The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, June 9, 1982-Page 9
Middle East dances exhibit exotic styles
(Continued from Page 8)
arrived armed with cameras with flash
attachments that they then proceeded
to use continuously throughout the per-
formance.
Every time a flash went off, the
surrounding rows were blinded for the
good part of a minute by the glare and
resultant afterimages. Miraculously,
none of the dancers fell after being
on the receiving end of this distracting
'$4 Revue'
entertains,
that's all
(Continued from Page 7)
stance; this was cabaret, something
just for fun.
SARCASTICES: I understand all
that; my question pertained to the
relevance. rather than the nature, of
such an effort.
JOHN Q: Now, Sarcastices, that is
really going rather far, don't you think?
If you subscribe, as I do, to the notion
that there is a time and place for
everything, why can't we find all your
significant-theatre stuff at the Univer-
sity Players' other offerings this sum-
mer, and then come to the revue for a
little rest and relaxation, so to speak?
SARCASTICES: That all depends, I
would imagine, upon whether or not we
do find "significant theatre" in the
other University offerings.
EJ: Now Sarcastices, I hope that
snideness is unworthy of you. Still, I
think I see your point: that without a
healthy prior dose of what John Q calls
"significant theatre," that is no excuse
for purely escapist theater either?
JOHN Q: Well, at any rate. so far as
I'm concerned, there's no excuse for
unsuccessful escapist theatre. Was the
revue a good one, EJ? It seems to me
you cagily never said so one way or the
other.
EJ: Well, in my humble opinion, the
quality of the material was rather
uneven, but those things that I men-
tioned were very amusing indeed. None
of it was particularly polished, mind
you, but it was sort of fun and goofy,
and all in all made for quite an en-
joyable evening.
And I think, Sarcastices, that our
friend John Q had a good point. The
great Dr. Johnson, whom you so ad-
mire, said of writing that its purpose
was to enable one better to enjoy life or
better to endure it. Why shouldn't that
be the purpose of the theatre as well?
There is always merit in being prodded
into thinking, whilst we are enjoying
ourselves, but then, we can't have
everything.
SARCASTICES: Well, I retire bloody
but unbowed. Now when is this epic
production taking place?
EJ: At approximately 10:30 p.m. in
the Michigan Room of the League,
every night during the run of The Glass
Menagerie (June 9th-12th) and The
Happy Huntsman (June 16th-19th).
Good God, I sound like a guidebook,
don't I?
JOHN Q: One might even say, a
' review.
EJ: A review! Heaven forbid! What a
nasty idea, to be sure! A review indeed!
attention. Not wanting to be confined to
their seats, camera holders ran back
and forth in front of the audience and
some even fanned out on either side of
the stage to snap away at dramatic
moments.
The piece de resistance to these in-
trusions occurred during the Ritual
Flame Dance when so many people
took flash photographs that the stage
was lit as bright as day and nary a
ritual flame could be seen.
Despite these intrusions, Troupe
Ta'Amullat transported its Ann Arbor
audience to the mythical world of Mid-
dle Eastern dance quite successfully.
The fact that the troupe could carry on
an entertaining and interesting per-
formance lasting two hours is
testimony to their new-found
professionalism and to the artistic
quality of their dance.
Daily Classifieds Bring Results
oSUffl1riUflversitY
t iummer sesson
jfl J'~June 30-Aug. 20
Undergraduate
(616) 383-1950
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-.-It's easy: If you're currently enrolled
in good standing at a college or
university in Michigan, you can use
a MACRO "guest student" application
(requires no transcript)-available at
your home school admissions or
sue. X'('registrar's office. Or call WMU for
.,o;, " . ,r.- , , ;.more information.
Registration continues through
June 29
*Or through WMU
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