Thursday, August S, 1971

THE MICHIGAN DAILY

y
Page Five

arts

Ghost Dancers': Black and white

By GAYNELLE CLEMENT
and CASSANDRA MEDLEY
Phillip Hayes Dean is a black
playwright and director whose
trilogy of short plays "G h o s t
Dancers" is a fascinating por-
trayal of the problems of black
and white America.
If you feel that experienc-
ing an intense, perceptive a n d
artistic analysis of America is
imperative for developing a per-
A sonal sensitive awareness about
America, then we recommend
a viewing of these plays.
Assuming that you have made
the decision to open your minds
and senses in confrontation
and/or re-examination of what
you believe to be the relation-

ship between blacks and whites
and what you may believe to
be the alternatives to bettering
the situation, we offer a few
specialized guidelines.
GUIDES FOR THE WHITE
LIBERAL FOR VIEWING
"GHOST DANCERS"
1. Since you are a liberated
and aware American of Euro-
pean descent, do not make the
mistake of assuming that the
"Ghost Dancers" is dealing
simply with racial confronta-
tion.
2. Do not let what you per-
sonally feel about blacks negate
the social realities you will see
exposed on the stage - social

realities of institutional racism,
stereotypes created by writes
for blacks to live and the im-
position of Western "civilized"
definitions of insanity, art,
beauty, reality, decency, inde-
cency, hate, and love on black
people by whites.
3. Hint: It would be ve r y
good to begin from the premise
that the American white's iden-
tity is dependent on his belief
in the black man's inferiority..
4. Clue: Pay attention to the
character's names, don't try to
immediately analyze, let t h e
total experience (lights, sets,
costumes, and the subleties in
the characters' behavior, etc.)
develop you.

5. In approached "Thunder in
the Index" and "Minsteral
Boy", accept the validity of
what the black man says is his
reality and his experience in
America.
6. Question your own liber-
ality.
FOR THE JEWISH AUDIENCE
WHEN VIEWING "GHOST
DANCERS"
1. Follow above steps.
2. Is there any other ethnic
minority in America that is
dependent on white America di-
recting racism toward b 1 a c k
America - see "Thunder in the
Index".

Meadowbrook: Return to 30's

By JOHN HARVITH
With all the nostalgia cur-
rently in vogue for 1930's cloth-
es, movies and radio shows, it
was inevitable that the classi-
cal performance practice of the
'30's would be revived to some
degree as well. Last Saturday
night's Meadowbrook Festival
concert featured an artist nur-
tured and matured in the 30's,
pianist Rosalyn Tureck. Tureck
has made her name as a Bach
specialist, publishing a three-
part work on Bach interpreta-
tion, heading the International
Bach Society, conducting Bach
orchestral concerts in London
and New York as well as con-
certizing widely on the piano,
harpsichord and clavichord.
Most notable, then, about 
Tureck's piano performances of
Bach's D-Minor and G-Min o r
Keyboard Concerti with Sixteen
Ehrling and the Detroit Sym-
phony was their relaxed liter-
alism stemming from such
pianistically-oriented B a c h
specialists of two-score years
ago as Edwin Fischer and Har-
old Samuel. Bach's notation was
treated to halthy doses of pe-
daling, slower tempi than gar-
den-variety Glenn Gould. and
plenty of poetic nuance within
each dynamic level.
What seperates this brand
of literalism from the Romantic
approach to Bach is its basic
restraint and humility before
the printed page. Romantic in-
terpreters, on the other hand,
eye a manuscript as a vehicle to
exhibit their own physical and
emotional states, and if t h e
composer's instructions stand
in their way, so much the
worse for the deceased, mis-
guided author: the piece is no
longer (for example) Bach re-
spectfully played by Stokowski,
but it becomes Stokowski's
Bach, the performer's personal
property. Thus Tureck's pian-
istic concessions always under-
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lined points in Bach's scores.
Musicology-conscious critics
will still cavil at Tureck's use of
a Steinway grand to put across
music originally conceived with
a harpsichord or clavichord in
mind. This critic, however, is
more interested in substance
than in form, and felt that Tu-
reck's vital, lilting shaping of
phrases conveyed more personal
involvement in the music than
many "historically correct" but
relentlessly rushed and unyield-
ing Baroque performances.
Furthermore, Tureck's repute as
a harpsichordist indicates in-
tellectual awareness of the pur-
ists' point of view - it would
have been fascinating had she
chosen to program one Bach
concerto played first on t he
piano and then on the harpsi-
chord.
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Ehrling apparently caught
some of Tureck's enthusiasm in
his restrained and (in the D-
Minor Concerto) spirited, dis-
cretely punctuated accompani-
ment. While the strings were
far from constituting a first-
rate Baroque ensemble (the r e
were too many of them, for one
thing), they weren't haphazard
and slurpy-sounding, as so of-
ten occurs when Ehrling con-
tends with Bach.
Barber's Adagio for Strings,
which was slyly sandwiched be-
tween the Bach concerti, got a
warmly sympahetic, ,ye,t happ-
ily understated reception f r o m
Ehrling, with especially radiant
sonorities emanating from the
symphony members. Ehrling,
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however, reserved his triumph
of the evening for William Wal-
ton's powerfully organic F i r s t
Symphony. It was here t h a t
the Swedish maestro's love of
complex, driving rhythms and
conductorial choreography (he
does a mean two-step) pushed
the orchestra to a rarely-
achieved plateau of cohesion,
polish and intensity. -
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FOR THE WHITE
CONSERVATIVE WHEN
VIEWING "GHOST DANCERS"
1. Stay home.
FOR ALL BLACK PEOPLE
IN RESPONDING TO
"GHOST DANCERS"
1. Question and debate the
actual existence of the b 1 a cik
characters on the stage. Don't
accept the stereotypes as per-
sonally offensive - no black
person created them.
2. Notice the experiments in
theatricality and modes of pre-
sentation that this black play-
wright director uses and that
may be a signal of new explora-
tions taking place in black
theater.
3. It is the complexity a n d
depth of Dean's plays t h a t
make them revolutionary thea-
ter. And it is the black man's
courage and willingness to re-
define himself, his culture, and
his history for himself t h at
makes him revolutionary - see
"Minstral Boy".
See 'DANCERS', Page 6
HAD ANY LATELY?
There's GOOD MUSIC
and INTERESTING PEOPLE
st
BACH CLUB
presenting
TINA RAGONETTI, viola
and
LYN SCHULTZ, piano
performing works of Handel,
Brahms, Vieux and Clark
"
REFRESHMENTS: HOMEMADE
PIE A LA MODE!
Thurs., Aug. 5, 8 p.m.
S. Quad West Lounge
EVERYONE Invited!
Musical knowledge
REALLY not necessary.
Further Info: 761-3931

DOUBLE FEATURE TONIGHT.. .
Terrific Comedy Duo!

MICHIGAN REPERTORY
* TONIGHT A
phillip hayes dean's
THE GHOST DANCERS
world premiere
LYDIA MENDELSSOHN Tickets $1.50-$2.50
Box Office Open Ph. 668-6300
12:30-8:00 p.m.
formerly Canterbury House
330 MAYNARD
THURSDAY, AUGUST 5
JAM NIGHT
featuring members from the following groups:
MC5 SAVAGE GRACE
SRC GUARDIAN ANGEL
THE BRAT CARNAL KITCHEN
Admission only 75c 9 p.m.-1 a.m.
FRI. & SAT.-AUG. 6 & 7
BADFOOT BLUES BAND

SHOWN AT 8:30
PLUS-"far funnier than 'Bananas'"
"'Take The Money And Run'
Is nuttiness triumphant."
-LOOK MAGAZINE
"irib
crackingn
comSedy
-JiitN CRIT ' -TIME MAtAZINE

AUD. A Thousand Clowns-8:30
ANGELL HALL Take the Money-7:00, 10:30
---- - -- -- -- -- -- ---------
NOTE: As usual, our regular low admission price covers both
movies. Tickets for all showings go on sale at 4:30 p.m. SUM-
MER FILM FESTIVAL

Admission $1.50

9 p.m.-I a.M