Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY Wednesday, March 18, 1970 Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY Wednesday, March 18, 1970 dance MONDAY: Skill to a useless end By C. Q. SPINGLER When a dance company choos- es it's program with a precon- ceived notion of what will please the public rather than with a desire to perfect and further it's art by creating complex aes- thetic forms and dramatic state- ments, the results are almost al- ways frivolous and uninterest- ing. For dance, any kind of dance, modern or traditional, should speak to us of those areas of experience which cannot be quickly or easily articulated. Many avenues are open to the choregrapher, from satirical comment to the reconstruction of dreams or the re-enactment of myths. The major flaw of the performance of the Royal Win- nipeg Ballet was the failure of all four choreographers to make a clear statement about a n y- thing with dramatic depth. It seemed a program designed to humour the audience into be- lieving that, simply by having at- tended the performance of a classical ballet company, it had participated in a "cultural" event. Both the traditional and modern numbers (and I use the word "modern" with reserva- tion) were so lacking in dramatic content that they generated very little interest. Their rendering of Les Pati- neurs was traditionally danced In classical style. The charm of this light number was heighten- ed by a reproduction of the de- cor and costumes used in the original 1937 Sadler's Wells Bal- let production. It was pleas- ant; little more. The Don Quixote pas de deux was also attractively costumed, and well' danced, and completed the tradi- tional half of the program. But it was with the modern pieces that the company began to find' itself in difficulty. I To my mind the most annoy- ing defect of the company's per- formance was the attempt to modernize the last two dances with old-hat jazz technique. In the first number called 5 over 13, this technique seemed e x - traneous to the subject matter of the dance. This dance, t h e most explicitly dramatic piece of the afternoon, had a great deal of potential complexity City Council enacts law for escrow fund By ROBERT JERRO City Council has enacted an ordinance which, upon the landlord's request, would allow the city clerk to hold damage deposits in escrow for the duration of a tenant's lease. The ordinance, passed on second reading Monday night, provides for the transferral of the authority to make deci- sions concerning the refunding of damage deposits from the landlord to the city clerk. Mayor Robert Harris said he is relying on the landlords' sense of good faith, instead of making such an escrow ar- -Daily-Richard Lee which was not authenticated by it's choreography. It might have been meant to emphasize, through the use of bizarre in- sect-like masks, the frailty of the human image. For when the dancer's face is hidden and his arms extend through eye-like sockets, the human form is dis- torted to the point of suggesting another form of life. Or, the , masks might have represented the shells of defense each of us builds up around ourselves in order to survive. Some of t h e creatures on the stage were able to exist freely without the shell; another curled up and died as a result of its tempor- ary separation from it; and still others refused to part with the mask at all. The dance seemed close to making a state- ment about freedom versus re- pression, but it did not. The movement of the "liberated" maskless gings was not suffici- ently differentiated from that of the "repressed" masked ones to make us understand the con- flict between the two groups and thus the dance. The addition of jazz material to this stark and rather serious material was tot- ally extraneous and confusing. The last piece was obviously contrived to please an audience that really wasn't very interested in ballet, or dance for that mat- ter, but one which wished to be "entertained". It was a series of Variations on "Strike up the Band" with musical arrange- ments in the style of George Gershwin. It was silly. It was trite. It was dull. Imagine well trained classical dancers, pre- tending they are the black and white keys of a piano, sitting on ice-cream parlor chairs, and bob- bing up and down on appro- priate chords. Try to envisage serious ballerinas wandering about with cymbals on t h e i r heads, all this-combined w i t 4 1930's musical comedy steps, and you will have a full picture of this ridiculous attempt to please. There are so many ways for a dancer to move, that to allow such fine performers to fall back on hackneyed jazz technique is criminal. What a pity it was that all those lovely dancers tech- nically very competent, physi- cally beautiful and lithe, w e r e wasted in such trivial choreo- graphy. Re gents to meet BAM (Continued from Page 1) be plenty of trouble," said Regent Robert Brown (R-Kalamazoo). He added, "If all the blacks are go- ing to be in the meeting room coercing me to make a decision against my better judgment, I won't like it." Although the Regents will prob- ably spend a good deal of time on the black students' demands, it is uncertain whether they will take any action. At last month's meet- ing, they instructed President Robben Fleming to present to them a five-year plan relating to the demands at tomorrow's meet- ing. The Regents held a secret, in- formal session on March 4 at which the black demands were discussed. On the following day, Fleming issued a widely circulated response to the BAM demands. Fleming's proposals call for doubling by 1973-74 the Oppor- tunity Awards Program (OAP) which aids disadvantaged stu- dents. He also recommended set- ting up a committee to oversee recruiting activities, increasing efforts to find money for financial aid and exploring changes in ad- missions criteria which would al- low more disadvantaged students to be admitted while guarantee. ing them "a satisfactory proba- bility of success" at the University "There's no urgency about the matter as far as I can see," said Regent William Cudlip (R-Grosse Pointe Shores). Mrs. Hueb'ner said she expected action on the de- mands this week, but other Re- gents, such as Nederlander, would only say, "We're going to do everything we can to see if we can accommodate and do as much as we can for the blacks." rangement mandatory. He expressed fears that "it would be too soon to act without! testing landlord and tenant reac- tion to a voluntary set-up first." Harris suggested a hearing this fall to determine exactly what has been done and to decide if the provision should be made manda- tory. Landlords, under the ordinance, have the responsibility of proving damages placed on themselves if they can not reach an agreement with the tenant. If the matter could not be de- cided by an arbitrator, the land- lord would have to prove the dam- age in small claims court. The ordinance, passed on first reading on March 2, was amended Monday to include the filing of a "condition report" by landlord and tenant before occupancy, which would facilitate the decision con- cerning the damage deposit re- fund. Another amendment allotted $25 to the landlord in the event that a tenant left the dwelling uncleaned, with the stipulation in the lease that it be cleaned. Newell asks care center (Continued from Page 1) Regent's meeting when the women arrived. The child-care group had at- tempted last week to obtain an appointment with Fleming but was unable to get one until next week. "People have been working on child-care for two years and ac- tion is needed now," one woman said yesterday. "It won't take but one minute of Fleming's time to hear us read the demands." Fleming last night said he was "absolutely and completely booked up this week." "I approve of the idea of a child-care center in principle, but haven't actively considered it," he added. Regent warns of ccoercion' (Continued from Page 1) If twenty per cent of the appli- cants were black and they were qualified for admission we would admit them I suppose without re- sponding to suggestions from any particular group so why respond to a percentage figure. "To make the consideration of your proposal to the Regents more informative I suggest that you have (Assistant Director of Ad- missions) George Goodman bring up-to-date his record of achieve- ment in the Opportunity Awards Program for the past 5 or six years as to numbers of students enroll- ed initially, and those who sur- vived through to graduation, the record of monies expended in each year, and then project into the next five years the numbers to be enrolled and the monies required per year. In this way we would be brought up-to-date on a continu- ing program which we want to en- courage and expand at normal rate. I feel this would be benefic- ial to those who are concerned about our commitment and will reinforce the action to be taken at our next meeting. "As I stated at our conference on the 4th I am opposed to taking any action in response to threats, coercion or intimidation and I will oppose the five year commitment if the statements attributed to Wil- liam Haber In the March 2 edi- tion of the Ann Arbor News are correct. He practically admits that the recommendations were arriv- ed at following receipt of demands from Black students. I will not ac- cede to demands from any group and I will refuse to do so in this instance if a retraction of the statement by Bill Haber is n o t forthcoming. I intend to raise this question before a vote is taken on the expansion of the Opportunity Award Program as covered by your seven point program. "If our meeting is disrupted by any group of students or faculty I propose we adjourn immediately to a more secure location where we can be guaranteed police pro- tection." tb 87u (Continued from Page12) sure way we haye to keep some kind of control." The members of the Anarchist Coalition rejected Fusfeld's argu- ment on the grounds that the U.S. presently utilizes a draft, and yet there is no marked influence being exerted over the military that they could see. At last night's workshop on De- ferments, Exemptions, Classifica- tions and Procedures, David Pi- soni, Grad, stressed the belief that attempts to avoid the draft were greatly hampered by the lack of acurate information concerning registrants' rights. "Most people don't know what to do," he said. However, he placed the respon- sibility of gaining the information in the hands of the individual registrants. He explained : "Under the Selective Service law, it is your duty to know what the law says. " Earlier in the afternoon, about sixty people gathered to discuss emigration to Sweden and Canada to avoid the draft. Margery Hemel, who had been to Sweden recently during the summer with her hus- band said, "We were very much impressed by the positive attitude of Americans in Sweden." In the late afternoon, a group March 17,18, Tues., Wed. American Film Studies CITIZEN dir. Orson Welles (1941); A cinema milestone, with spectacular direction by Orson Welles. A classic presentation of the life of W. R. Hearst. 75c Workshops examine various draft options of ten people met to discuss Rac- ism and the Draft. Several stu dents expressed opinions that blacks should not take part in the Vietnam war. One black student said, "We are in a culture where we are not accepted. We have no place in this society, so why should we havea place in a war we didn't start?" + In a workshop entitled "Is the engineer responsible - his role in the draft," ten people heard en- gineering English Prof. Chester Leach and Prof. John Clark, chair- man of the mechanical engineer- ing department debate morality, the draft and the government. Clark blamed the draft and the continuation of the war on "modern liberalism." Clark called the draft "coercion," stating "t h e tired, old liberal realizes that there are forces that will destroy him, so he must resort to coercion (the - draft) in order to protect himself." Program Info: NO 2-6264 SHOWS AT 1:00 3 00 5 00 7.00-9.10 P.M. NOMINATED FOR 9 ACADEMY AWARDS 7 & 9:05 662-8871' ARCH. AUD. i* records Getting the worst of the Best' U By BERT STRATTON There's a music critic for the Village Voice who reviews about twenty records in one article. When considering the low qual- ity of most of today's music, it's remarkable the guy hasn't turn- ed into a vegetable. I could try to top his achieve- ment, but that would mean lis- tening to a myriad of lousy, hard-rock releases. Instead, f o r my own health's sake, I'll set- tle on doing five capsule e o m- ments - and only on records that are mediocre or better. Here we go. 1. The Best of Herbie Mann (AT 1544) is a very deceptive title. Rather it should be Herbie Mann's Corniest Hits, featuring his stellar apadtations of "Philly Dog", "A Man and A Woman", and "This Little Girl of Mine." Actually, Herbie's best is Mem- phis Underground, which b e - cause of its rock ingredients, was the best-selling jazz LP of 1969. 2. The Best of Mose Allison (AT 1542) is a good jazz-blues record, which makes sense be- cause the best of Mose has in- evitably got to be some pretty weird, talented, and crazy stuff. He's a white Mississippian, rais- ed on black blues, who's traveled the hip, nightclub circuit of the fifties and sixties. Very Unique! 3. Phil Ochs Greatest H i t s, (A&M 4253) are not really his greatest hits. The title is a fake, the record consists of new Ochs material - mostly rock 'n' roll put-ons. Not many people be- sides die-hard Phil Ochs enthus- ,iasts will get worked up over this one, even though it's plenty good. 4. Cannonball Adderley's Coun- try Preacher (Cap. 404) is only one step above boring. Intend- ed primarily to serve as an ad- vertisement for Operation Bread- basket, where it was recorded "live". For a lot more music and a lot less jive talk, try one of the best soul jazz records there is: Best of Cannonball Adderley (Cap.),. 5. The Best of John Coltrane (AT 1541) is heedless to say fantastic. If Coltrane were alive today he would be the biggest tensation in music. We're ready now for what he was laying down ten years ago. The record' has many winners (all of them naturally from 1959 and 1 9 6 0 when he was on Atlantic), like .."My Favorite Things", Naima", "Giant Steps", "Equinox", "Cou- sin Mary", and "Central P a r k West." It's the solution for everybody who has wanted to get into Coltrane but who could not figure out which of h i s thirty records to buy. This is the one! Coltrane is vital! Add-end: The best blues heard lately is John Mayall's innova- tive new ground (with Johnny Almonds on reeds and no drum- mer) jamming on The Turning Point and Empty Rooms. James Taylor, a folk-blues guitarist, de- serves a plug too. His new al- bum, Sweet Baby James, is sim- ilar to his first on Apple -- which is OK, because they're both great. Personal Note to Blues En- thusiasts: Get out your handy bottle of wine, then read this- Muddy Waters is slowly recover- ing from a car crash-which al- most killed him. Before he starts thinking about fingering his guitar again, he has to learn how to walk. Howlin' Wolf just has had his second heart at- tack, he's not in critical condi- tion, but nevertheless he's a very sick man. Son House had his fingers frostbitten this past win- ter, while stranded in a snow- drift. It's doubtful he'll ever play again. Homesick J a m e s Williamson and Slim Harpo are dead. Take a drink. U * II NOON-LUNCH DISCUSSION Thursday, March 19 a three-week series on HUMAN CONVICTIONS AND THE RELIGIOUS CRISIS "An International Perspective PAUL R. DOTSON Director of the Ecumenical Campus Center at the Ecumenical Center, 921 Church Lunch-50c ANN ARBOR BLACK THEATRE, Inc. PRESENTS 3 ONE-ACT PLAYS "A SON COME HOME" and "CLARA'S OLE MAN" -by ED BULLINS- "AND WE OWN THE NIGHT" -by JIMMIE GARRETT- MARCH 18-21-8 P.M. Schorling Aud., University School, E. Univ. and Monroe General Public $3.00-Students $2.00 TICKETS AVAILABLE at Discount Record Shop on State St., Centicore Bookstore, Ned's Bookstore, Ypsilanti, and at the door. HELD OVER-2nd Exciting Week 4 Pamn i nI Oste rg ren FAREWELL PERFORMANCE 4 / 0 What's so speciai about Beeehwood Ageing? TONITE- HOOT with I 1 MAMMOAL *EN5'RAL CORPORATION NOW FOX EA STERN THEAT hES SHOW NG FOR VILL86E 375 NO.MAPLE RD.-7694300 TIMES 1:30-4:00 A vdexperience, CHLRNinRAa in spacet ~ -LA.Times We must be bragging too much about Beechwood Ageing. Because we're starting to get some flak about it. Like, "Beechwood, Beechwood ... big deal." And "If Beechwood Ageing is sohot, why don't you tell every- body what it is?" So we will. First, it isn't big woodien casks that we age Budweiser in. But it is a layer of thin wood strips from the beech= tree (what else?) laid down in a dense lattice on the bottom of our glass-lined and stainless steel lagering tanks. This is where we let Budweiser ferment.a second time. (Most brewers quit after one fermen- tation. We don't.) These beechwood strips offer extra surface area for tiny yeast particles to cling to, helping clarify the beer. And since these strips are also porous, they help absorb beer's natural "edge," giving Budweiser its finished taste. Or in other words, "a taste, a smooth- ness and a drinkability you will find in no other beer at any price." Ah yes, drinkability. That's what's so special about Beechwood Ageing. But you know that. Pam Ostergren Bob White Pam Miles Steve Edmunds and more NO EVENING SHOWS-TU ES., MARCH 24 NEXT WEEK: Michael Cooney Joe Hickerson Larry Hanks Roger Renwick Barry O'Neill THURS, FRI, SAT.. I "TRIBUTE TO KING-MONTGOMERY TO MEMPHIS" ONE SHOWING-8:00 P.M., ONLY, THE FUN STARTS AT 1:10 - 3 - 5 - 7 -9 p.m. 4 DIAL 5-6290 . 1-6i; WD.I A FRANKOVICK PRODUCTIM 1440961Z, -21--l"% a' I A FRANKOPOntuey,,,u ~ ~ 7,,i, II i7~ J'J~L;II.~I5~~4v s... r ne racing rs e-. I