ARTS The Michigan Daily Wednesday, March 11, 1981 Page 5 AL VINAILEY: Skill but nopaos By JULIE EDELSON Alvin Ailey's dance company will be at the Power Center for the Performing 0Arts one more show tonight. The group has been drawing their usual devoted crowd, butr.the less than professional performance Monday night was only somewhat deserving of the over- whelming applause. Alvin Ailey is a troupe that combines ballet technique with modern dance theory to create an unconventional typ- e 'of movement. Their performance Monday night started off rather drably, tiut fortunately they were able to over- *orIe their problems by the finale. VTHE FIRST PIECE, "Phases,".was divided into four parts. The opening number, "Astral Traveling," featured the entire company. The dancing con- taiped a graceful ease, but it quickly became monotonous. The dancers didn't appear to be enveloped in their actions; they simply performed the combinations, void of emotion. In "Thembi," the second movement, a sexy, sultry duet to music by Pharoh Sanders, the movements were again smooth. Maxine Sherman, the soloist, is light as a bird, but the overall ex- citement was missing. The body dan- ced but the face didn't. "Making It," on the other hand, teemed with emotion thanks to the presence of Marilyn Banks. Banks was full of pep and vitality in this cutsie jazz' duet. Unfortunately her partner, Masazumi Chaya, was dull in com- parison, and even though their movements were beautifully syn- chronized, his drab appearance made for an unfulfilling performance. IN 'IT'S TIME,' the final movement, soloist Dudley Williams was dressed in purple, but this vivid color did not mat- ch his personality. He needed to have a more confident aura to overcome the lack of complicated combinations and the minimal movement in the choreography. Instead, he seemed to fumble on stage, and it provided an inept conclusion to the first dance. The second dance manages to retrieve what has been lost after "Phases." "The Still Point," which deals with male/female relationships A 2catches By RJ SMITH Two messages stick in my mind from Monday's Steel Pulse concert. First, listening to their song "Babylon Makes All the Rules," I couldn't help but think about how much, how fast things are changing here. To many black Jamaicans, even transported ones like Steel Pulse who come to us. by way of Birmingham, England, "Babylon" means the Western influence on Jamaican society. It's an influence that's helped lead to a Jamaican lifestyle many endure beneath a flurry of gunfire, to a gover- nment inexorably corrupt. "Babylon Makes All the Rules" is a grim remin- der about who has power and who Steel Pi doesn't, which in month two of casionally ski Reaganwatch has more meaning than the edge of a r ever to people on this side of the Atlan- But no m tic. metrnn o- C reggc ulse guitarist Basil ewered as it crawls over razor blade. atter how tortured a el lad iC thae dveW Alvin Ailey's dance company performs one of its innovative works at the Power Center Monday night. The troup will appear again tonight at 8 p.m. had every indication of being classical: women in white, music by Claude Debussy, and precise technique. The piece was highly emotional-con- trasting feelings of hatred, jealousy, and love can all be portrayed. From the standpoint of pure classical dancing, "The Still Point" was ex- cellent. The pas de deux was ex- ceptional, the dancers blended har- moniously, and their extensions were exquisite. The company still failed to excite us through the contrast of emotions, but the soloist, Sara Yar- borough, was superior in this respect, particularly in her interaction with her two male partners. In the final, tender love scene she illustrated her conflic- ting feelings of denial and acceptance. The implied sexuality between her and her partner is shown beautifully through suggestive gestures in their- pas de deux. "THE TIME Before The Time After" was an exceptionally original duet. The technique here is clearly modern, and the dancers parallel sharp movements to sharp music (by Stravinsky). Male and female moved well together. The final number, "Suite Otis," is true palvation for the company. This dance had both characteristics of ex- cellence: faultless technique and strong emotional involvement. We saw young men and women doing what they like to do best: flirting, fighting, and making up. The mood was relaxed and so were the dancers. They excited us with antics including cheek to cheek dancing, women getting upset at "fresh" men, and passionate ex- changes. The technique of talking on stage was also utilized, and this con- tributed essential variety to the scene. It was refreshing - Alvin Ailey ob- viously saved the best for last. If Ailey could trim the edges on his program and excite his dancers in everything they perform, then we would see some really stupendous dan- cing. They certainly have the ability to perform for us, and as it is, the com- pany has an exceptional reputation. Perhaps, having already made a name for themselves, they are less-inspired and ambitious than before, and don't feel the need to put forth the effort. But so does a sign one of the members of the group held up over the audience. "Nyabhing: - down to black and white oppressors," it exclaimed. "Nyabhingi" in its original Jamaican usage was a promise of victory, and it too has increasing significance to those living in this sufferer's time. TRIAL AND TRIUMPH. They're at the center of Steel Pulse's attack, and are defined over and over in the songs. The band has an unusually concise reggae sound, which onstage is built around Basil's jangly, snaking lead guitar and the supremely physical beat of drumming. They weren't at all businesslike, but the effortless way they carried the whole show off on Monday was weird - the concert un- folded with surprisingly little sweat. It was as if the songs of hardship and plans for victory were singing them- selves. A word should be said about the I- tals, the unit which opened up in capital fashion for Steel Pulse. Who would have thought that, spare Pere Ubu,there would be anything so cultural in Cleveland since the Salvadore Dali museum packed it up? This eight- person sexually and racially integrated unit had a singer who evoked the mid- dle-range of Dennis Brown. Best of all was their playfulness with the rhythm; after some initial woodenness they started filling up their extended jam- ming with brief bursts of polyrhythms and quick little stops and starts - it was like the fluid motion of a worm oc- pAW rAuw1ve an 1 Lnesen ays, its in a whole different realm from Steel Pulse's United Kingdom. Steel Pulse draws from the visions of repression and rebellion that come from Jamaican reggae, but it corrsponds neatly to their own experience. Thatcherland is a shambles nowadays, the cruel effects of Friedmanomics boosting unem- ployment and shaping a frightening welfare morass. Fascist political groups like the National Front feed off the peoples' depression mentality; last night's racial violence is always part of somebody's morning news. ONSTAGE, STEEL PULSE displays a depth of strategic toughness and a convincing transcendental ambiance. There isn't as much grit as in other aefever reggae styles, but there is a firmness and conviction in their lyrics, in the way their harmonies shine like light bouncing off a jackknife. It was there in political songs about the K.K.K. and Soledad Brother George Jackson; in quite another way, one could sense their strength in anthems like "Sound System" and "Reggae Fever." But what the audience picked up on most, I thlink, was the way the group conveyed onstage the vision of a better world that is so evident in their records. As the set wore on, and the bodies grin- ded on and on all over the dance floor, the group started to loosen up and ex- posed the rhythmic texture always just cracking the surface in the shorter and more concise album cuts. It was that texture that I remember most of all; how it comes forth with something,'as sustenant as anything conveyed in their lyrics, how it seems apart from any words imaginable. HEAU MEDIA COMPANY presents a multi-media concert L;r ymiag G WhhteLke Tonight thru Sat. - 8:00 pm. MENDELSSOHN THEATRE in the Michigan League Spesieusts: THE BANNED Tickets $3 reserved at: Box Office Call 763-1085 I P UM SHOWCASE RODUCTION N All The Way Home BY TAD MOSEL MARCH 11-14 8 PM TRUEBLOOD THEATRE TICKETS AT PT P 764 -0450 Redefining woman's work By NANCY GABIN The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter, which had its Ann Arbor premiere on Sunday, March 10 tends to underplay the complex relationship between ideology and propaganda and women's attitudes and behavior in or- der to make a simpler and more dramatic statement about the con- sedquences of racism and sexism for working women. It is an important film, however, because it raises serious questions about the reasons women enter the labor force and their experiences on- ce they are working. Insightful, engaging, and entertaining, it provides a perspective on women's experience during World Was II that has generally been overlooked in conventional historical accounts. THE SYMBOL of American working women during World Was II is the sub- ject of The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter. Contrasting the image of Rosie as depicted in recruitment films, stills, postersm ads, and,music of the period with actual experiences of five "Rosies" who worked in war produc- tion in major American cities, the film examines, the relationship between ,ideology and social reality in women's lives. According to the myth, Rosie respon- ded to the nation's urgent need for labor by leaving her comfortable home and entering the unfamiliar world of wage work in the munitions plants and shipyards. Remaining committed to traditional values, she worked solely for patriotic reasons and expected to surrender her job to a male relative or sweetheart when he returned from overseas. Then she would resume her appropriate and customary role as housewife and mother once the war was over. Because Rosie's commitment to her job stemmed more from her sense of patriotism than from her economic need, the image of her as the typical woman war worker confirmed rather than challenged the popular belief that women belonged in the home. The five women in "Rosie the Riveter", however, like many of their real-life counterparts, had worked before the war in low-paid, largely unorganized, traditionally female jobs. THE WOMAN earning more money in one day than they had once earned in a week, gained a new sense of fulfillment in their work as welders, burners, and riveters, and experienced the benefits and advantages of trade union membership. They viewed their wartime employment in defense plants not as a temporary improvement in their lives as workers. The film illuminates the contrast between the myth of Rosie the Riveter and the reality it ignored or concealed. Wage differentials based on race and sex rather than job content were com- monplace. Men often responded with hostility to the entrance of women into formerly all-male plants, regarding them as interlopers, competitors, and daily reminders of the war. Besides the in-plant problems of racism and sexism, the popular image of Rosie the Riveter could not account for the difficulties experienced by women who shouldered domestic responsibilities in addition to ten hour factory shifts for six days or nights out of seven. Women were both praised for their contribution to the war effort and un- fairly blamed for production fall-offs and servicemen's deaths. The high rates of absenteeism among women workers, however, were a consequence not of their laziness or lack of patriotism but of the demands placed on them as wives and mothers. 'ACCORDING TO the myth, Rosie gladly returned home after V-J Day. The women in the film and many others like them were less fortunate. Gladys Belcher, a widow, had enjoyed and ex- celled at her job as a welder and had taken additional training courses during her off-hours in anticipation of the postwar period. After the war, however, her skills were no longer required and the only job she could find was that of a cook in a cafeteria. Rosie the Riveter was presented as a benefit for the Twentieth Century Trade Union Woman Oral History Project as part of the Program on Women and Work at the Institute of In- dustrial and Labor Relations. Money from the benefit will be used to conduct interviews with women involved in babor unions during the early 1900's. MANN THEATRES VILLAGE 4 375 N MAPLE 769-1300 Daily Discount Matinees Tuesday Buck Day All seats $1.00 Nominated for 6 ACADEMY AWARDS including BEST PICTURE BEST DIRECTOR As timely today as the day it was written. --I At Screenings at theMichgan Theatre: 7:0019:0 & 11:00 P.M. Sa turday: 1:00, 7:00 & 9:00 p.m. All prog rams are dif ferent and of substantially equal quality. Awa rd winners sc reened Sunday a t 7:00, 9:00 & 11:00 p.m. Single admission: $2.00. Daily series: $5.00 (not available Sunday). Advance sales begin a t 6:00 p.m. for that day only. $20.00 series ticket$ on sale the opening day of the Festival at 5:30 p.m. AlI tickets are sold at the Michigan Theatre. .: I 1! The U-M' Professional Theatre Program Michigan Ensemble Theatre Ann Arbor's Own Resident Professional Theatre Company DEBUT PRODUCT ION NDUAL THEATRES Melvn R. (OW H(m) (ad Hwward) DAILY-7:25, 9:15 WED -1.45 3:35,5:35 7.25, 915 ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS /tf(PG) A ROMAN POLANSKI FILM A COLUMBIA SPICTURES RELEASE 1:15 4:30 8:00 Nominated for 2 ACADEMY AWARDS Nothing's going to stand in your way. 74tee __ n% a i 1. RICHAPD DREYRJSS AMY , IRVING l A COLUMBIA PICTURES RELEASE P 1:45 4:15 7:15 9:45 Nominated for 6 ACADEMY AWARDS