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The Dartmouth
November 28, 2024 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth
Arts
Arts

Caracas ballet combines classic and modern dance

By Richard Owen | November 10, 1993

The Ballet Nacional de Caracas deftly moved from the classical to the modern in a visually and artistically captivating performance in Spaulding Auditorium last night. Authentically rendering classical styles in compelling solos and duets in the first two sections, the performance took a sharp and bold turn in the final section presenting a contemporary Venezuelan backdrop with an unusual fusion of modern and traditional choreography. Brilliantly donned in multi-color lycra and fluorescent capes, a core group of three men and four women started off the three part performance with the highly methodical and seemingly ill-suited excerpts of Handel's "Water Music" and "The Royal Fireworks." Despite the stilted style and continual cadencing of Handel, the young dancers presented one flowing scene after another, interspersing solo dance numbers with provocative duets, commanding a high level of grace and elegance. Set to the Viennese like music of Venezuelan composer, Teresa Carreno, in the second part, the initial group was joined by two more couples.

Arts

Merchants fight town over Topside

By Alexander R. Edlich | November 4, 1993

A Grafton County Superior Court judge is currently considering a lawsuit filed by Hanover merchants against the town that challenges the right of the College to operate Topside, the convenience store in Thayer Dining Hall. The case, which began two and a half years ago, will not necessarily decide the fate of the College's convenience store, but could force Dartmouth to apply for an exception to the town zoning laws. Dartmouth is not named in the suit against the town and was not asked to present briefs to the judge. But the leader of the effort, Dartmouth Bookstore Manager Dave Cioffi, said he and other merchants filed the suit to try to curb the College's "creeping commercialism." The College did not apply for zoning approval when it converted Topside two years ago from a cafeteria to a convenience store that rents videotapes, because administrators and legal consultants felt the renovations were within its rights, said Peter Johnson, the town's code administrator. The town's zoning laws stipulate that merchants, in order to make renovations to their buildings or change the use of their space, must gain approval from the zoning board. Cioffi said the suit is designed to "draw a line and straighten out the zoning ordinances.

Arts

Art enthusiasts revitalize club to promote the arts

By Amy Henry | November 1, 1993

A group of Dartmouth art students are initiating a rebirth of the Dartmouth Art Club, which focuses on the discussion and encouragement of the visual arts and plans events to promote the arts at Dartmouth. Bissera Pentcheva '95 is directing the club in its initial stage and will act as the club's coordinator for the Fall and Winter terms. The club adopted the constitution of the former Dartmouth Art Club, which became inactive in 1990 due to lack of student interest.

Arts

'Fledermaus' delights audiences

By Richard Owen | November 1, 1993

Western Opera Theater, a touring group of the San Francisco Opera, put its best foot forward with a cast of excellent young singers in a performance of Strauss' comic classic "Die Fledermaus" Thursday night in Spaulding Auditorium. While the performance of the three act operatic comedy about love and infidelity did suffer from the lack of an orchestra (the orchestration was simplified for two pianos and did not include the overture), the talented soloists were able to preserve the majestic quality of the score and keep in step with the comic banter of the dialogue. The story of Fledermaus (or the Bat) based on Le Reveillon by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevey, is set in three acts and portrays an elaborate scheme to entrap a philandering husband, Eisenstein, on the same evening he is to serve an eight day jail sentence for socking a police officer. With elaborate backdrops of turn of the century Vienna, the comedy moves from Eisenstein's living room in the first act to a ball in the home of a fictitious prince Orlofsky in the second to the fated jail in which Eisenstein is to serve his sentence in the third. A complex trap is set by Frank Falke as revenge for a prior practical joke played on him by his friend Eisenstein, and involves inviting Eisenstein, his wife Rosalinda, his chambermaid and the warden of the Jail to the Orlofsky ball where they are forced to interact under assumed names and identities. Rosalinda, disguised as a Hungarian countess, is the only one of the four aware of the plot and deftly seduces her own husband who unwittingly falls prey to her charms thinking that he is the seducer. The truth only erupts later that night at the jail when Eisenstein runs into the warden, Rosalinda and her former lover who was mistakenly incarcerated in Eisenstein's stead earlier that night.

Arts

Controversial murals challenge Hood

By Jennifer Skoda | October 20, 1993

In light of the College's decision to open the Hovey's murals up to the public, the Hood Museum of Art faces challenges in creating exhibition space for controversial subject matter. According to Tim Rub, Director of the Hood, the space in the basement of Thayer Hall, which now houses Hovey's Pub, will be transformed into an art gallery under the jurisdiction of the Hood between June and September of next year.

Arts

Profile: Chance Whitmire

By Jennifer Skoda | October 19, 1993

For Chance Whitmire '94, writing plays is a way to express the dynamics of relationships and choices facing people of our generation. He jokingly describes his plays as "after school specials gone horribly wrong." "I like writing about young people trapped between being young and growing older because that's where I am in my life," Whitmire said. A drama and English major, Whitmire began writing plays his Sophomore Fall when he landed a place in an advanced playwriting class. He is currently working on the one-act "The Beautiful People Die Twice," which is under revision and will be produced Winter term, with a staging in Center Theater possible. One of the highlights of Whitmire's Dartmouth career was his '93 win of the best play award in the annual Eleanor Frost competition for the one-act piece "Stay." Working with the New York Theater Company during the summer of his sophomore year was a turning point for Whitmire.

Arts

Don't hate them because they're beautiful

By Susan Zieger | October 19, 1993

The Dartmouth Players elicited much laughter and many poignant moments during yesterday afternoon's reading of "The Beautiful People Die Twice," a new play-in-progress by Chance Whitmire '94, in the Warren Bentley Theater, Hopkins Center. "The Beautiful People Die Twice" is the vibrant, trenchant and often hilarious story of fragrance saleswomen at the fictional department store Chandler's, particularly, the vituperous heroine Talon Kerideth, read by Heather Nolan '94. Talon is unconventional, anti-social and seemingly unbeautiful compared to her gorgeous co-worker, Saint Winter, read by Aliza Waksal '96.

Arts

'George:' A moving portrait of two artists

By Rick Owen | October 13, 1993

"Sunday in the Park with George," presented yesterday in Center Theater by Circa '21 productions, is a moving look into the lives of two artists and the various conflicts that love and art create in their lives. Loosely based on the life of the great 19th century painter Georges Seurat, "Sunday in the Park with George" depicts the life and painting of George, a passionate and unconventional artist in Paris in the late nineteenth century.

Arts

Georgian choir delivers folk music tradition

By Richard Owen | October 11, 1993

Yesterday afternoon in Rollins Chapel, the Rustavi Choir, an 11-member all-male ensemble, performed a delightful and accessible musical collection of authentic Georgian folk songs and hymns. The a cappella choir, clad in colorful Georgian costume, cleanly jumped from solemn and harmonic hymns commemorating rituals and special events to playful and melodic folk tunes, altering their voices and manner to perfectly render the demands of each song. "For Georgians, singing is as natural as breathing" claims Erkomaishvili, the choir's founder and artistic director.

Arts

Students celebrate Native cultures

By Jennifer Skoda | October 11, 1993

Holidays are a usually a time for celebration, unification and great food. Native Americans at Dartmouth recognizes this but asks that people take into consideration the reasons behind the merriment. In last night's two-hour event titled "501 Years of Survival: A Celebration of Native Cultures," Native American students met in Brace Commons to cook food, play music and recite poetry that expressed the richness of surviving Native cultures, while at the same time encouraging people to think about the social implications of honoring the Columbus Day holiday. As a tape of tribal music played, the festivities began with a feast, including Native culinary treats from across the country.

Arts

Computerized music raises eyebrows

By Joseph Marcheso | October 6, 1993

A concert of electro-acoustical music presented last night in the Top of the Hop by Dartmouth faculty and graduate students posed many difficult questions, which ultimately involved the meaning of music itself. The difficulties of the performance first out of its virtual lack of performers.

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