THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Arts'& Enterta inent Wednesday, January 26, 977 Page Five
Exotic dance troM
By SUSAN BARRY tional dance forms in its strong ties to more spec
TVHE PULSATJNG rhythm of t h e its cultural history as well as its uni- lv movem
woodblock heightens and expands que movements that are concentrated accomplish
as the painted warriors face each oth- mainly in the lower half of the body. perform a
er, spears extended. The tinkling music "Some people confuse Javanese with The first
of the gamelan rises behind them as Balinese dance because the movements cert Sunda
the dancers whirl and strut around the are similar," says Soedarsono. "B u t dance, wh
stage. the emphasis in the Balinese dance is young sold
This colorful dance-drama has been in the hands while in the Javanese eighteenth
created chiefly through the eftorts of dance the expression is conveyed at the We
Soedarsono, a recipient of a grant from through the legs, which make much daughter.
the Council for Irfternational Exchange stronger movements." and R. An
for Asian Scholars and the dancer-in- SOEDARSONO begins his classes in dance wh
residence at the University. Soedarsono instruction with some background about Soedarson
was chosen from a field of eminent As- the cultural influence inherent in the COLORF
i'an economists, historians, anthropolo- dramas. Many of the themes reflect . elaborate1
gists, and artists to teach Javanese the influence of Indian culture. Uni- id, jerkin;
dance at the Music School. qle art forms are often adopted from body. The
The two dance numbers performed at Indian epics. Most of the dances are the head,
the Gamelan Ensemble concert Sun- also ceremonial in nature and origin- with grace
day at Hill served as Soedarsono's in- ally were not often performed outside lv defined
troduction to the Ann Arbor commun- of the nobility. With the arrival of de- Soedars
ity of a culture that the artist hopes mocratic influence in Indonesia, how- masked da
may some day become integrated into ever, the dances came to be perfirm- twelfth ce
the rather limited repertoire of dance ed more regularly outside the palace sion of th
instruction available at Michigan. walls. Sewandan
"UCLA TEACHES Javanese as well The next s'ep in instruction is to princess.
as Balinese dancing." says Soedarsono, teah the basic vocabulary of move- covere4 in
his lucid brown eyes shining, "but at ment in the dances. There are essen- of head a
Michigan they teach only ballet a n d tially three different types of charact- rapidly til
Afro-American dance." ers in the Javanese drama. These types conveyed
Javanese differs from most conven- are further broken down according to more com
'Red Ryder' opens tonight
rpe performs
ific qualities, and particular- served in classical dance. Soe
ents are assigned to each. An acknowledged this as one of t
hed dancer will be able t difficult techniques of Javanese
ll of the different characters. Soedarsono began his career
t dance performed at the con- age of ten when his grandfat
ay was the Lawung, or spear, couraged the developmtent of
hich depicted the training of that was taught as a necessary
iers. It originated around the of cultural development in the s
century and was presented of the aristocracy in Yogyakart
dding ceremony of the king's then he has become internation
Students Kelly Humardani claimed as a dancer, choreog
nderson Sutton performed the and author of several books a
ich was choreographed by Iles on Indonesian culture.
0.
FUL, flowing costumes and When his six month stay att
make-up emphasized the rap- versity is up, Soedarsono plan
g motions of the head and turn to Java, where he is dir
torso was kept rigid while the National Dance Academy i
arms- legs, and feet moved akarta, the only dance academ
efully synchronized and sharp- country. He prefers teaching
movem'ents. forming himelf, and plans to
ono then executed a solo a Javanese dance-drama wi
ance. Klana Topeng, from the School of Music dance students
entury, dramatizing the pas- unfortunately will not occur u
e demon King Prabu Klana end of June.
a, who fell in love with a If nothing else, Soedarsono h
Although the face is entirely "open the dance department tc
this dance, the juxtaposition er horizons," to spread his
nd. body combined with the through dance instruction in uni
ting movements of the head, across the United States. This
an expression that was far fifth such visit and hopefully th
plex than is usually -to be ob- be many more to come.
darsono
he most
drama.
at the
her en-
the art
aspect
chooling
a. Since
ially ac-
grapher,
nd orti-
the Uai-
s to re-
ector of
n Yogy-
y in the
to per-
present
th t h e
s, which
until the
hopes to
o broad-
culture
versities /
s is his
here will
Kiss
That rock group of your dreams, Kiss, returns to Cobo Hall this Thursday through Saturday.
All shows begin at 8 p.m., and there are still plenty of $6.SO tickets available for each of khe
three performances,.
Ringer &McCas tinf,
Bird g
, If T C GS Bird
AN s Accit CW
00 0 0 00 06 6 00 60 0 00 00 0.0
By LEE DONALDSON ;
T'"HE ONLY thing I'm afraidl
of is a madman with a
gun," says playwright Mark
Medoff, prefacing his play,,
When You Comin' Back, Red.
Ryder. Medoff took this phobia l
and created a taut drama, which
was critically acclaimed duringr
its 1973 run on Broadway. Thet
idea is apparently attractive1
enough to warrant recent runst
at Meadow Brook Theater, and
also here at the Arena Theater,
beginning January 26th.1
Jim Martin, the director of
Red Ryder says the play is "nott
about answers but about ques-
tions." That's a cue to antici-]
pate a play that is both provoca-1
tive and believable. The play's
hero, Teddy, is a familiar out-c
growth of myth; particularly Ii
_ _._ _ __-----
the American myth. While ex-
posing the frailty of many Am-
erican ideals, he embodies "thea
disaffected youth and impatient;
violence" much as Easy Rider
did.
Medoff works on his audience'st
anxieties to produce a play with,
a communication for everyone;.
the classic pop-play. The set-
ting is tense and menacing, ban-
tering with our closet apprehen-
sions in much the same way
as films like Jaws and Petri-
fied Forest. "It is written and
acted to provoke," adds Mar-
tin.
REHEARSALS for Red Ryder
have been proceeding since ear-
lv December and all involved
are very enthusiastic. "Every-$
one here is interested in mak-
ing an artistic statement," stat-
es Martin, a PhD candidate in
theater. He finds his input as
director and the cast's output
a rewarding exchange.
Red Ryder is being presented
as part of the University Show-
case Theater, which is exclu-
sively run by students. Tickets
are on sale at the PTP box of-
fice in the Michigan League.
Because it is an adult drama,
discretion with children is ad-
vised.
TONIGHT the ROBERT ALTMAN
FESTIVAL CONTINUES
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 26
1,A-1 1
By WENDY GOODMAN
and MIKE TAYLOR
1ROM JIM RINGER and Mary
McCaslin c a m e cowboy
songs, gambling ballads, and'
country tunes; from Tony Birdj
came African tales, protestI
n'umbers, and love songs. Last'
weekend was a diverse one for!
the Ark coffee house.
Ringer and McCaslin, unusual
singer-songwriters, entertained
audiences Friday and Saturdayl
nights with over two and a halfl
hours of old and new folk mu-
sic each evening. Bird, a white
African flown from New Yorkl
by his record label, Columbia,
just to' do a one-night gig here
in Ann Arbor, did the remark-
able job of turning a wary audi-'
ence unfamiliar with his work
into a bunch of true fans Sun-
day night..
"My guitar hates the cold
weather. It just wants to goc
back to California so it can keep
up its ,suntan." So explainedj
Mary McCaslin at the begin-
ning of the solo set that opened
Friday night's show with her<
husband Jim Ringer. She sang
mostly Western songs, including
standards as well as her ownc
thoughtful and lengthy compo-
sitions. Her unusual melodies
and mysterious voice and stageE
presence were complemented by
unique guitar tunings.'
IN THE SECOND SET, Ring-
er replaced his wife. After open-
ing with an amusing ditty, he
commented, "It's a good open-
er. Open with that one and the
audience will forgive anything
you do later." What followed
needed no forgiving. Ringer gen-
erally singscountry-folk songs
and he generally sings them
very well. His second number
was a whistle-along, and one
of his last tunes was anhilari-
ous rendition of Lefty Frizzel's
misconceived "Saginaw Bay."
After a second intermission,
Ringer and McCaslin returned
to play together. Unfortunately,
this was where the evening be-
gan to fall apart. Although the
material was mostly good,
including McCaslin's superb
"Young Wesley," variety was
the missing i'ngredient. As the
evening wore on, audience en-
thusiasm began to wane. The
liveliness that had character-
ized McCaslin and Ringer's
prior solo sets was gone.
In contrast to the previous
two nights, Tony Bird's midwes-
tern debut started out slow but
quickly grew to be a rousing
evening cf diversified music.
UNIVERSITY
SHOWCASE'
PRODUCTION
"When You Comin'
Back, Red Ryder?"
On adult drama
Bird shared S-mday night's hon- ol I rock'n'roll song, a couple
or with his outstanding second of "country" tunes, and the
guitar, Oliver Ross. comical "Martini Blues" and
"Mississippi Stud." He also dis-
THE SET'S FIRST few songs played the lighter side of love
were impressively written, but! in "I Think You Should Love
the audience seemed unprepar- Someone," as well as its dark-
ed for Bird's unique, raspy er moments in "The Road of
voice. In addition, he appeared Bitterness." He closed the eve-
to be u~ nervous. The Ark's ring with his beautiful evoca-
sound eqi ment, which is gear- tion of Africa's natural splendor
PLAY YOUR
OWN GAME
20 MACHINES
UNION
PINBALL and
(Robert Altman, 1970) 7:00 only-AUD. A
Trapper John (Elliot Gould) and Hawkeye (Donald Sutherland)
star in this comis satire of how men survive the horrible waste
of war. "If the Marx Brothers were all still around and an
audacious scriptwriter had dressed them in white surgical uniforms
and set them near the front in Korea during the war nd told
them to run amok, the results would have probably tuned out
something like this saucy, outrageous, irreverent film. Nothing
is sacred: not medical surgery, chastity, womanhood, army disci-
pline, the sanctity of marriage, war movies, or the great American
institution of football.'"-Time. Stars Sally Kellerian, Tom Sher-
ritt, Robert Duvall, Bud Cart.
BREWSTER McCLOUD
(Robert A""tman, 1970) 9:00 only-AUD. A
Beneath thje ultra-reality of the Houston Astrodome, Brewester
races time and aging to win his silver wings. A real cult film
about freedom and madness, reality, and fantasy, in a loose,
hilarious frame. "This film is part fantasy, part caricature, part
circus, all wrapped up and flung with Keystone Kops speed
at a thousand and one contemporary absurdities."-Wall Street
Journal. Bud Cort, Michael Murphy, Sally Kellerman, Shelly Duval.
Admission--$l.25 single feature, $2.00 double feature
0
THURSDAY, JAN. 27 IN AUD. A, ANGELL HALL-,
A Festival of Women Directors with Kermadee's
"ALOISE" and Durns' "NATHALIE GRANGER"
4
ed towards quieter music than
Bird's had some difficulty hand-
ling his frequently unorthodox
nln in d l c iri tf~a tiA
With "The Bird of Paradise,"
and encored with the moving
"Colors of My Love."
ang a i gss At the end of the show, if any
a res lt of these factors, the one had any complaints, it was
lyrics of the opening numbers that some of the songs tended
were at times nearly incompre- to drag on for too long. In
hensibleB general, however, it was a
Fortunatelyv, Bird quickly thoroughly satisfying evening,
audiencetbecame accustomedto and a splendid conclusion to
him as well. "Song of the Long an enjoyable weekend of folk
Grass," a tune promising black music at the Ark.
liberation in Apartheid South Af- -- - -
rica, was done with such fervor
that it seemed to set the crowd
on fire. As with the other songs 9" 3"FM
he performed from his recent.
first album, Tony Bird, hi live
version of the song was filled
with emotion and tension, twoi
qualitiesi Columbia apparently
watered down on the album.
Bird also sang "Athlone Inci-
dent," a true account of a har- Wijoiv
rowing experience he had four ANN ARBOR
years ago when he personally ANN_ AR__R _
encountered the effects of South Makes It A Little Bit
African racism. He gave it an Easier To Get Throuh
incredibly powerful rendition E
that left no one doubting his The Day
feelings. j.
LATER ON, he performed anj -
COCKTAILS
WITCHCRAFT
FRIDAY & SATURDAY
327 E.MICHIGAN YPSILANTI 482-7130
WANTED:
Program Analyst I
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN;
with PDP-9 and assembler language required.
Knowledge of computer graphics and program-
ming for psychological experiments desireable.
20 hrs./week.
Contact DARLENE HARGRAVES
1014 Mental Health Research Institute-763-1450
BOWLING
-U
Ur
THE ROCKETS
APPEARING JAN. 26, 28, 29
AT
THE ROADHOUSE
/ OFF ON PITCHERS-Wed. nights
Cover only $1 before 10 p.m. on Wed.
H
ci
"I
' ,.
PIZZA AVAILABLE
TILL I A.M.
The Roadhouse is lo-
cated four miles north
of Ann Arbor at U.S.
23 and N. Territorial
Rd. Informati n 665-
39467
Enjoy dining before the
s h o w upstairs at the
Hill Lounge
ROADHOUSE
US."
Ants
Arb
"----
N. TerritorOl
or
Tony Bird.
A strong voice from a
changing continent.
Tony Bird was born in Malawi, Southeast
Africa,"...where the long grass cries and the lion roars
and the law breeds men of bitter hate. The son of
colonial parents, he is attached to a land which he
knows is not rightfully his.
His songs reflect his feelings for this land and its
people. Some are songs of protest that cry out against
the inhumanity of a society that is based on racism and
subjugation. Others tell of the luminous green of the
veldt and of the inland seas.To all his music he brings
an understanding of the African attitude of what
music is.
"Tony Bird:'His first album.
The long grass sings again.
On Columbia Records f
and Tapes.
FRI.-SAT.
BEAR RECORD'S
H EDY WES
$3.00 "
E ,
S
iT
Possessing one of the most
dynamic and exciting sing-
ing styles on the folk scene
t o d a y, Hedy West's ap-
pearance at the Ark is a
g : must to attend. She is an
I
.:
I
U - N W.'. - V VT JW>1
',:. :,: