arfa Arts&Entertainment
Dancer bringing self-built troupe to Lied stage
Company has taken
style around world
By Paula Lavigne
Senior Reporter
Dressed in black, with a multi-colored Ital
ian sweater stretched over his broad shoulders,
dancer David Parsons is a living, breathing art
form. He pulls up a extra chair because his legs
are too long to fit under the booth.
Parsons, formerly the leading dancer in the
Paul Taylor Dance Company, created his own
modern dance company in 1987. Since then,
the David Parsons Dance Company has launched
successful tours in Italy, Australia and the
United States.
The company will perform alongside the
Billy Taylor Trio at the Lied Center this week
end.
“If you live in the dance world like I do and
have seen it for the last 20-somc years now, it’s
very, complex,” he said. “It’s changing.”
Before landing on his feet with dance. Par
sons was experimenting with a different type of
movement — gymnastics.
“After awhile, (gymnastics) is great. It’s not
really a career situation, though. It’s really
about making money while you’re young and
it’s really commercial,” he said. ,
Expression and the chance to channel his
passion into a full-time, fulfilling career led
him to dance.
When he began, he encountered bewilder
ment and skepticism. Over time. Parsons con
vinced himself that the perceptions of what a
dancer/choreographer is were changing and
losing some of their stereotypes.
“I agree ballet is an elitist art form. It was
started in the royal courts in Russia and France,
and it’s always had that problem,” Parsons said.
However, ballet is not modem dance.
“American modern dance is an American
art form like jazz,” Parsons said.
“Dance, for me is the beauty of the human
body, reinstating the fact that the body is in
credibly expressive, wonderful instrument.
Diversity, Parsons said, is a vital clement of
his company. He has choreographed pieces to
Bach and to jazz music; he is contemplating
using Led Zeppelin.
He said his work with jazz pianist Billy
Courtesy of the Parsons Dance Company
The Parsons Dance Company, along with the Billy T ay lor jazz trio, will perform “Step Into My Dream, ” an improvisational
collaboration, on Saturday and Sunday at the Lied Center.
Taylor was unusual for a modern dance com
pany. Taylor and Parsons met in Tuscon, Ariz.,
four years ago and each was impressed with the
other’s work. With each passing week. Parsons
said, the collaboration became smoother and
smoother.
“Live music just makes it so much better,” he
said. “It’s just the human body you deal with.
You don’t have sets. We’re taking dance back
to its basic roots of choreography and ritual.”
“You get to sec human bodies endeavor to be
just as wondrous as they can be with just the
body,” he said. “People arc realizing the com
pany has a name for itself, all internationally,
because it is just dance.”
One of those people was Omaha native Mia
McSwain. McSwain was dancing for Ballet
Omaha, when, on a trip to New York, the David
Parsons Dance Company piqued her interest.
After an intense audition and hours of re
hearsal, she said. Parsons walked up to her and
said, “Welcome.”
“1 was just ecstatic,” McSwain said. “It’s
been a good experience. It’s a dream come true
to work with a company that travels all over the
world.”
McSwain said she was fascinated with the
company’s tour in Europe and the beautiful
theaters where they were allowed to perform.
She also noticed the greater importance Euro
pcans placed on dance as opposed to Ameri
cans.
“The funding for the arts is better,” she said.
“(Europeans) understand dance as a profession
and appreciate it.”
Delighted to be back in her home state,
McSwain said she was excited her parents
would be able to sec her for the first time.
McSwain said her interest in dance was sparked
by her mother, also a dancer.
The David Parsons Dance Company and the
Billy Taylor Trio will be on stage at the Lied
Center Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 4 p.m.
Tickets are $24. $20 and $16. Student tickets
arc half-price.
Pick of week is wacky
I
is
As the endofthc semester draws
near, the new releases are begin
ning to dwindle in number. This
week’s releases include a decent
comedy.apathcticdramaandsome
good suspense. This week’s pick of
the week is a wonderfully eccentric
little flick from 1984, a year when
most UNL students were still in
second grade. Believe it or not, all
new releases were available on
Wednesday.
Another Stakeout (PG-13)
— A sequel to the late ’80s hit
“Stakeout,” “Another Stakeout” is
a comedy-adventure film that de
pends more on the chemistry be
tween its stars (Emilio Estevez and
Richard Dreyfuss) than solid writ
ing.
Thistimearound,Chrisand Bill
(Dreyfuss and Estevez) arc assigned
to protect a witness for an upcom
ing mob trial.
s If you decide to see “Another
Stakeout,” watch the original
“Stakdout” first so you get all the
jokes.
“Flesh and Bone” (R) — A
movie that stimulates intellect in
stead of adrenaline, “Flesh and
Bone" requires a coup lb ot leaps of
faith from the audience, but it is
still worth seeing.
Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan
(real-life husband and wife) star in
this suspenseful film that never lets
the audience get bored or lose track
of what’s going on.
It’s worth a look-see, but utilize
that “pause” button if you need to
leave the room so you don’t miss
anything.
“Mr. Jones” (R)— One word:
crap. “Mr. Jones” is one of those
movies that makes you wish for
“BAD MOVIE” alert lights to go
off when it is picked up off the
shelf.
Richard Gere is an eccentric man
who is manic-depressive, and Lena
01 in is his psychiatrist who be
comes intrigued with him.
She sleeps with him, so the only
possible suspense is dead. Rent
something else, or go read a good
book (or even a bad book, for that
matter).
PICK OF THE WEEK—Ac
tually, calling this film “eccentric”
is like calling the ocean “damp.”
How about a hint? “Buckaroo,
President’s on Line 1. wanting to
know is everything okay with the
alien space cloud and Planet 10 or
should he just go ahead and destroy
Russia?”
The film is “The Adventures of
Buckaroo Banzai,”and you’II have
to see the movie to find out exactly
how brain surgcon/scicntist/musi
cian Buckaroo Banzai (Peter
Weller, “Robocop”) handles the
situation. The movie is absolutely
bizarre and is a definite must-see
for anyone with a sense of humor.
— Gerry Beltz
Set designer focuses on emotion
By Paula Lavigne
Senior Reporter
When he was a lUttc boy, John
Conklin would gather the other chil
dren in the neighborhood together to
act out tniniplays he concocted at
home.
With his active imagination still at
work, Conklin is designing sets for
much larger theatrical productions,
and they’re not in his neighborhood.
They arc on the stages of the Metro
politan, San Francisco, New York
City and Chicago Lyric Operas and
others.
Conklin will be presenting slides
from his latest work. Wager’s Ring
Circle for the Chicago Lyric Opera,
during the dedication for the College
of Fine and Performing Arts this week
end.
Conklin said set designing was a
way of combining a wide range of
different interests—art,architecture,
theater and dance.
As a set designer who shies away
from the excessive use of technology,
Conklin said he was more focused on
the emotions of the performance.
“I’m more interested in the human
event than the scenery,” he said. “1
want to move beyond somebody who
provides illustrations and pictures.
“I want to create an environment
and allow people to express them
selves within it.”
While Conklin’s sets for both op
era and theater arc rich with historical
detail, he said no artwork was really
from the past if it was presented in the
present.
“They’re all contemporary. Verdi
and Wagnerarc not 19th-Century com
posers because they exist in the con
temporary world; they arc being de
signed a nd d ircc ted by pcople in 1994,”
he said.
Being yourself is the best advice
Conklin would give to any student
-44
I’m more interested
in the human event
than the scenery.
— Conklin
theater set designer
-ff -
wishing to become a scenic designer.
“You have lo be as individual afid
idiosyncratic as you can be,” he said.
“Sometimes there’s a perception that
there’s one way lo be a designer.
“There is no way, no path or style
that will make you successful. You
have to be excited about it. Passion,
excitemen t and curiosi ty arc the t h ings
that will make you succeed.”
Conklin will present his work Sat
urday at 3:30p.m. in the Mary Riepma
Ross Film Theater Auditorium. Ad
mission is free.
Political play attacks religion, police brutality
By Sean McCarthy
Staff Reporter __
Murder, deception, brutality and a
corpse arc all facets of “Loot,” the
latest play in the Thcatrix season.
The plot centers on a young thief
who dumps his mother’s dead body
intoaclosct. He then uses the mother’s
casket to hide his accomplice and
some stolcil money. The play, which
is directed by Robin McKerchcr, at
tacks such sensitive topics as religion
and police brutality.
“It’s wicked,” McKcrcher said.
“It’s not politically correct; it’s a nice
attack on PC politics.”
McKercher, a second-year gradu
ate student in theater directing, said ..
he was particularly attached to the
story line of "Loot.”
“The show is a farce that skewers
the hypocritical attitudes towards the
ritual of death, police authority and
the Catholic Church,” McKercher
said.
The cast of “Loot” includes Steve
Gaines, Catherine Jarboc, Troy Mar
tin, Dean Houser, Mark Adams and
Bruce Burns.
The technical aspect of“Loot” was
a prop nightmare, McKercher said.
But financial limitations proved to be
more of a challenge than an obstacle,
he said.
“Any good director would tell you
that limitations allow you to be more
creative,” McKcrcher said.
A comedy with a political message
is one of the hardest things to direct,
McKcrchersaid. However, if it’s done
successfully, it can have an amazing
effect on the audience, he said.
“Loot" will be performed at the
Studio Theatre in the Temple Build
ing both Thursday and Saturday at 8
p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets arc
$2.
