February 21, 2003
New Pizza Party Photos.
Check out the pizza party photos taken by Ms. Schaefer in the Photo Gallery, and another thanks to Ms. Schaefer for sending a weblink for a cool site to improve your English skills. I've already played a couple of the vocabulary games.
Thanks to Mai
for a New
Dispatch from Afar.
Former IEP student, Mai Tashima, has written a wonderful Dispatch about the Coming of Age Day in Japan. Click on Dispatch from Afar in the left menu bar and learn about this pivotal day for a teenager in Japan.
Valentine Dance Concert.
I had the pleasure of attending a dance concert at Hendrix on Friday night. As many of you know, I used to teach ballet, jazz, and modern at Parkview, the Performing Arts high school in Little Rock. For many years, I had my own studio and I've taught in Conway part-time for several years.
My interest in dance hasn't waned, so I was really excited about seeing the Garth Fagan Dance Company, a contemporary dance company created by Garth Fagan, a Jamaican who combines elements of modern dance, Afro-Caribbean traditional dance, and ballet. He won a Tony for his choreography of Walt Disney's Broadway production of The Lion King in 1997.
I must say that this company is one of the best modern companies I've had the pleasure of watching. The choreography was not so athletic or risqué as a lot of contemporary modern companies. In contrast, it was lyrical, creative, explosive, and fit the music to a tee. Fourteen dancers leaped, jumped, turned, clapped, and snapped to an eclectic blend of music by Max Roach, Abdullah Ibrahim, Cristóbal de Morales, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Antonin Dvorak, Wynton Marsalis, and Lebo M. Altogether there were six dances ranging from the emotive In Memoriam, dedicated to the victims and survivors of September 11, 2001, to the humorous Touring Jubilee 1924, a toe-tapping tribute to the Roaring 20s.
The costumes were perfectly suited to each piece, from the earliest piece, the 1979 Oatka Trail to the most recent 2001 selection In Memoriam. They were not so revealing that they looked like a Vegas revue, but they were colorful, form-fitting and flowed fluidly to the liquid movements of the dancers.
The concert was a perfect ending to Valentine's Day.
Got Boredom?
Check Out the Important Dates.
If you are getting cabin fever (boredom), then read the Important Dates information below. Several opportunities are offered on campus for students to get involved and beat the ennui.
The UCA Chamber Orchestra will perform its last symphonic program of
the academic year. Conductor Peter Freisinger will lead his musicians in performances of
Mozart's Overture to Idomeneo, Richard Strauss' Horn Concerto No. 1 featuring faculty soloist Brent Shires, Josef Haydn's Symphony No. 99, and Maurice Ravel's Bolero.
This free concert is open to the public; all are invited!
