Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 13, 1976)
Cpi | ||cfirp. A collage of rhythmic ^ LiV-vT. motion; dance and drama By Robert Webb Electronic 'music enters the dark Sounds, starting out simply but build ing in complexity, invade the air. The curtain opens A bare stage except for the back wall on which is placed cut-out geometric designs, mostly trapezoid in shape. The shapes, with their overall placement and the partially readable words writ ten on some, evoke a feeling of City. A male dancer comes on stage, the Hurdy-Gurdy Man He twists, jerks, stoops, rises, arms and torso in awk ward but ordered positions The feel ing is busy, hustle and bustle, machine-like but with an underlying animal texture Another dancer enters A woman, Jane She goes through the same motions, duplicating what has gone on before but beginning after he has already started Another dancer enters, the pattern is repeated. Then another, and another. Soon fourteen dancers are on stage, all repeating the same move ment matrix but at different times We are witness to a collage of rhythmic motion, the City. Soulstice — a time when the soul reaches the greatest distance from the self, and it seems to pause there before returning. A fragile and dangerous time when the soul could slip into darkness, creating an in complete self. Soulstice is a story told through the medium of dance that expresses the dilemma of a city woman (city — symbol of light, consciousness) who becomes departed from her soul. A sense of incompleteness compels her to return to the primeval realm of • the jungle (dark, unconscious) to search for her lost self. It is there that light and dark, conscious and uncon scious. body and soul, are united This dance drama is Teresa Killian s Honors College Choreog raphic Thesis She, along with Les Killian and Jacquelyn Hilliard, de veloped the original story line. She also did all the choreography and de signed the costumes Killian received her inspiration for the work from the writings of Jane Goodall and her studies of animals in Africa She was reading Goodall in preparation for her job as choreog rapher of the animals in the Very Little Theatre production of The Flowering Peach last August. By the way, for those of you familiar with Goodall, the pivotal jungle character is a chimp named David Greybeard The audience will be treated to some very interesting animal charac terizations (chimps, gazelles, hippos, a tiger) in the jungle sequences The dancers who portray the animals are the same dancers who play the city dwellers (a garage mechanic be comes a chimp, a bus driver returns as a hippo, etc.) As animals they wear masks created by J.C. Pock. The masks are stylized versions of the animal’s faces, an ab stract representation as opposed to an attempt at reality. Pock also did the lighting for the production. Les Killian's sets continue to reflect that abstract quality. The jungle con sists of stylized units resembling trees, bushes, a pond. The trees and bushes are made up of abstract de signs hung in a close approximation of the shape of the object they are to represent. The pond is a mat of blue material. Integrated with visual aspects of this production is the aural, com posed by U of O student Robert Eaton especially for Soulstice. It will be performed live with a fourteen member orchestra and chorus. The electronic music which opens each act was created by Eaton and John Weisenthal George Hutt conducts the or chestra. The lead dancers in this three-act dance drama are Jenifer Pashkowski Winsted, Jeff Cornett and Jackie Goodrich. ' The efforts put forth in any artistic endeavor become meaningful only when they can be shared. Soulstice can be seen on May 13, 14 and 15 at 8 p.m. in the dance studio on the third floor of the Ger linger Annex. Tickets are $1 and are available at the door Benson sophisticated but 'down-to-earth’ Breezin’ George Benson Warner Bros. BS 2919 Copyright 1976 It isn't often that one experi ences on record a guitarist as fine as George Benson. Whether he is playing live (as in his brilliant shows here last weekend) or in the studio, Benson exhibits a sense of true feeing for the art of jazz guitar. His recent departure from the CTI jazz label has raised a few eyebrows regarding the new di rections he takes in his latest Ip, ‘ Breezin'.'’ Benson displays a more fluid playing style than be fore, and for the fist time feels comfortable playing “more di verse material." “We didn’t go after anything sophisticated. We wanted to put together songs that had quality and wouldn’t befuddle people. I don’t play just for musicians, he said, while strumming his cream colored Gibson guitar during a break between sets. But his two shows at the EMU Ballroom Fri day evening were fine examples of his musical sophistication. Benson's work with producer Tommy Li Puma on this album is bright innovative, and unusual for a first-time effort with an unfamilar producer. Introduced to each other through mutual friends, the resulting relationship is present in this collection of songs. LiPuma is best known for his work with rock guitarist Dave Mason. Benson’s vocals on Leon Russel’s “This Masquerade,” are well sung, with a resemblance to the voice of Stevie Wonder. It’s a pleasant change from his previ ous instrumental guitar tracks, and the treatment of vocal har monies on the song are well done He gets downright funky with Phil Upchurch’s “Six to Four,” and Pane 4 Section B cooks with the strings on Jose Feliciano s "Affirmation.'’ The only Benson-penned bal lad on the Ip, So This Is Love?" is highlighted with the orchestrated strings of Claus Ogerman and fea tures an etectrifyng keyboard soto by Ronnie Foster. Benson s finger movements on the song are simi lar to his occasional skat singing which he does frequently in live concerts. The album itself was completed in just a few days, according to Benson. 'The surprising thing about this record is that it was about the easiest record Ive ever made in my life. The music that we play on the album says it all. It s all very smple, and down to earth." It's his simpficrty, and down-to earthness that makes this album succeed over so many current jazz releases. Benson s slick fin gering of the strings transcends to meftowness and eventually builds up a terrific feeing in the listener. He has the talent and know-how to make the perfect jazz Ip without getting too commercial. One would almost expect him to be doing pop standards after his CTI departure, but Benson has class and wouldn't ever get caught doing something he doesn t like. His new record company, Warner Brothers Records is making specific efforts to let the pubic know of Ns changeover and prog ression into newer jazz veins. His performance at the "California Soul” concert in New York’s Beacon Theatre was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the three night affair. His debut with the label and with the current Ip will be a strong force in his progression into the current commercial jay? markets. Breezin ” is a strong musical triumph for Benson and is well worth investigating for your musi cal pleasure. People's IT1USIC Gorton shuns 'folk' image By Bob Webb They wonder, cuz they ve known me since I was a little kid. Why Ruthie didn’t turn out nice like all the other s did. I can just imagine, it, I hear em saying now, You know, Ruthie always was a little crazy anyhow. Ruthie Gorton The woman who wrote these iyncs will bring her special music to the EMU Friday (room to be posted) and to the Whitteaker School Saturday Ruthie Gorton is a singer and songwriter who began singing in the civil rights and anti-war movements in the early sixties. She was bom in Chicago in 1946. Since that time, she has traveled around the U S sngmg original and traditional songs from all over the world and all parts of America She has participated in tours of the U.S. with the San Francisco Mime Troupe and has also sung at many schools, prisons, coffee houses, demonstrations, union meetings, women s conferences, anti-war rallies. Appalachian mountain music festivals and benefit concerts. She was a dele gate to the 21 st World Conference Against A and H Bombs in Japan, where she spent a month traveling and singing and taking part in many cultural programs of the Japanese people. Her songs have been published in many radical papers, women's songbooks, G.l. papers and col lections of songs of the coal min ers of the Appalachian mountains. Her songs about women, Ap palachia and the war in Vietnam have been recorded by many re coning artists in the U.S. and in Germany. Gorton performs without ac companiment. She doesn't play anything but her voice. She is here to sing. And sing, and sing. She has been known to go for two and a half hours. In a recent interview, Gorton was asked where her music came from. She replied, It's what I've heard and absorbed all my life, consciously and unconsciously, from other people. What I've heard gets filtered through my own expenence my own point of view. Most of what I'm transmitting to people I've collected and scavenged. of the worst suffering " She doesn't consider hersetf a feminist, "because the word doesn't have any real content to me. Everyone kind of fills in her or his own definition, so I think it’s dangerous to apply to myself. If the word feminist means that women should do everything, any thing they want to, that people shouldn t be limited by the sex, then I’m a feminist There shouldn t be limits on anybody s lated from other things, I disagree with that strongly. I'm into separa tion if it serves a purpose, but only as a transitional thing. If you re not getting strength for some pur pose, to be able to hold up your half of the sky and pull your own weight (since we all wake up to the same sun in the morning), then I really don't see any point in pre tending the other half of the world doesn't exist, or wishing it didn't exist A lot of separation comes 'I don't blame the artists for the way they've been used by the music industry because it's not their fault either. They just happen to fit the pattern, and even if they made a lot of money, they didn't invent the pattern.' ii inters mrougn my own experience," she explains, "the music comes out slightly dif ferent. I can't call it original. I'm not saying that nobody's ever felt this way before because that's how my songs reach people. It's be cause people recognize some thing very familiar. People have the same needs and problems so that s why music can be a basis of unity. Music expresses those simi lar feelings, it reinforces them, re flects them, and solidifies them. "It's also a way," she says, “of uniting people to fight whatever it is that causes them to express their pain in that way. A lot of good music comes out of suffering. Some of the best music comes out development. In that sense Women’s Liberation is everyone's liberation. "But. it feminism means I see the women s struggle as a sepa rate, isolated thing, that I won't work with men, that I hate men, or all the other vanous distortions that come from the media (some of which reflect real trends in the movement), I would say I'm not a feminist." She adds, "I think it's necessary to sometimes isolate yourself for a certain period of time from people who inhibit you from being strong, but that kind of separation is a very different thing from separatism, which is a philosophy that sees a certain person s struggle or a group of people's struggle as iso from our own oppression, from our inability to struggle. It's a lot easier sometimes to just be with people who make you feel good about yourself, but it sometimes be comes necessary to use the strength you’ve gathered to en gage in struggle with people who disagree with you. That's how people change. I’ve been through changes, and so have a lot of other people. There's no reason why everybody can't change." Gorton, often termed a "folk singer," also has some definite thoughts about music in general and her music in particular. “ 'Folksinger' ", she says, "con jures up a stereotype that is inac curate at best and severely limit ing at worst. To me, folksinger conjures up images of the kind of people who took what is really folk music and smoothed out all the rough edges to make it palatable to the taste-makers, the people who control the music industry. I don't blame the artists for the way they ve been used by the music industry because it's not their fault either 1 ney just happen to fit the pattern, and even if they made a lot of money, they didn t invent the pattern. In a lot of ways they're as victimized by what they are doing as the rest of the public. “It's just that that’s the exact opposite of real folk music,’’ she explains. “I prefer to call my music people's music because at least if people don't know what I mean by the term, they don't assume any thing. Folk music is real, it comes out ot the people s daily struggles "People all over the country," she says,' are writing about what’s on their minds. That's where I'm learning a lot of what I know. I try to share it with other people as much as I can because most people don’t have the circumstances which allow them to get their music out of the people or they're afraid they’re not writing like they’re supposed to. So much good music goes unrecognized. People don’t even recognize it in themselves. It tears me up to see how the system wastes people. It not only stops them from doing what they can, it also stops them from sharing what they do pro duce. Real folk music is what hap pens when I go somewhere and someone says to me, 'I want to sing you something I wrote be cause you shared something with me, I never sung in front of any body before, but I want to tell you how I feel She will be sharing her music at 8 p.m. both nights. Admission is $2 for adults and $1 for children. The concert is sponsored by the Labor Action Committee. Play takes theater to people Carl Sandburg tours state Carl Sandburg is coming to town. For those of you who thought he was dead — forget it. He's lively as ever in "The World of Carl Sandburg," a collection of poems, jokes, sayings, songs, and au tobiographical sketches he con cocted. Somehow dramatist Nor man Corwin pulled all this into a unified whole. And now Tom Gressler of the University Theater is bringing it home to us. That’s nght, home to us. Not just to the University but to Redmond and Glide and Lakeview — that’s as far as Bend and Quartz Moun tain out of Roseburg and yet another Quartz Mountain by Goose Lake on the California bor der. That's a lot of territory to cover and a lot of people who ve never seen live theater. And after that there’s still-South Albany High and McKenzie High at Blue River. All this between May 5 and Friday. And then, finally, to open at the University on May 20. Whew! Oh, Yes — and one home-town show at Covenant Presbyterian Church tomorrow night. And for that show there are no tickets. Everyone's welcome, just leave a donation at the door — 3800 Ferry St. at 8 p.m. So what’s this all about any way? Why tour a college Show? Well, Gressler says, “We feel we need to take live theater to the people of Oregon, as much as we can. We’re going to the people.” It sounds good, but it’s never been done before. Not by Univer sity Theater. One reason is, of course, that it’s a back-breaking effort. Playing to completely dif ferent crowds every night. Com pletely different facilities. Actually a new show each performance and then a whole new show back in Eugene at the University. This is no casual affair — it’s a tough job and there’s no guarantee of suc cess. So once again, Why? And once again Gressler pops back with an answer, ‘‘Just getting people to see live theater is worth it, getting people excited with lit erature is worth it—we ll know our success by attendance and audi ence responses. But mostly art af fects people cummulatively. It’s an experience you don't judge to tally intellectually. You look for the brightening of lives which results.’ S cinema y*— -\ By Brad Lemley _i The Man Who Skied Down Everest Mayflower Theater No critic has ever done a review of Abraham Zapruder’s film of the Kennedy assassination. No one has ever tried to evaluate its character development, praised or faulted its low budget or attemp ted to find the motivation behind producer-director-cameraman Zapruder's choice of camera ang les. The reason is simple: the event was so earth-shaking that everything, including the movie, faded into the background. All of which is what makes re viewing the Man Who Skied Down Everest so tough. The event — a man making the most unbelieva ble ski run of all time — makes the movie itself seem almost inciden tal. “Man" is the story of Yuichiro Miura, a Japanese physical fit ness expert and skiing star who grew tired of shussing down com parative molehills like Mounts Fuji and McKinley and decided to meet the Ultimate Challenge, found on the Ultimate Mountain — Everest. With the help of the Japanese government, private backers and some 800 equipment bearers, he set out to do just that. But whatever skis down must climb up, so most of the film, in spite of the title, deals with the Man Who Climbed Up Everest. This is not a mistake on the moviemakers part, for in many ways the ascent is the most il luminating leg of the round trip. The narration, taken from Miura s diary, gives a rare insight into the mental gymnastics that precede a death-defying stunt like this. While the cameras trace his progress up the mountain, the narrative traces his growing doubts about the san ity of the venture — doubts which become almost overpowering when an icecave-in kills six bear ers in the ascent crew. But Miura goes on, spurred by an eclectic personal philosophy gathered from Zen, Greek myths, the religion of the Sherpa climbers and his own belief that he is “be coming part of the mountain." The camera captures the significance of his reflections with some dazzl ing shots of Everest, intercut with 1 J footage of his ski conquest of other, smaller mountains. Fi nally, pushing himself through air so thin that “even thinking has be come a great effort he reaches the starting point of a ski run that staggers the imagination. As one might guess, the title of the film is a bit misleading, for it conjures pictures of someone leaping from Everest’s rocky pin nacle and slaloming for six hours until he turns a final stem Christie on the main street of Katmandu a feat that is plainly impossible. As it turns out, the actual run is just a little more than a mile and starts some 3,000 feet below Everest s summit. But the conquest of the forty five degree slope at speeds ap proaching 100 mph must stand as one of the most spectacular athle tic performaces recorded on film. A description in print could not come close to describing the awe someness of the accomplish ment, but the ski sequence is run through twice in the movie, so anyone who goes will see as much of it as his or her nerves can stand. The world will little note nor long remember who made this film, and Miura's name, while it will en dure longer, will also eventually be forgotten. But the bravery — or lunacy — of the feat itself makes trading a spare evening and a few dollars for the privilege of seeing it seem like a small price to pay.
