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(12/04/06 4:07am)
Bloomington celebrated the works of local artists Friday with the Downtown Gallery Walk from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at nine art galleries. \nPatrons braved the chilly winds outside to see the large variety of works of art available for sale around the downtown area.\nThe John Waldron Arts Center featured a large array of items for sale, from hand-blown glass Christmas ornaments to photographs, note cards and paintings. Music played while potential customers munched on snacks and walked around the gallery shop.\nBloomington residents Mike Waddell and Courtney Stewart said since the Gallery Walk was free and they didn't have any money, they decided to check it out. They said their favorite item they'd seen so far was a black and white photograph of a dilapidated barn, taken by photographer John Bower, who has published several books of photographs focusing on Indiana farms and architecture. \nSuzanne Halvorson, founder of the arts center, owner of the Fountain Square Mall shop, Yarns Unlimited, and charter member of the By Hand Gallery, also located in Fountain Square Mall, said the work in the By Hand Gallery, including pottery, woven scarves and more, also is all handmade, though it features work from artists all over the country. \nShe said the Gallery Walk created a lot of buzz for the galleries downtown. \n"A lot of people find us as a result of the Gallery Walk," Halvorson said. "It's really helped us to get on the map. It's really helped awareness of the gallery."\nAnother downtown spot for art, the Textillery Gallery, located in an upstairs corridor of the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, featured the paintings of local artist Indigo Coleman. \nShe said it was exciting to have an exhibit at the gallery. \n"I haven't had a gallery show before," she said. "I've painted for pleasure, and (my paintings) have been given to friends or purchased by friends, but I've never shown a collection before, so I'm very, very excited." \nLocal painter Joel Washington, whose paintings of musicians are featured in the Indiana Memorial Union and the Laughing Planet Cafe, perused Coleman's brightly colored canvases at the Textillery Gallery. \n"I come (to the Gallery Walk) every year. I get inspired by it, and I know a lot of the artists in it. I like going because it's so inspiring," he said. \nTwo-year Bloomington resident Ruth Simon said since all the galleries are open, the Gallery Walk makes everyone feel welcome. \n"Where else can you go and get free goodies? Getting to see the artists in a short walking distance is the best part," she said. \nSimon said since she works within two blocks of downtown, it was convenient for her to walk around, make her purchases and just walk back to her car at work. \nDoris Sims, a Bloomington resident and City Hall employee, browsed the sparkling gem and mineral artifacts at Fossil Rain. \n"This is the first time I've been on the Gallery Walk. I was at Wandering Turtle with a friend, and I found out there was a gallery walk going on, and I decided to participate," she said. \nThere were also Gallery Walks on April 7, July 7 and Oct. 6 this year. For more information, visit www.artlives.org. \nThe nine galleries participating in the Gallery Walk included the Bellevue Gallery, 107 W. Ninth St.; the By Hand Gallery, 109 Fountain Square Mall; Fossil Rain, 115 N. College Ave.; Gallery North on the Square, 116 W. Sixth St.; the John Waldron Arts Center Galleries and Gallery Shop, 122 S. Walnut St.; Prima Gallery, 109 E. Sixth St.; the Textillery Gallery in the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave.; TOP Gallery, 116 W. Sixth St.; and Wandering Turtle Art Gallery and Gifts, 224 N. College Ave.
(11/16/06 5:00am)
Iuri Santos pulled back his long dreadlocks and wordlessly chose a partner from the row of performers playing a lively beat on several instruments. He silently delegated the switching of instruments from the chosen opponent to another member still playing music, then, along with his partner, knelt in front of the others and performed a set of synchronized prayer-like movements. Santos and his partner faced each other and touched palms before breaking away and beginning their competition. \nThe peculiar ritual, which can be seen most Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, was just another meeting for Grupo de Capoeira Angola Estrela do Norte, or North Star Capoeira. \nLed by Santos, the Contra-Mestre (one less than master), the group practices and performs a type of dance-fighting that combines Brazilian and African styles. The group practices from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Harmony School, 909 E. Second St. Practices are free and open to anyone. \nSantos has been teaching Capoeira Angola since he came from Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, in 1998. He described its origins as coming from several different dances, martial arts and music. \n"The closest ritual art (to) Capoeira that we know is the N'golo, the game of the zebras that was practiced by the Bantu people," he said. "Some people say it's African, but, for me, it's both (African and Brazilian)."\nHe explained that the N'golo art came from what is now Angola. Slaves from Angola were essential to the development of the Portuguese colony of Brazil, according to www.angola.org. Angola was a Brazilian colony, and the mix of African and Brazilian culture helped create this art form. \n"Capoeira is a physical, mental, spiritual trickery game, a game of questions and answers," Santos said. "When you don't have more answers for the opponent's questions, you lose the game." \nBrazil has a strong system of passing along the tradition of Capoeira Angola. Mestres (or masters) of Capoeira are strong community leaders in Brazil, Santos said. A long legacy of the art form is being passed from Mestre to Contra-Mestre. Though Capoeira developed over time with the mixture of cultures, Santos estimated it goes back at least 400 years, possibly even to the 16th century. \nSantos has continued to pass the traditions of Capoeira to his Bloomington and Indianapolis students.\nBloomington resident and group member Michelle Broaddus said she practices Capoeira because she loves the theater and depth of the art form. \n"Someday I want to be able to do cool things like Iuri," she said. \nSantos' group has two kinds of weekly practices: one with normal practices of moves, music and singing Mondays and Fridays and a roda, or circle, Wednesday nights. Normal practices include stretching and rapid repetition of several moves important to the art form and rehearsal of the songs the members dance-fight to.\n"There are different exercises for Capoeira. Sometimes we practice with sticks, with the benches. Sometimes we do handstands on the wall," Santos said. "There are all kinds of ways to do Capoeira."\nThe roda, or circle, is what students might see the group perform by the Sample Gates as it has done in the past. The roda combines all the elements that members have been practicing. A roda requires 10 members to play music and compete, said Chris Dintaman, a four-year member of the group. \nThe Bloomington branch of the group now has about 10 members, and Dintaman said the group is always looking for new faces. \n"We want the group to grow and be strong. The rodas are spiritually stronger when there are more people," he said. \nSantos said he is continuously working to keep the Bloomington group strong. \n"We are always doing big events and bringing teachers from Brazil," he said.
(11/08/06 3:31am)
From cobalt blue Chinese willow ware plates to a delicate hand-painted IU teacup and saucer, the latest array of shiny things to stop students in their tracks is on display in the Fine Arts Library foyer.\nSenior Andrea Truitt concocted the idea for the display, titled "Prints, Patterns and Porcelain: a selection of ceramics from the Wylie House collections," as well as the corresponding in-house exhibit at the Wylie House Museum, "A Glimpse of Wylie Household Taste: Come to the Table!" She did all the research and put both exhibits together.\nBridget Edwards, curator of education at the Wylie House, said, "As (Truitt) was doing some research, she came to me this summer and said, 'You know, you have a nice range of what a middle class family would have in Bloomington at that time (the 19th century).' I said, 'You do the research,' and she said, 'OK!'" \nEdwards explained that the exhibits are remarkable both because they are the first totally student-driven exhibits, and the Fine Arts Library foyer is the first Wylie House exhibit to appear outside of the actual museum. \nTruitt said that most of the items were already in the museum, so it wasn't hard for her to put together. "Most of the objects come from a bequest by Morton C. Bradley, Jr... the great-grandson of Theophilus and Rebecca Bradley, the second family to live in the house," she said. \nWhile both exhibits are an assortment of pieces of china, the exhibit in the Wylie House is primarily one set of china, originally an 800-piece set. The set, which features a bright pink, blue and gold design with Asian embellishments like bamboo and pagodas, is actually a patented type of tableware called ironware, which was "cheaper and more durable than porcelain," according to Truitt. \nThe Fine Arts Library foyer exhibit has several different examples of china that middle class families in the 1800's might have had. Some of the simpler designs, like the pieces that are transfer print on ironstone or the Chinese willow ware, look like plates and saucers that any family today might have in their cupboards at home. \n"I like it because the pieces are very indicative of middle-class taste in the 19th century," Truitt said, "It's interesting because it's something that the Wylie's may have had, but also because they were common pieces." \nHowever, there are several eye-catching pieces that were more for special use than daily use. \nThere are two examples of jasperware, a mixture of clay, barium sulfate, barium carbonate and flint, which was invented by Josiah Wedgewood and perfected in 1775, according to the exhibit placard. One piece is forest green and the other is cobalt blue, and both feature various depictions of the Greek muses. \nEdwards said that the tableware and the dining area of the Wylie House are important because they show "how the Wylie families used their house to symbolize the hospitality of the University."\nThe Wylie House Museum is free and is open Tues. through Sat., 10-2 pm. Both exhibits will be on display until Nov. 30 but will not be open over the Thanksgiving holiday. For more information, visit www.indiana.edu/~libwylie.
(11/08/06 3:28am)
Pamela Means and Sarah Grain will play a free show at 7 p.m. tonight at Boxcar Books, located at 310A S. Washington St. \nMeans is a Boston-based Indie folk artist who writes political folk music and has actually worn a hole into her guitar. According to the biography on her Web site, she recently received the honor of being nominated as an Outstanding Contemporary Folk Artist at the Boston Music Awards. \n"Pamela should be a rockin' good time when she performs," said Colin Schoder-Ehri, a volunteer at Boxcar Books. \nMeans' Web site posts her lyrics, which encompass themes from racism and sexism to politics and love. In the song "Yours" from the album "Single Bullet Theory," she writes "I'll be your woman or your man/ whatever you want I hope am." According to her Web site, Means performs more than 150 shows a year, from coffeehouses and gay pride events to Black History Month events and the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival. \nMeans was unavailable for comment at press time. \nGrain, formerly Graub, will open for Means. Grain is an Indianapolis-based artist who describes her music as folk but said there's never been a consistent description. \n"It's traditional American folk with an international influence and definitely an influence of spoken word," she said. \nGrain said that she would be coming to see Means regardless of whether she herself was playing at the show. \n"I hear Pamela Means is a badass," she said. She said she was overjoyed and intimidated to be opening for Means because she was so pleased at what she heard of her political folk music on the Web site. \nGrain has played with the Acoustic Women's Showcase at Boxcar Books for several years. \n"I really like the environment of Boxcar," she said. "It's colorful." \nSchoder-Ehri said that the free concert is a great time to see Grain perform. He said "her music expresses a great set of community values that you don't hear that often," referring to a song called "Goin' to the Garden." \nGrain might have a different set of community values because she is the director of community outreach and volunteers for the non-profit organization Keep Indianapolis Beautiful. She said the program helps to plant trees all over the city, as well as build community gardens and turn vacant lots into parks. She said the organization uses 20,000 volunteers a year. \nLike the Keep Indianapolis Beautiful organization, Boxcar Books also relies on volunteers. According to the store's Web site, it is a "volunteer run, non-profit organization that exists to provide new and used books, zines, magazines and comics on topics of social justice, independent media and fiction for the community." \nFor more information, visit boxcarbooks.org, pamelameans.com, or myspace.com/sarahgraub.
(10/30/06 3:35am)
I was a virgin before Saturday night. \nA "Rocky Horror Picture Show" virgin, that is. \nI vaguely remember seeing part of the movie several summers ago. I think I fell asleep. However, as I understood it, seeing "Rocky Horror" in a theater is a very different experience because of all the audience interaction. \nWith no small amount of confusion, I Googled "Rocky Horror Picture Show" to see how I should dress and act. \nLacking the time, resources or knowledge to create a costume based off a character, I feared I would be targeted during the embarrassing-sounding "de-virginization" ceremony if I didn't dress up. Thus, I bought a lacy corset from a packed store at the mall and borrowed a short skirt from a friend. \nSo Saturday night, I laced up my corset and slathered my lips in red, sparkly lip gloss. A friend and I made our tall-booted way to the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, getting reactions from people driving past. One observant girl noted that we were "lookin' like some sluts." Good! That was totally what we were going for. \nAs soon as the Buskirk-Chumley came into sight, I noticed one thing -- almost everyone was in costume. There were lots of corseted girls and boys in the style of the movie's main character, Dr. Frank-N-Furter. The crowd also featured Batman, a couple of pirates and even a male dressed as Madeline, the children's book character. Theater employees sold bags of props at the door. I handed over my $5 and received a paper bag with toilet paper, a water gun, toast and other strange things inside. \nEmcee and Cardinal Stage member Lindsay Charles began by telling the midnight crowd: "You guys are so much radder than the 9 o'clock!" \nShe and her assistant stripped down to fishnets and revealing corsets, and the night began with a costume contest. The first prize winner was Indianapolis resident Chris Simanton, dressed as Sailor Moon. \n"I was pretty excited," he said. "I just went to the Collins (Halloween) Dance and won a prize there, too. I didn't expect it at all!" \nWhen the contest was over, the de-virginization began. All "virgins" were invited on stage and voluntarily underwent such activities as "humping for their lives," in which virgins were invited to serially hump their neighbors. The next activity was the "crawl of shame," during which Charles asked women in short skirts to stand in a line and spread their legs while other virgins crawled through the spread-eagle conga line. Virgins also ate bananas "as seductively as possible" and performed fake orgasms. \nThough I had been skeptical before, I was briefly bummed that I didn't participate in the de-virginization. I stayed in my seat in the balcony until the "Rocky Horror" pledge, which was a crotch-grabbing vow to decadence and rock 'n' roll. As we relinquished our hold on our crotches, the show began.\nSince I had never attended a live "Rocky Horror" show before, I wasn't sure what was going to happen. Immediately, the crowd began to sing along with the opening credits and insert their own lines into the movie. I caught on quickly to some of the recurring cries, such as the shouts of "Asshole!" and "Slut!" every time characters Brad and Janet introduced themselves. \nAlong with the vocal responses, I quickly figured out what to do with my bag of props. We threw rice during a wedding scene, squirted each other with water guns during a rain storm, threw toast, toilet paper and playing cards and snapped latex gloves at specific times in the film. \nThe actual movie seemed to fly by, and before I knew it, the crowd was cheering for the end credits. As we poured out of the theater, adjusting short skirts and fishnets, most of the crowd milled about, smiling and reliving the experience.\n"I loved it as always," said Sydney Jaeger, Aurora Alternative High School sophomore. "I grew up watching it. I was doing the 'Time Warp' at 3 years old." \nShe said she went to both shows at the Buskirk-Chumley Saturday night and that the midnight show was the best one she had ever attended. \nBloomington High School North junior Jeremy Gotwals, the drag queen costume contest prize-winner, said the show was amazing. \n"It was orgasmic. It was a myriad of mystic melodies pouring through every orifice of my being," he said.\nThough not quite as enthusiastic (or poetic), IU freshman Chris Than agreed that the show was awesome. \n"It reminds me of the parties my friends and I used to throw with people with no pants and no shirts on," he said. \nSo, de-virginized, covered in rice and with aching feet from the boots and fishnets, I made my way home. I definitely didn't fall asleep at this presentation of "Rocky Horror Picture Show"
(10/18/06 3:29am)
The comedy "Unveiling" by Vàclav Havel will begin its two-week run Friday at the John Waldron Arts Center to raise awareness about Havel, the writer, and his struggles in communist Czechoslovakia. \nThe play will be shown at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 26-28. Additional matinees are at 2 p.m. Oct. 21 and 28. General admission is $16; senior citizens and students with ID will be charged $13. Tickets are available at Bloomingfoods East or www.bloomingtonarts.info. \nHavel was a dissident playwright during the communist era who became president of Czechoslovakia, according to a press release. \n"Unveiling" tells the story of a man named Vanek, a character resembling Havel, who is invited to the private unveiling of a materialistic couple's remodeled home. The couple tries to persuade Vanek to adopt its worldly views. \n"Havel, as a playwright, is a very gifted artist and deftly funny, not just as a heavy polemical or political writer," Deborah Galyan, IU employee and member of the Cardinal Stage Company, said in an e-mail. \nShe explained that Havel uses the same "comedic toolbox" as someone like Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" to satirize politics. \nThe play, which will be performed in the Waldron Arts Center's Rose Firebay, is being brought to Bloomington by the Cardinal Stage Company, IU's Office of International Programs and the Russian and East European Institute. \nIn addition to the play, REEI will sponsor a teaching workshop called "The Playwright Who Would Be President: Vàclav Havel and the Art of Dissent in Communist Czechoslovakia." The workshop will be led by three IU professors: Maria Bucur-Deckard, associate professor of East European history; Jeffrey Holdeman, Slavic language coordinator; and Bronislava Volkova, professor of Slavic languages and literature. \n"(The teacher workshop is for) area high school teachers to learn more about the play, Havel and the history of the time period in which 'Unveiling' was written," Galyan said. \nAfter its run in Bloomington, the play and its cast will go to New York City for a festival celebrating Havel's 70th birthday. Havel will be staying at Columbia University as 18 theater groups stage all his plays. \n"Cardinal Stage is very excited about taking some of Bloomington's most talented actors to the festival to participate," Galyan said. "Using theater to stimulate dialogue in the local community, and connecting the local community to the rest of the world through events such as this festival, is part of Cardinal Stage's mission"
(10/17/06 2:42am)
They went to Las Vegas and Hollywood, but they're coming back.\nSeveral IU grads and Indiana natives will return to the Hoosier state to participate in the 15th annual Heartland Film Festival, which opens Thursday in Indianapolis. \nThe Heartland Film Festival is a weeklong event that celebrates the theme of "Truly Moving Pictures," according to a press release from Heartland. Almost 40 films will be shown in three theaters in Indianapolis, and many of the films are in contention for awards such as the Truly Moving Picture Award, Audience Choice Awards and the Crystal Heart Awards.\nThe films are judged by several different boards, Jeffrey L. Sparks, president and CEO of Heartland Film Festival, said in an e-mail.\nA screening committee reviews all entries and then selects the most well-made films that also fulfill Heartland's mission. The committee's picks are then reviewed by the Heartland staff, Sparks said. Three former Crystal Heart Award winners form the jury that makes the final decision for the year's winners.\nThe Crystal Heart Award is given to a group of independent filmmakers for excellence in filmmaking and meeting the festival's mission statement. Heartland's mission, according to Heartlandfilmfestival.org, is "to recognize and honor filmmakers whose work explores the human journey by artistically expressing hope and respect for the positive values of life." \nThis year the Crystal Heart Awards Gala will be emceed by Extra TV's Las Vegas reporter Carlos Diaz, who is an Indianapolis native and 1993 IU grad.\n"It's really one of the biggest honors of my career," Diaz said. "It's one thing to interview stars, but Indiana is where (I was) raised, and to be asked to come back and host this amazing event, I am humbled beyond words."\nDiaz said he thought it was important for people to attend the Heartland Film Festival because the Midwest has a voice that needs to be heard. He said that while many large Hollywood films are valued for their expensive special effects, "the one special effect that the Heartland Film Festival has is on your emotions." \nDiaz is not the only IU grad and Indiana native returning from the West Coast to celebrate the film festival. "Little Big Top" -- one of the films in the running for the Audience Award -- was written, directed and produced by Indiana natives and featured actors from Indiana who attended IU. \nWard Roberts, the writer and director of the film, was born and raised in Peru, Ind., the setting of the film, which Roberts described as "dark, weird, funny, honest, personal and ultimately hopeful." It focuses on a former clown, Seymour Smiles, played by Sid Haig of "House of 1,000 Corpses" and "The Devil's Rejects." Seymour returns to his family's home in the small town of Peru with the intention of drinking himself to death, but he is drawn into helping the children at the Peru Amateur Circus by a supportive circle of friends.\n"His love for life is reawakened as he confronts the fears and misery that led him to the bottle in the first place," Roberts said.\nJessica Petelle-Slagle, the film's producer, is a Churubusco, Ind., native and also an IU grad. She said the film's themes include forgiveness and never giving up on yourself.\n"Seymour faces a lot of stumbling blocks and (initially) isn't a very nice person, and the audience goes along with him in his journey and believes in him," she said. \nHope is another one of the film's themes.\n"I think if you allow yourself to take chances and put yourself out there and you're surrounded by people that support you, it's a good life," he said. "Hope triumphs over fear."\nEvery frame of the film was shot in Roberts' hometown, and it features the real-life Peru Amateur Circus. \nRoberts, who was a member of the Peru Amateur Circus in middle school, explained it is a permanent three-ring circus in downtown Peru that trains people 21 and younger.\nIn the 1800s, Peru was the circus headquarters of the United States, and the amateur circus is "a story unto itself," Roberts said. He explained that all the major circuses of the United States used to spend the winter in Peru, and several generations of circus performers and employees ended up living in the Indiana city. \nThough Petelle-Slagle spends much of her time in Los Angeles, she is a founding member of the Indiana Media Industry Network, "an organization set up by Indiana media professionals to lobby for tax incentives for film and commercial production" in Indiana, she said.\nPetelle-Slagle is also the co-president of the IU Alumni Association's Hoosiers in Hollywood group, a networking group created to help IU grads working in the film industry. \n"There are so many IU grads here in L.A.," she said, "and I want to connect them." \nWhile all of these IU grads have moved to other states, they say they still feel the effect IU has had on their lives.\n"IU has the classes and the people where you can find kindred spirits," said Roberts, who got his team together while part of IU's Individualized Major Program for directing, producing and acting. \nDiaz said although IU is one of the most best universities in America, students are at a disadvantage because the University isn't in a big city. \n"When you go to IU, you have to make a conscious effort to get out there and take advantage of what's in Bloomington," he said.\nThe team of IU grads from "Little Big Top" will be in Bloomington on Friday because the team's other film, "Joshua," a horror film, is being shown by the Ryder Film Series at the Fine Arts Building. There will be a question-and-answer session after the showing of the film. \nFor more information on the Heartland Film Festival, visit Heartlandfilmfestival.org. For more information on the Ryder Film Series, visit Theryder.com.
(10/16/06 2:43am)
Maria Elena Fernandez, star of Thursday's one-woman autobiographical performance, "Confessions of a Cha Cha Feminist," showed up almost an hour late, danced on tables and threw plastic razors at the audience.\nAnd they loved it.\nFernandez, a Yale graduate and a professor at California State University, Northridge, portrayed herself in several stages of her life during the performance. The show began with her as a grade-school-age girl in a frilly white dress her mother made her wear to church. The show followed her through her life 2,829 miles from her California home to Yale, where she said she discovered feminism and fought with issues like hair removal. \n"Don't tell my mom, but I picked the school farthest away from home," Fernandez said during the show.\nThe performance tackled issues related to women, the Hispanic community and Catholic school life. Fernandez spoke about dealing with the culture clash of being raised by Mexican parents in the United States, dealing with big brothers and first boyfriends and trying to see where feminism fit in with dancing at the African-American House at Yale. \nShe explained during the question-and-answer session after the show that Cha Chas are the Hispanic club girls with huge hoop earrings, red lipstick and teased hair. \nIn the college student stage of the show, Fernandez explained in detail her "unsightly hair removal" routine. She showed how she shaved her legs and bikini line, plucked her eyebrows into the "perfect Cha Cha arch" and used a product to bleach her mustache. \n"Some days I look in the mirror and that's all I can see, and I'm sure that's all anyone else can see, too! How am I supposed to be the Cha Cha I want to be if I have a mustache?" she cried during the show. \nSophomore Keisha Echeverria said she thought the show was amazing. \n"I came here as a requirement for something, and it ended up being completely hilarious," she said. \nSeveral members from the Women's Student Association also attended the show. Senior Amy Gastelum, president of WSA, said she attended for social reasons but also because the show provided positive female entertainment. \nThe show not only related to college students but to faculty as well.\n"I'm a first-generation Mexican American," criminal justice professor Veronica Herrera said. "I grew up in California, and being in the Midwest, I want to see what's going on." \nThough a few attendees left before the performance began at about 7:45 p.m., the crowd still filled more than half of Alumni Hall. Those who remained in the crowd laughed while Fernandez cringed, re-enacting her father and mother yelling at her to sit correctly and close her legs and also when she threw pink plastic razors toward the crowd in a fit of disgust at one boyfriend in college who told her she needed to shave her legs more often. \nAs the performance came to a close, Fernandez mimed dancing with one of her Hispanic friends from Yale as a happier woman for coming to terms with feminism, hair removal and her parents.
(10/06/06 4:07am)
With music, food and fun, the ninth-annual Festival Latino ventures to unite the campus and Bloomington community. \nThe event, which takes place 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday in Dunn Meadow, happens right in the middle of the Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 National Heritage Month.\nSponsored by La Casa, Festival Latino celebrates Latino culture with music, dancing, food and interactive activities at booths promoting campus and community organizations. \n"It bridged community and campus, Latinos and non-Latinos together, and it is also very family-oriented," La Casa Director Lillian Casillas said.\nGuadalupe Arroyo, director of the Latino Enhancement Cooperative, said the festival is important to the community because it brings together Latinos and non-Latinos in a fun venue. \n"It provides everyone (an opportunity) to go out of their comfort zone, and at their own pace," Arroyo said.\nThe festival will include music by three bands. Dejavu, a Latin-fusion band from Ohio, and Orquesta Bravo, an Indianapolis-based salsa group, performed at last year's event. Festival organizers received "great feedback (from the two groups), and we decided to invite them back," Arroyo said. \nThe third group, Pambasso, is a steel drums band made up of members of the IU Jacobs School of Music.\nThe festival will also include several interactive activities throughout the afternoon, according to a press release. There will be a walkthrough timeline showing important events in Latino history, a Latin dance steps class will be taught from 2:40 to 3 p.m. and a dance contest with prizes will be held from 4 to 4:30 p.m. \nThe Mathers Museum of World Cultures will also have a hand in the interactive activities. Participants can play games from across Latin America, make Inca dance bells, wish for a foil milagro (miracle) or draw a picture to describe a Latino proverb. \nFood will be provided by local vendors. \nWhether people come for the food or to tie on their Inca dance bells and participate in the dance contest, the goal of La Casa and the LEC is to get everyone participating and having fun while learning about Latino culture, Casillas said.
(10/06/06 3:55am)
Cellists who have made their mark on the international and American cello communities will have their time to shine Sunday as the Eva Janzer Memorial Cello Center celebrates its 28th anniversary.\nThe concert will take place 10 a.m. Oct. 8 at Recital Hall, located in Merrill Hall. The center, which belongs to the American Cello Council, was founded 28 years ago by Jacobs School of Music Distinguished Professor Janos Starker.\nEva Janzer was Starker's first cello student in Budapest, Hungary. Janzer later died of breast cancer after coming to Bloomington to teach.\n"When she died, I wanted to make sure that her memory would remain by awarding cellists who have had a full life," Starker said.\nJanzer was born in India and studied and earned a Diploma of Virtuosity at the Academy of Music in Budapest, according to the center's Web site. She taught at the University of Hanover in Germany before coming to the United States to teach at the School of Music in 1972. She died in 1978.\n"She really was a wonderful person," said Emilio Colón, the cello center's executive vice president. "Through her memory, we are able to contribute to people who have lived their lives and who have achieved a certain status."\nThe center annually honors two outstanding talents in the international cello scene. An honoree must be at least 60 years of age and a "who's who" in the cello community, Starker said. Honorees may be both cello performers and people who have had a \nprofound effect on the community, like cello-makers. Female honorees receive the Grande Dame du violoncelle award, while the male honorees are named the Chevalier du violoncelle.\nThis year's honorees are renowned musicians László Mesö and Lynn Harrell.\nMesö heads the violoncello department at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest and is president of the Hungarian Cello Society, according to the Eva Janzer Memorial Cello Center Web site.\nHarrell is celebrated as an important influence in the international cello community, having played in New York, London, Israel, Australia, China and Japan, according to the center's Web site. Harrell attended the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music and currently teaches at Rice University's Sherpherd School of Music. \nThe celebration begins at 10 a.m. with an opening announcement and introduction by Starker with a master class held by the honorees from 12:30 to 3 p.m. in room 405 of the Music Addition. At 4 p.m., the Indiana Cello Ensemble will play a concert in honor of this year's award winners, followed by the awards presentation. At 5 p.m., there will be a reception on the mezzanine level of the Musical Arts Center. \n"People come from all over the world and the United States to honor these people and have a good time," Starker said.\nAamil Sulaiman, sophomore and cello performance major, will be performing in the concert portion of the event.\n"The concert ends up being the cello majors putting together one piece," Sulaiman said. This year's concert is a piece from the "Barber of Seville" arranged by Colón. \n"(The celebration) promotes friendship among cellists," Starker said "We eat, drink, make merry and like each other." \nThe center also hosts a memorial concert each year. This year's concert was Feb. 16 and included pieces from composers Handel, Haydn and Offenbach.
(10/02/06 11:12am)
Junior Luis Beverido didn't mind the rain Saturday at Festival Latino. He was already drenched from being repeatedly soaked in the dunk tank at the event hosted by La Casa Latino Cultural Center in celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, which began Sept. 15.\n"(The rain) added a little bit of Latino spice to the whole thing," he said. "It reduced the flame, but it kept burning because Latinos are a tight family."\nMany activities, including a sumo wrestling on a mat from Lambda Upsilon Lambda fraternity, kept people busy through the spotty showers that started at about 3 p.m. and continued on and off through the afternoon. \nWhen it wasn't raining, music and dancing entertained a crowd of as many as 120 people at a time. \nThe steel drums band Pambasso, made up of members of the Jacobs School of Music, played songs like War's "Low Rider."\nThe group Cumbia Pies Descalzos presented a Cumbian dance -- originating from Colombia -- performance on the stage in the middle of the meadow and after that taught dance lessons to more than 15 young men and women. \n"The girls are always running, so you try to catch them," said Eduardo Wolf, a member of Cumbia Pies Descalzos, explaining the male role in the dance. The volunteers learned a flirtatious, hip-shaking dance and then performed their new skills to live percussion before the sprinkles began again. \nThe Break Dance Club also put on an exhibition to raise awareness of the group. \nSenior Chino Jeng, a four-year member and chair of the club, spun, kicked and danced with three other members of the club. \n"We're here to help support our friends' Latino organizations," he said. \nDunn Meadow was transformed by the more than 20 booths spread through the field and balloons tied to the fences. The booths were staffed by many different organizations and groups, from several Latino fraternities and sororities to community organizations like Girl Scouts and Head Start. Many of the booths offered interactive opportunities to festival attendees, from the dunk tank and sumo wrestling to educational activities the Mathers Museum of World Cultures provided. \nThe Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies' booth offered people a chance to try the South American drink yerba mate, a tea served in decorated gourds with a metal or wooden "bombilla" or straw. \nPam Sanders, a graduate assistant with the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, explained that the tradition of drinking yerba mate was more concentrated in the "southern cone" of South America, particularly Argentina, but is also part of the culture in southern Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. She explained the social tradition where the mate is filled with tea and hot water, and the first person to have the mate drinks all the water. The mate is refilled and passed through the group of people drinking the tea, until the leaves are too diluted to make a strong tea. Then the process starts all over, she said. \nThough the rain might have discouraged some from attending Festival Latino, many people said they felt the show of support was heartening. \n"People just staying here shows a lot of support," said senior Lupe Arroyo, student chair of the Latino Enhancement Cooperative. \nFor more information on upcoming La Casa events, see www.indiana.edu/~lacasa.
(09/20/06 2:49am)
More than 40 local businesses will celebrate the history and future of the Buskirk-Chumley Theater in style with Fashion + Function + Art.\nThe people working to make the evening a success for the Buskirk-Chumley have a simple message: "The party begins at 6:30, and the dress code is pure chic," according to a press release.\n"It can be described as a fashion show, but that's not all it is," said Stephanie Harrison, coordinator of the event and optician at Optiks, the business that is sponsoring the event.\nFashion + Function + Art is a benefit for the Buskirk-Chumley. It is a fashion show and concert that will showcase local artists and offer attendees a chance to sample appetizers from Bloomington restaurants. The event is at 6:30 p.m. Thursday and admission is $10, though it is free for members of the theater. The benefit will feature a raffle, in which participants can win a grand prize of a limousine ride and a $50 gift certificate to Restaurant Tallent. Other prizes include gift certificates like a $75 to Grazie! Italian Eatery. There will also be a photo booth for attendees who want to take home their memories from the evening. \nThe theater will be set up as an old-fashioned cocktail lounge with tall tables, and the models will arrive by limousine. Models on three catwalks will be showing clothing and other items from businesses like J.L. Waters Co., Relish, Cactus Flower, Cherry Canary and Superior Shoes. \nThe event will feature musical and dance performances between the catwalk showcases, beginning with a dance performance by senior Codey Girten. The musical performances will include Sophia Travis, the Mothertruckin' DJs and Horns of Happiness. \nTravis is also the president of the Monroe County Council and an active member of the Bloomington community. \n"It's interesting how dynamic the program is," she said. "Everyone's kind of involved." \nTravis has a classical background, but she has also been playing pop, rock and tango for 20 years. She said she will probably play piano at the Buskirk-Chumley for her performance because she loves the stage and the piano there. \nThe idea for the event originated when employees at Optiks began discussing how they could help the Buskirk-Chumley because they felt that the theater benefited their business.\n"Optiks has always supported art, but we feel that the Buskirk-Chumley is the pulse of Bloomington," Harrison said. "We thought of a fashion show, and it just kind of grew from there because we had a lot of local businesses wanting to get involved." \n"It's a very special benefit in that it's rallied support from so many local businesses," Travis said. "Everybody's in it together to make it successful. ... It's helping me as an artist, and as a person who is highly public, by being able to say this community supports the arts"
(04/27/06 4:09am)
Looking for something interesting to engage your attention the week before finals? \nPorn Week, which is being presented by the Union Board, runs April 27, 28 and 29 in the Whittenberger Auditorium at the Indiana Memorial Union. The event includes the screening of one pornography-themed movie each night at 7 p.m. The three movies include two documentaries -- "Pornstar: The Legend of Ron Jeremy" and "Inside Deep Throat" -- and "Orgazmo," a comedy. The screenings are free with a student ID and $2 for non-students.\nThe Union Board films committee chose these three films, and they were voted on and approved by the Union Board. \n"It should be a lot of fun. We will have a few giveaways while showing some interesting films, which will hopefully arise some good conversation among students," said Union Board film director Dash Voorhees.\nVoorhees said the aim of Porn Week is to divert students from the stress of dead week and finals week. The films being shown are not actual pornography, though the two documentaries are rated R and "Orgazmo," which comes from the makers of South Park, is rated NC-17. \n"I think it's an event that students will enjoy, and it was put together with every intention of being something students will like," said Emma Cullen, director of public relations for the Union Board.\nStudents who may be wary of attending the event and wonder why they should be informed on the complexities of the porn industry may be overlooking the broader issues that pornography presents, said Voorhees. Voorhees said porn sparks debate about important questions in American society.\n"It has been a major business for several years, and it continues to grow with our society's technology ... It has been a hot political issue for years. Is it freedom of speech? Should it be censored? So even those that don't watch porn can see the history and form an opinion about some of these topics," he said.\nUnion Board members hope for a healthy attendance all three days of the event. "I think it'll be a really good turnout," said Cullen. "It's in the place of our normal film series."\nFreshman Lindsey Sims, a gender studies major who plans to be a sex therapist, said she will definitely be in attendance. \n"I think being in college, seeing things of a sexual nature makes people more comfortable," said Sims. "'Orgazmo' is a comedy about porn, so it makes it easier for people to laugh at porn. I think anyone who's not really comfortable with it should go because it is interesting to see in the documentaries why people do what they do." \nFor more information visit www.imu.indiana.edu/union_board/.
(02/14/06 4:22am)
For about six hours every day, 44 determined and dedicated students plié and relevé at the Musical Arts Center. These students, majors in ballet in the IU Jacobs School of Music, most likely have been working their whole lives toward a dream of dancing with a major ballet company. \nFreshman Tony Flannigan is one of three male freshmen in the ballet department. He has been dancing since he was 3 years old, because his mom loved ballet, but wasn't able to do it professionally.\n"People who dance devote their whole childhoods to ballet," Flannigan said. "A dancer's career only lasts until their 30s, at the latest 40. Guys retire earlier because it's harder on their bodies."\nHe plans to dance with a professional company once he graduates from IU. \nHe said IU's Department of Ballet is the best university program of ballet in the country. \n"It's more like a company than a school," he said. "There are classes, but most days they are rehearsals for the shows."\nFlannigan recently performed in the IU rendition of "The Nutcracker" as the Rat King. \n"He was the star of 'The Nutcracker.' I heard more about him than anything else," said Doricha Sales, a ballet department administrator, of Flannigan's performance. \n"I had a really big tummy and they were lenient with the part, so I kind of got to make up my own choreography," Flannigan said. \nHe said he loved IU's version of "The Nutcracker" because it was different from the version he performed in at home. He danced with two professional ballet dancers, Julie Kent and Jose Manuel Carreño. He said it was exciting to see them from a backstage perspective.\nFlannigan noted that he has to be organized to balance ballet with schoolwork.\nFreshman Tema Sall, a friend of Flannigan's, said that she has witnessed Flannigan's dedication, emphasizing his solid time-management skills and work ethic.\n"Tony is great," Sales said. "He's exactly what we look for in a male dancer. He does everything we ask for and more. I've never seen him fold under any pressure." \nAs a male dancer, Flannigan has experienced the difficulty of lifting the female dancers, which Sales describes as being hard on the male dancer's body. \n"Our male dancers work as hard, if not harder, than any student athlete on the IU campus," Sales said. \nThe Spring Ballet, at 8 p.m. March 24 and 25 in the MAC, will display the strength of the male dancers and the grace of the ballerinas, with a three-piece performance covering the history of ballet. Flannigan is dancing in the "Pas de Six," which is a part of August Bournonville's "Napoli"
(12/12/05 6:08am)
Karen Green Stone didn't always plan to be a potter. In fact, she had no history with clay until she substituted for an art teacher in 1975. Now she teaches "The Science of Art" at the John Waldron Arts Center, 122 S. Walnut St., and creates her functional pottery.\n"What it is is looking at the materials we use as artists and where they come from," Green Stone said about her class. "It's a way to introduce children to the natural world." \nShe teaches her students, ages 8 to 15, by bringing in experts to talk about specific subjects. For instance, she once brought in a geologist to discuss the origins of clay. Her students then created a project with clay they gathered from Lake Monroe.\n"As Maria Montessori (Italy's first female doctor) said, 'What goes through the hand stays in the mind.' We process the clay and essentially have a project on the lesson," Green Stone said.\nGreen Stone recommends to any prospective potters that they just take a class with an open mind and lots of \npatience. \n"My teaching philosophy is the first hundred (tries) don't count, although they really do because you learn what not to do. By the hundredth, you know what to do."\nGreen Stone also helps out at the Soup Bowl Benefit, which will take place Feb. 19 at the Bloomington Convention Center. \n"It is a benefit for the Hoosier Hills Food Bank. I contact potters, and they donate bowls to the benefit," she said. Last year, the benefit raised more than $20,000.\n"Karen has made huge contributions to the Waldron," said Miah Michaelsen, Bloomington Area Arts Council gallery director. "She's been on the board of trustees for the Arts Council and the Arts Center, though she's not now. She was a prime mover and shaker when the BAAC building was converted in the 1990s. She teaches, she helps facilitate outreach classes and overall she is just a very active part of the center. She is also well-thought of in the community and as an artist and teacher. She has the greater good of the community at heart."\nGreen Stone grew up in Syracuse, N.Y., and attended Loretta Heights College in Denver. She met her husband as a camp counselor in Pennsylvania. \n"I married my husband, and that's how I came to Bloomington," she said. She and her husband, Rob Stone, an emergency doctor at Bloomington Hospital, have three children together.\nGreen Stone can be reached at grostone@insightbb.com for information on her pottery, her class or the Soup Bowl Benefit.
(12/07/05 4:36am)
For people interested in giving unique gifts to their friends and family this holiday season, the annual "Art Mart" sale at the John Waldron Arts Center, 122 S. Walnut St., is the place to look. The sale, which features items by local artists, runs through Dec. 23 and is located in the Flashlight Gallery. There will also be a sale called the "Cash and Carry," located a floor above the "Art Mart," which features wall art for $40 or less. \nThe "Art Mart" features many different items from local artists. There is everything from scarves, jewelry and hats to Christmas ornaments and pottery. \n"It's all local and regional artists. We sent a letter in October to all the artists on our list, and artists who hear about us or who received the letter stop in and show us their art," said Rachel Greenhoe, gallery assistant. \nMiah Michaelsen, Bloomington Area Arts Council gallery director, said the multitude will appeal to students.\n"There are over 50 artists featured in the Art Mart. The 'Cash and Carry' is just set up so you can grab it and run. It is targeted toward the student market," Michaelsen said.\nFor many of the artists in the show, it is the first time they have had their work in a show. Karen Green Stone, a local potter and teacher, has several functional pottery pieces in the show, including some bowls and seashell-resembling plates.\n"They are all functional; they are all to be used. They are greens and blues and browns, and they look kind of like something from the sea," she said.\nCarla Hedges, a watercolor instructor at the BAAC, visited the Art Mart sale. \n"There are just all kinds of things here," she said, modeling a knit hat. "A weaver from Columbus, (Ind.), made my hat." \nAlso featured in the show is Cathy Braunlin, a Bloomington artist who makes polymer clay Christmas ornaments. \n"I've done it for several years and started out doing holiday stuff. I had asked about putting my stuff in the gift shop at the Waldron, and the director at the time brought up the holiday sale," she said. \nBraunlin has created clay ornaments for about six years. \n"If you asked me what I'd be doing, I wouldn't have said clay. I probably would have said painting or something like that. I started out making little Christmas trees, because I had the clay. I bought it on clearance. I started messing around with it, and eventually I started making different types of ornaments. The clay found me," she said. "It was serendipitous."\nBraunlin's ornaments sell for between $4 to $25, and can also be purchased at the Indianapolis Art Center or out of her home. \nFor people looking to sell some of their own wares, go to the BAAC and make an appointment with Michaelsen. \n"They just need to bring an example. We are looking for moderately priced work," she said.