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(04/06/07 4:00am)
Renee’s nasty attitude was finally called out by Tyra herself. The girls were asked to change their names to dreadful things like “Whitelle” and “Wholahay.” Jael took a dive off the deep end after harassing superstar 50 Cent. God, I love this show. The biggest shocker of Wednesday night’s episode of “America’s Next Top Model,” however, was probably the loss of cute, pixieish Sarah. I was expecting Renee, Whitney or even Jael to get the boot. I had a chat with Sarah to ask why she thought she was the latest girl eliminated, to ask her a few lingering questions from previous episodes and to see what she is up to now.\nThe perky girl definitely isn’t too worried about her future. Before the show, Sarah already had a contract with Elite Modeling in Chicago. She works as a fashion and advertising photographer, and her recent undertaking is a new record label. She told me to check out her MySpace page (www.myspace.com/sarahvonderhaar) and listen to some of the Sheryl Crow-esque songs that were inspired by her experiences on the show, and I have to say that this girl has a future. I am not sure what field it will be in, but she is going ... somewhere.\nShe explained that she wants to keep up her modeling career, despite the judges’ telling her that she posed too much and that her job as a photographer may prove a hindrance. She agreed she does often think too much about her shots and learned from the show that she needs to act more natural.\nShe told me about all of the fun times that she had with the shoots and the other girls in the house. She said her favorite shoots were the candy and drag-queen episodes. About the candy shoot she said, “They put Lifesavers on my nipples and they kept falling off.”\nShe also said the ice cream she had to hold gave her hands frostbite.\nShe denied some of the drama that the producers of the show just love to play up. In the episode “The Girl Who Takes Credit,” she did not, she said, take all the credit for the challenge, and she apologized for her behavior to the other contestants later. She also told me about unaired scenes where the girls dressed up as each other and held their own fashion show in the house. “We had so much fun and we were just goofballs half of the time.”
(04/05/07 4:00am)
The bulletin boards of libraries and various campus offices. The walls of the Indiana Memorial Union Gallery. The streets of downtown Bloomington. These are all highly visible areas in the community, and this summer they will all be lined with works of art and posters promoting diversity. The initiative is intended to target participants in an upcoming Boy Scouts of America conference.\nIn late July, the Order of the Arrow, a honor society within the Boy Scouts of America organization, will hold a conference on campus. The Boy Scouts of America made headlines when former assistant scoutmaster James Dale, who was fired after it was discovered that he is gay, tried to sue the organization. In 2000, however, the Supreme Court upheld the Boy Scouts’ decision to fire Dale based on his sexual orientation.\nWhen asked about the Boy Scout policies regarding diversity in the troops, Order of the Arrow national director Clyde Mayer said, “We don’t discriminate against individuals.” He would provide no further comment.\nSharlene Toney and the Committee for Multicultural Understanding have decided to take advantage of the audience of roughly 2,500 Boy Scouts that will be visiting IU this summer to tell them how they feel about the issue. They are providing canvases for any campus group or individual that wants to participate in an art installation that will go in the IMUG, titled “Honoring Diversity.” Toney, the staff co-convenor for the committee, said participants will receive 16 inch by 20 inch canvases to decorate in any way they want but must include the words of the theme. Twenty-four artists have already committed to designing a piece, and Toney hopes more will volunteer. She said the committee wanted to take some kind of action but wanted to keep it positive, so as not to make the boys feel bad about their organization.\nLa Casa Latino Cultural Center is one of the groups that has committed to creating a canvas. Director Lillian Casillas said she wanted the display to be educational and nonconfrontational. \n“It is a good way to show unity among different groups through a different way,” she said. “As part of the IU family, what I love is that we do value diversity.”\nThe Native American Graduate Student Association and the American Indian Association have also became involved with the project. \nRebecca Raill, co-chair of the Native American Graduate Student Association, said Boy Scout groups, including the Order of the Arrow, model themselves after American Indian tribes, though Indians have historically been more accepting of homosexuality among their ranks than the Boy Scouts. She said the model dances after their own ceremonial dances, but out of context. She said she considers them an inappropriate representation of her religion. \n“I wouldn’t hold a Catholic mass in my backyard for the fun of it,” she said.\nToney has coordinated a staff of students to create a poster campaign that will cover the campus during the summer. The committee hopes to not only start conversations about diversity among the Boy Scouts, but also to emphasize its importance to the incoming freshmen as they go through the orientation program. The committee usually takes on one large project each year. Last year, it paired with the Asian Cultural Center to regulate Facebook groups that perpetuated negative stereotypes of Asian students. It then hosted programs to discuss race and the power of language.\nThe committee’s current project differs from previous projects because, as Toney said, “We aren’t in a position to start a dialogue with (the Boy Scouts).”\nThe Order of the Arrow is renting the space from IU, so the aim of the participants is not to stage a protest, but to raise awareness among the boys. Mark Casey, the director of the IU Writer’s Group, another participant in the project said, “It’s not that we want to attack the Boy Scouts. We want to express our appreciation for diversity.”\nInterested individuals and groups can pick up a canvas from Toney’s office, Teter’s Academic Support Center, Room F255B, before April 6, but she requests that they e-mail her at smtoney@indiana.edu first. The deadline to return pieces is 5 p.m. on May 4. They will all be displayed for three weeks in the IMUG and returned to each artist or group in the fall.
(03/30/07 4:00am)
We’re another two episodes into the eighth cycle of “America’s Next Top Model” and the competition is intensifying. Felicia, better known as “baby Tyra,” and Diana, one of the two plus-sized models, have been eliminated. I interviewed both and they told me the misconceptions the judges construed and where they are now.
(03/09/07 5:00am)
On the phone, Samantha Francis didn’t sound like much of a slut. Her soft, sweet voice with its thick southern accent reminded me of sweet tea and church sermons – certainly not the kind of girl whose name is scrawled all over the bathroom stalls.\nHowever, on the second episode of the eighth cycle of America’s Next Top Model, Samantha was told to don a cropped top and garter belt and strike a pose on the bleachers of a high school football stadium – those which so often hid those tete-a-tetes of the good ol’ days. I talked to Samantha recently about her experience on the show. \nThe Birmingham, Ala., native who describes herself as “sheltered” and her parents as “somewhat protective” struggled with the shoot and also with the runway competition earlier in the show. The girls had to model some rather risque prom dresses. Samantha described one of her dresses as a little more than a shirt and said that she was uncomfortable because she would have been thrown out of her high school prom for wearing such a thing.\nI wondered why such a southern belle with her high moral standards would be going into modeling. Women often must pose nearly or completely nude for high fashion magazines (Has this girl seen the scintillating advertisements in French and Italian Vogue?) and wear whatever designers dream up on the runway. But Samantha told me that she is aware of all of these challenges. “I have to get used to the fact that I can’t choose what I wear,” she said. “(The show) helped me get over that.”\nSamantha auditioned for the show in Atlanta after watching the first seven cycles with her boyfriend. He encouraged her to try out and before she could say, “Wanna be on top?” she was in L.A., living in a house with 11 other supermodel wannabes. When I asked her what the atmosphere in the house was like, she explained that there was a certain amount of drama and cattiness, but “it wasn’t that bad,” she said. “I have a big family, so I am used to everyone yelling at once.”\nShe enjoyed the experience, though she was pushed out of her comfort zone. At only 19, she said it was a little weird to return to high school for a photo shoot. She explained that the contestants were all reliving high school memories. “We thought we would never come back,” she said\nAs for the rest of the season, Samantha said to watch out for contestants Renee and Brittany who, according to her, photograph very beautifully. Indeed, Brittany’s shot as “the valedictorian,” which was my personal favorite and her win at the runway competition set her up as the early favorite. Renee’s attitude may become tiring, but she has a strong desire to succeed and the face and poise to do so.\nAnd so I say goodbye and good luck to Samantha who left me with one last comment: “I am not as shy as they made me seem. I do have a fun side, a wild side, but not that wild.”\nWatch next week’s episode at 8 p.m. on The CW network.
(02/26/07 5:00am)
Friday’s opening performance of “Arabella” started out slow. Soprano Elizabeth Baldwin’s first aria about how she (Arabella) is waiting for her one true love, though masterfully done, was tiring. As the curtain fell on the first of three acts, I wondered if the story line would be thick enough to hold the audience’s attention.\nThe pace of the opera picked up early in the second act, however, when the first plot twist happened. Arabella is the lovely daughter of Count Waldner, who is played by bass Wayne Hu, and the busy, bustling Adelaide, mezzo-soprano Patricia Thompson. Her father suffers from a not-so-mild gambling addiction. Between his bad habits and her mother’s love for fortune-tellers and palm readers, they manage to squander the family fortune.\nTheir younger daughter, Zdenka is forced to dress as a boy to cut the costs of presenting two girls to society. Arabella, on the other hand, is pandered out to every eligible bachelor with enough gold to line the family’s empty pockets. \nArabella relishes her reputation as a “flirt” and takes great pleasure in leading no less than four suitors along. Count Elemer, Count Dominik and Count Lamoral pine for her equally convincingly, but it is Matteo, the dashing officer played by tenor Joshua Lindsay who would willingly die for Arabella’s hand. He confides in Zdenka, whom he believes is the family’s page. She falls in love with Matteo and sends him letters that he presumes are from Arabella. \nWhen Zdenka learns that Matteo will leave town or commit suicide if Arabella chooses another suitor for a husband, she panics. She knows Arabella does not love either of the suitors, because she is waiting for a handsome stranger with “big, serious eyes” whom she sees from her window to make a proposal.\nSoprano Rachel Copeland played a darling Zdenka. Her crystalline voice clearly conveyed the pains of unrequited love, which were matched by Lindsay’s excellent performance. The orchestra played magnificently, especially given the technical difficulty of composer Strauss’s piece.\nThe sets and lighting for all three acts were gorgeous. I give major props (no pun intended) to set and costume designer Robert O’Hearn. The audience actually cooed over the second act’s set – a beautiful staircase and ballroom scene.\nDuring her coming-out ball, Arabella learns that her mysterious stranger, Mandryka, is the nephew of one of her father’s old war comrades. The dashing baritone Scott Skib skillfully portrays the man who, too is smitten with Arabella, but it is he who is fortunate enough to gain her love. They announce their engagement, but Arabella wishes to spend the last evening of her girlhood dancing and laughing with her old lovers. Elizabeth Koonz plays a stellar Fiakermilli, the lascivious cabby.\nZdenka plays a clever bed trick during the festivities and manages to get Matteo to sleep with her, under the guise of Arabella. The audience must pay close attention at this point to not get lost in the numerous plot twists that make up for the lost time in the first act.\nEverything turns out wonderfully in the end, with both sisters happily married to the men they love. This somewhat dry opera is a stark contrast to last week’s rollicking “Arlecchino” and “Too Many Sopranos.” The contrast was a good decision and is a transition into the tragic “Madama Butterfly,” which opens April 6. \nI prefer the silly antics of a straight comedy or a gut-wrenching tragedy to the simple structure and lengthy arias of the in-between “Arabella.” Though it could be considered a comedy of errors, there is entirely too much pining for it to pass as light-hearted. The music and impeccable performances made up for the lack of action, however.\nI would recommend you see “Arabella,” next Friday or Saturday at the Musical Arts Center. Showtime is at 8 p.m.\nCarol Dusdieker, whom you might recognize as Fiordiligi from IU’s production of “Cosi fan tutte” and Musetta from “La Boheme” will star as Arabella. Alexis Lundy will play Zdenka, Robert Brandt will be Arabella’s lover, and Christopher Sponseller will play next weekend’s Matteo.
(02/09/07 2:27am)
Digital art, as its name implies, is almost entirely computer-generated. It is rising in popularity among artists and is often shown in the SoFA gallery here on campus.\nIt can utilize fractals, which are "rough or fragmented geometric shapes that can be subdivided in parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole," said Benoit B. Mandelbrot, a Franco-American mathematician who coined the term. It can also manipulate scanned materials such as photos and collages. This medium is used in graphic design, advertising, film and video game special effects.
(01/05/07 2:05am)
Don't resist the arts.\nThey're not here to hurt, bore or intimidate. In fact, the arts exist solely for pleasure and to enhance the world around us. The arts are everywhere, affecting us daily -- from a Chopin prelude playing in the background of a movie to the choreography in your favorite music video. The arts date back to the beginning of time and will continue to thrive as long as people have a desire to create and express. Younger generations are not taking advantage of the arts world. Television, Internet and iPods fuel a desire for instant gratification and have changed how people perceive the arts.\nThere are common misconceptions that the arts are restricted to dead composers and Shakespearean monologues, or that if you're a sports fanatic you cannot possibly enjoy the ballet. As this semester's arts editors, we're going to change that. Art must be viewed, understood and then appreciated. To gain from the arts, people need to be willing to dedicate a little time getting to know them. So let us introduce you.\nOur interest is to ditch the exclusivity that the arts sometimes evoke and include every reader. We want our section to appeal to the arts lovers and the amateurs. We're making our section user-friendly with our "Complete Moron's Guide to the Arts" every Friday. On Mondays we're keeping our comedic fashion column by Teri Rosenbaum. Thursdays we will have our foreign-arts correspondent Leah Linder with her "Letters From Prague" as she spends a semester in one of the most artistically rich centers of the world. \nWe're going to mix some of the old with the new, finding contemporary twists to make the arts less daunting, and more appealing, to our audience. We want to help you love the arts the way we do. So maybe you aren't interested in seeing one of IU's many orchestras perform. That's OK. Maybe you would enjoy seeing some naked bodies at the SoFA museum (the "Expressive Bodies" exhibit opens next week). \nIU has more than Little 500 and Hoosiers basketball -- we have one of the most prominent arts programs in the nation. The southeast side of campus is brimming with some of the best musicians, dancers, thespians and artists around. Students come from around the world to study here, and fortunately their talents are shown all around campus. We'll keep you posted about the events, and we are also going to give you some tutorials so that maybe you'll feel comfortable enough to dip your toes or dive into the arts.\nSo stick around, don't run at the first mention of Bach and enjoy the arts. That's what they are here for. We're here to assist with the translation.
(11/27/06 3:46am)
Plans are in the works for a Bloomington center where senior citizens can stay active in the arts. \nOn Nov. 19, the director for the National Center for Creative Aging, a New York-based initiative to create arts programming for older adults nationwide, Susan Perlstein, held a workshop at the John Waldron Arts Center to launch a local chapter of the Center for Creative Aging. She presented examples of work that senior citizens have done in creative aging centers around the country. \n"The purpose of this afternoon is networking and to see where you want to go in Bloomington," Perlstein said.\nStudies have shown that creative endeavors can actually slow the effects of aging. In his book "The Creative Age: Awakening Human Potential in the Second Half of Life," creative aging expert Gene Cohen writes that recent experiments have shown the brain's ability to change with use and its capacity to respond to environmental challenges.\n"In effect, these findings confirm the folklore advice to 'use it or lose it,'" he wrote.\nThe IU Eppley Institute for Parks & Public Lands has agreed to sponsor a feasibility study, which will explore the implications of creating a chapter of the Center for Creative Aging in Bloomington.\nJulie Hill has a full-time appointment with the Eppley Institute and was one of the three writers of the grant that was necessary to begin the study. She also represents the Bloomington Area Arts Council, and her own project, the Partners program, which offers creative activities to older adults who suffer from Alzheimer's disease or who are in the early stages of senile dementia. \nThe Partners program meets from 1 to 4 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday at the First United Church on Third Street. It was created as an alternative to adult daycare centers, which Hill said are not appropriate for those who are still cognizant of their surroundings.\nHill said that Bloomington is advertised as an ideal retirement location and an artistic Mecca but does not offer enough artistic programming for older adults. There are only about six total adult recreational programs offered in Monroe County, compared to more than a dozen different summer youth camps alone. A Bloomington Center for Creative Aging would continue to support the Partners program as well as offer new opportunities for older adults.\n"Older people are labelled as diseased items, but we are at a turning point," Perlstein said. "We're making major shifts -- even three years ago people weren't talking like this."\nThe feasibility study will mainly consist of various focus groups. Hill was reluctant to comment on the specifics of the center and what it would offer if it was created. She wishes to avoid any "turf wars" over programming in the community. She said that though there are local art classes that are offered through the Bloomington Area Arts Council and other organizations, there are few options for strictly senior citizen courses.\nThe Center would not only provide programming for older adults, but also education for younger generations on how to better interact with the baby boomers.\n"Recreational people think that (the baby boomers) will spend money on tourism, but most will be on personal creative endeavors," Hill said. "As a community, we need to prepare for that onset of creative energy."\nIU professor Laura Karcher and her Speech and Hearing Science students often volunteer with the Partners class, to help the patrons make memory books. \n"They are not just photo albums or scrapbooks," she said. "They allow us to maintain if not improve the communication skills of those with Alzheimer's. They are a way to get them to talk about their pasts."\nHill was unable to comment on whether the center would be a division of IU or of the City of Bloomington. She explained that it will mainly be a network of existing organizations. She also could not say for sure when the study would be complete. \n"What if we do a feasibility study and discover that it is not feasible?" she asked.\nAfter Perlstein's workshop, however, Hill and others seem optimistic. \n"The enthusiasm was huge," Hill said. "They were really jazzed about the whole concept. (Perlstein) was extremely impressed and feels like we are ready for something like this." \nThe first focus group is set to meet in January and will provide "further discussion on why we need this (center) and what it is," Hill said.
(11/02/06 6:06am)
Graduate students Miriam Ziven and Kristin Smith clomp up a steep wooden staircase, sipping on juices from Roots Restaurant and Juicebar. When they reach the top, they walk into the main room of The Lodge, located at 101 E. Sixth Street. They transform this room into a dance studio every Monday night. \nSmith and Ziven are both members of the new Bloomington Argentine Tango Organization. The organization formed last spring when three IU graduate students met with instructor Amaury de Siqueira in a racquetball court at the Health, Physical Education and Recreation building. De Siqueira is originally from Brazil but studied Argentine tango in Santa Barbara, Calif. There, he founded a tango group and taught for four years at the University of California at Santa Barbara before he left for Bloomington.\nOne of the group's founders, graduate student Jason Pierce, started dancing Argentine tango in 2004 at his alma mater, Georgia Institute of Technology. When he moved to Bloomington, he said he was disappointed that there was no place for him to continue practicing. \nIn forming the organization, Pierce and other IU students were either looking to improve tango skills or looking for a new dance style. Ziven, who taught social dance for a Chicago nonprofit organization for 10 years, said that she became bored with the rigid structure of ballroom dance. She said she liked that Argentine tango is a more impromptu style of dancing with more freedom in choreography. In classes, beginners are only taught how to do two basic steps: the walk and the turn. The rest is up to the individual dancer. \n"Argentine tango is an expression of the self," de Siqueira said. "There isn't a set way to hold yourself."\nWhen de Siqueira arrived for class Monday night, he kissed Ziven and Smith on their cheeks and turned on soft, Latin music. Other dancers began to trickle into the room. Some appeared hesitant with sheepish expressions on their faces, while others strode confidently to the center of the room. De Siqueira started the class by leading them in walks across the wooden floor to teach the dancers how to place their weight to control balance. \nDe Siqueira then split up the men and women and explained that men often have to dance amongst themselves, as the ratio of men to women was 10 to one in Buenos Aires during the height of Argentine tango's popularity. He performed a swirling dance with Pierce to demonstrate how men can learn from each other. He also taught the men the appropriate protocol of how to "claim" the women that they wanted to dance with by making eye contact and subtly nodding in their directions. \n"Avoid an eyebrow raise, because that means 'let's get coffee,' and we don't want to know what you do after that," he warned.\nDuring the course of the two hour session, de Siqueira gave more detailed lessons about the traditions, music and history of the dance.\nThe first hour was a review of basic steps and more advanced moves, while the second hour was designed for the first-time dancer. All fees go to pay for the rental of the space and sound equipment. They are also planning a milonga, a social tango dance, for December. \nThis current set of classes is the second round that the Bloomington Argentine Tango Organization has presented. Smith said there are typically around 20 people in each class, ranging from 22 to 60 years old and from several different countries. \n"The thing that is so different about Argentine tango is that it pulls people in from all walks of life," de Siqueira said.\nFor more information about BATO and its upcoming events, visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hoosierstangueros. \n"Students can be exposed for just a few dollars. We teach cultural traditions and music," de Siqueira said. "You learn to walk and to turn, and everything else just falls together"
(10/24/06 3:25am)
For the next month, when you enter the School of Fine Arts gallery, you may be unsure if the room you are walking into is an art exhibition or a botanical garden. The buzzing of insects and a high-pitched humming noise resonate throughout the gallery. Viewers are greeted by a giant screen depicting the life cycle of a cicada, then a curtain of autumn leaves and a bronze statue of copulating deer.\n"Human Nature I: The Natural World," the first installment of the exhibition series, opened Friday as patrons filled the gallery, observing a marriage of art and science that was described in the exhibition program as incorporating "cultural ideas about nature and our place within it."\nFifteen artists displayed their diverse work. \nShawn Decker is an associate professor in the art department and technology and sound department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He suspended four metal buckets containing varying amounts of water by thin wire from the ceiling. He rigged a small, motorized bit of metal to flick each wire continuously to create an eerie musical performance. Gallery patrons took turns putting their ears up to the buckets Friday to better hear the emitted sounds.\nRoger Hangarter, an associate professor of biology at IU, video--recorded different stages of the cicada's life cycle, including its birth, reproduction and molting process. Graduate student Sarah McKinley said she remembered how loud the insects were a few years ago. Though she did not know much about them, she said that it was fascinating to watch the video. \nNew York artist Alexis Rockman displayed his six-panel painting that combined aspects of human life, animals, technology and architecture. The red and orange tinted mural spanned almost an entire wall in the gallery and captivated patrons. A group of 20 people always seemed to be standing before it, surveying the intricacies of the scene. Senior art student Hala Sweiss said the painting was her favorite piece in the exhibition. \n"Every detail is breathtaking," she said. \nAnother audience favorite was Wim Delvoye's "Trophy," a life--size bronze sculpture of two deer mating "missionary style" as senior Evan Miller put it. He snapped a picture of the statue with his camera phone and said: "I think it is hilarious. I like art that's entertaining, art that makes you smile."\nDelvoye aims to poke fun at human sexuality and other aspects of human life with his art. \n"People always love the deer," said gallery director Betsy Stirratt. \nShe explained that his art often depicts "the animal as it segues into the human world."\nThe exhibition will run until Nov. 18 and will be accompanied by a lecture by Sander Gilman at 6 p.m. Friday in the Fine Arts building, room 015. A public forum with the artists will be held 7 p.m. Nov. 16. The second installation of the exhibition, titled "Future Worlds" will open Feb. 9. \n"It is gratifying to see it all happen," Stirratt said. "A lot of these artists I have followed for years." \nGallery hours are noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and all events are free. For more information about this exhibit, visit www.indiana.edu/~sofa/human_nature/hn.php.
(10/19/06 3:08am)
Friday, the School of Fine Arts gallery will open the first part of a two-part exhibition series titled "Human Nature I: The Natural World" from 7 to 9 p.m. Fifteen nationally- and internationally-acclaimed artists and scientists will display more than 40 examples of sculpture, painting, video projection, animation and sound work. The pieces will "examine scientific experimentation, biological materials and living systems," according to a press release from the gallery. \nGallery director Betsy Stirratt explained that the exhibit will be "a look at our relationship with nature." She said the first show will cover many different issues, including human ties to the environment and animals, as well as topics in health care. The exhibit will remain open until Nov. 18.\nThe second show, which opens in February, will focus more on the advances in biotechnology. Stirratt described the material as being "more science-y."\nStirratt is particularly excited about this series, since the combination of art and science is a personal interest of hers. She has worked on collecting pieces to exhibit for the past two years, longer than most curatorial efforts. Because of the extended planning period, she said she was able to bring many well--known artists with large--scale, major works to the gallery.\n"To me, this is the most exciting project we've done in years," she said.\nSeveral lecturers will accompany the exhibition, including installation artist Diana Lynn Thompson, who will speak at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Fine Arts building, Room 102. Painter Alexis Rockman will speak at the same time Friday in Fine Arts room 015. The SoFA gallery and the Burke Lecture Series have collaborated to bring University of Illinois professor Sander Gilman to speak Oct. 27.\nThere will also be a public forum Thursday, Nov. 16. Two artists and one scientist will lead a conversation on the connections between nature and art.\n"Both artists and scientists share an affinity for experimentation and a desire to forge new frontiers in their field, looking for and creating something that has never been attempted or discovered before," Stirratt said in the press release. \nAll events are free and open to the public. For more information, visit the SoFA's Web site at http://sofa.fa.indiana.edu.
(10/09/06 3:59am)
Downtown Bloomington turned into a real life "It's a Small World" this weekend. Instead of an obnoxious repeating theme song, festival-goers were treated to everything from Tuvan throat singers to Balkan beats, DJs and music from all over the world.\nIt was impossible to see all of the Lotus World Music and Arts Festival acts this weekend, with 28 artists playing in seven different locations, but a few unique performances stood out at the annual Lotus Festival, which drew record-setting crowds in its 13th year.\nBalkan Beat Box was the talk of the town and had crowds in hysterics. Whether it was their Friday and Saturday night performances that turned the Monroe Bank tent into a hopping, orgiastic party or their DJ, Ori Kaplan, creating a three hour dance party Friday night in the Union tent, band members held Lotus in the palm of their hands. \nTheir shirtless rapper/drummer Tamir Muskat flew from Tel Aviv just for the show, and, indicated by the wild applause and raucous cries for an encore he received, the shirtless one-man party was much appreciated in Bloomington.\nLotus executive director Lee Williams said people demanded they bring back Balkan Beat Box's unique gypsy rock band which blended horns, guitars and electronic music with a rap show to create a blitzkrieg of sound of which Bloomington could not get enough.\n"I saw them twice last year, and I'm going to do it again this year," Bloomington resident Jeremy Orwig said. \nTeri Watkins, a volunteer committee member, said Balkan Beat Box was so well liked, the group's album sold out at her booth before the concert even ended.\nFriday night Ori Kaplan blasted "ethno mosh-new Mediterranean dance hall" music that had the crowd so pumped up they knocked the DJ table off the stage. From 9 p.m. until after midnight, 50 dancers on stage and hundreds more in the tent danced so hard they sweat through their jeans. Bloomington high school senior Jenna Norden danced from nine until after midnight, front and center on the stage, sweating profusely, creating an upside down triangle stain on the front of her jeans.\n"I really liked the music and atmosphere," she said. "I can't wait to see more Balkan Beat Box." \nThere was, however, a lot of music for those who wanted a softer, more relaxed style. \nCatherine Russell, a blues and jazz singer who performed at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater Friday, delivered one of those performances. Her father, Luis Russell, was Louis Armstrong's musical director, and she has been a vocalist with David Bowie, Jackson Browne, Madonna and Al Green. Her cool attitude and off-beat lyrics, including those in the song "My Man's an Undertaker," made for a great crowd-pleaser. Russell brought her first solo album, "Cat," to Lotus Festival, and within minutes after her concert, it had sold out.\nBloomington resident Julie Birkett was working at the festival store when Russell's concert let out, and she said that "the CDs just flew." They were waiting to get more, but when they received another few boxes, those sold out as well.\nRussell's mandolin player Stuart J. Rosenberg said he was thrilled to be a part of this year's Lotus Festival and hopes to come back next year. \n"We felt the audience love us," he said. "It was palpable."\nThroughout the weekend, there was a buzz circulating about the unique Tuvan throat singers. At the Carpathian Folk Quartet concert Friday night, Steve Hedges, one of the organizers of this weekend's events, said no one should miss the singers, known as Huun--Huur--Tu. Hedges explained they can actually sing three notes in their throats at one time. He described the tones as "lower than a bass," a medium pitch and a "Mariah Carey" note. \n"It's unbelievable," he said.\nThe ground floor and balcony of the First United Methodist Church were filled to capacity Saturday night to see the "unbelievable act." People were lining the sanctuary and cramming into any available spaces. There was a line out the door, down the staircase, and around the corner of 4th and Washington Streets. \nChad Bowman and Megan Gutieriez, in town this weekend for Lotus Festival, were at the end of the line. When asked why they were willing to stand outside and wait for the concert for so long, they simply said, "It sounded interesting."\n"Interesting" could hardly describe the four man ensemble's performance, which left some audience members with their mouths agape. \n"Didgeridoos! That is what they sound like!" said Bloomington resident Carolyn Kibbey, referring to the Australian instrument that emits a low drone when blown into.\nOther highlights included Yungchen Lhamo's spiritual Tibetan concerts in the First Christian Church, the rocking gypsy klezmer of Golem and the 21 string acoustic instrumentation of the West African kora player Mamadou Diabate. If audience members were ever not fully entertained, there were always six other shows they could check out, taking a virtual ride around the world.\nAs Lotus Director Lee Williams grinned from ear to ear a little past 11 p.m. Friday night, he said he was enjoying Friday's festivities, but "Saturday is always bigger and more intense"
(10/09/06 3:56am)
Well, I sure did.\nI was on my way to the Union Board tent to see the DJ show when I heard the bass from Balkan Beat Box -- from three blocks away. I had promised myself that I would save them until tomorrow, but I just couldn't do it.\nI managed to wriggle my way through the leaping crowd and see the guys of the group. It was love at first sight. Two saxophone players were absolutely wailing away. The drummer was without a shirt and was running across the stage, dropping ashes from his cigarette as he ran. The turntable guy actually jumped up onto the table. There is no other way to describe the adrenaline than to just shout, "HELL YEAH!" I had heard that these boys were good, but I had no idea.\nI took notes and pictures for as long as I could, but the temptation was just too strong. The camera went into the bag, the bag went on the ground next to me and before I knew it I was whirling and twirling away.
(10/09/06 3:55am)
Bloomington resident Jitka Horne said she lost count of all the faces she painted Saturday at Lotus in the Park. Horne specializes in animal pictures, mainly "kitties." When asked about the strangest thing she has painted, Horne said she painted six or seven dragons and one boy wanted flames up both his arms.\n"Nothing is too weird -- that is what is nice and fun about this," she said.\nFor the thirteenth annual Lotus World Music and Arts Festival, "nothing too weird" was the unofficial theme.\nThe festivities kicked off Thursday night with opening announcements and a concert by Väsen, a Swedish acoustic modern band at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. Lotus Festival executive director Lee Williams explained that he has been trying to work with Bloomington to get a street named after the band. As he said this, a green street sign descended from the ceiling.\n"For tonight only, this stage is Väsen St.," Williams said.\nFriday's activities started at 5 p.m. with a parade around the courthouse square. Stilt dancer Sogbety Diomande lead the procession as well as Saturday's parade. His crew of West African drummers had everyone bouncing up and down, and multi-colored banners snapped in the wind. Almost everyone's jaw dropped when he threw his head back to shriek toward the sky and swung his leg into the air. The evening showcases started at 7 p.m. with six stages of musical performances.\nSaturday afternoon, Third Street Park hosted hundreds of people enjoying the crisp weather and the free way to participate in the Lotus activities. The family-friendly Lotus in the Park is in its second year. Both children and adults painted banners and made noisemakers and hats to wear in the parade while listening to several acts that performed on the Third St. stage.\nThe procession left the park at about 5:30 p.m. and marched to festival headquarters on Kirkwood Ave. Traffic literally stopped as the festival-goers slowly meandered through intersections and paused to watch Diomande's eerie dance. Some were disappointed by the crowd's apparent shock, however. \n"I wish the crowd was more crazy," Brianna Raatz, a Hanover College junior commented. "The more you put in, the more you get out."\nA mixed group of high school--age people and adults made up the crowd with a less represented college crowd, which one high school-aged girl said was because people her age grew up with Lotus Festival, and college students did not want to pay $30 for a night of entertainment.\nAnother night of evening showcases ran from 7 p.m. to midnight. "Rockin' klezmer" music, traditional Irish music and Brazilian choral music were just a few options presented to the audience.\nThe musical performances continued Sunday afternoon with special guest Issa introducing Tibetan singer Yungchen Lhamo to a nearly full Buskirk-Chumley Theater. Sunday was a chance to see numerous shows for $5 and catch any performers festival-goers had missed throughout the weekend. Lhamo's spiritual performance had audience members in tears.\n"It made me cry," Bloomington resident Mona Bagla said. "It reminded me of being back home in India"
(10/06/06 3:15pm)
Brazilian beats, Afro-Cuban grooves and Jewish folk melodies comprise just a few sections of the eclectic musical lineup that will fill the Bloomington streets this weekend.\nThe downtown area will be packed with concerts at seven venues -- from The Bluebird to the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. In addition to these concerts, students can take in ethnic food, parades, free DJ shows and even a man on stilts.\nThe 13th annual Lotus World Music & Arts Festival will kick off at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater with Väsen, a Swedish acoustic band. This year, almost 30 bands from every corner of the globe will perform at the four-day event. From 7 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, music for those with diverse tastes -- and fans looking to discover new beats -- will fill seven stages, Lotus Director Lee Williams said.\n"We have 28 artists and, of course, great diversity as always," he said. "There's always something for everyone's taste. The venues are the new thing this year -- something this town has never seen before. The Monroe Bank Tent covers half a block, and we're going to have some of the more rocking bands there." \nFriday and Saturday have a lot of overlapping artists, but there are a few artists and events unique to Friday. For those looking for free entertainment, IU Hip Hop Congress will host a number of world DJ's from various bands and a turntable workshop with free admission at the Union Board's tent.\nAdvance passes for Friday and Saturday's concerts are $30 per day and $25 for students. Weekend passes are $50. If purchased on the day of the show, tickets are $35 per day and $27 for students.
(10/06/06 3:14pm)
Sogbety Diomande was born in the small farming village of Toufinga on the Ivory Coast in West Africa. When he was 10 years old, he learned the ancient art of stilt dancing from his uncle, Vado Diomande, the reigning national stilt dancing champion.\nSogbety will lead the Lotus festival processions, which converge at Courthouse Square, and display his unique skills, at 5 p.m. Friday and 5:15 p.m. Saturday. He has never been to Bloomington, and he said he is very excited to visit.\nSogbety said stilt dancers are taught at a very young age, and they must go through an initiation ceremony before they can become full-fledged performers. \nHis art is highly secretive. No one is allowed to see the dancers' dress. The masks and elaborate costumes they wear allow them to be mediators between the living and spirit worlds.\nDiomande explained he did not have very much time to practice in Africa. When he does find time, he puts a lot of effort into perfecting his act, and his entire family participates.\nHe moved to America in 1997 after receiving an invitation from the Ballet National to perform at several festivals. He has since performed at various venues, including the Lincoln Center, the Plaza Hotel and the Museum of Natural History in New York City. \nAlong with teaching him to stilt dance, Diomande's uncle also taught him to play the djembe, doundoun and bade drums. Diamonde has held classes on djembe drumming. He was also the lead djembe player for Jimmy Buffet's 2000 spring and summer tour. He was a resident artist at Disney World and performed at Harambe African Village.\nHe participated in a project that encouraged handicapped schoolchildren in the Bronx to dance and play, and he has most recently formed his own West African Drum and Dance Company.\nDiomande said he travels a lot and does a lot of different things, and when asked about his feelings about his upcoming performance at Lotus, he said, "I can't wait to be there."\nFriday's festival procession will be a convergence of several Bloomington neighborhoods at Courthouse Square at 6:30 p.m. Saturday's procession will move from the activities at Third Street Park at 5 p.m. to LotusFest Headquarters on Kirkwood Avenue. For more information, see www.lotusfest.org or www.idsnews.com/lotusblog.
(10/06/06 4:07am)
Attention all budding screenwriters: director Gary Wood is looking for writers to help with his latest projects, and he is coming to Bloomington Saturday. \nWood will be hosting a screenwriting workshop from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at The Buskirk-Chumley Theater. He will be speaking about his film as well as his experiences working for "Cinefantastique" in the early '90s. He had the opportunity to interview and gather tips from famous writers such as Stephen King, Larry Ferguson and Frank Darabont. \nIn a press release from the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, Wood explained that he always asked to interview the screenwriters when covering movie productions. \n"One--no one ever asks to speak to the writers so they are always interested in talking. And -- two -- I would talk to them about their movie, then I would pick their brains and learn as much from them as I could."\nParticipants will have a chance to pick Wood's brain at the workshop tomorrow. He said that he will show movie clips and have discussions on how to minimize dialogue and tell stories with visuals and sound. He encourages participants to bring scripts that they are currently working on to apply what they learn in the workshop directly to their pieces.\n"Of all the talent we have as a production company, we're most lacking good writers," Wood said in the press release. "We've got a lot in the works, and I could use some help."\nWood's first original film "Saving Star Wars" was nominated for Best screenplay at the London Science Film Festival, and his most recent, "OPEN MIC'rs," has sold out in IMAX Theaters in Indianapolis. He said he is working on a musical starring comedian Heywood Banks, a documentary about the life of George Harrison, an animated feature and the true story of the 1824 massacre at Fall Creek.\nAfter the workshop, at 8 p.m., Wood will be showing "OPEN MIC'rs," a film featuring "Caddyshack" star Cindy Morgan as a celebrity judge who helps the owner of a comedy club select an MC from a group of stand-up comedians. Tickets are $8. \nThe film has several well-known faces including Rupert from reality TV's "Survivor," Landon Lueck from MTV's "The Real World" and "Tonight Show" veteran Hank McGill.\nThe fee for the workshop is $27, and registration is not required.\nWood hopes to have a large crowd to hear his explanations of what he most values as a director.\n"Everyone has a different philosophy and different ways of writing," he said. "This is our way"
(10/02/06 2:37am)
Juniors Tyler King and Jason Nelson were on their way to Roots Juice Bar on Saturday morning when they stopped dead in their tracks to gawk at the sight before them. Artist Robert Derr donned a suit covered in shiny disks and a neckpiece composed of four cameras. He was walking down Kirkwood Avenue.\n"It's a cool sight on a Saturday morning when I am hungover," King said.\nDerr was a participant in this weekend's new media symposium, Perform.Media, supported by several University departments, including the Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts, the Jacobs School of Music, the School of Informatics and the Department of Telecommunications. The activities included an exhibition opening in the SoFA gallery that will run until Oct. 14, presentations and lectures, workshops, and a night of musical performances.\nIn the foreword of the program for the weekend, Director Andrew Bucksbarg said: "The Perform.Media festival and symposium frames ideas and experiences with a focus on the performing of media -- the doing, being, activity or embodying of both the producer and user of media."\nDerr came to the gallery opening Friday night in his handmade outfit and invited members of the crowd to roll a dice as part of an interactive contribution to the symposium. He recorded the results of 30 different rolls. Each number corresponded to a different move. Each roll directed him forward for a block, backward for a block, right for a block, left for a minute or a spin for a minute.\nDerr began at the Monroe County Courthouse, and following the cues he received from the previous evening's dice rolling, he walked through downtown for about an hour and eventually ended near Fairview Elementary School. \n"By making myself somewhat of a spectacle, the city is reflected onto me, and I disappear into the landscape," Derr said.\nPeter Haralovich, a Bloomington resident and alumnus of the School of Fine Arts, was returning from a LotusFest volunteer meeting when he spotted Derr crossing an intersection. \n"I think it is a pretty good look," Haralovich said. "It reminds me of (French artist) Marcel Duchamp."\nThe footage shot by Haralorich's four cameras will be edited and played in the SoFA gallery during the exhibition.\nChrista Erikson's work is also displayed in the gallery. She was the first digital media faculty member in the SoFA but is now a tenured professor at Stony Brook University in New York. She said that it was nice to see such progress in the new media field at her homecoming.\nHer piece, "Eternal Climb," is a ladder with a television display connected to a live feed from the stock market. It collects data every 20 minutes. When the stock market rises, the hands shown on the screen turn green and make an upward climbing motion. When the market falls, they turn red and move down at an appropriate speed. Erikson describes her piece as an "apt metaphor for what we all go through financially."\nOther highlights from this weekend were a presentation by Randall Parker, who created his own government agency, the U.S. Department of Art and Technology, and a presentation by Edward Castronova, who has a doctorate in economics and is currently developing a new computer game with a Shakespearean backstory while simultaneously running experiments on the quantity theory of macroeconomics.\nAnother presentation involved a video-chat set up with Isabelle Arvers, an independent new media curator from France who is working through gamer culture to create a new art movement known as "Neen." There was also a workshop on how to create and edit "wikis," like Wikipedia.\nThere were more than 50 participants in the weekend's events. Descriptions of their work can be seen in the Perform.Media catalogs found outside the SoFA gallery, and some work can still be seen in the gallery. Most of the pieces are interactive. Bucksbarg explained that patrons of the exhibition can hardly be called viewers anymore because the displays are so complex and require participation.\n"These destabilized terms abide at the heart of the performance of new media," he said. "A pulse that beats in the moment, when one has engaged, immersed, performed or shared, and something happens in a play of both intent and accident ... Perform.Media seeks to embrace this dynamic"
(09/28/06 2:54am)
Budd Stalnaker was an artist, a faculty member in the Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts and a collector. Stalnaker died in May of this year, and the IU Art Museum is honoring his passion and life's work with a special exhibition that will open Saturday and run through Dec. 17.\nSupport for the exhibition -- titled "Hats off to Budd!" -- will be provided by the Class of 1949 Endowment for the Curator of the Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas. Pelrine is the curator of that gallery.\n"He was a good friend to the museum. He was always telling us about exhibitions and about donors. This is a gesture of respect and gratitude for what he has done," IU Art Museum curator Pelrine said of Stalnaker's contributions to the museum.\nThe Hexagon Gallery on the ground floor of the museum will be filled with gifts from Stalnaker's personal collection of African art, which includes almost 80 hats that exemplify the knotless netting technique. Stalnaker was particularly interested in this method because it is a time-consuming process resulting in a design that prevents unraveling, even if the hat sustains some damage in the process, according to a press release. In addition to the hats, Stalnaker collected pieces of kente, a fabric native to Ghana that is made of colorful woven cloth strips, which he also donated to the museum.\nAn artist himself, Stalnaker began teaching textiles at IU in 1964, according to a press release. His tapestry weaving works will be on display in "Hats off to Budd!" A press release from the IU Art Museum said his "ladder series" will be featured and described it as "a long-term exploration of variations on abstract ladders as a metaphor for climbing, growth and passage."\nTwo gallery talks will be given in conjunction with the exhibition. Patrick McNaughton, the Chancellor's Professor of African Art History, will be speak at 12:15 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11. The lecture, titled "Living with Fine Design," will be about contextual information and artistry of Stalnaker's African collection.\nWilliam Itter, a faculty colleague and fellow collector of Stalnaker, will host a talk and reception at 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 12, titled "Between Art and Craft"
(09/28/06 2:50am)
Every day doctoral student Charles Stewart spends hours writing and researching in the library- but not at the Herman B Wells Library or anywhere on campus. Stewart has been studying at the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute in Nicosia, Cyprus, since Sept. 5, and he will spend the next nine months doing the same. When he is not pouring through volumes of Greek, Russian, French and German texts, he drives around the churches of the Mediterranean island to count domes and analyze frescoes.\nStewart is in Cyprus working on his doctoral thesis in art history, balancing library and field research. Thanks to "generous" grants from the U.S.-Cyprus Fulbright Fellowship, the CAARI Anita Cecil O'Donovan Fellowship and the Medieval Academy of America, Stewart said he hopes to answer some questions that have previously been left unanswered.\nStewart said in an e-mail interview that Arabs invaded Cyprus, colonized the island and destroyed churches between 650 and 700 A.D. Cyprus was divided between the Christian Byzantine Empire of Constantinople and the Arab Caliphate of Damascus. The Cypriots were then forced to pay taxes to both governments. The churches were rebuilt after the Byzantines reconquered the island around 965 A.D.\n"The domed churches that I study were built sometime in this period -- the question is when," Stewart said. "They were radically different than the churches before the Arab invasions -- they have three to five domes. Beforehand, churches had wooden roofs. Why?"\nTo answer this question and others, Stewart studies the overall ground plans of the churches and the surviving fresco designs for clues. \nStewart said there are still feelings of tension between the Greek Orthodox and Muslim communities, but there are serious efforts to unite them. He has a general knowledge of Modern Greek and is learning Turkish, the two languages spoken on the island. \nDespite tension between the Greek and Turkish communities, the island has a booming economy that Stewart said surprised him.\n"As an offshore banking and trading center, it has attracted lots of investments from the former Soviet Union companies and members from the Arab world. In southern Cyprus, many street signs are written in Greek, Russian and English," Stewart said. \n"We meet people from all over the world here, from Indian and Chinese entrepreneurs to the typical German and French tourists. It is a small island nation with a cosmopolitan feel."\nWhen Stewart returns to America, he said he plans to publish a few of his articles and apply for several post-doctoral positions. He would also like to teach medieval art history at a university. \nAlthough he has been working in Cyprus for less than a month, Stewart said he has already learned a valuable lesson from his travels.\n"Living abroad for more than a couple months helps a person realize the uniqueness -- good and bad -- of American culture. It also helps one to realize that the eyes of the world are upon us and that we influence so many things (good or bad) regarding culture, economy and politics"
