Category: Dance

PREVIEW: Julian Allen Senior Recital

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Julian Allen Senior Recital

It’s recital season. This means that every venue in Ann Arbor is jam packed with parents, friends, and artistic talent on any given day of the month. On Saturday April 27th, The Yellow Barn hosts the Julian Allen Senior Recital. A musician in the School of Music, this performance will feature original music and lyrics by Julian Allen and multi-media collaboration with local artists. Both jazz and electronic, vocals and rap, this dynamic and varied recital will explore a number of themes, techniques, and messages. In conjunction with Dance BFA student Julia Smith-Eppsteiner, local hip-hop artists Tree City and Kadence, and a number of U-M School of Music students and alum, this performance will run the gamut of Ann Arbor talent. The show starts at 6 pm. The Yellow Barn is located on 416 W. Huron Street. See you there!

REVIEW: UMGASS presents Pirates of Penzance or, The Slave of Duty

Kayla Silverstein

Friday night, I had the privilege of seeing UMGASS’s presentation of Pirates of Penzance, or The Slave of Duty. It was such a great show – whimsical, cheery, and largely optimistic, I am officially an avid fan of UMGASS and the work that they do.

The play itself was actually pretty similar to what I was expecting for my first Gilbert and Sullivan show. The humor worked on so many levels. There was, of course, the absurdity of pirates in this bizarre setting in Cornwall, the main character Frederic having an identity crisis and wondering what a “true beautiful woman is” when all he has known is his charming yet elderly guardian Ruth, and of course who could forget the Major-General, an attested genius who asserts the depth of his knowledge while insulting his own at the same time. The whole concept is absolutely crazy.

The other operating level of humor was of course that of intellectually-based, political satire. Beginning with a rendition of “God Save the Queen,” audience participation insisted, we are immediately placed in a time period where everyone respects, yet mocks the queen to which they serve. Not to mention the lyrics of the songs are all at once brilliant and thought-provoking. It is almost too much to see it once and understand all that is going on in the show.

Job well done to the fine folks at UMGASS – can’t wait for what’s next!

REVIEW: GROOVE

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GROOVE

On Friday night, the student group Groove put on an energetic, fast paced performance in the Michigan Theater. The bi-annual event has a different theme each year and this season the subtitle was “Innocent Until Groovin’ Guilty.” The evening opened with a spoof film of a criminal case in which Groove members were prosecuted for making too much noise. The convicts were detained in a cell and when they were finally freed, they sprang forth from the silver screen onto the stage and began drumming with spirit. Using non-traditional instruments, such as garbage cans, bicycles, ladders, umbrellas, newspaper, and more, the show turned regular objects on their heads and made them entertaining in a whole new way. The performers also demonstrated their talent with traditional instruments, like guitar, drum set, electric violin, and keyboard. Each scene told a story using a variety of wild costumes and lots of bold singing and acting. One of the funniest sketches was a rap battle between two sections of a middle school band in which the lyrics spoofed off of popular rap songs but using lyrics associated with pre-pubescence and the terrible awkwardness of middle school. Another memorable sketch was a play on the James Bond theme, where some Groove members were taken hostage while others came to the rescue, all the while hammering away a beat.

The audience was totally packed and seemed to love every second of the show. It takes a lot for a student group to pack a full house at the Michigan Theater!  Some fans were also there to support to opening acts, EnCore and Rhythm student dance groups, as well as interluding musicians James Cornelison and Julian Allen.  The exciting evening concluded with a sentimental- albeit comedic- farewell to the senior Groovers as well as an audience shout out from a large sum of Groove alumni who had returned to Ann Arbor for the special event. It was a totally energetic evening, full of comedy, musical talent, and pure entertainment.


PREVIEW: Who is Luther Burbank?

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Who is Luther Burbank?

WHO IS LUTHER BURBANK?– a new piece in eighteen parts. Three students from a variety of arts related disciplines have teamed up to create an original work of experimental theater. Willie Filkowski, an Interarts Performance major, Corey Smith, a composition major, and Nola Smith, a dancer major, have designed an extracurricular, innovative performance involving a variety of curious media: “dancing, text, video, original music, potatoes, prizes, costume changes, a LOT of dirt.” Inspired by a 1914 found text, Our Wonder World Vol. X: The Quiz Book, the collaborative event will entertain and puzzle, but ultimately answer the questions “Who is Luther Burbank?”

Presented with support from Basement Arts and Arts at Michigan, “WILB?” will run Thursday April 18-Saturday April 20. Performances are FREE and begin at 7 pm each night, with an additional late show at 11 pm on Friday the 19th. The show will be held in the Walgreen Drama Center on North Campus. See you there!

REVIEW: DANCE MFA Looking Back, Moving Forward

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DANCE MFA Looking Back, Moving Forward

This weekend, dance MFA candidates J. Lindsay Brown and Jessica post showcased their year long choreographic projects. The first half of the piece included live string and brass instruments (composed performed by Music school MFA’s). The piece featured three undergraduate dancers who performed a narrative about movement and the human condition. The stage was designed such that there were three sides to it. During intermission, the chairs were moved and the second half of the performance took place with audience members watching from all four sides of the room. The second piece told the non traditional versions of several well known fairy tales, including Rapunzel and Sleeping beauty. The reenactment seemed to be made of a collage of ancient renditions as well as contemporary ones, like Disney. Again, this piece featured undergraduate dancers. It was exciting to see such an experimental performance in such a familiar setting. I greatly  enjoyed both the stories the pieces told as well as the steely technique they exhibited.

PREVIEW: UMGASS presents, Pirates of Penzance

Kayla Silverstein

April 11-14 the University of Michigan’s Gilbert & Sullivan Society will present Pirates of Penzance; or The Slave of Duty at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theater in the Michigan League. Now, I have never seen a Gilbert & Sullivan Society production, so I am very much looking forward to seeing this one. Pirates of Penzance is always one of those shows that high schoolers put on…or attempt to put on…so I feel like it’s an important one to see done for real, you know? According to the UMGASS website, Pirates of Penzance is the only G&S show to premier in the United States, due to a desire to upstage a show of theirs that was “pirated” by a bunch of other companies throughout the United States shortly before the arrival of Pirates on Broadway. They succeeded, and Pirates of Penzance is one of the duos most well-known and restaged productions! A story of both adventure and love, this play is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat – perhaps laughing, perhaps cringing, but, nonetheless, entertained.

For more information, tickets, etc., check out UMGASS at their website here!