ASU Dance Ensemble offers diverse spring concert

Kara Hodge Entertainment Beat

The Appalachian Dance Ensemble presents its annual spring concert March 28-31 in Valborg Theatre. Peformances begin at 8 p.m.

The ensemble is part of the theatre department's student performing group. This year's performance consists of more than 30 dance students and eight choreographers.

This year's show offers a diverse evening of dance, from classical ballet to modern dance and jazz. Choreography is provided by faculty and advanced students who will display their own unique style and approach to dance.

"We have three (student) choreographers who are first-time (choreographers) and they have done some really great choreography for the performance," said Susan Lutz, assistant professor of theatre and dance, and one of the ensemble's co-directors. "I think it's a good show with a lot of diverse music and performances."

Marianne Adams, associate professor of theatre and dance, serves as the ensemble's other co-director.

Lutz has also choreographed a high-energy musical collage.

Five of the dances are choreographed by advanced-level dance students.

First-time choreographer Brian Westbrook's dance is about "embracing each side of ourselves and shedding labels."

Kathryn Ullom's piece uses six dancers moving to the music of Icelandic singer Bjork.

Amanda Morse will present a modern selection with original music played onstage by its composers and Erin Johndrow, who also choreographed for the department's Fall Dance Concert, has created a dance entitled "Plinko" with music by Nina Simone.

Jessica Lowry has created a dance that "portrays a sense of continuity and the struggle of neither holding nor letting go, but of being carried."

Faculty member Regina Gulick-James presents a staging of the classical ballet "Raymonda" for this year's show.

"Raymonda" was choreographed by Marius Petipa and premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1898. Gulick-James' variation of the ballet is performed by advanced pointe students.

"It's the first time in a long time that we've had a classical ballet on pointe," said Lutz. "Regina finally had students who were able to peform this piece."

Visiting artist Jean Travers also choreographed a piece for the ensemble. She auditioned and rehearsed dancers for "Recontres" during a week-long residency on campus this semester.

Travers is a member of the University of South Florida faculty. Her choreography has been presented internationally and throughout the United States.

"Recontres" has been performed at the University of South Florida; the Michael Donahue Theatre in La Paz, Bolivia; the American College Dance Festival in Gainesville, Fla.; and at Gustavuz Adolphus University in St. Peter, Minn.

Adams is a rehearsal assistant for this performance.

"We're a modern-based department, but like to offer a bit of everything," said Lutz. "I think that people who aren't normally into dance will be able to find something that gets them excited. The ensemble deserves a large audience because they've worked so hard."

Technical support for the program is provided by the Department of Theatre and Dance faculty and students. Faculty member Sue Williams is costume designer and coordinator.

Lighting design is by Frank Mohler III and students Rachael Sherman, Amy Finkelstein and Dan Matthews. Tara Blake is stage manager.

Tickets are $4 for students and $6 for general admission. Call 262-3063 for full details.

Greer Arena Theatre to host evenings of entertainment

'Bedlam: An Evening of One Acts IV' starts tomorrow

Kara Hodge - Entertainment Beat

Think that there is nothing to do in Boone? Think again. For the fourth time this year the department of theatre and dance presents an evening of one-act student-directed plays.

"Bedlam: An Evening of One Acts IV" starts tomorrow through March 24.

Eerie love and mystery are presented in the two plays for "Bedlam." The evening consists of two student-directed plays, the first of which is "Seduction Duet" by M. H. Appleman. It is a strange and dark story of two hopeless romantics.

Here's a brief synopsis: Cynthia, played by Andrea Gilkey, gets molested by a coworker. Matt, played by Matt Thompson, rushes to her aid, rescues her like a knight in shining armor and walks her home.

At her apartment, they get to know one another, and soon begin to realize that the other is not really what they seem. "Seduction Duet" is filled with humor and tension and of course, love.

Jessica F. Hunt directs, Laura Killian designs costumes and Mindy Loughhead manages the stage.

The second play of the night is "The Heartbreak Tour" by Peter Morris. It is a story of a children's theater tour that goes horribly wrong.

The show goes through Larry's problems dealing with his fellow castsmates and his stage managers, Jason Adams, Jessica Kaufman and Jen Allman. Larry is played by Matthew Phillips.

"The Heartbreak Tour" includes music, dancing and fist-fights. "Tour" also promises to give everyone a newfound respect for those who have braved children's theater.

Noah Jones is the director, Laura Crisp is the costume designer and Caryn Crye serves as stage manager.

The one act plays represent a collaboration between the students in two upper-division theater classes this semester. The plays are directed by the students in the advanced-directing class where they each select and prepare the plays for public performance. The costumes have been designed by students in a costume design class. There will be an additional set of two one-act plays in April to complete the collaboration.

"One Acts IV" performs in the Greer Arena Theatre. Tickets are $3 and can be purchased at the Valborg Theatre Box Office Mon. through Fri. from 2-5 p.m. For reservations or more information call 262-3063.

Visiting Writers' Series to feature poet Tony Sanders

Kara Hodge - Entertainment Beat

Tony Sanders, Award-winning author of "Partial Eclipse" and "Transit Authority," will read from his works on Thursday, March 8, at 7:30 p.m. in Linville Falls Room of Plemmons Student Union.

His presentation is part of the university's Visiting Writers Series.

Sanders' first book "Partial Eclipse" received the Vassar Miller Prize for Poetry, an annual national competition resulting in the publication of a winning manuscript each fall.

"Sanders proceeds through his poems with a pervasive steadiness of diction, a syntactic resonance quite his own yet gratefully beholden to such exacting masters as Stevens," said Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Howard.

In "Transit Authority," Sanders looks with a rueful intrigue at an urban landscape swamped with near misses and has-beens. While the topic seems disconcerting, the poems' alluring subtleties keep the reader interested.

Sanders teaches English and creative writing at Fairfield University in Connecticut. Educated at Yale, the University of Iowa and the University of Houston, Sanders has had his works published in "The Paris Review," "Grand Street," "The Yale Review" and "The Gettysburg Review."

The Visiting Writers Series is sponsored by the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency funded by the State of North Carolina and the National Endowment for the Arts; Appalachian's Office of Academic Affairs, College of Arts and Sciences, Office of University Advancement, University Bookstore, Equity Office and Office of Multicultural Student Development; "The Appalachian Journal," the Hubbard Center for Faculty and Staff Development, the Richard T. Barker Friends of the University Library and the Friends of the Watauga County Public Library; business sponsors Gideon Ridge Inn and Red Onion Restaurant; and community sponsors Carol Anne Coe, Gil Verbit, Mildred Luckhardt and Robert Moren.