THE MICHIGAN DAILY Sunday, February 14, 1971 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Sunday, February 14, 1971 dance theatre I A study in Ailey By DIANE ELLIOT Alvin Alley calls his company a American Dance Theater, and ie look at his sixteen dancers u action affirms the company's rength as a typically American lecticism. Not only all shapes, zes and skin colors grace this arvelously versatile troupe, it their movement style fuses i the major American dance ends of this century. Sit in the hong darkened theater on the fternoon before a performance ad watch the company warm p: absorbed in a world of mus- es and inner rhythms, dancers ex and stretch and twist, ob- vious to clatter of stage hands ad lighting technicians on lad- ers. Grasping the edge of the stage, veral dancers perform the set tual of the ballet barre to the ecompaniment of recorded ex- 'cise music blaring from the ings; others sit on the floor Risting sinuously through the o less precise regimen of the raham exercises; a few mark irough the intricate Jazz foot- *rk of the pieces to be rehears- d. All these dance traditions con- Tbute to the unique Alley style; ach dancer brings the individ- lity of his dance training, his hnic roots, and his personality spice the choreographic stew. This mix of dance styles and ople flavored all the events of ie Alley Company's schedule at le University. During their two- ad-a-half day residency in Ann rbor, company members taught lasses in Ypsilanti, community Lasses at local high schools and t' Detroit, and five master class- v in our own Barbour studio, in cldition to staging a lecture emonstration and a concert. 'o fe insistent beat of a drum or e lilt of piano accompaniment, 4ey taught jazz isolations, sim- le Graham combinations, runs ,nd leaps which smacked of frican primitive. But whether e class was taught by petite, the Linda Kent, carefully ex- laining the Graham contraction, r by Alley himself, smiling roadly beneath his woolen cap ndl yelling to "get those legs ver your heads," the emphais 'as the same: the sheer joy of &oving, the effort to achieve )tal commitment and utter con- entration of energy whin allow dancer to transcend seeming physical limitations. Alley himself, no longer a per- )rmer, throws all of his expio- ive exuberance into the teach- ig of a class. Walk into the mid- le of an Alley class . . . fifty odies totally involved in move- ient, struggling to keep up with erbal cues thrown out by the weating, corpulent figure perch- 0 on the stage at one end of the cs He mumbles, he yells, but ou know what he wants-non- hinking Joyous commtment, hrowing yourself into ,he move- tent to the point that you forget sars and body outstrips mind. ,nd always the incessant, primi- pie beat of the drum inseparable om the movement; he seems as oncerned with the small army of ecompanists (piano, d r u m, roodblocks) as with the dancers. /mile a Graham class proceeds 'it the staid decorum o a Uni- arian service, Aley's class ursts with the eye-rolling arm- ,aving frenzy of a Baptist re- ival. The drums beat, legs arms rains strain, and at the end, weating, smiling, your body tin- les all over. If Alley's movement style and boreagraphic approach have evolved through years Af experi- ence with different teachers and different genres of theatre, his great artistic energy, ',is love of movement and music received their impetus from his first teach- er, Lester Horton. When Ailey speaks of those early seminal years in Horton's small Los An- geles theatre, he glows. An all- around man of the theatre, Hor- ton had developed by the mid- forties his own dance technique and was choreographing, coni- posing music, creating lighting and costumes for his own reper- tory group. He had always taken a special interest in ethnic mi- norities-the Negro,-the Spanish- American, the American Indian- and Ailey happened to hear of his w9rk while a student at UCLA. He remembers enteing the thea- tre to watch Horton teach: "There he was, up on the stage, beating his drums, and all around above the stage, were musical instruments . . all kinds cf drums and bells . . . he loved American Indian lore and ai- mals; he would paint animal tracks, like bear tracks leading from outside the theatre through the .door, down the aisles, and right onto the stage." So, in 1948 and 1949 Aailey be- t- dance, dividing his time r the classes at Horton's heaLe and his language studies at UCLA. There were times he was tempted to quit dancing- too hard to be a student and dance too-but Horton wouldn't let him, 'You keep coming," young Alley was told. "You could be a dancer." Ailey's early train- ing prepared him well for his present role as choreographer and artistic director of a com- pany: Horton insisted that his dancers learn to do everything from the reading and performing of a percussion musical score to the changing of light gels betwesn dances. After Horton's death in the early 'fifties, Alley experi- mented with some scenarios of his own and made his first dances. Of these early efforts Ailey says, "The critics panned them. But you know . . . all I knew how to do was to imitate Lester." Shortly afterwards, Alley went to New York to be in a musical, House of Flowers, and stayed in the city, studying with various teachers, perform- ing, and eventually forming his own company at the Clark r eei- ter. Over the years Alvin Alley has molded a company in the dance world. His own choreography often takes the form of what might be called "jazz ballet," al- though this term doesn't ade- quately describe the special mix of modern dance, balletic move- ment, and primitive rhythms which is Ailey at his best. Using the bodies in front of him, their shapes and the knowledge of what they can do, Ailey often takes his inspiration from strong- ly rhythmic music and ethnic themes which are close to him. His fast-paced ballets and lyric solos designed for specific mem- bers of his company serve to show off the brilliant technique of the Alley dancers, many of whom are ballet-trained; each develops an individual presence on stage, partly because Ailey knows how to use each body to best advantage. Ailey's is a high- ly theatrical stage, a "hot me- dium," to use McLuhan's term. its gutsy images, often achieved with the aid of a striking prop or costume, elicit strong and im- mediate responses from audi- ences in Western Europe, Asia and Russia as well as in The U.S. In contrast with the cool' sometimes unhuman use of h- man bodies made by many avant-gardists, Ailey's dancers are always people, often people with a past. His work seems al- most nostalgic at times, recall- ing hot jazz and red, red lipstick of the late fifties. While always technically breathtaking, his dance sometimes disappoints in its triteness of theme and pre- dictability of structure. Ailey senses the need to branch out as a choreographer, and talks of ex- perimenting with some new choreography which "doesn't rest so heavily on the music. And yet he senses too, and rightly, that his most brilliant work has always been that which deals with the experience closest to him, and this is most often expressed in human and dramatic terms. And wherever his "art" may be, Ailey's stage always crackles with energy; his dancers are exquisite. The survival of a dance com- pany, however-even one as ob- viously successful as Ailey's American Dance Theatr-is ten- uous. So far the company has managed to keep its head above water through government grants an dtours, such as its present U.S. tour under the auspices of the National Endowment for the Arts. However, Ailey admits that touring is rough on a com- pany; dancers need a place, a studio-theatre in which to study and perform, a kind cf psycho- logical home. The company was born at the Clark Center in New York City and spent its first ten years there; now Aile:, hopes to be chosen one of the resident companies at the City Center. In the meantimes, plans for the es- tablishment of his own school in New York are progressing. Ailey wants to center his future activi- ties around this school, which he envisions as "a center for the arts." All types of dance will be taught, as well as stagecraft music and choreography; here Ailey will be able to train the kind of strong versatile dancers he seeks for his growing com- pany. It is a shame that dance, unlike theatre which has begun to spread a network of fine regional repertory companies, remains firmly rooted in New York City. Dancers and dance buffs still flock to New York to study, view performances, and absorb the most concentrated mnergy and momentum in the dance world. The residency programs organiz- ed through the University Mu- sical Society do provide, how- ever, some chance for students and community to move with the best of them. And, rushed and harried as htey were, Alvin Ailey and Company seemed to have enough energy to get us ail mov- ing. ______ - l/:&I, Continuing excellence: Ann Arbor Drama By MARCIA ABRAMSON is interested in playing around, ed Alternative entertainment con- not plays. sev tinues strong this weekend at All four players-Mike Brooks, the the Drama Festival with the Im- Elizabeth Kalvin, Leora Mani- thot provisation Group and panto- schewitz and Terry Lerner - stud mime by Clive Sykes. knew their characters and situ- wal Improvisation groups like The ations well and made the most the Committee and S e c o n d City of them. All were adept at han- H have been springing up all over dling a variety of accents and mor to puncture the surface of social poses, from the Southern sheriff Jar behavior with comedy, and you to the tough old New York talent of t don't have to pay $5 to join in agent. mat the fun. The group's improvisation of wer Last night's performance by props was inventive and funny. the the Improvisation Group - the Kalvin and Manischewitz made est Lost Script Playever a fine truck, and Manischewitz ual funny look at the subculture also did a great job as a record I most Ann, Arborites know and player. perf love. Two couples, one yearning At the end, the returnees Hea to get out and one just coming succeed in convincing their back, meet, and the returnees friends to go off, inherit what and describe the glories of America. they really want - the apart- gen He has been On The Road on ment, and begin to bicker, just forn his cycle, and she has been as the piece 'began. rec Acting in Meaningful Theatre My only complaint about the rc in New York. group was their ridicule of a sch As the returnees glory in their homosexual truck driver who the adventures, the scene shifts to was treated as a stock comic < inI the cold truth. The Groovy figure, and at times became as Chick on the Road is very silly much offensive as comic. and uncooperative; the distin- Clive Sykes put on a one-man guished off-Broadway producer show of pantomime and show- Ppet showul vs are for the young t Festival Shows at 1,3,'5, 7,9 pm. DIAL 5-6290 "One of the Year's Ten Best!" his considerable talent 'in eral different scenes. Most of bits were quite well done, al- ugh some could have been died more. Sykes' tightrope ker, for example, never left ground. Sere the main problem was re with the writing by Greg boe than with Sykes. Some the scenes, like the midnight tador and picnic with ants, e such stock situations that pantomime lost some inter- for the audience. However, es' control of the stage us- .y managed to rescue the bit. did not stay for the 11 p.m. formance of Martin in aven (the presses must roll 3 all that) but judging by the erally high standard of per- mance at the festival I would ommend all t h r e e pieces eduled for tonight: Sykes, improvisation, and Martin New York Daily News PARMOUNIPCTURES PRESENTS Ai Macraw Ryan O'Neal The Yes ' Best Seer k EE I f A HOWARD 6 MINSKY-ARTHUR HILLER Production John Marley & Ray Milland ERICH SEGAL ARTHUR HILLER hou b "ut" hlum Rroh Wc Scoredbr IN COLORi HOWARD 6. MINSKY DAVID GOLDEN FRANCIS LAI A PARAMOUNT PICTURE SOUND TRACK ALBUM AVALABLE ON PARAMOUNT RECORDS _"I _- FREE LIST SUSPENDED DURING "LOVE STORY" I Heaven. T ''S By IAN LAWSON EDITOR'S NOTE: Ian Lawson is 7 years old, He has been interested in drama since he was 2. He has previously reviewed, but this is his first Daily review. His leanings in drama and movies is toward action. He splits his free time between school and home. T.raveling exten- sively in the U.S., Ian has also been in Italy and canada. The Ann Arbor Drama festi- val continued at Canterbury House, with the Poor Sid Thea- tre presenting a puppet show which appealed mainly to adults and very young children. They are the only ones who would not be distracted by what was going on backstage. It was a very short presenta- tion of the fairy tale, "Rumple- stiltskin." But they put lots of things that were new in it, and took out the non-interesting stuff. My main complaint with the, production was that it didn't look like it was real. The out- side scenes were done with t h e same scenery as the inside scenes. The puppets looked like regular puppets. And the voic- es were mixed up. Like they had voices that wouldn't be any- thing near the regular people's voices. It was like having one person with another person's voice. This detracted from the enjoyment. The rest of the production was normal. If I were two or three, I would have liked it. But since I knew the story, I knew where they had made changes in it. This made it almost a different story altogether. They could h a v e changed the name and I would not have known that it was "Rumpelstiltskin." The play, though, was inter- esting because there was lots of goofy stuff that would be in a play for small, small children. EZY m ,1 11 11111 4 13 TODAY-1 day only RESIDENTIAL COLLEGE AUDITORIUM (East Quad) MGM 4- IFi r RC PLAYERS presents THE FROGS an original play for children R ate~ ., r.w« a SUN., Feb. 14-2 P.M. East Quad Aud. Admission 50c I Shown at 4:20, 6:30, 8:40& 10:50 P.M. ADMISSION $1.00 - - ------ - - - - - - k&-rnl"f- Rlrvrr4 AAncc nnil flpmnnnlnnv vyicncrar, auK muasana .u m.n.i.. john whiting THE DEVILS at 8:00 P.M.-Wednesday-Saturday, February 17-20 TRUEBLOOD THEATRE-Box Office Opens 12:30-764-5387 University of Michigan Players OPENS WEDNESDAY-TICKETS NOW! SEATS ON SALE! $1-$4.50! I LAST 3 DAYS "Remember 'PSYHO' I - There are scenes with that kind of impact!"-ABC-TV "A scary murder mystery!" -NY Times SUN.-3-5-7-9 FirTH irbr uM- Fv^v orWNTOWN ANNd AR:S I OAMATIO#4 781-VIOO MV Ottiefy In The Hflcthcock Tradition. FGAM (M COLOR BONUS FEATURE-STARTS TOMORROW t "LEAVES '3B & CAROL & TED & ALICE' AT THE STARTING GATI" -Bob Salmaggi, WINS | Nil C9 immei Con n~cions WITH The University of Michigan Symphony Band SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14-3:30 p.m. HILL AUDITORIUM A provocative new DI TICKETS: $2.00 $2.50 $3.00 SEATS STILL AVAILABLE I