The News Review:
- A place that might do Jade some good
- Video games are the cool new music space
- Husband and wife dancers keep students on their toes
- Homer Tribune
- Reality Check: Arbitrary Judging on ‘American Idol’
- Take a break & rediscover those loving feelings
A place that might do Jade some good
Telegraph.co.uk – Jan 24, 2007
It is a wonderful place its swooping walkways giving a great impression of space and freedom; its coloured walls – designed by artist Michael Craig-Martin – which change hue with the light create an atmosphere at once relaxed and lively. But what it stands for is even more inspiring. Rudolf Laban was a Hungarian dance pioneer who escaped the Nazis and arrived in Britain eager to promote his belief in dance as both serious art (he introduced dance scholarships and dance degrees) and as a form of psychological and physical therapy. His legacy has been protected and extended by his heirs most particularly by the former director Marion North who was absolutely insistent in her belief that the Laban centre should be in a deprived area should be open to all and should therefore be capable of achieving social as well as artistic ends. Although she has now retired she has absolutely fulfilled these aims and this place – now London’s official dance and music conservatoire – is busy and thriving full of hundreds of young people from the surrounding community as well as those from further afield taking classes as well as watching dance. It is a centre that believes that art and access to art can change lives that if you open up windows of opportunity for people who have very little it is possible to break down the barriers of ignorance that have blighted the lives of people like Jade Goody as much as their physical circumstances ever could. And it proves that by its results… His legacy has been protected and extended by his heirs most particularly by the former director Marion North who was absolutely insistent in her belief that the Laban centre should be in a deprived area should be open to all and should therefore be capable of achieving social as well as artistic ends. Although she has now retired she has absolutely fulfilled these aims and this place – now London’s official dance and music conservatoire – is busy and thriving full of hundreds of young people from the surrounding community as well as those from further afield taking classes as well as watching dance. It is a centre that believes that art and access to art can change lives that if you open up windows of opportunity for people who have very little it is possible to break down the barriers of ignorance that have blighted the lives of people like Jade Goody as much as their physical circumstances ever could. And it proves that by its results. Places like the Laban Centre are being opened across Britain offering different art forms to all kinds of people. Venues such as the Walsall Art Gallery the Sage Centre in Gateshead the Lowry in Salford are all in their own contrasting ways asserting the importance of the arts in the process of changing and building a society. Yet their work is by and large absent from our TV screens; it is mentioned in small arts programmes but not celebrated and analysed in the way it should be.
Video games are the cool new music space
Economic Times – Jan 24, 2007
“You’re creating music that is ahuge jigsaw puzzle and it?s quite a magical experience” Lindsay enthused. “Getting music to kick in at the right time is a real challenge. Bigmusic hits that have come out of video games include the Motown-released B-Boy -The Soundtrack a break-dancing game for PS2 and PSP. Activisionthe USA?s second largest games publisher is running a listening sessionat the French Riviera trade fair for the third year running that it said hasproduced some amazing music in the past. Last year?s winner made it intoTony Hawk?s Project 8 and is also being used in the TV spot for thegame. getElementById(”storydiv”).
Husband and wife dancers keep students on their toes
SU – The Lantern – Jan 24, 2007
“We’re used to tight quarters” Yager said. New to the department of dance at hio State married couple Yager and Yang are eager to teach choreograph and share their experiences. Susan Van Pelt Petry departmental interim chair said the couple is scheduled to stay through all of next year. After former Professor Rosalind Pierson died the faculty that spring decided to advertise a visiting assistant professor two-year position in order to bring in a steady flow of new ideas to the department. After Yager and Yang became a possibility former chair of the department Scott Marsh set up the needed position so that two people could split the work of one “giving the department much more flexibility and ability to work with two people not just one” Petry said. The story that brought these two together begins in Taiwan… It was after joining the Trisha Brown Dance Company that Yager began to delve into somatic or bodywork techniques such as Klein Technique Yoga Alexander Technique and Qigong. After sharing with the students last quarter they say they have seen the difference. Yang said he could see the students had changed when they came back from winter break. “The quarter seems shorter. ? It was like I saw the beginnings of change at the end of last quarter” Yager said. ne of Yager’s students Sydnie Liggett a junior in dance can appreciate these changes firsthand. “She has a different way of moving and I’ve learned to appreciate it and allowed it to enhance my dancing.
Homer Tribune
Homer Tribune – Jan 24, 2007
Jocelyn Shiro-Westphal and her band of dancing talent are back to melt away the seal of snow encapsulating the tip of the Peninsula with scalding jazz dance. It just might make you break a sweat. Her dancers will move through the elements of modern jazz dance with syncopation and their own individual styles and improvisation though most of the performance are Shiro-Westphal’s choreographed visions. The dances are edgy and exciting and directly expressed with the music a compilation highly varied. The umbrella of music of modern jazz dance covers an extensive miscellany including modern jazz funk lyrical and hip hop. Shiro-Westphal said the style shares with many other dance forms and in her shows she tries to cross those lines.
Reality Check: Arbitrary Judging on ‘American Idol’
FXNews – Jan 24, 2007
To which I ask: How would you act if a guy warning you about how emotional his performance was going to be suddenly launched into a zealous unhinged dance accompanied by some kind of spoken-word poetry? I think what’s more noteworthy than the judges’ cruelty to contestants is their complete and thorough arbitrariness. The first guy they showed auditioning in Memphis for example was roughly 50 times better than the wacky Shakira wannabe they K’d last week. Yet once Simon called Frank’s performance over-the-top the guy couldn’t catch a break. While Simon did have a point about the guy — he was accompanied to the audition by the entire cheerleading team he coached and what appeared to be a marching band so “over-the-top” was certainly a relevant adjective for him — since when is getting too into a performance worse than not being able to sing? RelatedColumn Archive… While she didn’t take the news as well as Frank — she swore at the cameraman to get out of her face with more vehemence than someone being arrested on “Cops” while Frank seemed to break into cheer — I say the talented girl had every right to be annoyed. The panel did make some good calls like putting through a very depressed guy who had a self-described Usama bin Laden beard and said he thinks all people are “poor inside” but who really knew how to do a Johnny Cash song justice. They also smartly vetted a heavy-set son of a famous musician and background singer with a confidence problem. But I couldn’t help but feel that the deciding factor in a lot of these cases was what voices were flitting through Paula’s brain at the given moment how much Randy felt like saying “Thanks for looking out” again and whether or not Simon had some sort of a personal problem with the delivery. f course the audition shows gloss over the majority of the talented people they K to go to the next round in favor of showcasing the wack jobs and Memphis did not disappoint in the insanity area.
Take a break & rediscover those loving feelings
easier.com – Jan 24, 2007
Salvador Carnival is a spectacular of music dance and Brazilian culture. Take your loved one on a trip of a lifetime. Self catering apartments in Brazil are available from £175 per week and this one in Salvador is divine holidaylettings.