The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, March 24, 1999 - 9
Thesis concert gives
culmination of work
Phil LeMarr lends
voice to 'Futurma
Courtesy of University Musical Society
ar v aravan will perform tomorrow evening at the Michigan Theater,
musictocamp*us
By Jeni Glem
Daily Arts Writer
Four contrasting personalities and
styles converge in this weekend's MFA
Dance Thesis Concert. The first of two
such events this semester, the concert
demonstrates not only the creativity of
the four graduate students who chore-
ographed it, but also the spirit of com-
munication that exists between them.
Holly Hobbs, Corinne Imberski,
Nancy Langsner and Antonio
Francesco each choreographed a
group piece and a solo as part of their
two year program of study. Due to the
large size of this year's class, their con-
cert will be followed next weekend by
a performance featuring three of their
classmates. These seven artists have
worked together on many projects dur-
ing the past two years. The concert
serves as the culmination of that expe-
By Lucia Franetovic
.the Daily
The Gypsy Caravan will pass
through Ann Arbor tomorrow, when
the University Musical Society hosts
this celebration of gypsy culture and
music at the Michigan Theater.
Entergetic and soulful, gypsy music
has found its way into many of the
world's cultures. For a people with no
written history and a century of migra-
tory existence, its unity is amazing and
oyves much to the power of the gypsy
sic.
Found to influence such composers
as Bartok, Kodaly and Paganini, as
well as the soulful Spanish Flamenco
and Romanian folk music, Gypsy
music and dance has made a huge
iihprint on our world's cultural her-
Gypsy
Caravan
Michigan Theater
Tomrrow at 8
itage.
The concert
will include six
groups of per-
formers from
Central and
Eastern Europe,
the traditional
home of the
Rroma people.
For centuries the
gypsies of
Romani a,
Hungary, Russia,
Spain and other
nearby regions
music and culture.
book of conduct, or laws, that can be
found from Russia to Spain. Their
Romanese language resembles some
dialects from Rajhastan and is, for the
most part, understood by the Gypsies
from region to region in present-day
Europe.
Other groups featured in the
Caravan include Antonio Pipa's
Flamenco Dance Company, which
entertains with guitar, dancing and
song and the Taraf de Haidouks. The
Kolpakov Trio from Russia will also
perform, featuring the flamboyant
seven-string guitarist, singer and
dancer, Sacha Kolpakov. The
Bulgarian Gypsy saxophonist Yuri
Yunakov will lead his six-person
ensemble, the Yuri Yunakov Ensemble,
in playing Bulgarian wedding band
music and the Turkish-influenced
Gypsy music of Bulgaria and
Macedonia.
One of the groups, the Taraf de
Haidouks, has the representation of
three generations within its 10-person
ensemble. Aged 18-74, the Romanian
musicians will flavor the concert with
energetic and soulful music from their
village of Clejani, where they've lived
for and from their music until the
release of their first album in 1991.
Taraf de Haidouks participated in
the film, "Latcho Drom," which traces
the history and migration of the Gypsy
musicians in India, Asia and Europe.
The festival will follow a similar for-
mat to this critically acclaimed film.
The Rroma people have been relent-
lessly persecuted throughout history
and repeatedly pushed to the fringes of
society. By hearing their culture
through their music and dance, an
awareness and appreciation can be fos-
tered for this often historically
oppressed group of people. Their
music is full of life and soul and the
Gypsy Caravan's tour in America is
allowing people to see a culture they
hardly ever hear or read about.
For tickets call the UMS Box Office at
764-2538 or purchase over the Web at
www.ums.org. They range from $22
to $34 but students can obtain Rush
tickets the day of the concert for $10.
MFA Dance
Thesis
Concert
Betty Pease Studio
Tomorrow through
Saturday 8 p.m.
rience.
In their the-
sis pieces, the
students have a
chance to con-
vey a personal
message. As a
result, the four
dances repre-
sent a variety
of styles.
" M o d e r n
dance can
encompass so
many different
things,"
individual can
"Elephant in the Dark" as a basis for
her group piece. The poem describes
five blindfolded people who have dif-
ferent experiences while seeing an ele-
phant for the first time. Langsner said
this demonstrates how people need to
come together to understand the whole
truth.
In comparison, three Matisse paint-
ings gave Imberski the idea for her
group dance. "I guess the message I
want to get across is to look at
Matisse's works again," she said. "It's
kind of an homage to him."
Following the paintings, the dance is
split into three movements, ranging
from meditative to tense to jubilant.
The last movement illustrates the joy in
Matisse's painting "The Dance.""I just
wanted to show an appreciation for the
form of dance," Imberski said. "I want
the audience to feel the same love of
movement I do"
Imberski's style involved transfer-
ring the distinctive forms in Matisse's
work to the stage. "I'm very shape-ori-
ented," she said. "I took certain shapes
directly from Matisse."
This approach to choreography dif-
fers from Hobbs' unique movements,
Langsner's flowing movements and
Francesco's focus on characters. "It's
definitely a good contrast from all
aspects," Imberski said.
The choreographers do share a more
personal interest in the solo dances.
Each one is performing their own cre-
ation. "The solo is difficult because
you have to create the solo yourself'
Langsner said. "It was a lot of search-
ing about what I wanted to express."
After spending time considering
their individual messages, the artists
blended their own choreography and
worked on publicity in order to create a
show. "We learned all the nuts and
bolts of putting a program on,"
Imberski said.
Imberski said. "Each
find their own niche in the modem
dance world."
At the concert, the dances differ as
much as the personalities involved.
The inspirations for the students'
choreography range from Catholic
Church communities to the literature
of Milan Kundera.
Langsner used the Rumi poem
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By Ed Shoiinsky
Daily Film Editor
The future is now for comedian Phil
LeMarr. LeMarr is voicing the character
Hermies Conrad in the new animated
series from Matt Groening, creator of
"The Simpsons," "Futurama."
Unlike the other strange humans,
aliens and robots populating the year
3000 in "Futurama," LeMarr said, "He's
in some way the normal one."
Nevertheless, he was still a member of
the Olympic Limbo Team.
Despite his past athleticism, LeMarr's
character serves a different function in
the show. "Every business needs a beu-
rocrat," LeMarr said of his recurring
role. "(Hermies)
is the closest thing
to an internal
authority ... the
Futurama voice of the estab-
lishment."
FOX LeMarr is not
new to voicing
Sunday at 8:30 p.m. animated charac-
ters. The "Mad
TV" star started
his career in high
school doing a
voice for the "Mr.
T" cartoon.
Though he has
been doing live action work on TV and
in films, LeMarr appreciates doing voic-
es for animated series. "Obviously
(doing a cartoon) you have to put on a lot
less make up," LeMarr said. LeMarr
said he also appreciates the fact that
there aren't any physical boundaries and
there's no rehearsal, not to mention that
he doesn't have to memorize lines.
Aso, LeMarr noted that working in
animation is much quicker for the actors,
despite the extraordinary amount of time
it takes to actually produce one episode.
Comparing his work on "Futurama"
with his work on "Mad TV" LeMarr said
"Futurama" "takes a full eight-hour dau
at most, (whereas) a full episode of'M d
TV' takes a full 40-hour week at least '
Despite his happiness with the work
he's done on "Futurama," LeMarr said
"Everyone is aware of how high the bar
has been set," referring to the inevitable
comparisions to "The Simpsons." This
doesn't overly concern LeMarr, though.
"I think the danger of that is offset by the
positive (associations)" with "The
Simpsons," he said.
LeMarr said that even though there's a
"weird sort of awe thing" surrounding
Groening, LeMarr also noted that
Groening "disarms that. There's no sort
of boss thing"
And now that LeMarr has finished
with this season of both "Futurama" and
"Mad TV" completed, "I'm in this weird
sort of limbo," he said. Still, LeMarr has
a smattering of upcoming film and TV
work. In addition to the film "Kill the
Man" from October Films, LeMarr is
also working on a couple of episodes of
"King of the Hill"'before getting to work
on the second season of"Futurama.
Of his future work, LeMarr is opti-
mistic. With a long running late night
show and a new primetime animated
series, LeMarr hopes his work is remem-
bered. "The majority of things are bad,
but we only remember the good stuff,"
he said.
We will help you get the interviews
4
have kept up their
Originating from the Rajasthani desert
in India, the Rroma people began their
migration through the Caucuses,
Turkey and North Africa into Europe
about 1,000 years ago.
Though most of the concert will
focus on European groups, the special
presence of Musafir, an ensemble
fm Rajasthan will lend a taste of the
'ginal Indian area music, including
the colorful Langas from the Thar
desert, the knife-wielding Kalbelyas
(female dancers) and the Saperas
(Gypsy dancers and singers).
Though the Rroma people often
took the religion of the country they
migrated to, they've kept up many old
Lhdian traditions, including an entire
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