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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 14, 1990)
NelSaskan Arts & Entertainment FT Wednesday, February 14,1990 m i.iiii ■ wn •■■■ - '■ - ■"■■ ■■'■■■ -- Production challenging for students Mystery sets theme for modern dance drama By Robert Richardson Staff Reporter The Department of Theatre Arts & Dance will present “The Stone Basin,” a full-length, modem dance drama on Howell Stage, Friday through February 24. Cary Twomey, who plays the lead character j of Dyllis, said the show is a combination of theater and dance and different than anything she has ever done. “More than it being a dance show, it’s a show about emotional conflicts that can occur, and we’re trying to portray these emotional conflicts through movement. It’s a really dif- & ferent aspect for all of us. We’re not used to working that way,” Twomey said. Laura Milan, crcalor/choreographcr for “The Stone Basin” and assistant professor of dance j at UNL, said the dance department is used to giving several short performances that make up a full show. “We’ve usually done a number of short pieces that revolved loosely around a theme | and had several choreographers,” Milan said. Milan said she came up with the idea for “The Stone Basin” from reading a mystery story by Ellis Peters. The story centered on a monk named Saint Wincfrid. She further de veloped her interest on a trip to England. “We actually saw St. Winefrid’s Holy Well. It was a very moving experience,” she said. ffi ‘‘There were testaments from people who had H experienced miraculous cures of physical af- || flictions. That story touched me very deeply X and was the inspiration for the creation of ‘The ■ Stone Basin.”’ Milan said she never would have attempted something of this magnitude if she hadn’t thought See DANCE on 8 Dancers in “The Stone Basin” practice for Friday s opening performance at the Howell Theatre. Sarcasm for the Europe-bound Guide says ‘lose sleep, wear black’ . . . • . • « « n n ^ A liitln nulKontir fl QVOr By Julie Naughton Senior Reporter “Let’s Blow Through Europe’’ Thomas Neenan and Greg Han cock Mustang Publishing “Let’s Blow Through Europe’’ is not an everyday Euro pean guidebook. It offers valuable ad vice on everything from the local currencies in Europe -- “Irish money is like English money, but a lot prettier” - to taking the subway in Eastern European cities - “Just take it. Remember the Marshall Plan? We proba bly built all their subways anyway.” But the book’s real strength is that it doesn’t lake itself loo seri ously. The book provides both general travel advice and advice on visiting specific cities. The book’s readers arc supposed to take some of the advice with a grain of salt, but most of the book’s advice is sound -- extremely sarcastic and tongue-in-cheek at times, but sound. Neenan and Hancock have a general lecture on countries at the beginning of the book: “There are lots of dif fereni countries in turope. Many of them don ’ t matter at all, because no one has ever been there (sort of like South Dakota). These coun tries are like our states except for a couple of differences. The biggest difference is that the Europeans, through no fault of their own, have ended up speaking all kinds of crazy languages. And not just ones you ve heard of like French.” The authors then proceed to tell the readers that it is possible to blow through Europe in two weeks, taxing in a dozen ciucs. now: oy not sleeping. (“You’re not on a vacation, you’re on a mission. What do you want to do, relax?!!! No chance, lightweight!’’) Cities like London, Paris and Munich, West Germany are cov ered in this book; but the book’s strength lies in the evaluations of d Courtesy of Mustang Publishing cities, such as Dublin, Ireland, Prague, Czechoslovakia and Budapest, Hungary that often aren’t covered in student guidebooks. Neenan and Hancock offer their opinion about the types of people ihat visit each city. Dublin: “There are two types of young people who visit Ireland. First, there are the pseudo-intellec tuals from colleges in New York and Boston that pretend to have read James Joyce and arc in Dublin IU taiui a mwv -- Second, there are the legions of big, cheerful guys and gals from B.C. (Boston College) and Notre Dame with names like Shannon O’Mahoney, Shaun O’Malley or, horror of horrors, Erin Flanagan. These folks think that Joyce is a nice girl’s name. They’re in Dub lin to ‘like, discover my roots,’ and to have stories to tell at the local Ancient Order of Hiberians when they get home.” The book also tells the reader how to obtain a passport, Eurailpass -- the most practical way to see Europe -* and an Interna tional Student Identity Card. “Let’s Blow Through Europe” also gives valu able fashion advice. “Don’t embarrass us all by wear ing a “Gamma Theta Phi 1st Annual Pole-Sitting and Raw-Pig-a-Thon-a-rama shirt” or “. . . to fit in, wear black. Young Euro peans wear more black than your average Orthodox rabbi.” Readers arc given advice on how to avoid stomach disturbances in Europe. “We recommend you build up some resistance by pulling several all nighters before departing for Europe. During the training period, you should eat only cold pizza, Fluffer nutter, Dorilos and onion dip. i ms diet will help you avoid any kind of intestinal bug in Europe, since your bowels will already be in an uproar before you ever set foot on the plane.” The book, as a public service, also tells the readers the manda tory American “Self-Discovery songs” to learn before leaving home: “Homeward Bound,” “The See BLOW on 8 lalentea unknowns neeu timey exposure to sell By Brian Moves Staff Reporter The Ian Lowery Group “King Blank To” RCA There’s nothing special about The lan Lowery Group -- it’s just your everyday band with a mix of country and western, jazz and rock ‘n’ roll. On the newly-named band’s sec ond album, “King Blank To,’’ lead singer Ian Lowery really makes the album with his very effective singing techniques. He switches from power ful to funny to serious throughout every song, never hinting to what may lie ahead. The rest of the band may not get publicity, but they do a pretty good job themselves. For the most part, they produce some quality music to go along with the ever-changing vocals. The guitarist is constantly slashing in and out of hard guitar lines, and the drummer cracks his drums with au thority in the background. “Need” opens the album with a plain and simple, no questions asked, rock ‘n’ roll sound. In it, Lowery tells about all the things rock musicians need and don’t need. The best song, “I Said Skin,” brilliantly blends a soft acoustic gui tar with a hard guitar line. Funny, yet somewhat cheesy, background vocals are added in with the chorus to add depth to the song. “Sick Little Minds” is an acoustic song all about despair, in which Lowery does his best Lou Reed impersona tion. The lyrics are deep and mean ingful: ‘‘She’s got a thin dad and a fat mum/Scrcwed together at the hip bone/Whispcring into a dead phone/ You’re better off to cry alone.” The next song, “Wild Times” starts off with a psychedelic guitar and organ sound that is reminiscent of the late 1960s. With the ceric vocals accounted for, it sounds like a long lost Doors song. A long organ-based instrumen tal floats in the middle of the song to help create the magical mystique. “Beach Fire” uses a slide guitar to emphasize a country and western feel to a song about a dream Lowery had. On ‘‘Driver’s Arrived,” a Lou Reed presence is felt again, along with a somber nightclub mood. And a feel ing of finality is being radiated through the lyrics: “And now I slump against the smoked glass, heaven is the back seat of a limousinc/And there’s no doubt about our destination, I just wondered why it look so long/I guess I must have overdone it this time, there’s a limit and I just passed mine.” The Ian Lowery Group is a rela tively undiscovered commodity, but there is too much musical talent here to remain unknown. Time and expo sure arc needed to propel these un knowns into the mainstream. KRNU 1. Eleventh Dream Day - “Beet” 2. The Front -“The Front” 3. They Might Be Giants - “Flood” 4. Lenny Kravitz - “Let Love Rule” 5. Herbert Gronemeyer- “What’s All This?” 6. Nuclear Valdez — “Summer” 7. The Primatives — “Pure” 8. Shaking Family - “Dreaming in Dctail,r 9. Dramarama — “Stuck in Won derland” 10. Peter Murphy - “Deep”
