Dance means different things to different people. To some, it is ballet or classical dance forms full of graceful movements. To some, it is an expression of their reaction to music- hip-hop, jazz dance, tap dance,etc. To others like me who are not so graceful or particularly born to dance, it is a fun way to exercise. And to some, like Sankai Juku’s founder Ushio Amagatsu, it is butoh.
Ushio Amagatsu
According to Amagatsu, the dance form of butoh represents “a dialogue with gravity”. Be it ballet, hip-hop, Irish dance or any other dance, gravity defying movements are a huge focus of modern-day dance. But butoh is about “sympathisizing with gravity” (to quote Amagatsu) and thus it comprises of entirely different set of movements.
What I feel Sankai Juku's butoh symbolises- embracing the call of gravity
Sankai Juku will be performing the work “Hibiki: resonance from Far Away”, at the Power Center this weekend. Be prepared for stunning imagery and some inventive and impressive choreography.
Show times:
Saturday, October 23 | 8 pm
Sunday, October 24 | 2 pm
Power Center
Tickets @ the Michigan League Ticket Office; more info on the UMS webpage
The Magic Stick in Detroit is the kind of venue in which one could live a fulfilling life without ever leaving. Downstairs: bowling, pizza, theater. Upstairs: cozy music venue, bar, billiards, deck with (another) bar.
Despite the amenities, I hadn’t been to a show that more than half-filled the Magic Stick. This show finally did it. The night began with Casino vs. Japan, a minimal electronic act celebrating a recent reissue on semi-local Moodgadget Records. I was surprised to see Casino vs. Japan on the bill, not only because the music is very different from the other two acts, but because minimal electronic music usually doesn’t lend itself well to live performances. And as I arrived towards the end of the set, my suspicions were confirmed: pale dude behind a laptop wearing a beanie.
The gathering crowd showed appreciation, and towards the end of the set I realized that this type of music could fill an important role on a split bill like this one. Rather than the typical classic rock and stale pop piped in through the PA as the crowd assembles, live minimal music allows for milling about and holding conversations in the same way, but at least there’s something creative going on in front of you.
During Real Estate’s set, the crowd thickened considerably, growing to include: a group of kids who couldn’t have been more than 12 years old, many, many teenagers in plaid shirts, and a girl with gold shoulders who brought with her a group of overdressed college students who pushed everyone aside to get to the front and take a bunch of iphone photos of themselves. And do you guys remember the Bash Brothers from The Mighty Ducks? They were there. I guess that’s what a Pitchfork Best New Music review earns you.
Real Estate played an impressive set, embellished with a couple new tracks from the guitarist’s solo project, Ducktails. If you could describe Real Estate’s set as relaxing, which it was, Deerhunter’s was anything but. The distinctive affected and noisy sound of Deerhunter was augmented by an unexpected energy that slowly built throughout the set. Perhaps it was the stage presence of the front man, Bradford Cox, who despite his weak and skinny appearance due to Marfan syndrome, was able to interpret his emotional involvement in every song in a physical way throughout the 90+ minute set. Or perhaps it was the carefully constructed set list that consistently grew in intensity and encompassed material from their three most recent albums and EPs. Or maybe it was just the mosh pit that formed several times, stressing the floorboards of the Magic Stick in an alarming manner. Either way, I was past the point of exhaustion by the time the last song ended.
Final thought: Avoid the Bash Brothers when moshing. Seriously, those guys weigh at least 300 pounds a piece. No match for skinny hipsters.
It is such a pleasure to watch anything at the Arthur Miller Theatre as I feel that the stage there is very thoughtfully constructed. You can get a great view and it doesn’t feel cramped and the high ceiling there somehow makes the place look even more spacious than it is. And to top it all, you feel like you are at a private performance. I love that stage! And watching “Pentecost” there was very enjoyable indeed!
The play is about the status of politics and art in a fictitious post-Cold war European country. It is a very cleverly written play.
For a summary, here goes: it all starts in an abandoned church. A museum curator brings in an English professor of art (who is a staunch proponent of restoration of art) to show him her discovery- a religious fresco that could very well change the history of her country and thus help in proving that her country wasn’t alwasys this bad. And when news of this fresco spreads, the Catholic church, the Russian Orthodox Church, another art professor- a conservationist this time- and of course, the government all get involved. To whom does the fresco belong? Should it stay in the church or be “restored”? Well, as this debate continues, a group of refugees storm into the church and hold the curator and the professors hostage. What happens to the fresco, the refugees and it all is what the play is about.
What I found most interesting was the clever way in which the large issues in politics and art came to the fore. The characters seemed pretty isolated from one another as if each was just alone and there wasn’t much depth to the characters. There wasn’t much of a human element in the crisis of the refugees and the theme was largely concentrated on the politics- of art, of religion and of course of politicans. But in the end, instead of resigned depression, there is hope (with irony of course).
As for the use of the various languages, I was left with the impression that the playwright brought it in because it could be done. If the refugees had spoken in English, would it have made less of an impact to the theme? No- as the emotional condition of the refugees by itself and hence their espression of it in whatsoever language had very less to do in the play. Actually in the end, as the refugees are negotiating, the three protagonists figure out how the fresco might have come to be and so it appeared as if the point of the refugees was to just help illustrate a point. So I felt that the introduction of these varied languages was more of a novelty and “it-would-be-cool-and-clever” rather than a “need-it” thing. And how did anyone from Eastern Europe understand Sinhalese enough to interpret it? That was kind of weird.
As for this particular production by director Malcolm Tulip, it was a great performance by the actors. The costume design was good and well-suited for the play. The set design was exceptional! I loved the way they showed the details of discovering the fresco, the restoration and other such tiny details. The lighting effects were great. And the actors had done a great job learning all those languages.
The University of Michigan Department of Theatre & Drama kicks off the year with a compelling and well-acclaimed drama, David Edgar’s “Pentecost”, a play that was originally commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company. The play opened on October 7th.
"Pentecost", courtesy Dept. of Theatre & Drama
The theme for the play seems pretty intriguing. It is set in Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The drama is set in an unused church in an Eastern European country. A museum curator discovers a fresco which she believes may be valuable to restore her country’s image. She has many people vying for its ownership. Meanwhile, a group of refugees from various ethnicities take over the church and hold the historians hostage.The refugees share their woeful tales in their own language and the resulting confusion and interaction among the various characters forms the basis of the play.
Just one unknown foreign language can confuse us. Imagine Bulgarian, Arabic, Polish, Russian, Turkish, Sinhalese and others in the same play. That too without translation. Wow, that would be interesting!
Malcolm Tulip is the director of this challenging drama. It is a tough one as the acting has to be really good to convey what language can’t as surely the audience would not know all the languages! And the theme is significant too in context of multitude of immigrants trying to flee to countries with stable societies.
If you are wondering about the title of the play, it is from the Bible. The Holy Spirit descends over the Apostles and gives them different languages to converse. Surprisngly, the Apostles find that they can still understand each other and language is no longer a boundary. A very fit title for this drama indeed!
This will be the last week of the performances! So do catch the show.
Show times: Oct 15,16 @ 8 pm and Oct 17 @ 2 pm at the Arthur Miller Theatre
Does this happen to you? You know that you have forgotten something but don’t now what and you let it remain at the back of your mind.
And then suddenly it comes to you-at the stoplight as you wait for the lights to go green, tapping your fingers on the steering wheel impatiently and hear the bells in the bell tower nearby chime “500 miles away from home!”
Eureka! Oh, yeah, of course I forgot to post the review for Rosanne Cash’s performance at the Hill Auditorium! Now, how did that happen? Well, I do have to tell you about the first show for the UMS for this year at the Hill Auditorium.
Rosanne Cash was here at the Hill auditorium in the not-so-recent past (in today’s world, I believe that anything more than a day old gets archived under “the not-so-recent past” category) performing songs from her album,The List. The songs were from a list of 100 that her father Johnny Cash gave her when she was 18 so that she could learn what he considered to be “the essential songs that every country singer must know.”
Rosanne Cash
I loved the way the stage was set. We had the guitarists, the pianist, the fiddler and the drummer all neatly spread out with screens in ths backdrop. Paintings and drawings of exotic birds, flowers and patterns (they seemed amateurish but very colorful) were projected onto the screens and they were interesting. My friend and I tried to make connections between the songs and the paintings. Unless someone would deem to correct me, I guess the projections were just random and nice distractions.
Miss Cash walked in to big applause and started off on a great song, William Heagney’s “miss the mississippi and you”. What struck me first as I listened to her live was that her voice was very different. Neither too melodic nor too shrill, it seemed to have something very unique. I felt that her voice wasn’t suited to all the songs. But her rendition of “she’s got you”, “500 miles” and ” miss the mississippi and you” was really very pleasant.
The song “500 miles” was my favorite. Ms Cash sang it more slowly than the Hedy West’s original and it was even more moving. The pace of West’s version made it rushed and it feels as if the railroader was resigned to his fate and so he shrugs it off in a matter-of-fact manner with this song. Cash, on the other hand, made it more like a lament and hence there was more pathos in it leaving room for even more empathy from the listener. There is a Hindi song with this very same tune (the slow version) that I have loved for years and I was surprised and sad to find that it had been, to put it euphemistically, “inspired by” 500 miles! Well, I will leave that matter at that. <shrug>
Ms.Cash’s songs were from a vide variety of genres that included folk, blues, pop and rock. I loved her band. They were superb and made her shine. Especially when it came to them doing their lil solo improvisations, they were awesome! I loved the lead guitarist, John Leventhal, Ms.Cash’s husband, who would not be out of place in a rock band as he was so full of energy and really good.
That she gave two encores and the audience was still clamoring for more, goes to show her popularity. Would I listen to her? Hmm…yes, to some of her songs. I think her voice is something that grows on you and is more like a cultivated taste. As for her song choice from the list of 100, it is really good. That she chooses to “rerelease” these songs to introduce them to new generations is commendable.
Overall, it was a very pleasant evening. And thanks to the bells chiming “500 miles away from home” at noon in Kerry Town for reminding me about what I had forgotten.
more than 500 miles (8549 to be exact) from home ,
Just as I expected, Michigan Theater was packed to the brim on Friday night for the sneak preview of Answer This! I arrived right at 7:30 pm after having some parking issues (as in, there were no parking spots left), and managed to snag two seats in the very last row of the balcony. I felt like I needed binoculars to see the men speaking on stage. Ralph Williams delivered a few opening words – I’ll never tire of hearing him talk. The next to speak was Mr. Farah, father to the writing/directing/production duo Michael and Christopher Farah. He told a few amusing anecdotes about his sons, then handed them the microphone. They thanked everybody for coming many times over, and seemed genuinely blown away by all the attention this film has received. I saw one of them taking pictures of the crowd at the end of the show, even as many members of the crowd were taking pictures of him on stage. Both brothers refused to take all, or even most of, the credit for the movie – a large portion of their opening speech was dedicated to pointing out all of the actors in attendance and asking us to give each one a hearty round of applause. Around 7:50 pm, the curtain was pulled back, and the movie started.
Even with all the press surrounding this event, I really wasn’t sure what to expect. Part of me wondered whether or not the Ann Arbor setting and Ralph Williams’ presence would be the only interesting aspects of the movie. As it turned out, though, the recognition factor was only icing on the cake. The script, while somewhat predictable at times, is nothing short of brilliant in most places. A brief plot summary: Paul Tarson (Christopher Gorham) is in his eighth year of grad school, and is being hounded by his father (the renowned Professor Tarson, portrayed by the renowned Professor Ralph Williams) to finally finish his dissertation and become a professor at U of M. Paul has spent his entire life in Ann Arbor, and seems destined to spend the rest of it there, as well. It takes a cute girl and a passion for a local trivia tournament to provide him with an adjusted outlook on life and his own potential.
Christopher Gorham did an excellent job as Paul, and Ralph Williams slipped into the role of Professor Tarson without a hitch, but the two standout characters were Naomi (Arielle Kebbel) and James (Nelson Franklin). Naomi, Paul’s sort-of girlfriend, is charming, feisty, and spontaneous: Paul’s complete opposite. She gives him a lot to think about in terms of his own dreary, complacent way of stumbling through life. She’s by no means perfect, but she has a lot more fun learning from mistakes than he does by not making any mistakes.
His best friend, James, is hilarious: he’s a pompous, highly intellectual man who teaches test prep and has a heart of gold. And even amidst his complaining about his atrocious students, one can tell that he has a better grip on life than Paul does. During the scene in which Paul yells at James and calls him a failure, I felt a strong urge to stand up and defend the man who was really a more likeable character than Paul. (Don’t worry – I didn’t actually do it!)
The only character I didn’t appreciate was Paul’s peer, Lucas (Kip Pardue). He’s nothing but a jerk, and not even a fully-developed one. He shows up in several scenes, but never has much to say. Where Naomi and James add depth to the script, Lucas seems like an afterthought. I was left wondering what the audience was supposed to gain from Lucas’ interactions with Paul.
Overall, I thought the film was beautifully made. For those of you who saw it, I hope you enjoyed it as well. For those of you who didn’t get a chance, keep your eyes peeled! It starts its festival run next year, and I imagine it will be pretty successful. This won’t be the last we hear from the Farah brothers.
