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No ‘Shucking And Jiving’
For Indiana Revue
Page 6 - Spclman Spotlight
Noel Pointer made an enjoyable evening for the
Spelmanites who attended the Spelman Student
Government Association-sponsored concert.
By Avy Long
It’s much more than just a
party. Those foot-stomping,
finger-popping, rhythm-bop-
ping, soul-stepping, talented
young people, who make up the
Indiana Soul Revue, put a
tremendous amount of time
and effort into their dynamic
performances.
Surprisingly, only three
students in the entire group are
music majors. The students
receive credit hours for being a
member of the Revue. Each
member must attend classes in
which concepts as well as the
application of concepts are
learned.
There are different classes
for every facet of the Revue.
There are classes for the horn
section, the guitar section,
lighting technicians, sound
board operators, and vocals.
There is even a class for book
ing agents.
These various classes
generally meet on the same
days but in different areas.
The classes are in two
parts—lab and lecture. Even
tually, all the skills acquired in
each class will be combined so
that the combination of all the
lab classes turns into a
rehearsal.
“The Revue is open to
anyone who has certain
abilities and a willingness to
work. We don’t have time for
anybody to be shucking and
jiving,” says Dr. Portia K.
Maultsby, the director the
Revue.
Revue classes are open to
everyone, but students must
audition. Just because a
student is a member one year
does not necessarily mean the
student will be a member the
next year. Students may be
eliminated because of
absenteeism, general lack of
initiative and grade point
average.
So far, four 45’s have been
released by the Revue. They
are “Music is Just a Party”,
“The Lonely Room”, “Tell Me
About It”, and “Seasons of
Love”. The Revue’s forthcom
ing album will probably be
released this summer.
Dr. Maultsby made it clear
that yes, the members of the
Revue do have a good time
performing but a good time is
by no means all that is in
volved. Not only do the
students have to perfect their
performing skills, but they
must also eliminate any
personality traits that would
be unacceptable on stage.
The Indiana Soul Revue is
one of three organizations
which makes up the Afro-
American Arts Institute at In
diana University (IU). The
other two are the Afro-
American Dance Company
and the Afro-American Choral
Ensemble. These three make
up the Performing Arts
Ensemble. Another aspect of
the Afro-American Arts
Institute is the Research
Center which serves as a
resource for Afro-American
studies. Research projects
have made possible the
development of courses, the
production of films, and the
publication of books and
monographs. Some of the
Research Center’s pub
lications are two books, The
Black Composer Speaks,
and How to Make It in
College; and a series ot
monographs entitled Blacks
in American Journalism.
Dr. Maultsby, assistant
professor of ethnomusicology
Continued on page 12
Noel Gives Violin A New Dimension
It is becoming increasingly
evident, in the world of
contemporary music, that the
violin, long a misunderstood
instrument, is at last coming
into its own as a viable means
of new musical expression.
Names such as Jean-Luc Pon-
ty, David LaFlamme, and
John Creech have become
widely recognized as truly in
novative violinists. Their
music extends into both jazz
and rock, popular and clas
sical forms; their individual
talents and abilities are im
pressive. Playing the violin
well requires a certain, special
sort of concentration and those
who play well are finding
amazing new avenues of
expression in progressive
music.
One of the best of the new
ways of adventurous virtuosos
is s twenty-one-year-old
violinist, composer and
arranger named Noel Pointer.
Noel was what was commonly
referred to as a prodigy, begin
ning his life’s work in the
fourth grade, the first time he
tucked the shapely instrument
beneath his chin. His natural
talent and aptitude for the
violin were instantly and
overwhelmingly evident, as a
member of the Brooklyn
Borough-Wide Orchestra, later
as a student at the High School
for Music and Art in New York,
and the Manhattan School of
Music. The value of the train
ing and experience I received
while performing the great
orchestral and choral
literature during this period
can never be estimated,”
reflects Noel.
Noel studied violin privately
with Mary Jane Metcalf,
Ariana Bronne, and Paul
Winters. At the tender age of
thirteen he appeared as a
soloist with The Symphony of
the New World. He has also
guested with the Chicago
Chamber Orchestra, the
Detroit Symphony, and many
others. Somewhere, in the
course of all that thorough and
classical training, Noel
decided to apply his tremen
dous talents and love for the
violin to other less conven
tional music styles. He began
to experiment widely with all
sorts of different mediums; he
was featured in the Joseph
Papp production of “The
Cherry Orchard” for the New
York Shakespeare Theatre; he
appeared with the jazz ensem
ble, Natural Essence, on
television; he performed at
Carnegie Recital Hall for the
Newport Jazz Festival in New
York and also at the Silvan
Theatre in Washington, D.C.
During the course of all this
experimenting, Noel’s
reputation as a violinist and
an innovative musical mind
began to spread. He started
appearing in concert with such
diverse and wide-ranging acts
Continued on page 8
F ollying F acuity F ollies
By Donna Williams
“It was a lot of fun, a lot of
hard work;butitwas worth the
effort.”
These were the words of Ms.
Theresa Chandler, director of
admissions and one of the co
producers of the Faculty
Follies which took place April
10 in Howe Hall.
As one of the highlights of
the Founders Day activities at
Spelman, the Faculty Follies
was a great success. In
general, Ms. Chandler said,
the faculty “loved it”, but now,
in the aftermath, she’s “tired,
whipped.”
“This is something that can
only be done once a year,” she
said.
Her reaction was shared by
Ms. Cheryl Moore, a financial
aid officer, who is looking
forward to next year’s Faculty
Follies when she hopes to be “a
little more relaxed.”
As a whole, the student body
seemed very excited about the
Follies. Ms. Sheila Johnson, a
junior computer science major
said, “I was enthused to see
how much talent the faculty
and the staff of Spelman
have.”
Ms. Kathleen Jackson, direc
tor of the alumnae office, said
Ms. Chandler did a terrific job
of organizing the Faculty
Follies which, as one staff
member put it, “was ad-libbed
in many parts.”
One of the highlights of the
show was “Brother Love”,
better known as “Dr. D.” of the
history department. Dr. de
Paigner, dressed in a long
black robe, filled Howe Hall
with laughter at his playful
comic routine on love and the
devil which included several
healings and a “silent collec
tion” (nothing but dollar bills,
please!).
Ms. Jeanne Allen (registrar)
surprised many of the students
with hertalentforcomedy. She
performed a hilarious original
monologue entitled “The Bibles
is Definitely Not a Dull Book.”
“Take Eve,” she said, “She’s
out there in the garden gos
siping with a snake in the
grass.”
Another exciting feature of
the show was “The President’s
Ladies Plus Two” who
performed a dance routine to
the current Parliament hit
“Flashlight”. Mrs. Virginia
Roberts, administrative as
sistant to President Stewart,
Jackie Marshall, secretary-
receptionist to Dr. Stewart,
and their daughters
‘monkeyed’, ‘wormed’,
‘spanked’ and ‘freaked’ with
flashlights. The “Prez’s
Ladies” were a big hit.
President Stewart took the
audience by surprise when he
came on stage singing a
chorus of “Sob, sob, sob ...” In
a clever skit conceived by Dr.
Stewart and written almost en
tirely by Ms. Jeanne Allen,
“De Prez and de Committee”
rhythmically voiced most
typical complaints of Spelman
students. The skit was quite
successful, and it generated
much student participation.
Other acts included a
dramatic interpretation by Dr.
Fred Hall of the drama
department of a selection from
“No Place to Be Somebody”
and a talk given by Ed Brazil
of the political science
department on “How to Grow
Kud Sue.”
Kathy Jackson sang “All of
Me” and “Cherchez La
Femme”, and Eric Davis,
keypunch operator for the
registrar’s office and emcee
for the Faculty Follies sang an
interesting rendition of “Close
to You”. He warned his
audience that he hadn’t been
on the stage in 12 years.
The concluding act was a
Gong Show hosted by Russell
Spencer, Spelman’s
postmaster, and featuring Ms.
Marva Tanner (director of
financial aid), Christopher
Reynolds (education
department), and June Red-
dington (business office) as
judges for the four acts which
kicked off with the singing
team “Minnie & Winnie” (Ms.
Pauline Martin of the business
office and Ms. Charlene Stuart
of family planning.
Millicent Jordan, professor
of English, lipsung Janis
Joplin’s version of
“Summertime”, followed by
the “Spelman Kittens”, who
did a chorus of “meows”.
Ms. Joanettia Seals, acting
director of housing, carried
the signs between acts and
Eric Davis made a very
entertaining emcee. The
Morehouse Jazz Lab provided
some very soulful sounds
throughout the Faculty
Follies, and didn’t stop until
the Founders Day Birthday
Party which came
immediately after the Follies
was over.
The Birthday Party was a
pleasant end to an exciting
evening of celebration
“Spelman Style”. Punch was
served and if the students had
“had enough” the dance floor
certainly didn’t show it.