, , . Daily , BK99EQI
Nebraskan __ PtiM-fl-tiU
¥ ¥ y——|y——y jrip^ii^ Give it a shot
^k A M I^S I “Masters of the Night"—
^k Mm m B****B Br^^k m This touring exhibit about bats
m m m m B fl B ^k B ■ ^ B m will be at the Ager Building in
m# mB ^k Folsom Children’s Zoo at 27th and
gf gj Bk JmmHMhBL JL B streets. It opens Saturday
runs through Dec. 3 from 10 a.m.
to 8 p.m. daily.
> Lie Awake — This popular
Lincoln band will be playing on
the Broyhill Fountain Plaza
outside the Student Union from 8
p.m. to 11 p.m.
------ --—-!
| • - ... ..
Courtesy of The Joffrey Ballet
Pictured are Jodie Oates and Philip Gardner, who will be performing in The Joffrey
Ballet’s “Billboards.’’
„ * \ % : -v , I H ft •
Joffrey to 'bump and grind
By Pula LavUnt _ _
Senior Reporter
Drive down any American
highway. Billboards of all shapes
and sizes shout out “stop here,
shop here, eat here, stay here.”
They mold into just another aspect
of American society.
To Jenny Sandler and Adam
Sklute, billboards are a way of life.
Sandler and Sklute dance in
The Joffrey Ballet's production
“Billboards,” an elaborate dance
creation crafted by director Gerald
Arpino and choreographed to mu
sic by the rock icon formerly
known as Prince.
This mixture of two contrasting
mediums — rock music and clas
sical ballet — is the signpost for
“Billboards,” which will be play
ing this weekend at the Lied Cen
ter for Performing Arts.
Sandler started her career with
the Joffrey when she was only 6
years old. Her Manhattan home
was only two blocks away from the
studios, she said. Since then, the
Joffrey has become her family.
“I was so caught up in it,” she
said. “All of the sudden they asked
me to join Joffrey II, and that’s
when it hit me.”
Joffrey II does smaller perfor
mances and serves as a training
ground. Sandler moved up to the
main company in 1990 during the
“Billboards” tour and has per
formed in the show more than 100
times.
Sandler said the Joffrey was
unique because the combination of
a small group of dancers and the
artistic staff created a friendly
bond.
“It’s not the harsh ballet world
that other companies have,” she
said.
This camaraderie, Sandler said,
transforms into the essence of the
Joffrey’s style.
“The Joffrey is youth and en
ergy. There’s a lot of love in Joffrey
and it shows on stage,” she said.
“You feed off each other with that
love and energy,”
Sklute started his dance career
by taking jazz and modem dance
classes. Years later, he auditioned
for The Joffrey Ballet, and al
though his feet were in it, his stom
ach wasn’t.
“I got very, very nauseous and
ran out,” he said.
The audition room was filled
with 300 people, Sklute said, but
he was able to slip out and come
back undetected. He returned and
was chosen to join Joffrey II in
1986. He moved to the main com
pany in 1988.
Sklute said he learned to appre
ciate the Joffrey’s unique role in
ballet.
“One of our strongest things is
our adaptability to style,” he said.
“Our dancers have to be versatile
and adaptable.”
See JOFFREY on 13
‘Billboards’ theme
fulfills grand dream,
ballet director says
By Paula Uvlgne
Senior Reporter
Gerald Arpino once thought of
how wonderful it would be to have
a billboard on Hollywood’s Sun
set Strip next to Arnold
Schwarzenegger and Sylvester
Stallone.
Arpino, The Joflfrey Ballet’s ar
tistic director, said he was in
trigued by billboards throughout
the country.
“I remember saying this to Bob
Joflfrey, ‘I’m just fascinated by bill
boards,”’ Arpino said, “and Bob
said, ‘Oh, Gerry, how crass can
you get?”’
Unfortunately, Joffrey never
lived to see the day that Arpino’s
dream came true. Joflfrey’s death
in 1988 came about five years be
fore a billboard featuring The
Joflfrey Ballet’s “Billboards” —
choreographed to music by the pop
superstar formerly known as
Prince — debuted on the Strip.
“The billboard had a huge
drawing of Prince, and it was just
great to see one there,” Arpino
said.
Arpino and Joflfrey co-founded
The Joflfrey Ballet in 1956. Arpino
served as the lead of the troupe’s
six original dancers and was the
creative force behind “Billboards.”
“‘Billboards,’ to me, is an
American pop culture. It’s the only
way many of our people who have
never experienced a Picasso have
a connection with art,” Arpino
said.
Arpino’s fascination with bill
boards led to his desire to do an
all-evening ballet. It became a pro
duction he calls “a divine concept”
and “heavenly ordained.”
“I never dreamed I’d do a ‘Bill
boards’ even, and to music of this
phenomenal composer Prince —
this megastar,” Arpino said. “And
I never thought he and I would
become close friends and associ
ates in this fantastic production.
“Little did I know how fates
were dealing out how I was to meet
Prince.”
Arpino explained the chance
meeting: Prince was renting an es
tate in Bel-Air owned by Patricia
Kennedy. Kennedy was on The
JofTrey Ballet’s board of directors.
Kennedy discovered that Prince
had not seen a ballet and invited
him to a JofTrey performance.
Prince attended a 1991 perfor
mance in Los Angeles.
“He sat between me and Pat,
and he was dressed in his phenom
enal style,” Arpino said. “Pat said
he was very shy, so we shouldn’t
be too animated or excited.”
After the performance, Arpino
said Prince was enthralled.
“He said, ‘Oh, Mr. A, I am in
spired. You will have to excuse me
if I don’t come to the dinner. I’m
going home and writing music for
The JofTrey Ballet,”’ Aipino said.
Through luck, coincidence and
fate, a series of events unfolded,
and “Billboards” premiered at
Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City,
Iowa, on Jan. 27, 1993. The show
continues to draw sellout crowds.
Since then, Arpino and Prince
have become close friends.
“Two months ago he came in
wearing a big lace shirt with the
gold necklaces on, and it was cut
way down to his lower back with
long lace sleeves, and he had the
cane with the gold top,” he said.
“He has those two magnificent
eyes, and he concentrates like a fe
line ready to attack.
“I said, ‘Gee, Prince, you look
great. I’d love to dress like you,”*
he said. “And then his eyes turned
to me and said, ‘Well, Mr. A, why
don’t you?’
“Well, I laughed and said
‘Prince, there’s only one Prince.’”
Arpino said Prince was a truly
dedicated and committed artist.
“He has fantastic vibrations.
He’s a man who doesn’t waste a
moment. His energy is used openly
and directly with anything he’s
doing,” Arpino said. “He is ... a
See ARPINO on 13
Eagles show postponed; don’t panic
By Jill O’Brln
Staff Reporter
Rock supergroup the Eagles
won’t be taking flight at the Bob
Devaney Sports Center anytime
soon.
According to Dorene Johnson,
the University Program Council
event director, the Eagles’ concert,
set for Monday, has been indefi
nitely postponed.
Eagle Glenn Frey is suffering
from a chronic gastrointestinal dis
order, Johnson said, and that has
led the group to cancel several
shows already.
“It really came as no surprise,’’
she said, especially after hearing
that the two Kansas City, Mo.,
shows prior to the Devaney date
were cancelled.
“It’s something we have no con
trol over. It happens,” she said.
Unlike the Devaney show, the
shows at Sandstone Amphitheatre
in Kansas City have been resched
uled for Oct. 14 and IS.
. Gary Doyle at the Office for Stu
dent Involvement said UPC had no
new date at this time.
“Ri$ht now, the attitude we’re
taking is we prefer that ticket hold
ers hold on to their tickets until
next week, in case they do resched
ule,” Doyle said.
Johnson said the 130 people on
the UPC Eagles concert staff also
were on hold.
“These few past weeks we’ve
been working on making reserva
tions, and tomorrow, we’ll start
taking everything apart. ... It s
frustrating,” she said.
“Everybody has been looking
forward to this, and it’s something
we’ve been working hard on and
hoping for. It’s not a complete loss
because of the rescheduling possi
bility," she said.
Doyle said ticket holders who
needed an immediate refund could
return their tickets to the place of
purchase, beginning Monday.
If tickets were ordered by
phone, Doyle advised buyers to
mail the tickets, along with their
names, addresses and confirmation
numbers or credit card numbers,
to: Ticketmaster, 1010 S. Seventh
St., Suite 540, Minneapolis, Minn.
55415, to the attention of the Cus
tomer Service Department.
_
Rock supargroup tho Kaglas luw postponed Its Monday
oonoart at tho Bob Davanay Bporta Canlar.
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