daily nebraskan
monday, november 9, 1981
page 10
Nikolais emphasizes form rather than dancers
By Christian S. Thompson
Forget tutus. Forget prima donnas and
prince charmings. Forget saccharine swans,
pastels and pointes because the Nikolais
Dance Theatre presents a form of dance
that looks like nothing else you've ever
seen. Unlike traditional dance, Alwin
Nikolais' dance is not watched, it's experi
enced. It is dynamic, a multi-media perfor
mance that engages and envelopes the audi
ence. Nikolais Dance is a psychedelic
experience.
$m& reuisvj
Friday evening's performance at
Kimball Recital Hall opened with "Group
Dance From Canctum," an ultra, ultra
modern work that seemed to represent the
very first stages of evolution. As the lights
came up on stage, it was difficult to tell
what sort of forms were writhing and
pulsating on the floor. The abstract back
drop for the dance was projected onto the
panorama with a projector, simultaneously
projecting the abstract design onto the
dancers.
The costumes were some sort of elastic
body bags. With a bizzare soundtrack that
sounded like cave reverberations, the total
effect was orgiastic. The dancers didn't
look like dancers; they looked like
embroytic masses, teeming primal life
forms, like amoebas or flagellates.
Aesthetic statement
It should be noted that Alwin Nikolais
not only creates his own choreography , but
also does his own costume design, lights,
and even his own soundtracks. The result is
a total concept unlike any other. Most
dance companies have a choreographer and
a light specialist, borrow soundtracks from
separate composers and have a separate
costume designer.
Perhaps one of the reasons for the
Nikolais Dance Theatre's success is that
Alwin Nikolais is able to wield a complete
aesthetic statement, a statement that has
more impact because he is able to exter
nalize all of his artistic concepts into one
message through dance.
"Group Dance from Sanctum" was fol
lowed by 'Trio from Vaudeville," which
was equally modernistic. Three dancers
whirled and glided about in futuristic
costumes constructed out of the same 9
translucent white elastic material as before.
This time it was stretched over three
circular tiers from the waist down. Because
the feet were not visible, the dancers seem
ed to effortlessly slide across the stage on
ball bearings. Again, the dancers did not
look human. Rather, with ice-blue lighting
they had an opaque, alien, Alan Parsons
"I, Robot" look.
All of the dancers presented in the pro
gram avidly displayed one of Alwin
Nikolais most pronounced dance theories:
"decentralization," in which the dancer be
comes something other than human in
terms of body movement. Nikolais express
es his theory as one of liberation.
"Being relieved of one's flesh is really
the most wonderful attribute of man be
cause it allows man to identify with and
become something else, something be
yond," Nikolais said.
Emphasis on form
Nikolais' notion of "decentralization"
extends to each individual dancer. Nikolais
doesn't believe in prima donnas. There are
ads
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING
CALL 472-1761
$2.50 minimum charge per day
on commercial ads. Ten
words included.
$1.50 minimum charge per day
on individual student and
student organization ads.
Students must pay for the ad
at the time it is placed. Ten
words included.
NO REFUNDS ON PRE-PAID
ADS.
NO RESPONSIBILITY ASSUM
ED FOR MORE THAN ONE
INCORRECT INSERTION.
DEADLINE:
1 p.m. day before publica
tion (Monday thru Friday).
An $8.00 service charge will be
assessed for all checks re
turned to the Daily Nebras
kan and will be collected by
Check Rite.
FOR SALE: Car stereo
Pioneer TSX-6's Speakers Pi
oneer 40 Watt Amp., Pioneer
KP373 Cassette Deck. Call 472
8431. Fender P.A. System. (Two
speakers and mixer, amp) Ex
cellent condition. Good price.
Call 474-2234.
Guild D-35 with hard shell
case. $300. 483-4325.
AN INVESTMENT VS. RENT
An affordable condominium
from $18,000 - $23,000? 9 -34
APR. One bedroom and
efficiency units. -For informa
tion, call Woods Brothers Realty
or Sharon Aden at 423-4692
or 423-2373.
Buy the Sheldon Gdtory
Cookbook for Christmas or
weeding sifts. 600 recipes
plus 8 "Wild and Wonder
ful Party Menus. 113.95.
The Sheldon Art Shop
70 Cutlass Supreme Fast.
Call for info. $1,000. Evenings.
489-2885.
SURPLUS JEEPS. CARS,
AND TRUCKS available. Many
sell under $200! Call 312
742-1143. Ext. 3004 for in
formation on how to pur
chase. Keyboards: Arp Omni II,
Korg Poly-ensemble, Hammond
C3; Complete Peavey PA Sys
tem; Sunn Amp; Speaker cab
inet. 464-6638.
6 student tickets to I.S.U.
game; 1 female and 5 male.
435-7467.
3 Male & 2 female tickets
for Iowa State game. 475
2849. Ask for Doug.
The Ultimate Cruisemobile!
1950 Oldsmobile Futuramic
with 54,000 actual miles. Great
body, great tires, big back
seat. etc. Take off for the Twi
light Zone today, call 475
1132 and we'll negotiate. It
could change your life.
Part time desk clerk, eve
nings and weekends, experi
ence preferred. Apply in per
son. GREAT PLAINS MOTEL
2732 "O" Street
OVERSEAS JOBS Summer
year round. Europe, S. Amer.,
Australia. Asia. All fields. $500
$1200 monthly. Sightseeing.
Free info. Write IJC Box 52-Ne-1.
Corona Del Mar, CA
92625.
Small 1 bedroom apt. New
carpet, sliding glass doors,
drapes, off-street parking, laun
dry facilities. Available imme
diately and for Dec. 1. 477
3889. GRAB A PARTNER
Two can live for the price
of one, brand new 6-plex,
large deluxe two bedroom
apartments, carpet, drapes, ap
pliances. AC. 5 blocks from
campus. $280 per month.
Labella Enterprises
474-4551
OVERSEAS JOBS - Sum
meryear round. Europe, S.
America, Australia, Asia. All
fields. $500 $1200 monthly.
Sightseeing. Free info. Write
IJC, Box 52 - NE 1, Corona
Del Mar. Ca 92625.
SEARS
Permanent part-time
maintenance person to be
available 7-10 a.m. daily.
Sears benefits include:
discount privileges
"paid vacations
paid holidays
profit sharing
Apply Personnel Office,
2nd Floor, Sears Gate
way, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.,
M F. Equal Opportunity
Employer MF
1429 "C" Street
Spacious one-bedroom
apartment. Fully carpeted,
off-street parking. $205
month plus utilities.
1435 -0" Street
Available now. One bed
room, furnished apartment.
Off street parking, laundry
facilities. All appliances.
Newer building. $210
month. Call:
Joseph E. Kean Company
474-1666
RENTAL
Rent small room refriger
ators, televisions, stereos, desks,
dressers, chests, living room
furniture, washers and dryers,
bunk beds.
ACE FURNITURE
2429 -0- Street
474-3444
Photo courtesy of Kimball Recital Hall
The Nikolais Dance Theatre
no stars in his choreography. "Decentrali
zation" places the visual emphasis not on
the dancer, but on the form the dancer is
presenting. Thus we see forms in Alwin
Nikolais' dance that are often other than
human.
"If you put somebody in a body bag,"
Nikolais said, "he knows that the message
exists in the spatial volume, the linear con
tent and the evolvement of those forms.
You cannot see the person inside, so
there's no chance for egocentricity."
The last dance on the program was
"Gallery," a sardonic dance like something
out of the 'Twilight Zone." Thematically,
it represents a shooting gallery with dan
cers as targets. Done completely in back
lights and flourescent costuming it was
more than a little eerie. The dancers wore
green and orange masks during most of the
dance. When they didn't, they looked
headless.
At the end of the dance, the dancers
reacted to gun shots in the soundtrack, by
bobbing back and forth. Each time they
came back up, another shattered fragment
of their face mask was gone.
Alwin Nikolais is a major revolutionary
force in dance. He has extended its definit
ion and brought entirely new meanings to
dance as an art form. Through his creative
genius, Alwin Nikolais has explored and
externalized new aesthetic thought. It is
difficult to think of enough colorful adject
ives and superlatives to adequately describe
what has become an internationally re
cognized art form, related to dance, but
so ingeniously conceived that it becomes
an art form of its own.
999 offers danceable tempos
and escapism on 'Concrete'
By Bob Crisler
Sparse, bright and sincere - the best
pop formula ever invented, and British rock
quartet 999 has it down pat.
Like labelmates The Jam, 999 purveys
well-crafted, compelling rhythmic forms,
but unlike Paul Weller & Co., it is involved
in abstract lyrical themes that at times
border on meaninglessness.
Building songs around catch-all phrases
and recycled cliches', the group proffers a
more rosy outlook on life in the western
world than many of the other new rock
combos, most of whom convey images of
reality rather than escape.
However, escapism has lamentably turn
ed out to be the major theme in modern
leisure culture, the record4uying public.
Pop artifacts of the early '80s litter the
horizon in a blanket of plasticine grandeur.
Somehwere, somehow, disco rebellion sur
vives, and where it doesn't, a posse of cap-gun-toting
Urban Cowboys is sure to be
lurking.
Refreshing escape
As Timothy Leary must have yearned to
escape to reality at times, it is refreshing to
escape from it. 999 is bound and determin
ed to prove that, although it's been tagged
"New Wave" it is not any part of a Com
munist plot to radicalize the nation's youth.
It is all for the one-time movement's
staunch devotion to "having fun," but for
getful of its atmosphere of political aware
ness. All the while, youth riot in London.
Words aren't everything, however The
Ventures proved that (check out their re
cent 45 "Surfin' and Spyin' " and "Show
down at Newport" on Tridex Records).
999 adheres loosely to the tuneful
tenets of mid-sixties rhythm and blues, and
in the process turns out some pretty
acceptable dance tempos.
Concrete sets a partyin' mood immedi
ately with "So Greedy," an intro copped
from the Standells' great "Dirty Water."
"Killer beat"
On the third song, "Break it up," 999
comes into its on with a killer beat and
savage guitars. The next tune, 'Taboo,"
expands from the mechano-percussion first
foisted on the public in the regrettable
1979 Flying Lizards thrashing of the
Beatles' "Money." Here, a breathy, vocal
and a Gang of Four choppiness combine
for an overall ethereal effect.
"Mercy Mercy" and "Fortune Teller"
end side one in a rocky trail-off.
Outstanding on side two are "Don't
You Know I Need You" and 'That's the
Way It Goes," both of which have all the
ingredients of popular appeal, but which
will without a doubt be glossed over by
satin jacketed radio execs.
While less-adventurous yokels may pre
fer to nurture their varicose veins while
sitting down at energyless Dan Fogelberg
gigs (he's a real sensitive guy), it is fortun
ate for the national health that there is a
minority willing to shake a leg for the good
of the collective physique.
The preceding are my opinions. If you
want to find out for yourself, be at the Ne
braska Union Centennial "Room at 8 pjn.
on Tuesday. 999 will be there along with
fellow Britons, the Alley Cats.
