Category: Student Organization

REVIEW: BEES the Musical

Angela Lin Leave a comment

Once again, NERDS has delivered a wonderfully poignant and hilarious musical with this semester’s performance of BEES the Musical.

Avery Fessenden played Charlotte “Charlie” Peppers, the daughter of big-time bee farmers in Honeyville. Her wonderful number “Buzzing On By” shows how she looks forward to moving on with her life by pursuing her dreams of being a detective. Though everyone questions and doubts these dreams, she becomes the newest recruit in the police department, and she’s instantly put on the big case of the missing bees. Her partner, Penelope Wright (Sam Dunlap), is abrasive and direct, a great contrast to Charlie’s gentle and optimistic demeanor. They butt heads when it comes to interrogation techniques, and their different backgrounds — Charlie from the successful agricultural side and Sam from the poorer industrial district — also act as a source of difference and tension.

However, as they are stumped from this crime, they realize that something must change in their partnership. The duets between Dunlap and Fessenden were particularly beautiful, their voices complementing each other’s wonderfully. From their first song together, “My Way or the Highway” to their song closing the first act, “Moving”, the two detectives evolve a long way, recognizing that teamwork and compromise is important when they share the same goal.

From the very beginning, the audience learns that Frank B. Napper (Perry Fiero) is the obvious criminal bee napper, an enjoyable twist of dramatic irony that made Fiero’s blatant panics when he is interrogated or suspects he’s close to being caught that much better. His “Bee Burglin’” song was catchy and amusing, as he scooped yellow ping pong balls with black stripes into a jar. His motives for stealing all the bees was simply to find his only friend, a black bee with yellow stripes, who ran away. This elicits sympathy from the audience, as well as Charlie and Penelope, who decide to not arrest him, which is unfortunate for womanizer Dustin (Sean Moore), who was framed for the crime.

This musical displayed compassion and friendship in the most humorous ways, from Chief Montana’s incompetence to Mr. Peppers’ fatherly figure. Probably the highlight of the musical was when Frank’s Bee (Dylan Beasley) emerged during “Bee-F-F (The Ballad of Frank B. Napper),” a lovely and heartwarming song that featured a beautiful fluttering and dancing human bee.

The ending romance of Charlie and Penelope was a beautiful cherry on top of overcoming differences and finding companionship. As Frank inherits Peppers Farms and is constantly surrounded by bees, and the two detectives continue to solve crime alongside each other, there’s a happy ending in Honeyville (except for Dustin, who is forgotten behind bars).

PREVIEW: BEES the Musical

Angela Lin Leave a comment

For NERDS’s winter semester musical, we enter the town of Honeyville, where everything revolves around bees and honey. When the town’s bees disappear, it is up to Charlotte Peppers and Penelope Wright to work together and find out who the bee napper is. BEES the Musical is a story about finding friends, finding similarities in differences, and, of course, finding the bees. The musical is this weekend, April 5 at 6pm and April 6 at 1pm and 6pm, in the Palmer Commons Forum Hall. Bee there or bee square.

REVIEW: That Brown Show

Neha Srinivasan 2 Comments

I was very excited to see That Brown Show, and so, it seems, was everybody else in the audience, because they were much more boisterous than usual. In most other settings, this would have been somewhat irritating (in some parts, the audience cheered so loudly that I could barely hear the music), but after attending so many Indian student performances, I’ve accepted that this exuberance is simply part of the show.

I think all the ensembles did a very nice job, but I know I’ve seen much better from some. Sahana Music could have been a little more balanced – the vocalists didn’t perform much, while there were several percussion solos – but I loved the harmonium solo. Taal is capable of far more than what the piece they performed let on. The storyline of their dance, Robin Hood, could have been more connected to their choreography. The choreography itself seemed more fit for a nightclub until they started incorporating movements inspired by Indian classical dance, which they performed much more gracefully. It is possible that this was a deliberate juxtaposition between the more graceful Merry Men and the decadent King Richard, but if so, a more obvious difference would have helped. The Michigan Bhangra team had, as always, a very energetic performance, and their movements were crisp and unified, even those of the handkerchiefs they were flicking around. I wish they hadn’t had a video playing in the background, because after I noticed it all it did was distract me. Michigan Manzil had a really cohesive performance, and I was amazed at the unison they displayed despite the throng of people onstage. Their storyline for the dance – 21 Jump Street – worked really well with their performance, and their style and energy remained consistent throughout even when they were blending moves from different genres of dance. Sahana Dance was my favorite: they did a beautiful job of blending the three styles of dance that were represented onstage. Often, they take turns highlighting each dance style, but this time they managed to dance at the same time, and it worked really well. And they had some really unique music choices (that transitioned well) and some beautiful geometric formations. Michigan Izzat, as per usual, had a really tight performance with their hallmark crisp movements and a very well implemented storyline. Someday, though, I’d like to see them do more lyrical movements. I think it would add a lot of range to their repertoire, and I know they’re skilled enough to perform them. Lastly, Wolveraas had some really lovely musicality and very consistent energy, and they didn’t let that slip even despite a couple minor mishaps. This year, TBS was a competition – why I don’t know, and I hope it isn’t actually going to happen annually – and Izzat won the audience’s vote.

Strangely, Hill Auditorium as a venue didn’t seem to help anyone. Somehow the sound seemed muffled, not as bright as usual, and that leeched energy from everybody’s performances. This was not helpful, because these performances require a lot of energy, and I realized then that not all of that can come from the performers. But that couldn’t really be helped. My last note, though, is something that can be fixed: I really wish they would get their tech together. There were some hiccups with videos, sound editing, and sound balance that seem to happen at every show, and I know those are things that are so easily fixed with some minor attention to detail.

REVIEW: Dance Mix 2019, Tropical Paradise

Minna W 1 Comment

This was my first time attending Dance Mix, and I was wowed. In many ways, the event felt like Acarush, the a cappella concert in September where 16 different student groups perform. At Dance Mix, fourteen groups performed: 2XS Michigan, Ambiance, Cadence, Element One, Encore, funKtion, Impact, K-Gayo-3, Michigan Ballroom, Michigan Manzil, Photonix, Revolution, Rhythm, and Salto. Each group approached their performance differently. Some used elements of humor, storytelling, Shrek’s movie soundtrack, or even lip-syncing.

It was a great event that showcased the variety of dance styles across campus. There was contemporary ballet, modern, hip hop (including breakdancing, funk, jazz, krump, and house), ballroom, tap, urban, k-pop, contemporary, jazz, bollywood, glowsticking, Chinese yo-yoing, etc. I never fully realized just how many different genres of dance there are.

I appreciated Dance Mix’s inclusivity of groups that might not otherwise be considered “dance” teams—such as Photonix and Revolution. Not everyone would consider glowsticking or Chinese yo-yoing as forms of dance, but I believe that they are. “Dance” means to move your body rhythmically and usually to music. Both performances by Photonix and Revolution exhibited musicality, and the performers achieved a high degree of skill in order to execute the complicated choreography. I have personally tried to twirl glowsticks but kept hitting myself instead of synchronizing my left and right hands. Now I appreciate the difficulty level of Photonix’s routines so much more.

A fun observation that I made was that there was a lot of collaboration across different groups. I often saw dancers appear in multiple performances. There was even one performance where two groups came together, coordinated costumes, and danced together.

One of the most enjoyable parts of the show was the energy in the room. Often, audience members would scream and cheer on their friends who were performing, or whistle when they were impressed by what was happening on stage. I noticed that the energy generally peaked when the performers exhibited striking skill and/or musicality. When a dancer’s sharp movements match the beats in a song, it’s pure magic. One of the performances with the most striking musicality was Cadence’s “Rain Dance.” Dancers’ crisp motion synchronized with the sound of rain drops. It was enchanting to watch.

Other aspects I valued in the performances was how they challenged and reshaped ideas on “masculine” or “feminine” movement and clothes. Dance Mix celebrated self-expression that traversed across both sets of gender norms. It was an encouraging space where performers could show off who they were and convey their emotions and passion to an audience. I loved seeing how each dance group embodied culture, community, and self-expression.

I’ll be back next year.

 

(Promotional video that gives you a snippet of the performance)

REVIEW: Yoni Ki Baat

Nisa Khan Leave a comment

It is unique to have a space centered around women of color and only women of color. It is a space to be vulnerable, powerful, and truthful.

Yoni Ki Baat– which loosely translates from Hindi as “Talks of the Vagina”– is a show that centers around these women, whose voices are often stifled. 

Inspired by The Vagina Monologues, YKB started off for South Asian women. At the University of Michigan branch, the organization expanded to a larger array of diverse performers.

Before the monologues kicked off, there was an art gallery for audiences to observe. Artists were able to talk about their work and explain what inspired them, which added another layer to the gallery. The artwork was presented through a slideshow in Rackham auditorium, but I found it much more effective to view it in person and actually seen the work up close.

The monologues themselves ranged from deeply heart-wrenching to thought-provoking to humorous. The topics varied: stories about first love, war, objectification of women— all specifically tailored to how it affected their lives as well as perceptions of women of color. The performers of Yoni Ki Baat approached their stories with a nuance that is demanded of the space and the topic at hand.

In return, Yoni Ki Baat demands you to be empathetic, kind, thoughtful, comfortable, uncomfortable, and reflective. I was struck by the emotion that came from the performers and the hours of love and work that clearly went into the presentation. Yoni Ki Baat is a crucial organization that fulfill a vital role on this campus and you should absolutely head out to their next production!

PREVIEW: That Brown Show

Neha Srinivasan Leave a comment

I’m excited to go to That Brown Show again this year; it’ll be my fourth time, I think. Every year the Indian student performance groups come up with something totally new, which means you never quite know what you’ll see. But they are always consistent in the high quality of work they present, and their dedication to their art. And every year what the show does best is highlight India’s bright colors, vibrancy, and our deep love for our culture.

 

That Brown Show will be held in Hill Auditorium on March 30, 2019. The performance runs from 7-9pm; doors open at 6. Tickets can be found here.