ARTS The Michigan Daily Thursday, March 20, 1986 Page 5 Tribute brings nostali Records Ir '%oo W- w - qw- q% Or w -w- I By Malia Frey songs evoke," according to Bill DeYoung, choreographer. T ONIGHT, STUDENTS AND "Day on Earth," choreographed in faculty of the University's 1947, features music from Aaron Dance Department will perform An Copland. The solo part in Humphrey's American Tribute at The Power Cen- piece will be performed by Peter ter, The show features original dance Sparling. Sparling learned the dance works by faculty members Bill in 1972, from Jose Limon, for whom DeYoung, Vera Embree, Jessica Humphrey choreographed this and Fogel, and Peter Sparling. A revival many other pieces. As the foremost of Doris Humphrey's "Day on Earth" choreographer or the 1930s and '40s, will also be performed. The produc- Doris Humphrey was known for her tion opens the Power Series, a sub- philosophy of fall and recovery, scription series featuring dance, balance and unbalance. drama, musical theatre, and opera Sparling describes "Day on Earth" students in the School of Music. as "a piece of great eloquence-simply An American Tribute is just that: A coreographed to present the brief nostalgic look at American dance span of a man's life." from the '30s and '40s. "A Little Works by Vera Embree, Jessica Show" is a "lighthearted tribute to the Fogel, and Peter Sparling focus their music of American songwriter Kay attention on modern life. Vera Em- Swift, and to the era which these bree describes her "Changes" as a "serio-comic look at the roles humans have to play." "Modern Life" by Peter Sparling, currently a soloist for the Martha Graham Dance Company, focuses on the dilemmas faced by today's youth culture. Original music for the piece is composed by Univer- sity Dance Department Chairman David Gregory. The program is dedicated to Vera Embree, who is retiring after from the Dance Department at the end of this year. Embree has been with the department since Septmeber 1968. An American Tribute will be her last per- formance. Tickets are available at the League Ticket Office. Prices for the perfor- mance are $8.00 and $5.00 (reserved seating) and $3.00 for students with identification. Fela Anikulapo Kuti-"No Agreement," "Shuffering and Shmiling" (Celluloid) For many a year, Fela Anikulapo Kuti has been a prime mover in the dynamic world of African popular music. Leading bands with up to twenty members (including quite a fair number of o1' Fela's wives on backup vocals), saxophonist/keyboardist/vocalist Fela has used his composing and producing skills to awaken a spirit of pan-African consciousness and in- dependence in both Africans and non- Africans alike. Currently serving a five year sentence in a Nigerian prison on trumped up charges of "currency smuggling," Fela has somehow hooked up with New York's ever so hip Celluloid record label to re-release these two late '70s Fela classics for mass consumption in the United States. The sound of Fela and the Africa 70 is certainly unique but by no means unaccessable. Characterized by den- se, powerful rhythms, cascading waves of horns, guitars and keyboards and highly spirited call and response vocals, Fela's music draws as much from western pop/funk and Carrib- bean reggae as it does from in- digenous African sources. Danceable and inspiring, his songs usually tend towards building from their purely in- strumental beginnings into red-hot ensemble climaxes (and when everyone in the Africa 70 grooves together, you'd better believe that it's one big, bold and uproarious musical storm that invades yer living room). To Fela, music is about freedom, and whether that freedom is of the popular political variety or the simple and exhilirating type felt when rockin' in the eye of an Africa 70-type cyclone of jam, his music remains central to the experience. Of the two single releases sampled here, "No Agreement" is the stan- dout, demonstrating all of the above Fela traits with the highest quality and greatest consistency imaginable. "Shuffering and Shmiling" is no slouch itself, but it lacks the per- sonality and distinctiveness of "No Agreement" and seems a bit bur- dened by its excessive length. Overall, however, either of these babies are guaranteed to add a vibrant and exciting, "world-beat" dimension to your never too im- poverished musical existence. -Rob Michaels Simplistic ideals inhib By Kurt Serbus praiseworthy for their abundance of political integrity. Like Reefer Mad- ness, it's manipulative modus N FILMING Latino, writer- operandi is blatant and transparent. director Haskell Wexler and his It's childishly simple politics are crew went above and beyond to create thinly-very thinly-disguised as a )it 'Latino' a realistic depiction of the covert war in Central America. The film was shot over 16 weeks in the very bowels of the fighting in Nicaragua, an undeniable tribute to human dedication and idealism, and was shown on Sunday as part of the Berry Bullard Film Series. All very fine and noble. Now the bad news. The movie that resulted from this courageous crusade is poorly executed, as contemptable in it's lack of artistic integrity as it's makers are story. Robert Beltram plays Eddie Guerrero, a chicano Green Beret who is sent to Honduras to train contras and conduct a few off-the-record raids into Nicaragua. Of course, he falls in love with a Nicaraguan woman, and is eventually forced to confront the callousness of his (and America's) actions. That is, he continues killing, looting, and torturing, but he starts to do it with a confused look on his face. With this skeletal storyline in place, Wexler sets out to beat his messages into the audience's heads with a sledge-hammer. Eddie is the only gray area in the picture; the rest of the characters are either uncorrup- tively good or unredeemably evil. And just because Eddie is ambiguous doesn't mean he's engaging. It all boils down to Wexler's apparent lack of interet in telling a story. He is so concerned with making the peasants look proud and oppressed while they deliver heart-stirring speeches (pun- ctuated by thunder claps, no less) at funerals, that he forgets that your average movie audience needs to feel some sort of emotional involvement before it will start coming around ideologically. It's a shame Wexler didn't have more respect for his audience when he con- cocted this film. The subject is an im- portant one, and people need to know about it. A more serious, realistic treatment, especially one with the production history of Latino, could have gone a long way towards educating and enlightening the public. As it is, this film just confuses the issue more by trying so desperately to black-and-white it. Wexler may be cautiously optimistic about human perserverance, but when it comes to human intelligence, he's an out-and- out pessimist. EXHI BITION AND SALE OF FINE ART PRINTS SPONSORED BY Arts and Programming DATE: Mon., March 17th thru Fri., March 21st TIME: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. PLACE: Michigan Union Ground Floor Mall Special Student / Youth Fares to SCANDINAVIA On Scheduled Airlines! The inexpensive way to get to Scandinavia and other destinations in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Winter Rates to Scandinavia New York to Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm from $240 one way, $400 roundtrip New York to Helsinki from $270 one way Chicago to Copenhagen from $240 one way, $400 roundtrip Chicago to Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki from $280 one way, $480 roundtrip and tours designed especially for students to the SOVIET UNION For Information Call: WHOLE WORLD TRAVEL Youth and student travel experts for over a decade 17 E. 45th St., New York, NY 10017 (212) 986-9470 Summer Fares Now Available! LOWEST STUDENT PRICES "THE CLASSICS" - "ONLY $4.50 each{ "MOVIE POSTERS" -- "ONLY $4 each or3 for $12" or 3 for $10" "M. C. ESCHER" - ONLY $4 each or 3 for $10" "LASER PHOTOS" - "ONLY $4.50 each or 3 for $12" We also carry MATS, FRAMES, and a variety of other lines of beautiful fine art repro- ductions. Please don't miss it! Have any spare time? Help us run and advertise our show. Earn prints for your time. Over 600 different prints Ii Tm ~r a~ NE ~ NOW A a SEEL