28 - Thursday, Jarnuary 6, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 28 - Thursday, January 6, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom The year in arts events "(Re)Visionary Dances" Feb. 4-7 Power Center The Dance Department started off 2010 with a bang, show- casing its technical virtuosity and impressive artistic utility in a concert featuring original debuts by dance professors Amy Chavasse, Jessica Fogel and Sandra Torijano, and as a restag- ing of prominentAmerican modern choreographer Paul Taylor's "Le Sacre du Printemps" (The Rehearsal). The University Dance Company displayed a remarkable range of talent as it tackled works both old and new. "Le Sacre du Printemps" was restaged in honor of Taylor's 80th birthday and displayed a fresh outlook on Taylor's renowned choreography while remaining trueto the original work. In addition to commemorating a classic compo- sition, the company reminded the audience of its strong voice and originality in the refreshingly innovative faculty pieces. The concert set the tone for what turned out to be an impressive sea- son for the department. -ERIN STEELE "The San Francisco Symphony" March 8 Hill Auditorium The audience at Hill Auditorium went wild after the last heav- enly chord of Gustav Mahler's massive Second Symphony rang out. In honor of the composer's 150th birthday, the combined San Francisco Symphony and University Musical Society Choral Union - both Grammy Award-winning ensembles - crowded the stage of Hill Auditorium under the baton of world-renowned Maestro Michael Tilson Thomas. Spectacle was the theme: Before the performance, President Mary Sue Coleman awarded Tilson Thomas and the SFS the honor of UMS Distinguished Art- ist Award. Thomas then went on to lead an army of choir mem- bers, orchestra players and two female soloists in a masterfully handled interpretation of Mahler's epic "Resurrection" sympho- ny. The conductor brought out all of the emotional complexities of the 90-minute work - its luscious romance, a sense of over- whelming frustration and the religious ecstasy of the final choral movement. -JOE CADAGIN "A Very Potter Sequel May 14-16 Walgreen Drama Center Fans, cameras and enthusiastic mayhem descended upon sum- mer's sleepy Studio One last May to an intoxicating effect. The reason? The highly anticipated "A Very Potter Sequel," a musi- cal martini with a comical twist inspired by the "Harry Potter" series and concocted by Team StarKid, a theatrical production group made up of University students and alumni. The musical was posted on YouTube in July, racking up over a million views since that time. 'U' alum Darren Criss (who has recently gained fame as Blaine on "Glee") starred as Harry and also wrote the hit music and lyrics. The tight bond between the group of writ- ers, producers and actors stood out like Potter's lightning bolt scar, so character interactions rather than punchline jokes cre- ated soaring laughs. Despite the humor, "AVPS" was no parody. The writers shared a love of "Harry Potter," illustrating that the series is a genuine treasure to our generation. -ADDE SHRODES "UMMA Projects: Jacob Kolding" July 31 - Oct. 24 Walgreen Drama Center Berlin-based Jakob Kolding juxtaposed urban structures with images of skateboarders and breakdancers in multimedia collages of urbanity for his UMMA Projects exhibit. The artist, who has a background in sociology, explored the contradictions in how modern, urban spaces are planned and used. His thought- provoking collages contained diverse materials: black-and-white images, cityscape photos, patterned paper cut into phrases and his own drawings. Themes of urban decay and inner-city revitaliza- tion were also featured in the exhibit. Images of trees and grass were often collaged to poke through concrete, reflecting the blur between urban decline and renewal. Kolding drew inspiration from Detroit for this exhibit, and some of his new collage works featured his own photos of Detroit spaces, making the exhibit of particular interest to Detroit-area audiences in Ann Arbor. -ADDIE SHRODES "Gibson Fleck" Nov. 18-21 Arthur Miller Theatre While audiences are accustomed to experiencing works by William Shakespeare and Richard Rodgers and Oscar Ham- merstein It, as well as other notable names, the School of Music, Theatre & Dance's "Gibson Fleck" reminded University audiences that talent can be found at home. "Gibson Fleck" is an original piece of musical theater conceived by three musical theatre majors (the book was written by junior Ali Gordon and music and lyrics by seniors A. J. Holmes and Carlos Valdes). This beautiful and "homemade" production incorporated folk rock alongside other more familiar musical theater sounds to assist in telling the story of a young man who is searching for a place of his own. -DANIEL CARLIN Viral videos: 2010's top time wasters - Antoine Dodson Every once in a while, a sound bite comes along that just exists to be Auto-Tuned. The summer news clip of Huntsville, Ala.' native Antoine Dodson warning against bed intruders is a perfect example. Dodson's public service announcement advising viewers to hide their kids and wives (and husbands, too) is almost pain- fully catchy. His distinct phrases, like "climbin' in yo' windows, snatchin' yo' people up" are funny enough, but add the enraged body language and intense eye contact with the camera and you have a recipe for Internet stardom. The original clip is equally funny, if only because we've heard the addictive musical version. Essentially, there isn't anyone who disliked this video. But if you did, we gon' find you. -PROMA KHOSLA "Single Ladies Devastation" What's not to love about this video? It has all the right compo- nents for a successful and funny home video, including a catchy pop song, little kids singing and dancing and a cute young Asian boy throwing a fit. As the little kid instantly goes from jubilant to wailing when told that he is not a single lady and shouldn't sing the song, it's hard not love every second of the video. Whether this was really just a precious family moment caught-on tape or a common occurrence for the little boy is hard to tell. But really, it doesn't matter. Fake or real - that boy is just too dang cute. After watching this, it's clear that everyone should be allowed to jam out to Beyonc6 - single, female or neither. -LINDSAYHURD the greatest advertising ploys ever devised. Old Spice was the first to use new media (whatever that is) to interact with its fans in a genuinely meaningful way. From the original ads to the del- uge of videos responding to viewers, Mustafa and Old Spice con- quered the Internet in manly fashion. -JAMIE BLOCK 0 0 "This Too Shall Pass" Music Video Most viral videos are one-hit wonders; in time, we forget the people behind them and move on. The exact opposite is true of pop-rock sensation OK Go's consistently amazing music vid- eos. "This Too Shall Pass" not only upholds the brilliance we've come to expect since "End Love" and "Here It Goes Again" but tops it in terms of originality and execution. The video is one mesmerizing shot of the band in a warehouse; surrounded by a continuous machine that eventually splatters the four musi- cians with brightly colored paint. It's nothing short of transfix- ing, a feat of physics and cinematography that you can't help watching through to the end every time you click on the link. Other bands could learn from OK Go's creativity - one thing we sincerely hope does not pass. -PROMA KHOSLA Double Rainbow Two rainbows, one man. And then, that one man's uncondition- al joy at witnessing such a beautiful thing of nature. The "Double Rainbow" video was first uploaded in January and gained expo- nential popularity in the year that followed. Some loved it, some thought it was stupid, some overheard it and thought it was porn. Regardless, the "double rainbow guy" - less commonly known as Paul Vasquez - became an internet celebrity and embraced his newfound fame so much so that he was interviewed everywhere from CBS News to "Jimmy Kimmel Live" to sex and relation- ships website nerve.com ("Sex Advice From The Double Rain- bow Guy"). At three-and-a-half minutes, the detailed account of Vasquez's overzealous reaction to a double rainbow never gets old. It's beautiful, all the way. -PROMA KHOSLA Old Spice Ad Campaign It began with a simple instruction: "Look at your man, now back to me." Well, it didn't take long for all of America to do just that, and when they looked back, they liked what they saw. Old Spice's "Man Your Man Could Smell Like" campaign - featur- ing the beautiful, divine, elegant, dragon-taming, feral, gentle, loving, hilarious and muscular creature that is Isaiah Mustafa - achieved astonishing hype from the masses, inspiring one of 0 Five best singles of'1O Cee-Lo Green "Fuck You" An unlikely trend in recent years has birthed songs like OutKast's "Hey Ya!" and Amy Winehouse's "Rehab." These Grammy-winning, chart-topping tracks have roots in Motown- influenced rhythm and blues, but transcend that listening audi- ence with sing-along choruses that createultimate appeal. With a tambourine flick, Cee-Lo adds a bit of vulgarity to this canon, accompanied by a couple of organ chords, vitally contagious rhythm guitar and some snarky back-up singers. At its core, "Fuck You" is a statement song. Not only do the lyrics address the problem of shallow, gold-digging ex-girlfriends, but the song's very existence as a Top-10 hit confronts its Auto-Tune-obsessed peers, who substitute the compelling instrument arrangements of yesteryear for the same stale beats that are cut and pasted from each fleeting and forgettable track. So no matter how your musical compass orients itself, don't be ashamed to embrace this instant classic - it's undeniably the year's best song. -DAVID RIVA Kanye West "Runaway" How nice for Kanye West that after simply hearing the same lone piano note repeated three times over and then once more at a lower octave, millions of listeners instantly knew it was him. That's all it takes; the repetition a half-step below just proves it. Toasting douchebags at the 2010 VMAs just a year after West's (arguably) biggest douche move ever at the 2009 show, "Run- away" gave us all the Yeezy bravado we could hope for in 2010.It also gave us all the Yeezy not-quite-apologies we never thought we'd hear - plus that excellent line about the emailed penis pic - all over that same four-note motif. Piano is all about pushing the right keys at the right time, and Kanye West is so used to pushing buttons that hitting the same one three times is all it takes for him to make heads turn. nated the charts. She took a few seemingly played-out cliches and turned them into a dreamy; nostalgicromp on the beach to which anyone who has ever had a crush can relate. The track is a simple love song with low expectations ("You think I'm pretty without any makeup on / You think I'm funny when I tell the punch line wrong") as it drifts along until Perry explodes with passion for her ideal lover. "Teenage Dream" appealed to the lowest common denominator in all of us. She made a quiet, uni- versal dream a triumphant reality. 0 -CASSIE BALFOUR Arcade Fire "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)" Despite all of its successes, The Suburbs has one obvious, glaring flaw. "Sprawl II" in particular brought to light just how underused and underappreciated Regine Chassagne truly is. The wife of frontman Win Butler and occasional vocalist deliv- ered her most memorable performance to date on a song about being silenced in the face of an unbreakable yet non-tyrannical repression. The protagonist describes her mall-ridden, clock- in-clock-out surroundings as a source of creative stagnation, similar to the artistic restraints that have been unintentionally imposed on Chassagne over time. How's that for art imitating real life? Thematic and lyrical content aside, the track is musi- cally significant because it marks Arcade Fire's first foray into disco. A thumping beat lays the groundwork for the seven-piece group to crescendo in its signature anthemic style, and a darkly colored breakdown makes way for a hopeful coda, encapsulat- ing the grim and uplifting ping-ponging of the album. -DAVID RIVA Vampire Weekend "Giving Up The Gun" Katy Perry "Teenage Dream Tracks with heavy rotation on mainstrear have a lot of longevity. Katy Perry's seeming "Teenage Dream" had a guileless charm th oversexed party track that saturates the Top refrain "we'll be young forever" struck a few -SHARONJACOBS The Upper East Side band of prepsters - Vampire Weekend - is known for producing some lyrically challenging, but unbe- lievably catchy tunes. Though listeners may get tongue-tied try- ing to spit out the words, "Giving Up The Gun," from the band's second album, Contra, includes mesmerizing piano plinks, a I" call-and-response hook and a music video cameo by Jake Gyl- lenhaal in tennis shorts - come on, isn't that just what every m radio don't often great indie single needs? Ezra Koenig's charming vocals with a gly clich6-laden hit Greek Bouzouki sound creates a light, airy atmosphere with a at outlasted every hint of sophistication. Clearly, Vampire Weekend keeps it classy 40. Perry's wistful - yet again. chords and domi- -ARIELLE SPECINER WANT TO MAKE YOUR OWN - BEST-O0F-TH E-YEAR LISTS? Come to the Daily's mass meetings on January 13, 17 and 19 at 7:30 p.m. at 420 Maynard St. to learn how to apply. 0