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Qune 1, 1994
RELEVANCE RECLAIMED
The Body Dances for the Mind
Despite its recent refurbishing, re-opening
and rescue from the ravages of dust and decay,
the Morton Theatre is about to bear witness to a
new reclamation
But uniice the previous renovation. The Redo-
mation frojed.' a dance concert featuring six stun
ning works of modem dance, is dedicated to sav
ing a different kind of resource — the mind The
program, running Thursday at 8 p.m for one night
onty at the marvelous Morton, is an extension of
February's annual Mental Health Benefit, with d
proceeds going to the Mental Health Association
of Northeast Georgia Originally scheduled fa Feb
8, the concert had to be postponed due to ongo
ing preparations with the Morton's staff
lizz Meyer, a local dancer who is directing
and performing in the event, says the program's
name not only relates to the need to aid the merv
taty unhealthy, but holds personal meaning fa
her as a dancer
Among Meyer's featured works are Terra
Incognita' a solo work dealing with the creative
and regenerative powers of the individual, this
work was done in collabaation with the music
and inti ractive computer wizardry of Chito
lopena And 'Rk,' a work perfamed by Meyer
and her sister Blair, explaes the artist’s feelings
and experiences resulting from the suicide of a
dose friend
Also featured is 'Bridge of Dreams.' a mcrftl-
media work exploring the dark side of the sub
conscious, chaeogrophed by University dance
professa Bala Sarosvati in collabaation with
lapena, and "Forgot to Remember,' a portrait of the
ups and downs of a 13-yea friendship, performed
by lutz Roberto Da Silva and Atlanta chaeographer
Suyenne Simoes Budde up. folks—this beast caled
modem dance loves to shock and surprise Is prey,
but in the end, it's one hell of a rush fa the mind
and the spirit A great cause, too,
Stephen Hall
Tickets are 55 for students and 57 for non-sfu-
dents and are available at Big Shot Records, the
Athens Chamber of Commerce and the Morton
box office For further info, call hians-Peter Dietrich
at 543-1882.
Alas, the Joffrey: Balletic Baloney
The Joffrey Ballet presented their latest rock ballet "Billboards" at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta May
17-22. This national tour was inspired by thirteen Prince songs There were four choreographers, and
each had one act to present his work.
I watched act one, choreographed by Laura Dean, and was pleased by the performance. The dance
began with a beautiful progressive line of dancers, echoing each other’s movements. This dance re
minded me of a ballroom dance, a chorus line and a ballet. The movement quality was smooth, rich,
strong and continuous — like the ocean. Dean used contemporary lines in her choreography and kept
the movement washing over the stage Her dancers performed to their fullest and gave the feeling of
pure excitement to the audience And then came act two.
Enter twelve tackily-clad dancers performing stiff, dumb (there is no other word for it) movements.
The dancers are under the spell of a woman, in a gold lam* unitard, wielding a magical rug beater. She
bade them perform crass pelvic thrusts, masturbation gestures and orgy-like dances. After the cavemen
and women exited, Queen Rug Beater left stage to a harlequin-like soloist. The sad clown performed
ridiculous flailing movements that sporadically exploded from her body.
The choreographer of act two, Charles Moultin, is a sensationalist His choreography is unintelligent
and boorish. I must commend the dancers for performing this work with professional quality.
And then, along with other audience members, I left. No further dancing could I endure. I wanted to
run screaming from the Fox, The Joffrey has sold out! They’ve lost their dignity! Run fa your lives!”
But instead, 1 sank into despair because one of my most loved ballet companies had been so wrong.
Angela Hewitt
A Place Called Childhood
LET’S HOPE
she Comes back.
for two enchanted evenings in May, the town of Hope, Arkansas,
paid a visit to Athens, Georgia — courtesy of a mischievous, bnght-
eyed seven-year-old named Betty Jane
And thanks to the whimsical charm and the sincere intimacy with
which she recalls her grade-school antics and adventures, the world
premiere at the Georgia Center’s Hugh B. Masters Hall on May 20-21
of A Place Called Hope, a one-woman stage play, was a very special
occasion. After a seemingly endless string of tense stage dramas, mind-
boggling murder mysteries and madcap musicals that have dominated
the local stage scene this year, Jane Burroughs Quinn’s play is a wel
come escape from the artful posturings and cutesy slapstick of your typi
cal stage fare.
Based on the childhood expenences and memories of the author, A
Place Called Hope stars Vivian Anne Tedford a$ Betty Jane Burroughs, a
rambunctious and spirited little gif! with enough small-town, coming-
of-age anecdotes to make Garrison Keillor seem like a homebody. She
tells of her danng exploits with best friend Lynnie Thomas and her
ensuing confrontations with authority figures. She desenbes M is. Gseen,
her second-grade teacher, as “a giant, upside-down L with blue hair* as
she leaned menacingly over her, catching Berry Jane in her usual she
namgans Her visits to the pnncipal’s office are almost a daily ritual.
"Little punishing rooms are all offices are good for,” Betty Jane ob
serves. “I’m never gang to have one when 1 grow up."
Our young heroine’s stories also detail her attempts at sneaking a
cigarerte, running away from school and dancing on piano keys while
the grown-ups are in church. Here she gets in hot water with Brother
Whitlow, an austere, fire-and-brimstone Baptist minister whom Betty
Jane swears was bom a grown-up. But amidst the laughs and the joys of
growing up in 1940s Arkansas, Betty Jane leams more about life than
grade school could ever teach. These lessons include the oppressive
adult world’s conservative views on proper social conduct and personal
beliefs, as well as the sadness of bidding childhood pals farewell.
Though quite the grownup in physicality, Adanta actress Vivian
Anne Tedford makes the audience believe they are in the company of
a seven-year-old girl. She clearly believes in the magic and beauty of
youth, and by making us believe it too, she takes us back to our own
personal childhood, making the memories as delicious and crystal-clear
as yesterday With a delivery that’s energetic and engaging but never
forced or maudlin, Tedford, Quinn and director Elizabeth S. Bo$oc take
us on a breezy stroll through 1940s rural Amenca, a stroll whose simple
pleasures and occasional irreverence recall Mark Twain at his best.
Stephen Hall
cA D o,
: x-r-T
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