Paul Taylor is a name that is revered in American contemporary dance. He has done over 130 dances and is known for his lively, creative and powerful choreography. This week, the Paul Taylor Dance Company is in Ann Arbor. This will be a visual treat as the dancers are known for their athletic and powerful performances on a variety of subjects. There are 3 shows and each one of the shows offer something very unique.
Paul Taylor Dance Company
The program for friday has Taylor’s version of the well-acclaimed “Orbs” and another recent dance called “Also playing”. This latter dance is set to Donizetti ballet music and has an element of humor to it.
The legendary Paul Taylor
For saturday, we have the sizzling “Piazzolla Caldera” and a couple of other lovely pieces from Taylor’s vast repertoire.
Tomorrow, at 7:30 pm at the Michigan Theater, there is a sneak preview of the new movie “Answer This.” It’s a locally produced film by Christopher and Michael Farah, and features our very own Ralph Williams, along with Christopher Gorham, Arielle Kebbel, Nelson Franklin, and Chris Parnell. It’s the story of a thirty-year-old University of Michigan graduate finally coming of age through his experience with the First Annual Ann Arbor Trivia Tournament. It should be a good time, and not just because we’ll see some familiar faces! As a senior myself, I’m looking forward to watching a story about someone coming to terms with their graduation from U of M – it’s hard to imagine leaving.
Given the excitement over this film, the 7:30 showing is sold out…but there was a second screening added! Same night, 10 pm. If you’re interested, here’s more info!
Brandon Flowers, lead singer of The Killers, has officially begun his solo career with the release of Flamingo. It’s clear from the very first song that he hasn’t strayed too far from The Killers’ sound – “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” opens with a sound that could be pulled from any one of their four albums. “Only the Young,” the second song, plays with an African influence that can first be detected on Day & Age. Indeed, there are familiar elements all throughout Flamingo. Flowers isn’t letting the listener forget where he’s from, or where he’s been.
However, Flowers certainly didn’t limit himself to the sound he created with his band. This album sounds first and foremost like an artistic experiment. For the first time, he sings a duet with a female musician: Jenny Lewis, who is both a solo artist and the lead singer of Rilo Kiley. A couple of the songs, most notably “Was it Something I Said?,” have a few Arcade Fire-inspired qualities to them, which is an influence I hadn’t yet heard in a Killers album. There are even hints of country music throughout Flamingo – this was perhaps the most surprising to me.
Flowers is perfectly comfortable having most of a song’s focus on his voice, rather than the band as a whole. These tracks are musically complex, but the instrumentation does not compete with or overwhelm Flowers’ voice in any way. He doesn’t stick to safe, easy melodies, either – he’s really pushing his talents to a new level. “Playing with Fire” demonstrates that there are still limitations to his voice, but songs like “Crossfire” and “Magdalena” show how far he’s come as a vocalist since the days when he could barely get through a performance of “Somebody Told Me.”
For me, the experiment paid off. Brandon Flowers has a gift for storytelling and clever lyrics, which shines through no matter what project he’s working on. The fact that he’s pushing himself on this solo album suggests that when the time comes for The Killers to reunite, they’ll be even better than ever.
For your listening and viewing pleasure, here’s a link to the video for “Crossfire.” It’s a little graphic, though – for fairly unexplained reasons, Flowers is being tortured. Luckily, a pretty blonde saves the day.
When something new is tried for the first time, there are many expectations. And since in today’s world, it takes a lot to even make us look- let alone sit in one place for more than a hour, playwrights have to resort to a lot of tricks. But sometimes, as a playwright, you just have to stick to the old but time-tested plots to live up to expectations. This was proved when I went to see David Leddy’s “Susurrus” at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens.
This part radio, part “guide to opera”, part “101 to bird dissection”, part “best way to get you outside” play was one without actors or a stage. Set in the ever beautiful (yet surprisingly still verdant- for this time of the year that is) Matthaei botanical gardens, this play was quite novel in many ways- the use of technology, the use of a sprawling garden as a set, the creative use of different themes supporting the main plot,etc.
The play is about a family and there are four actors – four “voices” in your iPod who guide you through the garden ( you are also given a map). Supposedly, as you plod along the trails, the plot and the location blend to give you an unforgettable experience. So how can this fail? There are four elements involved here- the location, the techonology, the plot of the play and you, the audience.
Let’s take the location. I went on a day when the temperature was in the nippy 68-70 F and there was a balmy breeze and you could hear the susurrus of the stream as well as in the trees! It was an azul sky with a very benevolent sun. So location was perfect!
As for the technology, I had no trouble using the map and syncing the “track” on the iPod Shuffle to the directed location as it was all spelt out very well. And as for the audience, I was fed and watered and I had gone there with a very good friend! So you couldn’t have asked for a more attentive or contented audience.
And the plot? That’s where things went wrong! The play is about a family but about a dysfunctional one! It was dark and completely disturbing. Suicide, sexual abuse by a parent,the blissful obliviousness of the other parent to the behavior of the first parent, disconnected and confused characters – I found it to be perverted and extremely dark for my liking. Agreed that I wasn’t looking for a Disney version of a play just because it was set in a gorgeous location, but this was not what I had expected either.The scenic setting or the novel use of technology had no connection to what I deem a really blotchy plot.
References to Shakespeare’ s “A midsummer’s night dream” were perverted. Oberon and Titania fighting over the Indian boy for totally the wrong reasons!!! Well, I don’t know. This is not what I think a “new” look is!
As a saving grace, the story was suspenseful in the sense that you wanted to know what was going on and what had happened to the main character. And the operatic fillers in between were very pleasant. That part was cleverly done .
While I certainly don’t recommend looking at the world with rose-colored lenses, I don’t want to take a microscope to its weird and disturbing behavior either and I certainly don’t want to be thinking of dysfunctional families with members with suicidal tendencies in a serenely calm environment like at the gardens.(Look at this bloom that I photographed at the gardens that day- who wants to think of suicide or crazy bird dissections?)
Lovely bloom that I caught at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens during "Susurrus"
Portraying dark and such depressing themes in an effort to shock the audience into acceptance of the novelty is not the way to go. The play would have been so so tedious were it just set in a normal set!
Till the end, I could not understand the necessity for the “garden” as a stage and I felt that the play had no connection whatsoever. Was the susurrus of the trees and the stream supposed to calm you down as you listened to this weird stuff? Sometimes, even “special effects and new technology” are no substitute for a good plain old solid script!
To misquote from the play,”Sorry, I will not be thinking of you!”.
I’m sure you’ve seen the flyers around campus. I almost felt deja vu until I recalled in disappointment the night that never was. It wouldn’t have been so bad if I could have found my tickets to get a refund but I spent the rest of my months blocking it out of memory until recently when I heard the news. Alas, just my luck, I found my tickets in some generic enevelope in some old book in some old backpack while cleaning my old bedroom. All I can say is: ecstatic.
As I retell this story to you, I urge you to not let shows go unattended, bands unnoticed, songs unheard. This band is absolutely phenomenal and I am almost positive they will not disappoint live. Although the show will take place tomorrow at 7pm at the Michigan Theater, tickets are still available! I only just got my tickets yesterday still scoring 4th row on the main floor so don’t be discouraged by timing. Student tickets are a steal at $16.50 for balcony and $19.50 for main floor, and if you’re slow-paced like me and still have your old tickets, you can exchange them for new ones!
If you’re still not sure you’re going, watch this.
Recap:
Who: Broken Social Scene
What: Mystery gags
Where: Michigan Theater
When: This Friday @ 7 pm
How: MUTO open till 4 today & tomorrow, try checking at the door as well.
First time I became a big fan of Johnny Cash’s (and of course June’s) music was after seeing “Walk the line”. I still love the song “walk the line” a lot! And so when I heard that Rosanne Cash is going to be performing at the Hill Auditorium tonight, I was thrilled.
Rosanne Cash
Rosanne Cash’s “The List” is from the list of essential country songs that her father felt she must know to be a country music singer. She picked from that list and rendered her own unique view to the songs to come up with her own list. Today’s program is a mix of songs from the Appalachian traditions, the early country songs, the Southern gospel, delta blues as well as what is considered today’s country music. In short, it promises to be a nice way to review the old sounds that became a part of what all America is.
Tickets @ the door , tonight 8 pm at the Hill auditorium.
