ARTS S
The Michigan Daily Thursday, November 4, 1982 Page 5
Symphony displays altered image
This Evening
MEDITATION: EAST AND WEST
a discussion with
JUSTIN O'BRIEN
author of "Yoga and Christianity"
Dr. O'Brien, from the Himalayan Institute in Pennsylvania,
will compare meditative practices in Eastern and Western
spiritual Traditions.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4th-8 p.m.
CANTERBURY LOFT-332 S. State Street, second floor
Two doors south of Nickels Arcade-665-0606
By Andy Porter.
IF A REPRESENTATIVE of Barron's
.1 College Handbook was present at
the University Symphony Orchestra
concert Sunday at Hill Auditorium,
hen the old maize and blue is due to be
ranked well below Chico State in the
next edition.
if Ludwig van Beethoven was sitting
inthe audience, we can be assured that
hebas since then taken his life.
If the Soviet Union had been broad-
casting live via satellite to the Kremlin,
Ann Arbor would probably be a large
'smouldering pit at this very moment.
-ut, thank heavens, it was all done in
jest. Actually, the only serious 'thing
'that occurred throughout the evening
was the music. Dressed in scary (and
oftentimes tasteless) Halloween garb,
the USO performed to a roaring, rowdy
crowd of similar fashions.
The costumes added continuous
laughter to the spooky, yet very en-
joyable evening. Mr. and Mrs. Pac-Man
were on hand at the festivities busy
pursuing blue goblins. Kermit the Frog
played a mean viola while a symphony
counterpart, a bottle of Tylenol, bowed
and plucked with poisonous venom at
his violin. The audience spent the first
15 minutes applauding and shouting at
the bizarre guests and just as they
became quelled at the anticipation of
the first work, a tribe of Fred Flin-
tstone-like cavemen carrying large
clubs dashed around the hall banging.
and yelling as if they were being chased
by a large dinosaur. The untamed
primates eventually took their places in
the percussion section and the evening
seemed ready to commence.
The first piece, written for an in-
visible conductor, started with a blank
spotlight following an imaginary man
towards the stand. The large scorebook
mysteriously opened and the orchestra
performed briefly until the spotlight
ushered the unobservable maestro
back off the stage.
The rest of the evening featured an
assortment of different creatures
leading the orchestra. Dracula filled in
the duties for a while and led the spooky
group through works by Moussorgsky
and Camille Saint-Saens. One of the
highlights of the evening, however,
came when a sorcerer and his appren-
tice conducted Dumas' The Sorcerer's
Apprentice. Just as in Fantasia, the
stage show featured some funny and
unusual moments. Throughout the in-
troductory themes of the piece a
bassoon player creeped and crawled
around the apprentice, poised to strike
at any moment. A new musical theme
represented a spell that caused the
bassoon to disappear offstage. Ten
minutes later, however, the angry
bassoon no sooner returned, but he had
brought with him an army of his frien-
ds. Just as the poor apprentice had
become surrounded and the fate of the
orchestra seemed inevitable, the sor-
cerer returned to cast a musical spell
and force the attacking bassoonists
away. The work ended with the herd of
instruments spellifig "U.M."
The fourth piece, written by William
Albright and featuring himself on the
organ, was well done by the percussion
section and was the musical climax of
the evening. The very modern piece en-
titled Bacchanal displayed the agility of
the orchestra and showed off the fine
skills of Brian Prechtl on Timpani.
Although the attitude and etiquette of
the audience was far removed from the
norm for a classical concert event, the
orchestra nevertheless played
beautifully. The tailor-made stage show
fit the music and the whole evening
came off very enjoyably and extremely
well-planned. The conducting was
clever and the selections were picked
and arranged with obvious skill.
Michigan's School of Music con-
cluded the night with its fine record un-
blemished. In the future the USO will
likely be able to treat Ann Arbor with
more musical tricks as entertaining as
the Halloween concert.
,
The bizarre rit
By Joe Hoppe
Nada is the Sanskrit word for a noise
that is still there when everything else
is quiet; the residual noise from the
scientists' "big bang." Nada can also
mean flowing water or just simple
sound in Sanskrit.
Nada means "I must" in Russian.
ada means "hope" in Yugoslav. Nada
means "nothing" and "swim" in
Spanish.
Nada is an Ann Arbor musician's
group. They play a combination of
music based on patterns and rhythms
from different cultures. Their in-
struments are sitar, hammer dulcimer,
pan pipes, tambla drums, flutes, a bass
viol (or viol de gamba), kalimba
(thumb piano), a Brazilian instrument
*made with a stick, a gourd, and wire,
called a berinbau, and various other
music makers.
Nada held a Halloween workshop of
music, rituals, and chanting at the Can-
terbury Loft (332 S. State) last Sunday.
About twentypeople, from a group of
senior citizens, to students, to a couple
with babe in arms, attended. The Loft
had a Halloween atmosphere, but not
the commercial cardboard skeleton on
the door type; something older was in
*the air.
People were dressed up, but maybe
not just for Halloween. Many were in
black, with long black capes. Some
wore symbolic jewelry. Face paint was
common: suns, stars, mpons, or a com-
bination..
Veukin, spokesman for Nada, began
the workshop with an explanation of
Halloween as an ancient Celtic
tradition. Halloween is a celebration of
the change in seasons, he noted. It
marks the end of summer, which is
ruled byj the goddess, or female per-
sona, and the beginning of fall .and win-
ter, ruled by the male persona,
sometimes known as the horned god.
Nada's performance began with the
group slapping their knees in unison,
leading into a complicated number
featuring pan pipes and a xylophone
called "Kibo." The music is a little like
progressive jazz in that it seems to ex-.
pand on themes based on African
rhythms with variations and different
instruments taking over the lead roles.
The musicians often switch instrumen-
ts in the middle of the songs. These
strange instrumental combinations .
produce beautiful music.
After introducing all of their in-
struments, Nada followed with a song
featuring an electric thumb piano. Af-
terwards, Glaser spoke about the im-
portance of the circle in ancient
religions, then asked everyone to par-
ticipate in creating a circle, sitting
together on the floor with joined hands.
We were told to relax; put aside our
worldly activities. We concentrated on
the "energy of the circle." Glaser came
around and touched us on the back of
our heads with a peacock feather to
help us relax. It felt strange, all of a
sudden brushing my hair as I stood
there with my eyes closed. It seemed to
work.
We were told to think of ourselves as
trees., Our feet were roots going down
into the ground, deep into the earth.
Branches sprang from our heads, going
out, but also returning to ourselves, into
the earth, making a circular energy
path.
We were told to breath out with a
sound, become the wind in ourtree
branches. Our 'expirations began to
sound like the lamentations or chan-
tings of a far eastern religion. It
developed into music. Various people
took over various parts. Our voices
filled the Loft.
The singing-sighing-breathing
uals of
peaked, and then got quicker, until at
almost the same time, everyone left the
circle and picked up the instruments in
the center. We played bongo drums,
claves, a triangle, shells, finger cym-
bals, flutes, gourds . . . it fit together.
This too was real music, but wilder than
before. Some danced, some sang again
and then we reformed the circle.
A stick of sweetgrass, used by
American Indians in purification
ceremonies, was passed around. As it
went from hand to hand we learned
male and female persona chants.
The chants were about life and rebir-
th, as they relate to each season. We
knelt; with our hands flat on the floor.
The energy we had received from# the
earth flowed back out through them. I
felt myself being drawn down, my
whole body going towards the floor. I
resisted, thinking that all the energy
should pass through my hands, and that
this wasn't the way it should be.
Finally, I ended up with my forehead
touching the floor. I opened my eyes,
and everyone else was in the same
position.
"Merry meet, merry part, merry
meet again," each person said to his
Noon Luncheon
Homemade Soup & Sandwich $1.00
Fri., Nov. 5
Len Suransky
Coordinator U of M Committee
on S. Africa
"The Prospect of
Returning to Southern Africa"
Guild House-802 Monroe
Nada
partner on the left as a final ceremony.
Then we kissed them on the cheek.
We all sat down. Nada played two
more songs. One was about running
water and influenced by wave forms in
Celtic ' sculpture. It incorporated a
poem written by one of the people there.
We left the ancient Halloween
celebration into the running water of
the rainy Sunday afternoon.
Friday, November 5, 8pm, Crisler Arena
Reserved Seats are $11.50, 10.50, and 9.50
On sale starting Monday, October 11 -
Michigan Union Ticket Office and all CTC Outlets
Call 763-2071 for more information
A Major Events Presentation
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,:.Announcing ,Martys
EIGHTH ANNUAL~
Sp CS AVE
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, ANN ARBOR '
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2 INDIVIDUAL THEATRES
5th Ave at Liberty 761-9700
J
% 0
ENDS TONIGHT!
"FRUITS OF PASSION"
AT 6:40, 8:30, 10:20
STARTS FRI!
LIMITED ONE WEEK!
Daks of London
Austin Reed
Anthony Allen
Pendleton
London Fog
Corbin Ltd.
David Brooks
Pappagallo
Sero of New Haven
Deans
Byford
Woolrich
Alan Paine
Kenneth Gordon
J. G. Hook
Trafalgar
Here's how it works:
uAN11M1111N
Just make a selection of any quantity of
clothing. Before paying for your purchase, pick
out one of our celebration balloons. Every
balloon contains a discount slip worth 10%,
15%, 20%, 30%, 50% or even 100% off
the price of your purchase. In addition to the
discount slips, some balloons also contain "wild
card" gifts that entitle you to completely free
items, ranging from suits to socks.
The sale ends November 13, so come in
soon. Join our celebration and pick your
balloon for great savings.
For your convenience, Marty's is open
Thursday and Friday evenings until 8:30 and
we validate parking from the Maynard Street
carport.
FRI 6:40, 8:30, 10:20
I 1
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15th SMASH WEEK!
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m1hSAHWK- m-m- ItI