ARTS The Michigan Daily Saturday, October 1, 1983 Page 7. More than a music-maker The Ballet Nacional Espanol performs the 'Three-Cornered Hat' dance Wednesday evening at the Power Center. Spanish dancing By Ellen Rieser B ALLET NACIONAL Espanol, Spain's official dance company, brought the house down at the Power Center for its Wednesday evening performance. Not only was the dancing superb, but Ballet Nacional Espanol arrived with the sort of elaborate scenery and sum- ptuous costumes that Ann Arbor sees but infrequently. The program began with Sonatas, choreography by Antonio (Antonio Ruiz-Soler), principal choreographer of the troupe. Sonatas, a work in the style of Spanish ballet, featured the com- positions of Padre Antonio Soler, one of 18th century Spain's greatest com- posers of keyboard music. Zapateado, also choreographed by Antonio with music by Pablo Sarasate, followed Sonatas. The zapateado is a male solo dance characterized by stac- cato footwork and rhythmic stamping of the feet. Paco Romero's Zapateado on Wednesday night was an exciting celebration of this flamenco dance. As shouts of encouragement rang out from the audience, Romero energetically tapped, slapped, stam- ped, and stomped his way through the piece. Such an exhibition of male flamenco virtuoisty was more than the Power Center audience could bear. The enthusiastic applause and "oles" prompted Romero to reciprocate by dancing an encore zapateado. The en- core was not presented with mujsical accompaniment and served to accen- tuate the absolute precision of Romero's footwork and rhythmic stamps. As the first concert in the Music Society's "Choice" series, Ballet Nacional Espanol got the new season off to an exciting start, and the Music Society is to be complimented for its excellent selection. By Mike Drongowski S INCE THE inception of his celebrated career as a concert violinist at age 15, Isaac Stern has been a man in con- stant, restless motion. Whirlwind tours at breakneck seem to be his trademark - his energy is legendary. Conductor and close friend Zubin Mehta once said of Stern, "I have never seen him take it easy. He gives 120 percent all the time; he has no automatic pilot." Isaac Stern's energy takes him in many directions, one of which makes him an ambassador, or sorts. He was the first American performer to enter the Soviet Union during the Cold War era. A trip to the Far East resulted in the award-winning documentary From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China. Stern is also a, strong defender of Israel, champion of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation as well as the Jerusalem Music Center, a training in- stitute where visiting masters offer classes to young Israeli musicians. Up-and-coming talent is of special in- terest to Stern. Looking beyond his own career, he has helped many young musicians establish careers of their own. Under his close scrutiny, these young performers are aided by one of the world's foremost masters. "With whom did you study? Why did you choose that piece?" Stern demands of young violinists that come under his tutelage. He offers himself as critic ("I give them my unvarnished opinion," he has said,) as well as per- sonal mentor. Of all the causes for which he has fought, one of Stern's most famous was his effort (in 1960) to save Carnegie Hall. It was being threatened with demolition, but Stern, in the role of tenacious underdog and organizer - spearheaded the drive that eventually saved it, and has remained its president ever since. Isaac Stern brings more than just his classical violin to Hill Auditorium tonight at 8:30 p.m. Stern was born in the Ukraine in 1920 but his parents moved the family to San Francisco when he was ten months old. He began playing the violin at age eight - not because of any deep love for the instrument, but because ^ a neigh- borhood child played. Quickly en- thralled with the instrument, he drop- ped out of school to study with Naoum Blinder, concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony. He made his debut with that same symphony in 1936 at age 16, playing the Brahms Concerto. Only seven years later, he was heard in Carnegie Hall, and soon after began playing with the New York Philharmonic. Since then he has performed with the Phil over 80 times, more than any other violinist in history. Aside from his concert performan- ces, Isaac Stern's career has included feature films (he has done several very fine character portrayals), television, and he performed the sound track for the movie Fiddler on the Roof. With all of his outside involvement, it has been said that Stern doesn't prac- tice enough. He has responded "I'm happy. I have a wonderful wife and three wonderful children. I should tride that for another fifteen hours of prac- tice?" Stern's secret seems to be that, he makes good use of his time, he makes each minute of the day count. "We do not know how many hours Isaac Stern lives in a day," Zubin Mehta has said. "We only know it must be more than twenty-four." Isaac Stern will be performing tonight at Hill Auditorium, accom- panied by pianist Andrew Wolf. The University Musical Society has sold out the performance, but last-minute seating may be available. Love Tractor grinds out smashing tunes By Larry Dean REFORMED HIPPIES. Happy folk. A gdodsize audience. Neat pants. MTV. All these things-plus much more-played a part in Love Tractor's concert Thursday night at Joe's Star Lounge. 22 Cave Gods, an import from East Lansing, opended the show. I quivered in anticipation of 22 bodies crammed onto the stage at Joe's, but was vastly disappointed when a mere four per- sonages wandered out-three males, one fe-. To make a long and painful story short, the 'Gods pumped out a septic tank's-worth of danceable tunes that sounded like a wicked cross bet- ween early Doobie Bros. and Martha and the Muffins. In the course of the evening, they managed to demolish the Temptations' "Psychedelic Shack" in one of the wor- st displays of ineptitude ever viewed/heard: sacriledge! They even brought along their own groupies-an entourage of reformed hippies who grooved and grinded in pensive slow motion to the tunes. Danceable, yes-listenable, no. However, joy came finally to the stage in the guise of four diminutive young men from Athens, Georgia, collectively known as Love Tractor. These folks immediately made their chipperness known when they bustled out, smiling happily and waving briskly to the already-busy dance floor patroned by eager fans. Then, with little fanfare, they launched into a tune and the place was hoppin'. Love Tractor are a different story live then on disc. The suppleness of their recorded performances was in- tact-so was the stalwart musicianship. There was an added feature, though, in the heat of the music-making: aggression. In the very together band interplay, Love Tractor's music took on an edge of authority that isn't missing on record, but which also isn't readily there to jump out and capture the audience's ear. The key, of course, is in the presence and the execution, and Love Tractor had a flair for both. For presence we had the casual-yet- kinda-country garb. Guitarist Mark Cline and bassist Armistead Wellford wore identical pants, comfy-looking things which tapered down to ties 'round the upper ankles. I was ex- tremely jealous of this, much in the same way C.E. Krell is jealous of Mar- tin Frye's lame jacket, but took it in stride and stopped my coveting. All four members wore white socks, which I wasn't jealous of. Beside the clothes, Love Tractor paid great attention to each other while on- stage, smiled a lot, and not one member ever stole the spotlight. This camaraderie and lack of pretension made the band a band and their music followed suit, carefully crafted and pleasant. I totally forgot that they are a mostly-instrumental group once I got involved in the music, and realized af- terward that I had not missed the vocals' lack of predominence. Love Tractor worked. In fact, my biggest complaint about the evening was in reaction to the band's request of the audience to pick up some post cards pre-addressed to MTV and send them off, thanking the moguls in- volved with that anti-music medium, for adding the Love Tractor video of "Spin Your Partner," the first video by an independent act, to their roster. Plaintive and sincere their request might have been, plaintive and sincere MTV ain't. Two sets of fine music from Georgia's Love Tractor. Nothing spectacular, but a success nonetheless. Dodge Win the use COLEATEH CHAMP ONSl NATIONAL DRi VN .MPlONSHiPS COMES TO UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Tuesday and Wednesday. October 4th and 5th from 10:00 to 5:00 at, CHRYSLER ARENA PARKING LOT Sponsored by UA C All registered students with a valid driver's license may enter Drive the revolutionary 1984 Dodge Daytona Turbo, America's first turbo powered, front-wheel drive sportscarl i F BIBLE NOTES JESUS CHRIST said This is my commandment, That you love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:12, 13) These words were spoken by a Man who showed the highest ex- pression of love, the sacrifice of his life.. In contrast, the world we live in rarely shows us this kind of love. The love most experienced is friendship, the affection we have for others. Friendship is characterized by the pleasure we feel when we are in the company of certain people. The language of the New Testament, Greek, would call this phileo love. This word gives us Philadelphia, the name for the city of brotherly love. The love spoken of in the Bible verse above is a love where actions are not dependent on feelings, a love that is not dependent on what a person may have done for us or what a person looks like. This love, which the Bible calls agape love, is a reflection on the charac- ter and commitment of the one loving. Your chance to win a trip to Daytona Beach. More than $25,000 in prizes awarded. No purchase necessary. Official rules available at competition site.