Performing, in dance
Local troupe proves
talent
The popular myth that first-rate local talent is
non-existent will be dispelled Friday evening when
Powers and jeans Dance Ensemble take their act to
the Hult Center for the Performing Arts.
This newly-formed group hopes to draw the size
of audience that will help give other Northwest
based performers the chance to appear at the Hult —
an opportunity which until now has been reserved
for famous name artists.
"Smiles and Titters" is the first of six perfor
mances in a "Spotlight Series" which is to be held in
the Soreng Theatre. It is, incredibly, the Center's
first straight jazz dance presentation, as well as
Powers and Jeans' first major performance.
Both Michelle Powers and Liz Jeans, the ensem
ble's co-directors, are well-known community per
formers and dance instructors.
Powers teaches jazz classes at the Creative In
stitute of Dance in Eugene and runs the Whiteaker
Dance Program.
Jeans is heavily involved in "education through
the performing arts" and has helped develop and
direct the C.C.P.A.'s National Endowment for the
Arts Dance Program. She also instructs community
classes through Whiteaker.
Both women have gone through the Master's
program in dance at the University of Oregon and
are involved in numerous other pursuits in
choreography and consulting.
The Powers and Jeans Dance Ensemble will be
performing in other cities in an effort to promote jazz
as an art in Eugene and the Northwest area. Dancing
along with with Powers and Jeans are troupe
members Donna Briggs, Kevin Collins, Doug Nelson,
Cara Siler, Dave West and Terri Wilder.
"Eugene is full of talent," says Powers, "and it
needs to be supported by the public."
Music set for the concert ranges from classical to
jazz pieces. The choreographical themes are varied,
from reflecting the innocence of child's play in
"Twine the Garland" to the dynamic sensuality of
feminine powers in "Jezebel."
Another featured highlight in "Smiles and Tit
ters" is the exciting and satirical "For Artists Only."
The piece, originally done as part of Powers' Master's
thesis at the U of O, is performed by two male martial
arts experts.
Because the concert is directed at "the emotional
part of everyone," as well as at the dance audience,
"everyone will leave feeling something," adds
Powers.
Smiles and titters, perhaps?
The concert is to be held Oct. 14, 7:30 p.m., in the
Soreng Theatre. Tickets are $5.50 in advance; $6.50 at
the door.
|ulie Shippen
On record
Old Moody Blues moulder away
“The Present"
The Moody Blues
Threshold
First off, the title is a misnomer.
"The Present"? All the material on this album
sounds like it came from the past — the distant past
when the world was filled with weekend seminars
and isolation tanks and "Have a nice day" people
strolled untethered on the streets.
If the title means "The Present" in the form of a
gift, take it back.
This latest Moody Blues effort is totally boring.
Why do those old fellows bother? Why don't they
lean back in their rocking chairs and reminisce about
the good ol' '70s when they were pop-stars with long
silk scarfs, windblown blonde hair and leave us
alone?
This album is a fascinating exercise in simple
futility. "The Present" presents nothing new. It
shows no change in the band. There are no new
variations in the classic formula. The tracks all lack
tension. This is passable flatulence but not passable
pop. One track congeals into the other like the
grease on a plate of cold french fries. And it's just as
palatable.
In "Meet Me Halfway," the Moody Blues ask the
musical question “would you meet me halfway?"
Don't. . . not even for tye-dyed tee shirts and a
chance to meet Tim Leary. He's dead anyway.
The usual Moody Blues album format dictates
they do one track with pretensions toward rock'n'roll
music — with a prominent guitar and as up tempo as
the flatfooted oldsters can get. They did it again with
"Sitting at the Wheel."
Instead of sitting at the wheel this track should
be broken upon it. It's trash and so is the MTV video.
"Going Nowhere" is an aptly titled track, but
rather than a self-realization, it becomes a sluggish
paean to idiotic optimism.
The vocalist (it's Justin Justin, or something like
that) steps up and croons: "Once more I've lived. I've
laughed, and I've lost." And the music is also
impotent.
Trite sentiments aside, who gives half-a-shit
about this popster's 40ish romantic angst?
Later on he coos: "But now I know the good
news, before you win, you have to lose." So pro
found — really yawn deep, ya know?
Lastly, this disc has a resiliency that is enraging.
When it is torn from the turntable, thrown to the
floor, stomped upon many times, bent this way and
that and flung against the wall — it flatly refuses to
shatter to smithereens. URRRGH!
Cort Fernald
LUNCH - DINNER
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