3rd Poetry Festival kicks off
Popular Ann Arbor event to showcase local talents

By E lzabeth Lucas
Daily Arts Writer
As the third annual Ann Arbor Poetry
Festival gets under way, the audience
should arrive prepared to hear a more
diverse lineup of poets than ever before.
"It definitely is challenging, because
everyone's presenting different aspects
of poetry," said Decky Alexander, a fes-
tival participant
and instructor at P
the University
and Eastern
Michigan Po
University. To
Michael Lyd
Tincher, a mem-
ber of the Ann Arbor Poetry Forum
and an organizer of the festival,
explained that the eight participants
will showcase a range of perfor-
mances. Six of the poets - Alexander,
Don DeMaggio, Bob Hicok, Joe
Matusak, Bich Minh Nguyen and
Vievee - will read or perform their
poetry, while Laurel Federbush and
M.L. Liebler will present a combina-
tion of music and poetry.
"This year, stylistically ... it's a real-
ly different and eclectic group,"

Alexander said.
Hicok, an Ann Arbor poet, also
named the diversity of poets as a key
part of the festival "I think it's impor-
tant to have something like that, that is
indigenous and separate from the
University. The people chosen are dif-
ferent from those the University would
bring in," he said.

EVIEW
Ann Arbor
etry Festival
morrow at 8 p.m. at the
ia Mendelssohn Theater.
other nearby cities,
and Detroit.

Besides
expanding the
range of poetry
offered, this year's
festival will
include poets
from Ann Arbor
as well as from
such as Ypsilanti

- better rehearsals, better preparation
and more advertising. It seems to be
even more polished."
It's doubtful if the festival's organiz-
ers could have envisioned this year's
improved version, when they started
out three years ago. Tincher explained
the origin of the event: "Ann Arbor
seems to be pretty fertile ground for a
lot of festivals. We wanted to set out
and create Ann Arbor's first poetry fes-
tival."
Tincher said that volunteers were a
large factor in the success of the first
Poetry Festival, and said that the
Shaman Drum bookstore staff was
especially helpful. "Lots of people were
very helpful," he said. "The first year,
we weren't sure how attendance would
be. But there was so much support for
it, in the first year. We got a good jump
start from volunteers."
With two years' worth of experience
and improvements, this year's Poetry
Festival should draw a diverse audience
to match its wide range of performers.
As Alexander said, "It's a combination
of performance and poetry. It really gets
people who may not be interested in
poetry, per se."

"We have an advisory board, and we
get together and try to choose those
well-known in the area," Tincher said.
"We want well-known, well-recognized
Ann Arbor poets as well as some out-
side of the city."
The overall look of the festival will
be different as well, Tincher said. "We
started out with a very polished perfor-
mance. In the last two years, we've been
able to increase the production values

The Tibetan Song and Dance Ensemble performed at Ann Arbor's Power Center on Wednesday night.
Tibetans dane ito A'hearts

Dutch singing troupe set to thrill U'

By Stephanie Love
For the Daily
The vocabulary of University Musical
Society concert-goers will expand this
Sunday as the acclaimed Dutch a capella
group Quink makes its Ann Arbor debut.
So what does "Quink" mean?
According to member Harry van Berne,
"It doesn't mean anything really. It's a
word made up from three other words:
'quint' for five people and five notes;

'kwinkeleren' meaning the singing of
birds; and 'kwinkslag' meaning a joke."
According to enthusiastic critics, the
name captures the light-hearted singing
and amazing musicality that draws
crowds on both sides of the Atlantic.
After its debut at the 1978 Holland
Festival, Quink quickly emerged as a
unique vocal ensemble with a repertoire
ranging from Renaissance and Baroque
madrigals to contemporary a capella

Fd PREVIEW
Quink
Sunday at 7 p.m. at
St. Francis of Assisi Church.
Call UMS at 764-2538 for tickets.
pieces. The group has performed in
England with the Kings Singers, the
Hillard Ensemble and the Deller
Consort in addition to frequent radio
and television appearances in Germany
and the Netherlands.
The talent evident in Quink allows the
group to perform almost any a capella
genre with unique style and expressive-
ness, as recognized at numerous presti-
gious international competitions.
Touring the United States for the first
time in 1985, the group quickly estab-
lished an impressive following; it now
returns to the states twice each season.
Future seasons include tours throughout
Europe and the Far East. Additionally,
Quink continues to introduce many con-
temporary American, Dutch and German
compositions, most of which have been
dedicated especially to the group.
The five member ensemble, all of
whom are also active as soloists, has
produced a wide range of recordings
including Renaissance madrigals,
works by Ralph Vaughn Williams and
William Byrd and a collection of inter-
national Christmas music.
This Sunday's program consists of
sacred music of the low countries, a con-
cert which will be enhanced by St. Francis
of Assisi's reverberant sanctuary. Psalm
settings by Sweelinck, works by Agricola
and Mantua and two Gregorian settings of
"Alleluia," among others, highlight the
first half of the program. The concert fin-
ishes with two songs by D. Manneke and
"Missa Brevis" by T. de Leeuw
Without any artificial amplification,
Quink's UMS debut promises to be
nothing less than incredible.

By Grit Greenberg
For the Daily
Under the patronage of the Dalai Lama, The Tibetan Song
and Dance Ensemble made its debut performance in Ann
Arbor to a packed crowd Wednesday night.
This company of 60 was founded in 1960 following the
flight into exile of 100,000 Tibetan refugees. The ensemble is
just a part of the 120 people working at the Tibetan Institute
of Performing Arts whose goal is the preservation of authen-
tic Tibetan performing arts.
The evening was divided into I I different sections of folk
dances, Tibetan opera and monk chant-
ing. In all of the pieces, the performers
were dressed in colorful and elaborate R E
costumes with beads, fur and beautiful '.W Tib
embroidery. From headdresses to Dan
shoes, every section had a distinct and
ornate costume.
The production began with the per-
formers in procession, consecrating the
stage with prayer and the burning of incense. Two men play-
ing large eight-foot horns led all 25 performers in the prayer
to the gods, and particularly to St. Thangtong Gyalpo -
founder of Tibetan opera
This was followed by the highly symbolic "Masked
Spiritual Dance." Four men in headdresses that covered their
faces and exquisite costumes of gold, purple and red danced
in perfect unison. The dance started off slow and then sped
up, demonstrating the dancers' skill, precision of movement
and timing. They exhibited great balance while dancing vir-
tually blind.
Next came the "Step Dance with Tibetan Traditional Lute,"
a work in which the performers practiced an impressive coor-
dinated effort. Not only did the four men sing, dance and play
the lute ... they did it simultaneously. Flawlessly, the per-
formers danced together while playing one rhythm on the
lute, singing a different rhythm and dancing yet another. This
was no short dance either, and it gradually sped up culminat-

'
Ot

ing with the men balanced on one leg - without a hopi
Slowing down the pace, five Buddhist Lama monks chant-
ed a prayer ceremony. This chanting was unique in that itwas-
n't just a single note, but an entire chord. Sitting with closed
eyes and in traditional robes, the monks set into a trance.
Sustaining their chords for extremely long periods of time,
one could sense that the entire theater was relaxing with thm.
After intermission, the audience was entertained witlthe
high-energy "Gypsy Dance." With seven men doing barrel
turns around the stage, acrobatic solos and seven womenper-
forming an intricate drum dance, the dance is said to brio
good luck to the village in which it is
performed.
V I E W "Tashi Shoelpa," (the ancient art of
etan Song & opera-) - which also brings good luck
ce Ensemble - represents the oldest company in
eTibet. The dance serves to emphasize
Power Center the Tibetan peoples' good fortune in
Oct. 23,.1996 having the Dalai Lama as their leader.
Five white-masked dancers moved to a
strong and powerful beat.
The most memorable piece of the evening, however, V/
the "Yaktse." An extract from a Tibetan opera, it depicts t
life of a nomad family, their two yaks and the offering of
fresh butter (produced from yak's milk) to the Dalai Lana.
The yak is the Tibetan national animal.
It was a comical and delightful piece - marked by a per-
former's sudden break from his native language when he
exclaimed: "Too much milk!"
The audience laughed, yet it felt very unnatural and
seemed out of place. This utterance of English, although
coming off as cute, crossed the line of displaying Tibetan c,-
ture authentically and playing to a Western audience, cog
promising an historical artform just for a laugh.
The evening ended with the performers proudly singing
the Tibetan national anthem to a raised Tibetan flag in center
stage - marking their first U.S. tour with a reminder of their
displacement.


Journeyman artist Chris Isaak
arrives at Detroit's Fox
Theatre this weekend
Chris Isaak is no ordinary pretty boy. Unlike
most musicians considered sex symbols, he
has the voice to match his looks. That fact
has been proved over the years, considering
Isaak's success with hit songs like the world's
most favorite make-out ballad, "Wicked Game."
And when he isn't writing his compelling music
or playing in sold-out arenas across the world,
Isaak can be found surfing some big waves or
appearing in movies like the Academy Award-winning
"The Silence of the Lambs," Bernardo Bertolucci's
"Little Buddha" (with Bridget Fonda) and, most
recently, Tom Hanks' debut directorial endeavor
"That Thing You Do!" Fortunately for us,
though, he's touring at the moment. Yes,
that's right, Chris has gone back on the road
in support of his latest album "The Baja
Sessions." He hits the Detroit's Fox
Theatre (on good old Woodward Avenue)
tomorrow night with his back-up band
Silvertone. Don't miss what willfu
undoubtedly be a night of beautiful
mood music. Call (810) 645-6666 for
more information.

Quink comes to the St. Francis of Assisi Church at 2250 E. Stadium on Sunday.

i ____________________________

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