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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 19, 1974)
doi 111 fD'(TiSlK' lfifrafllfMinifi ha Egtf dancers kept on toes by Lincoln student audiences j 1 I Eight UNL dance majors have given lecture demonstrations this semester to Lincoln students. "Our function is to promote dance in the public schools-that about sums it up," said UNL senior dance major Camille Warrick. She aKl seven other UNL students have gone into Lincoln elementary and junior high schools this semester to give lecture demonstrations on dance. The lecture demonstration is an informal introduction to dance. "We make it really fun," said Warrick. The programs begin with an explanation of the dancer's workclothes. Then the dancers explore everyday movements such as walk, leap, run and jump, which are fundamental to dance. Using taped music, drums and hand clapping the group performs one ballet, two modern dances and a jazz work. All are choreographed by the dancers themselves. Improvisatory dancing is done with words as a stimulus. The students say a word to the dancers, who react to it with some sort of meaningful movement. Warrick said the students often come up with rather unusual words which keep the dancers on their toes. . The intention is to give the students as broad an introduction as possible by showing them the fundamentals and examples of each of the major dance forms: ballet, modern, improvisatory and jazz. The lecture demonstration is concluded with a question and answer session. The audiences have been very responsive, according to Warrick. She noted the Joffrey Ballet, which also gave performances for tho schools, had sparked interest in dance. On the initiative, of Marie Sanwick, UNL assistant professor in dance, this program was begun in the spring of 1973. "I was looking for a way to 'sell' dance to the schools while at the same time the schools were asking for dance to come in," said Sanwick. . In the fall semester of 1973 the group traveled to schools out state. The program involves two semesters of a University student's time. A student registors for the Lincoln Public Schools program in the spring and then is eligible to participate in the state tour in the fall. The students receive college credit for their work. The last lecture demonstration of the semester will be given Monday at Kahoa School. Rabbit book may hop to fame keith ondgren Watership Down, by Richard Adams. Rabbits. This is a book about rabbits. And if the usual prophets and portents of the literary world are correct, these rabbits will be the most talked about creatures in America by autumn. Richard Adams's book has everything in its favor. It's a 1 -year-old British best seller and has won enormous critical, acclaim from luminaries such as Buckminster Fuller. MacMillan, the publisher, is mounting an advance campaign not unlike that accompanying Paramount Picture's The Great Gatsby. And it will sell. After all, Jonathan Livingston Seagull sold and Adam's rabbits are much more attractive than that feathered philosopher. They don't gush metaphysics, which is most people's objection to Jonathan, but they are as vital and alive as he ever was. It's tempting to say Watership Down is descended from something. The i somethings that suggest themselves are Jonathan, The Lord of the Rings, Through the Looking Glass, and maybe Animal Farm. With Jonathan it shares a way of seeing animals as behaving like animals: in the second page a rabbit rubs his nose with both front paws, something Bugs Bunny wouldn't be caught dead doing. Children will love Adams's heroes as they love Lewis Carroll's stories. Like George Orwell's pigs in Animal Farm, the rabbits can be seen as allegorical figures, as well as ordinary characters. But Watership Down establishes a new class, of fictioa,ofuch waveryf, likely7 will see a great deal more. If it seems to remind us of other books, it reminds us too, that it will not be classed with them. In narrative technique and prose style it is above criticism, yet it may be heavily criticised simply because it's about rabbits. Piease don't misunderstand: I like these little animals. As they left Sandleford Warren for the journey that makes the bulk of the story, I fell in love with them, one at a time. Admittedly it's hard to dislikd rabbits for any reason, but these are touchingly like children, simple, trusting, yet sometimes brave and clever. I like, too, the hard facts about the animals in Watership Down. Adams relied heaviiy on R. M. Lockley's The Private Life of the Rabbit, a lightly scientific work full of trivia on the animals; This careful attention to zoological reality keeps Water siiip Down from slipping headlong into fantasy. We are never allowed to forget these ara rabbits, not .people, but somehow we aren't surprised io find they speak god&$co3bquial English. For that matter, it isn't too surprising to find that Kehaar, a gull who befriends the rabbits, speaks with a vaguely Slavic accent. Watership Down, has almost guaranteed best seller status, because the quality of its style and subject and because the time is probably right for such a book. The only reservation this reviewer can offer is a question: do we really need a book about rabbits? a tp a W i . , . Jhrw frWW rrrrxssssTTrrr -p x,r- j ,?- 1 I v ' "f-N V ' ' ' if- '" . t LA i ! : 1 i .1:1. r- I f .... i And the TOflllfl OfAHn Magnificent ii4li!lliiiLL, THE IDJirduUll'J . Men Sheldon Gallery Auditorium -, The Prince and th Showgirl and The Misfits, two Marilyn Monroe films, will ba shown today and tomorrow at 3, 7 and 9 p.m. Admission is $1.25. Sunday Cary Lewis presents the final Beethoven Sonata Series concert at 3 p.m. Admission is fre. Monzlik Hall Auditorium Sleuth, a super movie starring Sir nrenr Oiivtar arid Michael Caina. will be shown tonight at 7 and 9. Admission is 75 cents with a student ID. Kimbail Rfccital Hall - Merest Marcoau' student Mick Sjroi will give a performance Saturday at 8 p.m. Admission is $1.W). Temple Studio Theatre -Arwtol, a laboratory show, opens tonight and runs through Monday. Admission is $1.50. Union Centennial Room - Once Upon t Mattress opens Sunday. Bill Wallis directs the musical comedy sponsored by Centennial College and the Union Contemporary Arti Committee. Performances begin at 8 p.m. and admission is $1 .50. St. George and the Dragon -Geofree returns to rock up a storm in the Dijon's Den. M on. April 22 0 DOORS OPEN AT 7pm 8pm T.'n!n v) UN-Liitudent (Near 35th & HcldredgO) Sponsored by Union Black Activities $4 NCN-Studeni EAST CAMPUS UNION V 1 1 friday, april 19, 1974 daily neoraskan page 7 . A- -A .A-.-, - -1. A, Ay- 4 . 4. .A- A A - A A - 4. A A 4,, K -a. A