The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Friday, November 1, 2013 - 5
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, November 1, 2013 - 5
A spooky playlist
Ballet Preljocaj to
craft fresh aesthetic
Yes, I'm well aware that
Halloween was offi-
cially last night. But
really, what are holidays, besides
excuses to get even drunker than
usual? And
everyone
knows that
the hardcore
partying gets
done on the
weekend,
as we don
our last and ELLIOT
greatest ALPERN
costumes
to toast to
another Halloween successfully
celebrated.
And yet, putting together the
playlist for your classic Halloween
party is harder than it sounds.
Sure,you'd assume,justthrow
on some "Monster Mash" and
other long-time classics together,
and put iton shuffle. But when
the ghosts are dancing at zombie
pace, and the zombies are passed
out in boredom from another play
through of the "Mash,"you'll real-
ize that it's harder than it looks.
' So, with that in mind, here are a
few suggestions...
"Superstition" by Stevie
Wonder
I list this first because, to me,
it's arguably the most important
track to include. Look, I know
- it's not the kind of song that will
have everyone jumping with
ecstasy - but it serves a vital
function. "Superstition" is the
change of pace, when we're tired
of horror-themed rap and time-
less classics. The drums start
us off, drawing in those curious
about what Billboard-topper this
could be. But then that classic
guitar lick starts up, and even
the freshmen will start grooving
(if they managed to make it in,
that is).
"Monster" by Kanye West
I shouldn't have to explain too
much why "Monster" is a Hal-
loween staple. Terror-striking
rap hit? Jay-Z spitting lines
aboutgoblins and ghouls? Add
this, and don't think twice about
it. ("Black Skinhead" deserves
a mention here, with some seri-
ously ominous drums giving way
to a tense, dark beat.)
"DARE" or "All Alone" by
Gorillaz
"DARE" is the bigger hit here,
so it makes sense that this is
the Gorillaz song you want to
add. It works well enough as a k
dance track, while still build-
ing that creepy vibe as forlorn
vocals fade into the background
(and, for the record, the video
is pretty damn strange). "All
Alone" can't be ignored though
- that first guitar bait sounds
like a villain's entrance song, yet
it's fast enough to feel the beat
through the floorboards. And is
there anything scarier than truly
being all alone?
Anything from the "Moon"
side of the Bravery's The Sun
and the Moon
If you're alt-oriented, defi-
nitely go for the "Moon Version"
of the Bravery's better hits.
"Believe" adds a spooky organ
that feels like an Addams Family
rock special, and "This Is Not
the End" brings ina subtly scary
guitar line. It's as if the Brav-
ery wanted its own Halloween
album, and simply added it as a
B-side.
A remix of"Thriller" by
Michael Jackson
Everyone plays "Thriller" as
their centerpiece at Halloween
- your friends, your co-workers,
your grandma. And likewise,
everyone expects it. But puta
party veteran's twist on it -
maybe try to finda dubstep ver-
sion, or at least something with
synths that bust through during
the chorus. No more minute-
and-a-half where we awkwardly
dance to the narrator's ending
monologue, at the very least.
"Scatta" and "Scary Monsters
and Nice Sprites" by Skrillex
I mean, the latter has the
word "monster" right in the title!
I know it's a bit stale by now, but
hey, maybe it's finally old enough
to makea resurgence. If not, at
least add "Scatta" - whatever
that is in the background that
sounds like an electronic organ
gives it that tense Halloween
flavor.
"Crying Lightning" and "R
U Mine?" by the Arctic Mon-
keys; "Howlin' for You" by the
Black Keys
This is where it gets down
more to personal preference, but
as some rock filler for the playl-
ist, these three serve equally
well. The Arctic Monkeys have
mastered, among other things,
the ability to infuse a song with
some darkness. "R U Mine?" off
their latest album is definitely
the faster of the two, but if you're
looking more for an atmosphere
of midnight hijinks, "Crying
Lightning" slinks around well
enough. "Howlin' For You" is
another obvious add as a sinister
track with some pretty blatant
imagery (with the "Howlin"'
part, at least).
"Monster Mash" by Bobby
Pickett
Just kidding. Seriously, if
any party moves from Kanye to
Bobby without an apology, you
have the right - nay, the duty -
to leave immediately.
With evena few of these,
you'll have a solid core - onto
which many of you will no doubt
pile on the Miley and Katy Perry.
But whatever - I've done my
job here. And with a little luck,
maybe while I'm walking from
one party to the next, I'll hear
the notes from "Superstition"
carry on the wind. If so, maybe
I'll take the moment to dedicate
a little groove to you. And then
I'll be back on my scary way.
Alpern is hating on 'Monster
Mash.' To argue with him,
e-mail ealpern@umich.edu.
Artistic director
talks apocalypse,
human experience
By GILLIAN JAKAB
For the Daily
There is a space between
classical ballet and modern
dance, between elegant danc-
ers with pink
tutus, white And Then,
tights and One
pointe shoes
in Marius Thousand
Petipa's "Swan Yearsof
Lake" and
black body- Peace
suited, bare- Saturday
footed dancers and Sunday
in a Martha at 8 p.m
Graham piece. ap
This space is power Center
occupied by
the genre of From $18
modern ballet,
combining the rules of classi-
cal balletic training with a con-
viction to bend and twist them
into a movement vocabulary
outside of the conventional
format. One of modern ballet's
masters, Angelin Preljocaj, the
artistic director of Ballet Prel-
jocaj, will bring his company to
the Power Center this weekend
as part of UMS's fall season.
Preljocaj was trained in clas-
sical ballet in France, and in
1980, moved to New York to
study with post-modern danc-
ers like Merce Cunningham.
Today, in addition to having his
own renowned company based
in Aix-en-Provence, Preljocaj
often receives commissions to
choreograph works for ballet
companies around the world,
including, recently, New York
City Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet
and Staatsoper Berlin.
The company will perform
"And Then, One Thousand
Years of Peace," drawn from
the biblical text of St. John's
"The Book of Revelation," and
explore apocalyptic themes
against a background of origi-
nal techno music to portray a
universal response to upheaval.
"And Then, One Thousand
Years of Peace" was originally
choreographed for the Bol-
shoi Ballet in 2010. The danc-
ers involved, and the cultures
they come from, undoubtedly
shaped Preljocaj's choreo-
graphic process.
"It was half my dancers and
half those of the Bolshoi Bal-
let," Preljocaj said, "And I
think of 'And Then, One Thou-
sand Year of Peace' (as meant)
to reflect revolution, which of
course has been a huge theme
in histories of both France and
Russia."
In 2012, Ballet Preljocaj left
a lasting impression on UMS's
audience with its performance
of "Snow White." The com-
pany's timely encore will show
us another side of Preljocaj's
work.
"'Snow White' was a more
literal telling of a story," Prel-
jocaj said. " 'And Then, One
Thousand Years of Peace' is
less of a direct commentary;
it draws on a relationship
between the text of St. Jean,
'Revelations' and the relevance
of what is happening in our
world today."
Global dialogue on the apoc-
alypse is as diverse and wide-
spread as ever. With the Mayan
calendar's prediction of the end
of the world in 2012, the loom-
ing threats of global warming
and nuclear proliferation, the
theme is a common one for peo-
ple throughout the world. Prel-
jocaj does not assert a pointed
thesis, but works to channel
this collective dialogue to pro-
voke a response.
"What's particularly power-
ful about dance as an art form
is that everyone has bodies,
and therefore everyone can feel
and connect to these physical
human responses."
Ballet Preljocaj, a true illus-
tration of modern ballet, aims
to create a fresh aesthetic
with virtuosic dancers and the
edgy music one might hear in
a nightclub. In fact, Laurent
Garnier, who created the music
for "And Then, One Thousand
Years of Peace," first worked as
a DJ in the legendary nightclub
Fac 51 Hacienda in Manchester,
and is among Europe's fore-
most techno and house music
producers.
,"I think Laurent Garnier's
electronic techno music will
talk to young people," Preljo-
caj said. "It is not typical ballet
music like Tchaikovsky."
Returning to Ann Arbor time
and time again, Ballet Preljocaj
performs works as textured
and forward thinking as the
University community audi-
ence.
"And Then, One Thousand
Years of Peace" will present
the challenge of feeling what is
conceptual - grand notions of
global dilemma and social jus-
tice - on a physical and intui-
tively human level.
Diaz owns 'The Counselor'
By SEAN CZARNECKI
DailyFilmEditor
"TheCounselor"makesnocom-
promises. Laden with musicality,
it belts out the biblical language
of Cormac
McCarthy (his A-
first screenplay)
that other adap- The
tations of his Counselor
work deemed
too demand- At Qualityl6
ing for the and Rave
screen. Here,
the screenplay 20th Century Fox
acts as both the
film's strength
and downfall. It aspires to tran-
scribe the famed author's gnomic
aesthetic to screen with as few
compromises as possible. Where
others will call "The Counselor"
pretentious, I call it bold. I call
it relentless. This is a film at its
best when steeped in eloquence
and dread, when it's like the
- whole vengeful universe is being
brought to bear on one man's fate.
The Counselor (Michael Fass-
bender, "12 Years a Slave") is in
trouble. To get out of trouble, the
specifics of which are left murky,
he finds a way to make money fast.
His associates think badly of the
proposition. They make prophetic
warnings of the danger he'd put
himself into, meddling in a busi-
ness responsible for thousands of
deaths in Mexico.
Of course, he doesn't listen. One
time deal? Not a chance.
Long renowned for his delib-
erate pacing, Ridley Scott ("Pro-
metheus") has crafted a movie
stringent in explanation. You
don't get the gentle signposts with
which most thrillers pamper you.
He piles on scenes that peek like
a voyeur into a cartel drug ship-
ment journeying from Juarez to
Chicago whereon each mile north-
ward lessensyourcomplicity.Guilt
is diffused, and the powder sold to
you is white and bloodless.
"The Counselor" plays out like
the canticle of some nameless
religion. At one point, a character
talks about snuff films: By watch-
ing one, you are complicit in its
product
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the real word around that If not the goddess of the story,
McCarthy border between Diaz carries at least its spirit.
and the United States, a She is its prophetess. She bears
that is as literary as it is no remorse for the weak. Sur-
phical. It reminds you of vival is her endeavor, and sav-
son-Dixon Line on which agery her nature. She flaunts
h great American literature her gold tooth, her painted eyes,
s - scene by scene, borne the colors of her clothes, strad-
ver. dling Ferraris, like some garish
cell as musing on moral- beast relishing in the chase and
I the human soul, Scott the sinking of teeth and blood
s consistent with the and violence. Down her back
ork of his career when it stretches the tattooed spots of
to setting: desert land- a cheetah. For being known as
desolate and laid waste, a "man's man" 's writer, McCar-
es erected in the middle thy sure cooked up one hell of a
, the cold concrete of Lon- female character.
inematographer Dariusz Now, having said all those
, who worked with Scott nice things, for all the scenes of
ometheus," offers some of extraordinary quality in "The
t work to date. With his Counselor," there are others more
t there be no doubt Scott's cumbersome. Every once in a
texture endures in equal while comes aline the actors seem
h as it did when we lan- to tongue around in their mouths
d under the rain in "Blade and what'spouts out is cluttered
," when we battled on the and tone-deaf; they just can't hit
f the Coliseum in "Gladi- those cadences. These scenes
make you cringe. Because of the
film's unrelenting literary aspira-
tions, a couple of lines exchanged
A bold between Fassbender and his
fiance (Penelope Cruz, "To Rome
reenwriting with Love") amount to some of
rethe oddest pillow talk you've ever
debut for heard. The jargon and high-mind-
ed speech fused so well in his nov-
Ve Carthy. els mix poorly here. Furthermore,
the character of McCarthy's writ-
ing, which drives a rift between
the audience and the characters,
the performances of this willijar most viewers.
Fassbender's eyes flashed This is a film that resists you.
ously in "Shame," but It doesn't bend to convention; it
ounselor" riffs on that doesn't behave. But do not think
confidence, rendering it I'm designating myself Savior of
eadlong naivety. Always some Tradition I believe worth
of archetypal characters, continuing. I'm not so presump-
thy leaves the Counselor tuous to assert this film will
ss, devaluing the individ- grow in importance as "Blade
vier Bardem ("No Coun- Runner" has. No, "The Coun-
Old Men") ponders the selor" will find a niche audience
ability of women and the of McCarthyites and philosophi-
s in which he's embroiled cal nuts, who will undoubtedly
ccentricity and perver- force it onto others, who will
rad Pitt ("Killing Them bear their complaints with a
) lords over coolness. But pretentious, shrugging oh, who
measure of extravagance will rejoice at the one, maybe
'arlessness, this movie two converts.
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