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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 22, 1988)
—-----—--J XT |Pa^i * Page J2S&L Arts & Entertainment 7 Pepe Romero Spanish guitar player to perform at Kimball rrom :uaii reports Pepe Romero, a Spanish guitar ist, will appear at Kimball Recital Hall tonight at 8 p.m. The critically acclaimed soloist will have something special for Lincoln audiences; he will play the world premiere of “Zareh,” by Armenian composer Loris Tjckna vorian. Romero began his career when he was five, as part of the “Los Romeros” guitar family. As a solo artist, Romero recorded more than two dozen recordings including songs written especially for him. Romero has toured throughout Europe, Japan and America. A Los Angeles Times review said; “Guitarist Pepe Romero has always had an amazingly facile technique and an exuberant, easily aroused musical personality.” A New York Times review called Romero an “exceptional musician,” and said he was “al ways directed by taste and a sense of style.” Romero’s recent seasons have included recitals in Chicago, St. Louis and at Pasadena’s Ambassa dor Auditorium. His 1988-89 season includes performances with the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, re citals in Cleveland, Cincinnati and an extensive European tour nexi 5»pi 1I*K Tjeknavorian was bom in I ran in 1937 lo Armenian parents. He graduated cum laudc from the Vienna Academy of Music, where he studied composition, violin and choral conducting. Tjeknavorian has composed more than 40 works: two operas, five symphonies, concertos, ballets and chamber works. Tjcknavorian’s work, “Zarch,” was composed in 1987 for his son Zareh’s 18th birthday, and will premiere on Zarch’s 19th birthday. The guitar concerto consists of three movements. The guitar introduces the main theme in a slow opening introduc tion which is then picked up by the orchestra. This leads into an allegro, then a scherzo. In the second movement, the guitar enters into a long lyric mel ody aftcra short orchestra introduc tion. The third movement is lively and spirited with constant dialogue between the orchestra and the solo ist. Also on the program is Arthur Honegger’s “Pastorale d’Ete;” Russell Peck’s, “Signs of Life;” and Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 85 in B-flat major, “La Rcinc.” Tjcknavorian will give a pre performance talk at 7:25 p.m. Tickets are S12 regular, S9.50 for senior citizens and S6 for stu dents. Lincoln art galleries display students’ work From Staff Reports _ A new show of works by the first and second-year master of fine arts graduate students opened Monday at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Department ot Art Gallery. Artworks in painting, sculpture, clay, photography, printmaking, drawing and mixed media will pres ent a variety of viewpoints in contem porary art. Participating artists are Jeff An derson, Mark Behrend, Lisa Bell, Kate Brooke, Judy Burton, David Harvey, Claire Heyworth-Moats, Mary Jo Homing, Georgia Johnson, Angie Meche, Myron Moore, Susan Moss, Terry Mulkey and Karl Oman. The exhibition will continue through Dec. 22. Participants in Gallery Eve, a lour of five Lincoln art galleries, will have a chance to collect a specially hand produced limited edition woodcut print by artist Karen Kune. Kune, an assistant professor in the UNL department of art, is well known for her colorful woodcut prints. The woodcut is in five individual parts. One piece will be at each of the open galleries on Gallery Eve, Nov. 28,5 to 8 p.m. The galleries are the UNL Depart ment of Art Gallery, 102 Richards Hall; Haydon Art Gallery, 230 N. 7th St; Burkholder Project, 719 P St; Haymarket Art Gallery, 119 S. 9th St.; and University Place ArtCentei, 2601 N. 48th St The Department of Art Gallery’s normal hours are 9 a.m. to S p.m., Monday through Thursday/ ..* •< Native dances symbolic By Micki Haller Senior Editor The American Indian Dance Thea ter performance in Kimball Recital Hall Sunday night was a mixture of religion, tradition and story-telling. The show was an experience for nearly all the senses. In the beginning, the sounds of chirping birds and whir ring crickets came forth from the sound system. Then, the curtains opened on a big blue screen and the stage was filled with smoke. The smoke slowly rolled off the stage and into the crowd, like fog dispersing in the early morning. This fog was noordinary stage fog, but a special incense that smelled heavenly and caused a lot ofcoughing in the audience. A young man emerged from the fog and dances. His piece segued so smoothly into the next act, that the audience didn’t have time to ac knowledge the end of the act. The only accompaniment through the dance was a flute and singer — in fact, in all of the dances, the other instruments tend to be restricted to drums, flutes and voices. The next dance, honoring the eagle, was graceful and striking. Seven men, dressed with wide wings, seemed to soar, and their shadows added an extradimension to the visual part of the performance. The shield dance came next. Ac cording to legend, two young medi cine men were sent from their tribes to find the world. As they stalked a buffaio herd, each became aware of the other, and they fought. The dancers wore elaborate, feath ered costumes, and their various orna mentations and bangles clacked to gether as they moved. The men fought vigorously and gracefully and finally one defeated the other, and a woman was left mourning by the camp fire. Next, two women danced a tradi tional piece. Bobbing in time with the music, the women traveled across the stage, with their fringe swaying in rhythm. Warriors look the stage in front of them, and performed the sneak-up, ruffle and Crow hop. The Grass Dance was one of the most exciting performances of the evening. The men donned costumes in bright colors, but the effect wasn’t garish. They were a flurry of fringe and motion, as they cleared a space for the coming ceremony. The Drum Call wasn’t a dance, but a competition between two of the drummers. The call and response was resonating through the hall as the drummers coaxed different sounds and rhythms from their instruments. The Hoop Dance created living things from hoops and a single, tal ented dancer. The man made birds, snakes, a turtle, and ended with a flower. Meshing himself in the white circles, he managed to soar as an eagle, and create the creatures. Eddie Swimmer showed amazing dexterity as he danced through the many hoops. Other dances included the Zuni Buffalo Dance, Apache Dance and the Fancy Dance Contest. This last series of dances, one of the most competitive dances, evolved from the Warrior Society dances. The men wore wild, fringed and feathered costumes, and w hirlcd like dervishes to the music. They were adorned with bells and other parts of the costume made percussive clicks as the dancers danced. The men also had a good feeling for how the cos tume would move, and how to display this to its best advantage. Oddly, the dances were reminis cent of other traditions. The simple chanting, the elaborate costumes and the incense were like a medieval Christian ceremony. The bright colors, vigorous mo tions and story lines were also like Chinese theater. But all in all, the American Indian Dance Theater is a fantastic genre in itself. Music on R.E.M. s latest album comes across as much too heavy By Mark Lage Staff Reporter R.E.M. Green Warner Brothers On “Green,” R.E.M.’s latest LP, the group burrows its collective head several feet further into the slag heap of popular music, possibly irretrieva bly. llHftn As musicians, R.E.M.’s members have been admittedly limited since their beginnings. But by creatively working within and around these limitations, they arc able to make some of the best music of this decade, on albums like “Murmur” and “Reck oning.” Somewhere along the line, though, R.E.M. got the idea to just line up and come straight at us with power chord rock ‘n’ roll, and in this the group’s members were sadly mistaken. “Green,” is merely the lowest point in this process, which the band began with “Life’s Rich Pageant” in 1986. Most of “Green” seems to be a failed attempt at recreating the infec tious, goofy pop of “Exhuming McCarthy,” one of the lone bright spots of last year’s “Document” al bum. Everything on “Green” is way too heavy and plodding, though. Guitarist Peter Buck relies solely on lethargic power chord changes, and lead riffs which can best be de scribed as musical representations of dying rodents. Mike Mills, once a melodic mean der on bass, is contented now to just follow whatever Buck plays. Appar ently Mills is concentrating hisefforts on his childish, pip-squeaky backing vocals. Drummer Bill Berry has sim ply become a loud, plodding thud. But as far as bad performances go, vocalist Michael Stipe earns the crown for his contributions to “Green.” His vocals have evolved from the unintelligible but at least pleasant mumblings of the early al bums, toaclearly enunciated, yelping squawk, which is thoroughly annoy ing. In this squawk he delivers lyrics like “Follow me, don’t follow me/ I’ vc got my spine, I’ vc got my Orange Crush.” Still unintelligible in his own spe cial way, Stipe’s lack of talent domi nates “Green.” On three songs the band opts for an acoustic set-up, and the music on these is a little more interesting. But even the best of the three, “You Are the Everything,” has FM written all over it. And they’re all topped off by Stipe’s painful vocals. However, at one point near the end of the first side, everything seems to go "wrong.” On “World Leader Pretend,” Mills plays a real bass line, Buck chips in some pleasant strumming and pick ing in lieu of power chords, Berry’s snare sounds more like a snare than a gunshot, and Stipe takes a little of the annoying edge off of his voice. See GREEN on 8