Dance degree
faces possible
dissolution
By Liza Holtmeier
Senior Reporter
Melissa Prettyman knew in the fourth
grade she wanted to major in dance. And for
the past year, UNL has been one of her top
choices for higher education.
But a week ago, Prettyman was notified by
a friend who is a freshman dance major at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln that she might
want to rethink her options.
“She said the (dance) major might be cut
because of lack of funds,” said Prettyman, a
senior at Lincoln Southeast High School.
Prettyman is one of many prospective and
current' dance students who has been notified
over the past week of the possibility.
The talk may have started after the
Department of Theatre Arts and Dance under
went a regular five-year review of its academic
program.
The self-study was conducted by UNL fac
ulty outside of the department, students from
within the department and reviewers outside of
UNL.
in response 10 inai review, we re loomng
at a number of planning issues,” said Keven
Hofeditz, chairman of the Department of
Theatre Arts and Dance. “It has a lot to do with
resource issues and the size and scope of what
we do as a department”
Hofeditz said the review team commended
the program on its accomplishments, given its
resources. He also said the review pointed out
the department’s need to focus its human and
financial resources better than it had in the
past
Where to go from here
The department will consider a number of
^ possibilities in deciding how to most effective
ly maintain the quality of its programs,
Hofeditz said. He added that it was premature
to say what those possibilities were.
“We have a lot of information to put togeth
er,” Hofeditz said. “We’re going to look at our
options and what our resources can provide.
There’s no set time line. It’s a question of the
sooner, the better. Decisions of this nature
need to be made soon. At the same time, we’re
not going to rush into anything.”
Though no concrete decisions have been
made, many dance majors have been notified
in classes about the possibility of the dance
major being cut.
This is not the first time they have been
faced with this possibility, said Heather
Schwenzer, a senior dance and pre-medicine
Please see DANCE on 10
;! Vi b i '
Marni Speck/DN file photo
IF TALK OF CUTTING the UNL dance major proves true, works such as the department’s fall 1996 recital, “Fast Hack” - performed here by
James Farren and Heather Schwenzer - may cease to take place again.
By Patrick Miner
Music Critic
Keeping in step with all the hardships,
Shootyz Groove didn't make it. V
The band, which was to perform Saturday
with Phunk Junkeez and Grasshopper Takeover
at Royal Grove Nite Club, was absent because
its tour bus broke down en route to Lincoln.
The show, without a replacement band, went
on, and the Phunk Junkeez played in Nebraska
for the second time in fewer than four weeks.
The band performed at the Ranch Bowl Oct. 8
with Shootyz Groove and Incubus, s 1
And while the Wednesday night Ranch
| Bowl show was mostly full, the Saturday night
Royal Grove show looked nearly empty, with a
Grove employee estimating the crowd at 225.
X '
Of that number, about 125 were sitting in the
back drinking beer, and 100 were up front
enjoying the show.
After lead singer Soulman said the crowd
should bring some friends next time, the Phunk
Junkeez opened with “B-Boy Hard,” off their
second release, “Injected.” They rolled through
the hits, playing “Chuck,” “I Am A Junkee” and
“Me N Yer Girl” early, and finishing the set with
“Devil Woman” and “I Love It Loud.”
The show featured some different songs -
“White Boy Day” and “Radio Sucks” - from
those played at the Ranch Bowl. The Junkeez
also played their version of Blur’s “Song 2,” fea
turing verses by Run DMC Mid Sir Mix-A-Lot.
* V
#
The most thrilling part of the evening was
the encore. While the dance-off during the new
song, “Delilia,” initially drew little applause, a
fight broke out on stage between two female
contestants, giving some added excitement to a
mostly indifferent crowd. The band then broke
into its new track and fastest song, ’’Deadbeat,”
which the crowd enjoyed and moshed to until
the show’s end.
Other new tracks played - including
“Bones,” “It’s On” and “Adrenaline” - proved
to be as energizing as the band’s better-known
songs, but it was hard for the crowd to get into
them without the new record yet being released.
Lead singer Soulman suggested at an October
1996 show at Omaha’s Sokol Hall that it would
come out last March. Unfortunately, the release
date has again been pushed back, and now
should be in early 1998, he said.
|
Opening act Grasshopper Takeover tried to
make up for the absence of Shootyz Groove by
playing a 55-minute set, which left few amused.
The band played several of the tracks off of its
debut self-titled album, including “Bone
Crusher” to close the show. The highlight was
definitely “The A Song,” by the Kind, the former
band of Grasshopper frontman Curtis Grubb.
The show ended up being the most unim
pressive Phunk Junkeez concert I’d ever seen.
The crowd was hesitant, the cuts from pJ
Roachclip’s turntables were hard to decipher,
and the security was sadly overanxious.
However, the Royal Grove has made a positive
statement in bringing the band to Lincoln for
the first time, and club promoter Phil Robinson
said he was trying to get Fishbone to play the
Grove in December. We’ll keep our fingers
crossed.
