Tomoiow !n Daily Arts: Weekend, etc. Magazine returns with a look at the work of photographer Gordon Parks, inspired by the new exhibit visit- ing the Detroit Institute of Arts. Wednesday February 3, 1999 5 Courtesy of David Smith Photography perform a rendition of "An American in Paris." Michael Spencer Phillips and Nicole Palczynski1 Razzm.atazz to give light I By Jenny Curren Daily Arts Writer This weekend a flying trapeze will breeze into the Power Center, but not because the circus is in town. The trapeze plays an inte- gral part in "Aquarium," one of four dance pieces that make up "Razzmatazz," the University Dance Company's annual winter performance. All of the pieces use jazz music as a jump- to Paris I Razzmatazz Power Center Tomorrow through Sunday ing board, but none so blatantly as the headlin- ing piece, a revamped version of "An American in Paris," choreographed by visiting Arizona State dance master Cliff Keuter. C e l e b r a t i n g Gershwin's 100th birth- day, the music is set to a plot that differs from the 1957 Gene Kelly musi- cal, which focused more on post-World War II Europe. Keuter's version experiments with various unique sounds, including such rarities as the farfisa and sev- eral mechanical instruments. University dance Prof. Gay Delanghe sur- passes the trance-like state of "Delirium Waltz" crossing into the realm of surrealism with her three-part dance entitled "Passageways." The first movement, "Mazes," re-enacts the Greek myth of the Minotaur. Gargantuan three-footed puppets join female dancers in flowing Greek tunics, cavorting about the stage to an electronic score by faculty composer Steven Rush. The second movement "Triggers," features a collaboration between Delanghe, Rush, and Art and Design Prof. Michael Rodemer, pro- ducing an interactive floor that reacts to a dancer's movement. Because the floor responds randomly to video and audio cues, each performance will create it's own origi- nal technological landscape. Finally, with "Labyrinth" Delanghe resur- rects the ancient ritual of labyrinth dancing, which for centuries was used in religious worship. The dancers themselves create the patterns that form the maze, to reflect the human connection to the paths and their guiding forces. Even an interactive floor, however, could- n't give Evelyn Velez-Aguayo the kind of expression she was looking for with "Aquarium." Inspired by the University choreographer's own experience at a yoga retreat in the Bahamas, she incorporated a jazz score by Music Prof. Edward Sarath and tranquil yogic poses into a piece with a big- ger metaphor- the ocean. "It occurred to me that all of the Caribbean is connected through its reefs, and that we can find our inheritance through the beauty of the ocean.... It is the sea...that joins us and our history together,"Velez-Aguayo said. Instead of modifying the floor to depict an ocean scene, she decided to abandon it, using the low-flying trapeze to transport her dancers into the weightless world of the sea. Martineau commented, "The movement is very organic and raw in this piece. Each dancer brings his/her own experience to the dance. It's delicious." creates a female protagonist who falls hope- lessly into a love triangle when she pursues an already attached Parisian pretty boy. Music senior Jessica Martineau, one of the dancers in "Aquarium," remarked of Keuter's segment, "It has the familiar Gershwin music, and it's a love story. It's really acces- sible to the audience." Another portion of the program that draws heavily on the influence of jazz is "Delirium Waltz," featuring choreography by University Prof. Peter Sparling. Twenty dancers and a narrator will enact scenes based on an eponymous poem by Mark Strand, in which the author re-experiences his life through the metaphor of a ballroom, while people and memories make their entrance and eventually recede back into oblivion. Local musician/composer Frank Pahl penned the original jazz score that will accompany the dancers in their dream-like waltz through a '50s-style ballroom, clad in tuxedos and gowns. Though the score adheres to a traditional three-four time, It 1~_1 DAY & NIGHT CREWS\ Bae SalarPius Incentives .