Arts & Entertainment
{Dancers mix classical music. modern ballet
»y June iMciugnion
Senior Reporter
Classical music met modcrrfballet
Saturday night, as die Montreal-based
Les Grandes Ballets Canadiens took
to the stage at the Lied Center for
Performing Arts.
The ballet’s first piece, “Misfits,”
combined Serge Prokofiev’s Violin
1
Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Opus 63
with the choreography of James
Kudelka.
Against a stark, one-color back
ground, the dancers leaped and posed
to the moody, dark, sometimes som
ber, music. The color of the backdrop
changed for each of the three move
ments of the ballet. It was blue for the
first movement, green for the second
and dark red for the last.
Featured dancers for “Misfits”
were Gianconda Barbuto, Andrew
Giday, Jagna Mazur, Vanessa Con
very, Adriana Jacinto, Francine
Liboiron, Katrcnna Mareynch, Anne
Marie Masson, Renee Robert, Debra
Salmon and Nadine Wright (first
movement); Katia Breton and Syl
vain Lafortunc (second movement);
and Andrea Boardman, David Co
nen Jamcs Hadley, Boaz Sade,
Geoffrey Hippsand Derek Reid (third
movement).
^hc ballet’s second piece, “Na
Floresta,” was a mood piece and was
created exclusively for the Les Gran
dcs Ballets Canadicns. “Na Floresta’’
marks the first time that choreogra
pher Nacho Duato has choreographed
for anyone other than the Nedcrlands
Dans Theatre.
The South American-flavored piece
features music by Joao Carlos Assis
Brasil, Ney Matogrosso and Wagner
Tiso after Heitor Villa-Lobos. The
ballet is inspired by folklore.
People dressed in khaki and sand
colored outfits danced against a back
drop painted to look like a rain forest.
The effect was striking.
Featured dancers were Catherine
Lafortune, Leslie Jonas, Yvonne
Cutaran, Gioconda Barbuto, Andrea
Boardman, Kevin Irving, Nicolo Fontc,
Min Hua Zhao, Louis Robataille and
Kenneth Larson.
The ballet’s last piece of the eve
ning, “Petrouchka,” is a burlesque in
one act and four parts by Igor Strav
insky and Alexandre Benois. The music
is by Stravinsky; the costumes and
sets by Alexandre Benois. It was
See BALLET on 11
Censorship hurts artist,
audience, director says
By Sean Green
Staff Reporter
When any government tries to
control art, it is not only the artist
who is threatened but the audience
as well.
This was the message of Stephen
Weil, Deputy Director of the Smith
sonian Institution’s Hirshhom Mu
seum and Sculpture Garden, who
spoke Friday night at the Sheldon
Memorial ArtGallery Auditorium.
Weil, who has published sev
eral books involving art and the
law, spoke against censorship as a
“doctrine of antiquity.”
“Throughout history, those who
have had authority have felt com
pelled to reduce, tame and wear
down the arts until they arc little
more than dull instruments of the
state,” Weil said.
He began his lecture with two
quotations from the middle of this
century which reflected the two
opposing themes on censorship.
One source he quoted was John
Maynard Keynes who is most
famous for his work in economics
but who also was involved in cul
ture.
Keynes, in a radio address made
in July, 1945, said “The task of an
official body,” concerning the art
ist, “i* not to teach or to censor, but
to give courage, confidence and
opportunity.”
Weil also quoted Anatoly Lu
nacharsky who was, under Lennon
and Stalin, the first People's Com
missar for Enlightenment in the
U.S.S.R..
In 1933 Lunacharsky said, “To
point out the direction in which the
artistic forces, the artistic atten
See CENSOR on 11
John Bruce/Daily Nebraskan
Book spells out life at college,
but misplaces definition of humor
By William Rudolph
Staff Reporter
"The Unofficial College Diction
ary”
Larry Cohen and Steve Zweig
Meadowbrook Press
The Unofficial College Diction
ary. (n) A thin paperback full of cutesy
"definitions" of college life, designed
by its college graduate authors to fleece
students for lots of money for a mea
sly amount of laughs. See also One
Joke Wonders.
Someone thought it would be a
good idea: fill a bunch of pages with
humorous definitions of college life,
package it attractively and sell it to -
who else? -- college students as a
send-up of university life today.
It would be a good idea - if the
humor in the Unofficial College Dic
tionary was consistently funny.
The dictionary’s problem is that it
can’t decide whether to be hearty
(Breaks: Periodic stretches of time
during the academic year when the
rigors of eaung and drinking loo much
become such a strain on students that
they are given lime off to relax),
clever (Biology majors: “Students
who like to dissect the main course at
—
dinner before eating it”) or mean:
(Ph.D.: “The kind of doctor who won’t
be married for his or her money;”
“Pinning: A stalling tactic designed
by frat guys that lets them continue
sleeping with a girl without getting I
engaged”). i
Most of the time, the humor is just
plain bad. Witness the definition for i
pizza: “A miracle substance upon •,
which many students live almost
exclusively for four years.”
And UNL even makes an appear
ancc under the heading tor suicide:
“Singing ‘Boomer Sooner’ in a Lin
coln, Nebraska, bar after an Okla
homa victory.”
In its better moments, the diction
ary is occasionally right on target
with examples many college students
will find pretty close to the truth. Like
alumni: “Graduates who arc willing
to donate funds for a new library as
long as the football team has a win
ning record." Or administration (“An
organization that makes the U.S. Postal
Service seem efficient by compari
son,") “Bookstore: Where you get
>4.95 at the end of a term for an
jnopened book you bought at the
beginning of the term for $49.95.” Or
his reviewer’s personal favorite:
Spring Break: The week you go to
he beach and pray you don’t catch
iny crabs.”
See DICTIONARY on 11
Unique, magical sounds flood senses
Cocteau Twins make more beautiful music
‘ Courtesy ofCapito! Records
Cocteau Twins
i By Jeffrey Frey
Staff Reporter
Cocteau Twins
“Heaven or Las Vegas”
Capitol Records
Cocteau Twins is simply a band
that makes some of the most consis
tently beautiful music that one will
ever hear. Any attempt at writing
them up and trying to stick them into
a category is difficult. Comparisons
and associations arc insufficient. By
the very nature of their music, putting
into words what the Cocteau Twins’
music is about is simply to scratch the
surface.
Words like “ethereal” and “scin
tillant” come to mind, yet these do
little to explain how Cocteau Twins’
music Hoods the senses in a magical
way - the gorgeous melodies reliev
ing the listener from thoughts, to drift
off into a nondescript place and lime.
A consummate and naive beauty
becomes the embodiment of their
sound.
With their new release, “Heaven
or Las Vegas,” the Twins’ unique
and brilliant sounds arc sure to draw
many of the same eulogies that have
been written for them in the eight
years of their existence -- “Surely
this hand is the voice of God,” and,
“The Cocteau Twins arc to music
what the impressionists were to paint
ing in the late 19th century” are two
that have been written.
“Heaven or Las Vegas” is an album
of deep, echoing melodies that are
magical and addictive. The music does
not seem deliberate or calculated - it
is just there and it represents some
thing wholistic and enchanting.
A remarkable trail of Cocteau Tw ins
is that there is no separation between
the beautiful voice of Elizabeth Fraser
and the fluid and penetrating guitars
of Robin Guthrie. Fraser has created
her own lyrical language that is barely
discernible yet her voice sounds like
an instrument played by angels.
“Iceblink Luck,” the first single
from ‘4 Heaven or Las Vegas, ’ ’ has al 1
of the qualities of Cocteau Twins’
music thatevokesemotionand imagi
nation. Fraser’s voice cuts deep and
affects without taking concentration
off the music which frames itsomuch
like a work of art.
Other compositions, such as
“Cherry-coloured Funk,” and
‘ ‘Fotzepolitic,’ ’ have the same affec
tive qualities that arc rapturous and
soothing.
“Frou-frou Foxes in Midsummer
Fires,” the last of the 10 tracks on the
album, is a delicate, swaying piece
that climbs from subtlety to incred
ible power while manifesting Fraser’s
voice in a way that the word “sing
ing” cannot describe.
The consistency of the tracks on
“Heaven or Las Vegas” makes the
album seem less like a collection of
songs than an experience that leaves
infinite room for the listener’s imagi
nation. The songs drill helplessly into
one another with delicacy and persis
tence while never sounding identical.
In addition to Fraser’s unique vocals
andGuthricon guitar, the Twins have
a third -- Simon Raymondc on bass —
making the name of the group as
interesting as many of the song titles.
Cocteau Twins make music that is
not remotely connected to other pop
genres. Their unique and innovative
sound makes the band least suited to
biographical explanations that can only
See TWINS on 11