take your picture at the performance and write us a sentence or two about your adventure.

Deadline to enter: Friday, September 13

Do you have questions or comments? Let us know below.

There’s a little more UMS throughout town. We’re excited about our new outdoor AATA bus advertising featuring some of the artists on the 2012-2013 season. In fact, we’re so excited, we’re inviting you to play a game.

Take a picture of one of our UMS bus advertisements and enter to win UMS gift certificates, goodies, and iTunes gift cards. 

How to enter:

Send in a photo of one of our UMS bus advertisements; make sure to include where you saw the photo. Submit in one of three ways:

(1) On Facebook, upload your photo and tag it with our UMS Facebook page during the contest period. (How to tag a photo)

(2) Tweet your photo to us by including @UMSNews in your tweet during the contest period. (How to tweet a photo)

(3) Email your photo to annavp@umich.edu with subject “Photo Contest Entry”

There are 13 different ads. First person to enter a new ad gets two entries in the raffle.

Eligibility: Only open to @UMSNews followers on Twitter, fans of UMS on Facebook, or subscribers to UMS e-news.

Contest period: Wednesday, September 5 – Friday, September 21 at Noon.

Winners: Two rounds of winners will be randomly selected by 5PM Friday, September 14th & 21st. Winners will be contacted via Twitter, Facebook, or email respectively, and if winners do not reply within 5 days, new winners will be declared.

Prizes: 2 $100 UMS gift certificates (must be used this season), as well as UMS water bottles, T-shirts, totebags, and iTunes gift cards.

Got questions? Ask in comments below.

Yuja Wang is a 24-year old piano sensation. With a program that features works by Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Debussy, Albéniz, and Ravel, she returns to Ann Arbor after her wildly successful UMS debut in 2008, just months after graduating from The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Since her last UMS appearance, Wang has spent her time criss-crossing the globe with a cavalcade of impressive debuts and awards, including the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, given to select musicians destined for bright solo careers.

Surely you have a question for her. Send us your questions for Yuja! Tweet your questions @UMSNews, post them on our Facebook page, or in the comment below. We’ll pass the best questions on to Yuja. Stay tuned.