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 ',:. :,: