Wednesday, July 17, 1974
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Five
Wednesd6y, July 17, 1974 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page FIve
Johannesen: Uneven4
By CHARLES SMITH tionships and the way in which brought out the best in these
Last Monday evening, Grant Johannesen projects them. Of- pieces, generating a great deal
Johannesen gave a recital of ten one well-played gesture is of excitement and bringing
German and French piano music succeeded by another, equally about a convincing musical rro-
to a nearly full audience at well-played, yet the two toge- gression through the whole set.1
Rackham And. He played a wide ther are less effective, even One is also compelled to ad-
variety of pieces, some present- awkward, because there is a mire his performance of Ba-th's
ed very well, others not so well. rhythmic inconsistency between Fantasia and Fugue in A min-
Johannesen seems to hear the them. or, the fugue section of which
music he plays as progressing Johannesen's best perform- was also exciting, because the
only from moment to moment, ance of the night was in t h e rhythms here were clear and
in the sense that he presents the Schumann Intermezzi, Op. 4. In the perpetum mobile pa-tern
listener with well-conceived ges- these pieces, as often in Schu- was kept up so well for so long.
tures and beautiful playing, but mann's music, larger rhythmic The largest piece on the pro-
only rarely does any larger con- and formal relationships are re- gram was the Sonata in B flat
ception of the piece as a whole latively unimportant, and t h e by Schubert, which was, as a
emerge. music emerges as a series of whole, less successful. T h e
The root of this problem ap- brilliant ideas, strung together Scherzo section of the third
pears to lie in rhythmic rela- almost carelessly. Johannesen movement and the Finale were
effective, although the Trio to
the Scherzo was spoiled by an
unnecessary emphasis on the
off-the-beat -accents, which in-
hibited the flow of the music and
obscured the rhythmic and me-
lodic connections with the Scher-
' 70 proper.
The first two movements nev-
er really got going, due to the
constant rhythmic fluctuations
and slight changes of tempo
with which Johannesen marked
the appearance of any change
of texture. This was all the
more lamentable as some of the
1 detailed playing in these t w o
movements was so impressive.
Johannesen is at best "n piec-
es which lack overly complex
||F 1 Kick out
By BARBARA CORNELL
Masochists, misers, and health c
nuts unite, you have nothing to
lose but your time.
Starting today and running the 1
length of the art fair, the May-
nard-Williams Street Merchants t
Association is sponsoring a
semi-authentic dance marathon S
complete with dress and big 1
band sound of the 30's. E
Marathon organizer Heinz
Schmidt claims preparations c
> have been made to keep the e
contest "as human as possible" c
Daily Photo by KEN FINK and such actions as stepping ont
toes or "peeing" on the stage e
GrantJoha nn esenconstitute infractions that con t
,! G. eliminate a contestant from he
competition.t
in terpretation
rhythmic relationships, and, in When played without tais at-
fact, the two short dances which tention to rhythmic detail, the
he played as encores were both music loses any sense of direc-
superb (Stravinsky's Tango and tion and begins to sound like
the Golliwog's Cakewalk by De- mush. Johannesen got some
bussy). pleasant sounds from the instru-
The two Debussy Etudes, on ment, but unfortunately never
the other hand, were much less went much further than that.
successful. There was almost no The Faire Nocturne No. 6 is
reflection in this performance not the world's greatest piece,
of the prices rhythms in which and Johannesen's performance
this music is conceived. Para- did nothing to convince anyone
doxically, the best way to pre- that it was. All of the striking
sent Debussy as relaxed and problems to a performer of this
languid is to preserve exactly piece were ignored (for exam-
the written-out values of notes- ple, how to relate the middle
Debussy has already, compasi- section convincingly to the rest),
tionally, done the work for the as he settled for a bland read-
performer. through of the notes.
Mlichigan Daily
Arts
the jams 30's style
Dancers are warned that they to try something new."
dance at their own risk and bad Contestants are allowed a five
weather is just another hard- minute break each day and
ship, but medical facilities are well-wishers are allowed to sup-
provided for emergencies, ply them with food and drink.
The marathon is being held on People wishing to be c>ntest-
the corner of Maynard and Wil- ants can register at the Sans
liams. It runs from 10 a.m. to Souci shoe store on Williams
9:00 p.m. today, tomorrow and Street for as few or as many
Friday, and from 10:00 a.m. to days as they wish to compete.
6:00 p.m. Saturday. First prize is a $500 gift cer-
The marathon was the brain- tificate redeemable at any of
child of Centicore Bookstore the 14 participaitng stores. Se-
employes and has been on the cond prize is a $200 gift t ertfi-
drawing board for two months. cate and third prize is a $100
Although the merchants consid- gift certificate.
er it a business venture to at- Schmidt says he hopes the
tract art fair crowds to their contest can set a precedent for
shopping district, Schmidt con- more marathons at future art
tends it is "mostly for fun and fairs.
Friends
By MICHELE BECKER
Amidst the traditional and alternative
theatre companies in Ann Arbor there
exists the Friends Road Show, a spon-
taneous performing group, whose stage
style is a way of life.
Friends Road Show was created and
organized by Jango Edwards. First he
established companies in London, Am-
sterdam and Paris. Then he decided to
return to the U.S. and start a group
in Ann Arbor. Edwards chost Ann Ar-
bor because he was familiar with it, as
a native Detroiter, and because of the
generally free and experimental atmos-
phere.
Gene Hyman, the company's booking
agent, called Friends "a high energy
group." He went on to say that t h e
group becomes closely involved with the
community or audience they ars work-
ing with, as they become ez:gaged in
the excitement of such activities as the
underwear olympics.
The major portion of Friends' per-
formances tumbles from mime to street
theatre, to clown acts, acrobats, to danct
and vaudeville.
The entire company lives on a com-
munal farm close to Ann Arbor. Every
week each member of the company
draws a $10.00 allowance; any other
money the group earns goes back into
the company.
Since the Friends love teaching (as
displayed in their recent Art Worlds
course), they're anxious to share ideas
and talents with everyone..
A strong humanitarian philosophy runs
through Friends Road Show. Chief
SRoad Show: Wayofife
among their aims is to be known and
thus spread happiness. Their form of
theatre is also their way of life. The
outward smiling clown face painted on
is a true reflection of what they believe
should be inside. Their audience love
them and Friends return their lve in
abundance.
The Friends will be presenting "Mich-
ael Spaghetti's Half Ring Circus and Oth-
er Madness" at the Schwaben hall (217
Ashley St., Ann Arbor) on July 17-19. The
Great Zandu (attempting vonderous
feats) and Alfie and His Trained Vege-
tables will be there, along with many
other great moments that wil make
the theatrical history of our country.
It's a good opportunity to take part in
Friends Road Show.
The company's future is busy. After
playing with Pete Seeger at the Pock
and Roll Farm on July 23, they'll go on
to Minneapolis and St. Paul. T h e n S
Friends will tour out west, camping
along the way, ending up in LaCrosse,
Wisconsin at the International Mime
Festival. Here they'll join in with mi-
mists of many countries, including Ja-
pan, Czechoslovakia and Israel. On Sep-
tember 1 they're scheduled to perform Y'//I
in Madison, Wisconsin. Then home.
Back in Detroit they hope to establish
a threatre-night-club-school in G r e e k
Town. Here they will be able to perform
and share their talents from their own /
theatre.
As Jango Edwards puts it, "'People
make each other feel so good when they
just make the effort,' that's what Friends
are for!" inna Edwarde mani nnannla inl innI