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The Michigan Daily-Sunday, October 5, 1980-Page 7

Dancing
into limbo.
(Continued from Page 5)
trademark-isolation of hip, shoulder
and head movement for undulations
gyrations and sudden kicks flicks and
jabs.. His movements are very often
sensual and erotic. For those who saw
All That Jazz, the airplane piece, com-
plete with bare-breasted women, was a
orepresntation of Fosse's "style."
$Tfe first presentation, simply titled,
"Opening," included the entire com-
pany and a mix of the three basic dance
techniques. Performed to a jazzy adap-
tation of Neil Diamond's "Prologue (Hot
August Night)" and "Crunchy Granola
Sute," it was a virtual explosion of
energy. Wearing a melange of dance
rehearsal attire, the company entered
in staggered groups and pairs, flinging
into classic ballet lifts and poses. Amid-
et flashing lights that seemed to dance
themselves, the company rolled
shoulders, ground hips, and executed
precision legwork and leaps. The en-
semble work in this piece and in all
others was extremely complex, and
thus tremendously difficult to execute
as a single body; yet no one missed a
step or head tilt or a finger flick. Ever.
In the third act, the company perfor-
Ined "Benny's Number," a jazz tribute
ti Benny Goodman with music by Louis_
Prima. Accompanied by an onstage
jazz ensemble, a jazz nightclub was
exqjuisitely accomplished through dim
lighting and dazzling costumes of
sparkling zoot suits, gangster hats and
hig-rise, low-cut fringed docices. Sly,
fluttering fingers, evil glares and head
tilts created a sinister effect. Within
this sleazily, enchanting atmosphere
the company danced en masse,
gxecuting intricate footwork and flying
laps as a lightning-quick pace. This
pice, which included six segments,
was the emotional climax of the show.
The music was first-rate jazz, the
'iiting created a perfect mood of
zp-akeasy sexuality."
BREAKING 'NEW ground, Act II
contained "Fourteen Feet," a dance
wherein all seven dancers nailed their
,hoes to the ground and danced without
moving their feet. This was accom-
.plished with opposition movement as
vell as isolation of any moveable mem-
ber. The effect was particularly in-

Iraqi planned cease-fire
contingent upon Iranians

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP)-Iraq warned
that a cease-fire it planned to begin at
dawn today would be shattered if
Iranian attacks continued. Iran has
already rejected the U.N. Security
Council's cease-fire call.
Iraqi Defense Minister Adnan
Khairallah announced the proposed
three-day cease-fire hours after Iranian
jets attacked fog-shrouded Baghdad
yesterday in retaliation for a series of
Iraqi air raids. Both Persian Gulf coun-
tries also claimed victories by their
ground forces in battles for key Iranian
cities.
Khairallah told reporters at a news
conference here the tentative cease-fire

was contingent on the cessation of
Iranian hostilities, military buildups,
and anti-Iraqi propaganda.
"IF THEY agree, we hope we will
reach a peaceful solution," he said. "If
they persist in fighting, then we will go
on fighting after we prove to the inter-
national forum that we respect the U.N.
Security Council resolution."
Khairallah also charged Israeli jets
participated in an attack on an Iraqi
nuclear research facility Tuesday, but
he refused to present evidence of the
claim. Israel denied similar charges
Friday.
Meanwhile, Iran's revolutionary
leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini,

issued a new warning yesterday to.
Arab countries against aiding Iraq and
again rejected an Iraqi cease-fire in the
13-day-old war. Tehran Raglio said
Iranian firing squads had executed 15
people in the war zone for espionage
and treason.
KING HUSSEIN of Jordan, the only
Arab leader to openly support Iraq and
to offer military assistance, went to
Baghdad yesterday to personally
assess the war situation, a palace
spokesperson said.
Western diplomats in Baghdad said
the war seemed to be settling into a
static situation, but still had the poten-
tial of spreading beyond Iran and Iraq.

The national touring company of 'Dancin,' left to right: Cynthia Watts, Wil-
liam H. Brown, Jr., Janet Hubert, Thomas Tofel, Allison Renee Manson,
Janie Patterson, and Diana Laurenson. Bob Fosse's hit Broadway musical
closes its three-day run at the Power Center with two performances today.

Two 'U' profs call Carter win

triguing due to the florescent t1ostume
which glowed in the dark, disem-
bodying the dancers and liberating the
lines.
A sement of Act I's "Percussion"
consisted of a purely modern piece per-
formed to triangle and woodblock.
Fosse's was equally strong in the
modern realm. Three women, in
bodysuits, worked from the floor in
fluid movements on a serious, earthy
flavor.
In the final piece, "America."
classical ballet was set to John Phillip
Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever."
Although marching might have seemed
more appropriate, the ballet performed
was surprisingly well-suited. In 'a solo
performance, a young male dancer
executed perfect turn preparations to
set off a series of pirrouettes, in ad-
dition to a string of Barishnikov-like
leaps and classical postures.
UNFORTUNATELY, the dancing
was not allowed to stand on its own.
Each dance was preceded by a short in-
troduction explaining on a child's sim-
plistic level what was going to happen
next. Instead of allowing the audience
to realize that "Recollections of an Old
Dancer" featured both present-day Mr.

Bojangles and Mr. Bojangles' spirit, we
were told "And now here is our own Mr.
Bojangles and Mr. Bojangles' spirit." I
expected to hear next, "Okay, kids, can
you say M-I-S-T-E-R?" A dance concert
allows us to figure out the concepts our-
selves; a Broadway show relates a
simple plot; Dancin' told us the con-
cept. This was not'a happy medium.
The numbers in which singing was a
major factor also destroyed continuity.
Jamie Patterson soloed in "A Maniac
Depressive's Lament," initially singing-
a complaint of "I've Got Them Feelin'
Too Good Today Blues." The singing,
marred by an on-again, off-again sound
system, only served to break the energy
of his inspired dancing. Similarly, Act
III's "The Female Star Spot" was em-
barrassingly out of place. It consisted
of four women singing Dolly Parton's
hit "Here You Come Again"-no dan-
cing, just singing and sexual innuen-
does.
Dancin' had the potential to sweep
me away, with its overload of talent and
energy. The dancing was beyond com-
pare. Yet it fell just short of perfection
in trying to balance pure dance and
Broadway Musical fare-it fell into
some uncharted crevice in between.

(Continued from Page 1)
Traugott, whose public opinion
column appears regularly in the Detroit
News, said that in the Anderson can-
didacy, one can see "a pattern of
popular response that closely resem-
bles the response to George Wallace (in
1968)."
Miller focused on declines in par-
tisanship and voter turnout during his
discussion of the 1980 election.
While researching The American
National Election Studies Data Sour-
cebook, Miller polled many Americans
during 1952-1980 on their degree of par-
tisanship.
He said he found a significant shift in
"party identification," which is "a
decline in the proportion of people who
call themselves strong identifiers and
an increase in the proportion of those
who call themselves 'independent' and
resist any other identification."
IN 1950, 10 per cent of the people
Miller polled at the beginning of the
election year had no partisan preferen-
ce. By 1976-78, that proportion had in-
creased to 16-17 percent. But that still
leaves about 85 percent of Americans
entering the election year "with par-
tisan eyes," Miller said.
"The notion the party has in any way
ceased to be a guide ... in shaping par-
ty choice ... is just simply wrong," he
continued. "Partisanship is very much
alive and well in the American
system," Miller concluded.
However, voter turnout has been con-
sistently declining since 1960, when 64
percent of those eligible to vote turned
out, compared with only,54 percent in
1976.
WHEN STUDYING voter turnout in
current presidential elections by
Broooce!.
Continued from Page 5)
considers himself on a mission. It's
not always clear just what that mission
is, for his careersalthough it has taken
many turns, is still rather brief. One
should devote an awful lot of attention
to discovering just what he is trying to
do. But, at the very least, everyone in
Crisler Arena should sit back and
reflect on the pleasures of having
someone care so much.

political groups, one sees higher (or
very close) turnouts for "strong"
Democrats and "strong" Republicans
compared with the early 1950s. "The
source of declining turnout does not ap-
pear until you move to people who
classified themselves as 'Independent
Independent,"' Miller said.
Despite this stability, recent polls in-


dicate less than one half of the elec-
torate is satisfied with today's choices
of presidential candidates.
HE SUGGESTED voters make "con-
scious attempts to increase the strength
of parties," since "they are the best
breeding grounds for candidates."

y
UNIVERSITY RESIDENCE HALL COUNCIL
URHC is now
Accepting Applications For:
RATE STUDY COMMITTEE 
HOUSING REVIEW BOARD
FALL PLANNING COMMITTEE
Apply at: MSA
3909 Michigan Union-764-3241

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King 's Firestarter snuffs out,

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(Continued from Page )
however, the bastdaly doctor in
charge-plied them not with LSD, but
with "Lot Six," an experimental
hallucinogen supplied by a sinister,
super-secret government agency
known simply at The Shop.
The Lot Six experiment, intended to
'turn its users into telekinetic gods for
leverage against the Russians, failed;
but unexpectedly the students, Andy
and Vicky, fell in love and
married-each with his and her own
newly-acquired telepathic powers,
which were passed on to Charlie.
But time failed to dissuade The Shop
from its fiendish cause: Its agents
spent years spying on the threesome,
paying special scrutiny to Charlie as
she grew up. Convinced at last she's the
genuine article, they move in to abduct
her and her parents for further ex-
perimentation. In the process Vicky is
murdered; Andy manages to rescue
Charlie, and the two of them embark on
a desperate cross-country flight pur-
sued relentlessly by The Shop's jackals.
The most distressing aspect of Fire-
$tarter is that its author seems to have
solved many of his chronic structural
deficiencies, yet produced a work only
marginally better than the disaster
which preceeded it. For all its clan-
destine, end-of-the-world bluster,
]King's novel remains a limp, almost
cringingly cautious work. Predictably,
one is compelled to finish the book (all
THIS WEEK AT
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PIZZA NIGHT
TUESDAY
JAM SESSION
live music, no cover
WED
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King's novels have that grabbing ef-
fect), yet Firestarter never really takes
off, never becomes a delicious,
delirious threat to your rational sen-
sibilities.
CCASIONALLY King manifests
his genius at conveying a palp-
able, petrifying sense of
menace: When, on the very first page,
he hits you with the imge of Andy and
Charlie struggling exhaustedly along a
crowded Manhattan sidewalk,
methodically pursued by an anonymous
green car, the feeling of malevolen-
ce-of father and child threatened by
unseen monsters-is almost unen-
durable. Later, the Lot Six experiment,
as seen through Andy's hallucinating
senses, transmutes into an un-
speakable, shrieking chaos of medical
horror.
Such scenes personify King at his
most demonically brilliant, yet there's
ultimately no payoff in this strangely
muzzled book. One comes to expect
raging apocalypse in King's work, yet
when Firestarter's apocalypse arrives
it's almost an anti-climax, a slightly
enlarged re-hash of a similar holocaust
earlier in the novel.
King is undermined once again by his
inelegance at characterization. Within
his stereotyped ministrations Firestar-
ter's heroes emerge as bland, God-
Bless-America do-gooders, while its
villians remain unfailingly un-
scrupulous, conscienceless blackguar-
th~ ouq
M ESDAY
AT NIGHT
TIURSDAY
PITCHER NIGHT
CDI 9. CAT

ds. King's prose is painfully inadequate
in dissecting moments such as Andy's
devastation'at discovering his mur-
dered wife, or Charlie's agonized self-
loathing.
Such inadequacies are discouraging
but not unpredictable; what is truly
shocking about Firestarter is its
author's sudden lack of exotic inven-
tiveness. Can that capricious
imagination finally be running dry?
King borrows heavily from Carrie,
even more blatantly from John Farris'
The Fury, which also dealt with
telekinetic, kids and malignant federal
agencies. It is possible that this devilish
heir to the accumulated black magic of
a nation's heritage is creatively burned
out at age 33, the victim of the fast-
write, big-sell syndrome?
At 33 one has plenty of time to scram-
ble back to preeminence; yet unless
King can rediscover the cabalistic muse
which seems now to have deserted
him, he may find no one left to scare
except Sidney Sheldon fans-and they,
alas, don't rattle easily.

Planning t
Placement
6 NEW YOR

TUES, OCT. 7
Rackham Aud.
7:00 P.M.
K CHICAGO

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