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 i i } ,:.Announcing ,Martys EIGHTH ANNUAL~ Sp CS AVE 4 - ARTY'41q o Is s ! , }. .. , .e 't f. 4 H i , ANN ARBOR ' I 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 I _ 15th SMASH WEEK! -1 F ' M m1hSAHWK- m-m- ItI