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Hard Rock Ballet:
Springfield Ballet Co. steps up and rocks
out
By Brian Mackey
The Springfield Ballet Company
presented its tenth annual “Rockballet” last weekend at Sangamon
Auditorium. More than two-dozen songs of 10 rock artists
provided the soundtrack for an enjoyable program that mixed
classic ballet technique with modern dance.
The main curtain opened to
reveal exposed electrics, that is, the audience could see all
the lights and cables above the stage. Most ballets and other
theatrical arts use curtains to mask the lighting instruments
from audience view. Instead, this show had the feel of a rock
concert, where the lighting is as much a part of the set and
performance as is the music.
The show began with three songs
by Dave Matthews Band and another by Eric Clapton.
In the third piece, guest dancer
Lance Hardin and company member Erica Wesselman turned in the
most mature performance of the evening. “He Never Came Back,”
choreographed by Hernan Justo to music of Pink Floyd, told the
story of a soldier and the woman he left behind.
Beginning as a solo, Hardin made
frenetic use of the full stage, throwing himself about in a
rage. With a shift of lighting, the mood calmed and Wesselman
entered. Their pas de deux continued through the piece’s
unfortunately abrupt end.
There is no sound designer
credited in the program; that is an unfortunate oversight. Some
of the music was edited for length, but it was done carefully
enough to make the cuts all but undetectable. Following Pink
Floyd was a medley of four Beatles songs, spliced together under
the title “Here Comes the Sun.” The music featured interesting
distortions and rhythmic shifts that accentuated the psychedelic
aspect of the piece.
Next came an orchestral version
of the Beatles’ “Help.” I have always regarded orchestral
versions of rock songs as musical Medusas, turning to stone
every ear within shot. But the quartet of dancers performed
Kenly Guzman’s witty choreography well enough to overrule my
expectations and overshadow the ill-advised music genre-fusion.
Three Elton John pieces came
next, and the first act was closed with Queen’s “Body Language,”
choreographed by Tony Peyla. This is the first of two times
where the show did not manage to sell itself quite as well as it
wanted.
The resident dancers of the SBC
are all high-school-aged girls (with the exception of one
college freshman). By no stretch of the imagination am I old,
but I am old enough to be made uncomfortable by adolescent women
attempting to flaunt their sexuality. I realize this may be a
function of said age, but in “Body Language,” as well as the
Aerosmith piece “Crying,” the dancers were not quite able to
pull off the hyper-sexual sensibility the choreographers were
going for (“Thank goodness,” thought their fathers as they
breathed a collective sigh of relief).
The pacing quickened in the
second half. For the third piece, “One is All,” the
eight-member band Senses slowly rose from the orchestra pit on a
hydraulic lift. This was a great effect, and the six-musician,
two-singer combo did justice to U2’s “One.” There was no live
dance, but rather a projection of a video by David Cain (who is
also the band’s lead singer).
Between the eight musicians and
the black-and-white video, there was a little too much to take
in upon first viewing.
The band returned to the pit and
the show reached another high point with “Love is Blindness.”
Choreographed by Julie Guttas, SBC’s artistic director, guest
dancer Todd Michael Kiech and company member Amanda Finn
performed an emotionally charged pas de deux to the music of
U2. The lighting design — or more accurately the deliberate
lack of lighting — infused this dance with drama. Much of the
piece was performed with light only on the cyc (that is, the
cyclorama, the white curtain all the way upstage). As they
moved back and forth, all the audience could see were the
silhouettes of these talented dancers.
Senses remained in the pit for
two Rolling Stones numbers and then floated up again for Led
Zeppelin’s “Black Dog.”
The song was paired with another
Cain film, “Panchromatic Dog,” which had SBC dancers silhouetted
on a fast-moving background reminiscent of an MP3 program’s
“visualizations” feature. This was the second and only other
time the show did not fulfill its potential. While Cain did
fairly well channeling Bono and Mick Jagger, his soft, breathy
style did little to evoke Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant.
Concluding with the Stones’
“Under Cover of the Night,” the Company and band received a
hard-earned standing ovation after their finale. “Rockballet”
was a consistently entertaining program that once again proved
Springfield’s good fortune in that it can call the SBC its own.
A change from the ordinary for your palette
Bentoh's offers Asian, Japanese, contemporary
food
By Gabrielle
Wiegand
Tired of the same old restaurants? Has the excitement of having
a Taco Bell back in Springfield waned? Try a new place for
lunch- Bentoh’s, in downtown Springfield.
 Located
at 213 South Fifth Street, Bentoh’s is open for lunch from 11
a.m. to 2 p.m. The type of cuisine offered is characterized as
contemporary, Asian, and Japanese. Bentoh’s is unlike typical
“Chinese” food places because of the incredibly fresh and
creative fare they offer.
They offer dishes called “bentos” which include meat with
seasonal stir-fried vegetables and a choice of white or brown
rice. You can get a chicken, beef, curry, potstickers, or
salmon bento. These dishes range from $5.95 for potsticker
bento to $6.95 for beef or salmon.
Bentoh’s also offers the most wonderful salads. They do
traditional Caesar salads with a choice of chicken or beef, but
it is their house salads that I was most impressed with.
The Old Bentoh’s House Salad features hearts of romaine lettuce
while the New Bentoh’s House Salad has a mix of lettuce, English
cucumbers, roma tomatoes, and red peppers. What makes the
salads mouthwatering are the candied ramen noodles and Asian
vinaigrette they put on top. All of Bentoh’s House Salads can
come with your choice of steak, chicken or salmon. They range
from $5.50 to $6.95 in price.
Bentoh’s serves chicken and vegetable pad thai, which is rice
noodles tossed with eggs, roasted peanuts and bean sprouts in a
thai sweet and spicy sauce. You can specify mild, medium or hot
with your pad thai.
They also offer lettuce wraps, stuffed with roasted chicken,
bamboo shoots, water chestnuts and noodles; spring rolls, filled
with bean thread noodles, avocado, cucumber, carrots, spring
mix, roasted Portobello mushrooms and asparagus; and a selection
of sushi - California rolls, Shrimp Tempura roll and a vegetable
maki roll.
Bentoh’s location is very small. There are only about five
tables in the restaurant and one or two on the sidewalk during
good weather. With this in mind, Bentoh’s provides take-out and
delivery. They do have a tendency to run out of some items
early during lunch time, so call ahead to place your order
(217.544.6972).
Parking is also a little hairy downtown, so make sure you bring
change for the meter and leave your fear of parallel parking at
home.
Bentoh’s accepts cash and all your major credit cards (Visa,
Mastercard, American Express, and Discover)
Guard your vegetables and keep
the garlic handy:
Vampire bunny coming to Sangamon Auditorium
By Gabrielle
Wiegand
Once
upon a time there was a family called the Monroes who had very
unusual pets. Chester, the cat, can read. The dog, Harold,
writes mystery novels. And their new pet bunny, Bunnicula, is a
vampire. Bunnicula sleeps all day, causing Chester to get
suspicious. Then the Monroes find all their vegetables have
been drained of all juice. Chester and Harold make it their
mission to expose Bunnicula for what their fellow household pet
really is.
 Sound
like a new upcoming horror film? Not quite. The tales of
Bunnicula have been captured in a series of children’s books
that have been musically adapted to the stage.
Friday, Oct. 22 there will be a performance of “Bunnicula” at 10
a.m. for Springfield area grade school students. Not in grades
two through five? Do not worry; there will be a performance for
the general public at 7 p.m.
In
1979, James Howe, along with wife Deborah, wrote the first
Bunnicula book entitled “Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery.”
The book has won several children’s literature awards such as
the Iowa Children’s Choice Award and the Nebraska Golden Sower
Award. It was adapted into a comedic musical play by Jon Klein
with music by Chris Jeffries and lyrics by Klein.
This tale of a vampire bunny was first produced by the Seattle
Children’s Theater and will now be performed at the Sangamon
Auditorium by the Omaha Theater Company for Young People as part
of their nine month national tour.
According to their website, the Omaha Theater Company’s mission
is “to enrich the lives of young people and their families
through live theater and dance, and arts education.” The
Company produces a variety of shows for children. Their
2004-2005 season will include “Pinocchio,” “Brave Irene,”
“Seussical the Musical,” “The Berenstain Bears On Stage,” among
other favorites.
“Bunnicula” will be at Sangamon Auditorium Oct. 22 at 7 p.m.
Tickets range from $12 to $15 for adults and $8 to $11 for
children. It is recommended for children ages five and older.
For more information or to purchase tickets, contact the
Sangamon Auditorium Box Office at 217.206.6160 or
www.sangamonauditorium.org
Introspection on Indochina
‘The Fog of War’ looks
retrospectively behind the curtain of war
By Brian
Mackey
As
Linda Grabel found out, getting a politician to admit mistakes
is a difficult proposition. Introspection is anathema in
today’s macho political culture, tantamount to weakness.
President Bush’s reelection campaign has been based in part on
the idea that he is resolute, but critics have blamed that same
trait for an unwillingness to consider the possibility that some
aspect of the invasion of Iraq — to say nothing of the invasion
itself — may have been a mistake.
In
the early 1960s, CBS News asked Robert McNamara, Secretary of
Defense to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, “What about the
contention that your attitude is sometimes arrogant, that you
never admit you were wrong. Have you ever been wrong, sir?”
“Oh, yes indeed…I’m not going to tell you when I’ve been
wrong…but on countless occasions,” McNamara replied.
This exchange, replayed in “The Fog of War,” exposes history’s
penchant for repetition and tantalizes us with other parallels
between then and now.
Director Errol Morris (“The Thin Blue Line”) based the film on
25 hours of interviews with McNamara, who has been at or near
the center of some of the most pivotal, destructive events of
the 20th century.
In
World War II, he was a statistical control officer for a unit of
the Army Air Corps under the command of General Curtis LeMay.
McNamara evaluated the bombing missions and found ways to make
them more efficient, that is, more lethal.
On
March 10, 1945, the unit bombed Tokyo, a wooden city, and
“burned to death” 100,000 people. McNamara says that had
America lost World War II, he and LeMay probably would have been
prosecuted as war criminals.
As
Secretary of Defense, McNamara lived through the 13 days of the
Cuban Missile Crisis and later presided over America’s doomed
expedition in Vietnam. By 1967, when McNamara resigned (or was
fired, depending on whom you ask), 25,000 Americans had been
killed.
But McNamara’s life was not all death and destruction. He was
also the first non-Ford family President of the Ford Motor
Company. The film includes an interesting story on the research
that led to the introduction of seatbelts and padded dashboards,
an innovation where McNamara and Ford were first in their
industry.
With “The Fog of War,” Morris won the Academy Award for best
documentary this year, and deservedly so. He is among the most
artful filmmakers working today.
Most other recent documentaries, while informative and
entertaining in their own right, are not nearly as well
produced. The ubiquitous “Fahrenheit 9/11” pales in comparison,
both as a mode of conveying information and especially as a work
of art.
Through rarely seen archival footage and McNamara’s first-person
commentary, Morris weaves an examination of a life that is also
an exploration of modern war. The interviews are among the most
striking aspects of the film. You get the feeling that McNamara
is looking through the camera, directly at you.
Morris uses a device he calls the Interrotron, essentially a
modified TelePrompTer that puts his face in front of the
camera’s lens. Interviewees make eye contact with him and the
audience. Morris called this “first person cinema” in the
film’s press kit and it does feel more intimate than any other
interview I have ever seen.
Make no mistake -- “The Fog of War” is not about the Bush
administration. In an appearance on Charlie Rose’s public
television show last year, McNamara refused to criticize the
current administration or the war in Iraq, just as he refused to
criticize Johnson and Nixon in the 1960s. It is tempting,
however, to draw conclusions about current events from
McNamara’s statements.
“We are the strongest nation in the world today. I do not
believe we should ever apply that economic, political, or
military power unilaterally.” He adds, “If we can’t persuade
nations with comparable values of the merit of our cause, we’d
better reexamine our reasoning.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “All history becomes subjective; in
other words, there is properly no history; only biography.”
Errol Morris has created a unique, insightful film that asks the
audience, in McNamara’s own words, “to think more about
killing.”
“The Fog of War” will be shown this Friday at 7:00 p.m. in
Brookens Auditorium. The screening is sponsored by the Division
of Student Affairs through the Independent & Foreign Film
Series; admission is free. Running time: 107 minutes. The film
is rated PG-13 for images and thematic issues of war and
destruction. |
