Van Morrison performed in Rec Hall Saturday night, where his mellow style was preceded by the rock and roll
performance of Dave Edmunds' Rockpile.
.
Famed company performs
Dancers excel,
By LYNNE MARGOLIS
Daily Collegian Staff Writer`
It's no wonder the Martha Graham
Dance Company has a reputation
unequalled in the world of modern
dance. Led by the lady who helped
pioneer the art form, the troupe per
forms With the consistent excellence one
hopes for but doesn't 'always find in a
professional dance company.
Watching the young dancers perform
in Eisenhower Auditorium Friday night,
I thought back to other dance companies
I'd seen. Always, there was something
not quite right the colors weren't
coordinated well, a dancer's timing was
off, the poses were not quite sym
metrical when they were supposed to be.
In Graham's company,. these short
comings do not exist. The costumes,
designed by the 85-year-old
choreographer, y,
, horeographer, were .not. at all gaud
qnd they did not clash.
,In the first dance, "Diversion of
Angels," the women's garments were
leotards hugging taut torsos, then
billowing into silky flows of angel floss.
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One thing I did question was -the use of
symbolic colors fOr each-of the principal
dancers' costumes. In "Angels," the
three female leads wore white, red and
yellow. Combined with movement, it
was easy to assume that white
represented virginity (what else?), red
represented lust, and yellow represented
a joyous awakening, the half-opened bud
who blossoms fully once she experiences
romantic and sexual love.
The program, however, defines
"Angels," as "a lyric dance about the
loveliness of youth and the pleasure and
playfulness, and the quick joy and quick
sadness of being in love for the first
time."
If that's the case, was the Oriental
lady in red representing desire or not? If
she was supposed to be as lustful as her
dance suggested, then how did it fit into
'the' 'overall scheme? , I stilll don't know.
, , ,
Fortunately, the dancing of Yuriko
Kimura was so spellbinding I hardly
cared whether I had it figured out or not.
That statement pretty much sums up
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what I felt about all•three of the dances
performed Friday night. As with any
mode'rn' art;• Graham's style of dance is
wide open to interpretation. "Oh Thou
Desire Who Art About to Sing," , seemed
to depict the progression of a relation
ship between two lovers. First, there
was tortured hungering, to music that
was screechy strings and low, ominous
piano notes. The lovers wanted to
become one, but something kept holding
them back. •
She wanted him, but she withheld
herself, knowing she possessed awesome
control over him because of his longing
for her. She teased, he became more
tortured. Yet she seemed to ache just as
badly for him at the beginning of the
dance!
Finally, e oe, allowed him to undress
her, tie ge,titiy placed her dress ,down as
if if were priceless. Later, he placed her
on a platform, . looking up to her in
worship of her being.
She left to dress again, but instead of
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Van Morrison plays
Rock,
By JOHN MARTELLARO
Daily_Collegian Staff Writer
.
The Van Moirison-Dave Edmunds' Rockpile concert at Rec
Hall Saturday night never did sell out, and it's too bad because
that means a number of people missed an opportunity to see a
pair of excellent performances.
One thing is for sure, Edmunds and Morrison combined to
put on a performance that more than satisfied the fans who
were there, as evidenced by the enthusiastic response they
both received.
The two acts portrayed contrasting musical styles, but in
stead of clashing they served as counterpoint to each other
Edmunds got things started with a rousing, high energy rock
'n roll set, followed by Morrison's mellower approach.
The long wait between acts approximately 45 minutes
also contributed to the effect.
Edmunds and his band took the stage and immediately leapt
into a supercharged upbeat rock performance, proving the
aptness of the name "Rockpile" by dishing out a heaping
portion of hard-working rock 'n roll.
The music was simple and direct guitars, bass, drums and
vocals the
,type of music that can sometimes become
repetitiously dull unless done well, but this was done ex
tremely well.
The performance was uniformly excellent, but the highlight
of Edmund's new material was the song "Trouble Boys," soon
to be released as the single from the band's new "Hot Wax"
album.
Edmunds also treated nostalgia lovers to a dynamic version
of the old Chuck Berry classic "Promised Land," followed by
Edmunds' old '6os hit "I Hear You Knockin'," which was
performed well, but slightly marred by some feedback
problems.
Bassist Nick Lowe was the most animated of the performers
mugging at the crowd, pointing fingers, giving thumbs-up
signs, and playing his bass in strange positions, even upside
down at one point and performed the lead vocal on one of the
night's best numbers, "They Call It Rock," which had fans
dancing in the aisles and Kovided a concise definition of their
performance.. '
Needless to say, Morrison was left with a tough act to follow.
And at first, it looked like he was going to blow it completely.
Unconfirmed rumors had Morrison stuck in Harrisburg until
very late, and supposedly he still had not reached State College
when Edmunds had finished his set.
And when the band took the stage and began the hauntingly
the red wrap which covered her leotard
before, she was wearing a green, and
black one. A long strand of the material
tied her and her lover to one another. At
times, it seems to bind them
moretightlytogether; at times, it
seemed choking.
My immediate reaction was, "A 4;
the red meant desire (a. little trite.two
times in a row), and he green and black
were jealousy and resigned suffering."
Hmmm, then why call it by such a
positive sounding title? And why
mellow combi
dedicate it to Alexander Calder (some
thing the Pennsylvania Ballet has also
done)?
Maybe, as with "Angels," it doesn't
matter when one considers the dancing
itself, so superbly executed by Lucinda
Mitchell and Tim Wengerd.
The third and lest dance of
. the night,
"Phaedra," wasan interpretation of the '
famous Greek myth. However, that
knowledge didn't enhance my un
derstanding of this one either. So I sat
back and enjoyed the company's
onday, Oct. 23, 1978-6
w.
• - 4 ,4; '
familiar intro to "Moondance," Morrison still was nowlierko
be seen. .
When he finally did come out, it really did look like he liad
just gotten there. He seemed disoriented, like he was loOtOxi
half asleep, and just mumbled the words without any feelifig:
It seemed like a very forced performance. ,
The song was salvaged by the backing musicians. Th9:kwo
female background vocalists were excellent, and Pete-,Bar
dens' keyboard work was first-rate.
Hardens' electric piano gave the song a somewhat differex
effect from the acoustic work on the original version, and
song as a whole was performed slightly more upbeat than . the
original, as were a 'great number of the songs throughout the
concert.
Morrison seemed to find himself after that, and took control
of the band from then on, leading the other musicians instead
of being carried by them as he was at first. '
One effect the band performed very well was to slowly briff
everything down low the energy level, the beat, the volume
only to bring it all back up again at Morrison's signal
(raising his voice or his right hand with the ever-present
tambourine). ,
One of the best things about Morrison's performancd was
that he was not afraid to try new things with old songs. Instead
of trying to make the old stand-bys sound like mirror imageArf
the originals, he adapted them to his new style of the '7os:
For the most part, it came off well. The only time it didn't
seem to work was on the classic "Brown-Eyed Girl." 'The
addition of the extended synthesizer solo to a soft, romantic
ballad just didn't come off. 0 1
The first set ended with a dynamic version of "Whenever We
Meet Again" and the band left the stage to thunderous *-
plause, which brought them back for stirring renditions of the
classic "Caravan" and the title cut from the new album,
"Wavelength," which had everyone up and dancing in . the
aisles.
Bobby Tench's guitar solo on "Wavelength" was his bet of
the night, no mean feat considering some of his earlier per
formances.
A number of people complained about the shortness &the
concert and Morrison's omission of "Domino" froni his
repertoire valid points, but they failed to totally ruin what
otherwise was a first-rate evening of music.
It's really too bad more people didn't show they would not
have been disappointed.
ned
dramatizations of ' ancient gods and
goddesses. Their emotional depictions of
Phaedra's obsession for her step-son and
her destruction at the hands of the
goddesses Artemis and Aphrodite, were
as beautiful and moving as A - 13;
Shakespearean tragedy. .
Martha Graham's symbolism may,
have confused me,'buther art, taught in
dancing classes as a technique in itself,
is beautiful. Her contributions to the
performing arts will never be overrate;
I hope they will never be forgotten.
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