Join us for a week of free events October 6-11, 2025 inspired by a visionary aerial dance work NOLI TIMERE by Rebecca Lazier set within a custom net sculpture by world-renowned sculptor Janet Echelman. The work, co-created by artists, engineers, dancers, and mathematicians, is a testament to interdisciplinary collaboration. This week is about going beyond the performance itself to be a campus-and-community lab.
Students, faculty, staff and community members are invited to join the artists and researchers for a week of interdisciplinary discovery. Explore the Interweave event schedule below!
NOLI TIMERE October 10 and 11 in Stewart Theatre
NOLI TIMERE is soaring aerial performance that combines sculpture, dance, engineering, and music. The work explores how movement and sculpture transform one another, revealing our interconnectedness and the impact of even the smallest actions.
University Honors Forum Featuring Rebecca Lazier Oct. 6 and 7 3-4:50 p.m. Witherspoon Cinema Free
Kicking off InterweaveFest, the University Honors Forum will serve as the Keynote address for the week of events. During this lecture-demonstration, Rebecca Lazier will delve into the collaborative creative process and discuss the making of NOLI TIMERE. Latin for ‘be not afraid‘, NOLI TIMERE uniquely renders interconnectedness visible, making tangible how a change in one element has cascading effects on its surroundings, demonstrating the fragility of our ecosystem and the need for innovative responses to global challenges. The audience will get an intimate look into the 5-year collaboration between Director/Choreographer Rebecca Lazier and renowned sculptor Janet Echelman, and learn how this interdisciplinary wonder came to be.
Special thanks to the University Honors Program for sponsoring this event.
Think Fast: Lightning Research Talks Oct. 7 5:30-7 p.m. D. H. Hill Jr. Library (Fishbowl Forum) Free
This lively evening will feature five-minute presentations showcasing research and high-impact projects connected to the themes of nets, webs, interdisciplinary collaboration, and performance. Grab a bite to eat and come hear from students, faculty, and staff about exciting research happening all across campus. The presentations will be followed by a collective conversation led by Susan White, the executive director for the Water Resources Research Institute of the University of North Carolina System, as well as North Carolina Sea Grant, and North Carolina Space Grant.
Special thanks to the NC State University Libraries for sponsoring this event. Refreshments will be provided.
Long Table Discussion: Dance and Evolutionary Biology Oct. 8 at 12 p.m.
The Office of University Interdisciplinary Programs’ “Long Table Discussions” are a series of facilitated conversations about key interdisciplinary issues in a format intended to connect the voices of scholars and practitioners from across NC State and beyond. Often, these discussions lean into the awkward space between disciplines in which standard terms and ideas give way to newer ones. The goal is to create a context in which great minds can think together, with the hope that the resulting synergies may yield new innovations.
The Dance and Evolutionary Biology Long Table Discussion will be facilitated by Senior Vice Provost Rob Dunn and will feature visiting artist Rebecca Lazier. We will talk about the intersection of our understanding of the evolution of mammal bodies – their brains, their bones, their joints and movement – and how it relates to the practice of dance.
These discussions are closed, but not exclusive – limited invitations may be available depending upon space. Please contact mdunne@ncsu.edu to inquire.
Special thanks to the Office of University Interdisciplinary Programs for sponsoring this event.
Improvisation Under the Nets | Workshop led by dancers from NOLI TIMERE Oct. 8 from 5:30-6:45 p.m. Stewart Theatre Free
This dance improvisation workshop will take place under the nets used for Rebecca Lazier’s NOLI TIMERE. The workshop, led by Lazier’s dancers, begins with grounding practices in Ideokinesis (imagined movement), attuning the body to subtle currents of alignment and possibility. Participants are invited to linger at the edge of falling while rooting into strength, exploring pathways of connection through the whole body. Moving, linking, and connecting, we expand into dialogue with the suspended sculptural net — discovering clarity in both risk and grounding while opening new possibilities for gliding, sliding, and spiraling through space.
Special thanks to The Department of Performing Arts and Technology for sponsoring this event.
Registration required.
Explore the Creative Process | Open Rehearsal and Artist Q&A Oct. 9 2:20 p.m. & 3 p.m. Stewart Theatre Free
Inspired by the problem-solving possibilities that emerge through collaboration, Rebecca Lazier consistently reaches beyond dance—towards music, engineering, architecture, visual art, and anatomy—to explore how the questions and methodologies that drive innovation in other fields can spark artistic inquiry. In NOLI TIMERE a group of performers move over, under and within a custom-designed Janet Echelman net sculpture, suspended up to 25 feet in the air. The performers embody resilience, trust, and interdependence, modeling a way of moving through uncertainty not as isolated individuals but as a responsive, adaptive whole. Join us for an afternoon in Stewart Theatre while the performers rehearse sections of NOLI TIMERE, and participate in a Q&A session with choreographer Rebecca Lazier about the creative process.
Session 1 at 2:20 p.m. Session 2 at 3 p.m.
Radical Softness: A Conversation with Janet Echelman, Rebecca Lazier, and Andrew Sageman-Furnas Oct. 9 from 6-7:30 p.m. Gregg Museum of Art & Design Free
Janet Echelman sculpts at the scale of the city. Her works, exhibited across five continents, transform public spaces—inviting reflection and awe as they move with the wind. Choreographer Rebecca Lazier, a 2024 Guggenheim Fellow, pushes the boundaries of dance with work rooted in interdisciplinary research. Together, these dynamic artists collaborated with engineers, historians, dancers, musicians, mathematicians (including NC State Mathematics professor, Andrew Sageman-Furnas), and more to create a soaring aerial performance NOLI TIMERE. The Gregg Museum is exhibiting a 1/9th scale version of Echelman’s Butterfly Rest Stop, which fills the lobby.
Come hear Echelman, Lazier, and Sageman-Furnas discuss their collaboration and hear Janet discuss her new book Radical Softness: The Responsive Art of Janet Echelman, released on September 16, 2025.
Special thanks to the Gregg Museum of Art & Design for sponsoring this event.
Art Installation Study (Butterfly Rest Stop 1/9 Scale)
October 7-18, 2025 Gregg Museum Lobby A colorful fiber sculpture focusing on the role butterflies and other pollinators play in our Earth’s ecosystem. This Janet Echelman fiber sculpture is a 1/9 scale maquette for a 186 ft. long permanent sculpture in Frisco, Texas which is located on the migration pathway of the Monarch butterfly, titled Butterfly Rest Stop. This art installation comes to the Gregg Museum in collaboration with NC State LIVE’s InterweaveFest.
The presentation of NOLI TIMERE by Rebecca Lazier was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Foundation and the Mellon Foundation. Our State Magazine is our official media sponsor.
We are so grateful to our partners:
Arts NC State, Department of Performing Arts and Technology, Gregg Museum of Arts & Design, Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology & Science (KIETS) Climate Leaders Program (CLP), NC State University Libraries, Office of University Interdisciplinary Programs, University Honors Program, Water Resources Research Institute of the University of North Carolina System, and 88.1 WKNC.
