T he P ortland O bserver • D ecember
28, 1994
P age
B3
Jilortlanb (©bseruer
ENTE
SPEARHEAD
The
Nutcracker
Returns
(Above) Dancing in Oregon
Ballet Theater’s production of
The Nutcracker is Davida Haas
as Marie and Fabrice Lemire as
the Nutcracker prince.
»<)’A/
(Left) Alexandrous Ballard and
Maricar Drilon portray the
Mandarin boy and the Peony
girl in Oregon Ballet Theater’s
production of The Nutcracker.
The holiday classic performs at
the Portland Civic Auditorium
through Dec. 30. For tickets and
more information call 2-
BALLET.
-V KW ■
MS*
ing today’s crazy, violent, high-tech
era.”
Michael spells out his mission
even as he suggests some new strat
egies on his new album ’s title track:
“ If I don’t have enemies, I’m not
doin’ my job/I might throw out a
curveball, but I never throw a lob.”
Accordingly, “Hole In The Bucket”
adds a modern moral dimension to a
lighthearted Jamaican folksong pop
ularized by Harry Belafonte a gener
ation ago. “Caught Without An Um
brella" is an ultimately hopeful song
about an attempted suicide, inspired
by a poem by Los Angeles-based
poet Ruth Foreman. “Love Is The
Shit" is a wry meditation on the perils
o f falling in love. “ Dream Team”
imagines a day when African-Amer
icans wield as much power in Wash-
A esth etic p leasu res asid e,
S pearh ead is distin g u ish ed by
Michael Franti’s social conscious
ness. L ike A frica B am baataa,
Michael has been inspired by King
Shaka, thee great leader and war
rior who jum pstarted the Zulu na
tion’s march to greatness in 1816.
It was Shaka who redesigned and
made more deadly the traditional
southern African spear known as
the assegai. Nearly two centuries
later, Michael wonders, “Flow do
we reinvent our own struggle in
1994? Obviously, we have to hon
or the spirit o f those who have gone
before us, but it's not the same now
as it was in the Sixties or the Forties
or the Thirties or the Twenties. We
need new tools and new strategies
that are equal to the task o f remak
MTA M A ©MBgA QHIAFAW
i ngton as they do now on basketbal 1
courts. “O f Course You Can” is an
upbeat response to “all the experts
who go around saying that my gen
eration o f black men is a lost gener
ation.” “ Positive” faces the threat
o f AIDS with a rare honesty and
maturity.
The title o f “Crime To Be
Broke In America" speaks for it
self. Even relatively carefree party
tracks, like “Run Fa Ya Life" and
“ Piece O ’ Peace" are made weighty
by the know ledge that the cops might
bust in at any moment. Finally, there
is “ Red Beans And Red Rice,"
which would seem to be about noth
ing more - and nothing less -- than
an a u th o r’s appetite for good,
healthy food and w hat he calls “the
sacred space in your kitchen."
invilcs'ifoulojtiin us ul our
.
0
S em i-form al
Music, dancing, dtx»’ prizes, parly
-favors, cham pagne loasl,
food and more!
Jefferso n H ig h Sch oo l
P e r fo rm in g Arts O u t e r
5 2 1(1 N . K e rb y
A ilm is s io ii: $ I iliiiiiit io ii <>r 2
D ec . 13-30
«•ans o f iio ii-p c r is lia h lc food
A I' k h I iic I kmi ol’ Woild A ils I outid.ilioit. Inc
A ccompanied B y T he
O bt O rchestra
N iel D e P onte , C onductor
by
I ’ i - h I rih I
•»(
Trndiet», ( ¡••Ili««
I'lMllldltlh-ll,
CALL 2-BALLET
P»>iilt«inl I mil
IN iix c r * .
’I'r i n p l p l u n
l'iH III< llllH * ll,
or T icketmaster 224-4400
All
.S tille lii M i r n iM i’,
|-4-iiiiH*iii«-nl
Miiiwlrim •
/ / ’ /
O rtcon
O rrp ii
J)
BALLOONS GALORE
& MORE
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■ WEDDINGS - GRAND OPENINGS - CORPORA TE -
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PALLET“
THEAT
1
I'oi moie in io iim ilio n call 222-1457
23rd & NW Johnson
248-0163
NEW YEAR’S EVE
CELEBRATION
A ilin ';
LAVISH PRODUCTION OE
12:01 !-(>:( ID p m
32nd & E.Burnside
231-8926
0
O regon B allet T heatre ’ s
.liiiiin ir y It i, 1 0 9 5
M u s ic M ille n n iu m
K
A irnX 0 ilm iw iA LPiiA
Saturday, December 31,1994
9:00 pm - 2:00 am
Shenanigan’s on the. Willamette
4575 N. Channel Ave. (Sw an Island)
$15.00 Advance
$20.00 A tlhedoor
"¿Keep C iv illy the I Tream"
JOih dnn ive rsu ry
.ië
James Canfield,
Artistic Director
Mever Memonal Trust
T0
K ()|\
fljft AmencanAirlinas
Rarlttn* Sop Soil
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