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Page 2 The Blue Banner February 6,2003 Features Asheville swing scene alive and kicking Mary Wyatt Features Reporter You've got to jump, jive, bend and wail. Why? Because of Asheville's growing reputation in the swing dancing community. The Grove Park Inn recently hosted its 12th Annual Big Band/ Swing Dance Weekend and UNCA students show off their swinging shoes locally, nationally and even internationally. "Asheville has a really good repu tation, much better than we actu ally have a scene for," said Sosh Howell, a junior computer science swing dance workshops in the com munity on a regular basis. Local swing dancers even started up a non-profit dance organization, the Asheville Swing Society, to pro mote more dancing in Asheville. UNCA even has a swing club. Zoe Whittaker, a sophomore, and local swing dancer David B raverman teach for the UNCA swing club. The class meets every Monday night from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Justice Center dance studio. "The UNCA swing club is there to encourage students to come out and try it," said Jaya Dorf, a junior psy chology major. "If they like it, they can dance more in the community." The opportunity to swing dance has not always been around. When Howell wanted to learn the Lindy Hop, the original swing dance, he couldn't find anyone to teach him. "I had to travel. I went to Atlanta, Greensboro and Durham," said Howell. "Finally, I decided if I wanted to get good, I had to go to go to Sweden.” Howell traveled to Herrang, Swe- COURTESY OF SOSH HOWELL Sosh Howell, a student and local dancing teacher, shows off his swing dancing moves with a partner. den to study at the internationally recognized Herrang dance camp. He has returned for three summers in a row, and plans to go back to Sweden every year of his life. How ever, Howell had company at the dance camp last summer. "There were eight people from Asheville that went last year, which is a huge number represented," said Dorf. "Even though we're so small, and there's not many people here that are swing dancing, those of us that do are getting out there and learning as much as we can." *rhe swing dancers get lessons outside of Asheville for many rea- In Sweden, Howell took classes from Frankie Manning, one of the most famous Lindy Hoppers ever. "I cooked hot dogs with Frankie Manning this past summer," Howell said. First-generation Lindy Hoppers inspired Manning in the 1930s. Dancers George "Shorty" Snowden and Leroy "Stretch" Jones began the swing dance trend during the 1920s, in the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, according to www.savoystyle.com. Swing dancing reached its peak in the 30’s and 40’s, according to Howell. "It started to lose popularity when everyone started staying home to watch the ‘idiot box,’” said Howell. Ironically, the same "idiot box" brought it back somewhat. Howell attributes the comeback of swing dancing in the 1990s, to the Gap Khaki commercials in which danc ers danced the Lindy Hop. Swing dancing means different things across generations. Many dancer attending the Grove Park Inn's Swing Dance Weekend came for the memories. They traveled from Kentucky, South Carolina, Georgia and many other places to listen and dance to tunes played by the Sammy Kaye Orchestra and the Charles Goodwin Orchestra. "We're retired and this is just what we do in our retirement," said Deane Messer, a dancer from Ken- Many dancers at the Grove Park Inn Swing Weekend dance a style of swing called the Jitterbug or East Coast Swing. The Jitterbug spun off of the Lindy Hop in the mid 1930s in ballroom dance school organizations. The Jitterbug has six-counts, as opposed to the Lindy Hop, which has eight- counts. "Jitterbug is easier to learn than Lindy," Howell said. Dancers today take the Lindy Hop a step further. They perform the dance to electronic music and hip- hop. "It's fun to apply it to all sorts of music," Dorf said. "It changes the dance a litde bit, but that's kind of the spirit of the dance. To bring back what they did in the past and develop it in this day in age." Many local dancers try to make it the street dance it used to be. They follow bands around and break into the Lindy Hop in the middle of clubs, like Tressa's in downtown Asheville. More organized swing dances, like the Big Band/Swing Dance Week end at the Grove Park Inn, have started popping up around town too. Fletcher School of Dance plans to host a swing dance in February. Dorf started swing dancing two and a half years ago at UNCA. Howell began taking swing classes three years ago during his senior year of high school. "I saw my mom dancing at the beach one summer and said hey, I gotta learn how to do that," said Howell. Howell said that he began danc ing to improve his social life with the ladies. However, he does not currently have a regular dance partner. He feels pretty lucky to take UNCA dance classes, though. "It's a class with 30 women; how could it not help me socially?" asked Howell. “Chicago” sings praises of sex, booze and jazz Diana Kostigen Features Reporter "Chicago" thrills the audience through a deliciously cynical blend of wit, satire, intrigue and sensual ity. The movie sweeps viewers into a surrealist circus act set in a time of sex, booze and jazz. In such a place, a stay in the big house gets you into the limelight, not the interrogation light. It may have been films like "Mou lin Rouge" that paved the way for movie renditions of musical the ater, but "Chicago", directed by Rob Marshall, took it one step far ther. Where "Moulin Rouge" failed, "Chicago" delivers the fresh and the new all wrapped up in the old and the familiar. Appealing to a larger, all ages audience. "Chicago" succeeds in bridging the generation gap, a feat not easily achieved in contemporary film. "Chicago" shows a world where the villian becomes a hero, and the hero goes unnoticed. It praises the obscene and captivates its audience. Roxie Hart, a ballsy broad played by Renee Zellweger, has strength and guts. Despite murdering her lover (Dominic West), andlyingto her husband (John C. Reilly) about the affair, she quickly seeks the audience's sympathies. She gains heroine status all too easily. Roxie plans on reaching her dreams at any cost, even through the most vicious Like the character she portrays, Zellweger shines. Her acting starts out restrained, and disappointingly understated, but Zellweger explodes out of her dull character depiction with her spine tingling solo num ber "Roxie." From that moment Zellweger finds your piJse and keeps count well after the final credits. The film shows the muddled line COURTESY OF WWW.HOLLYWOOD.COM Above left, Renee Zellweger, plays amnitious murderess Roxie Hart alongside Richard Gere. Above right, Catherine Zeta Jones dances a jig. Go-Go Girl good, campy fun Bayly Marret Features Reporter drawn between good and evil. No one walks that tightrope better than Velma Kelley, played by Catherine Zeta Jones. Unlike Roxie, Velma's evil demeanor has no subtlety. She demands exposure and admiration at all cost, evading any moral rea soning. She gains the audience's respect for her talent and her vi- Jones earns your unwavering at tention throughout the movie. She proves not only her acting ability, but her vocal and dance strengths as well. Billy Flynn, played by Richard Gere, may have been the only "real" one in the bunch. With constant vaudevillian antics he entertains the girls' illusion, yet also maintains the voice of reason. His bright cos tumes lend to the three-ring circus feel, but his smarts kept him genu ine, and paid in large bills. Gere played his cards right. He hit his mark in a role most extraordi nary among the three headliners. He showed his adaptability, and proved that his talent compares, and possibly even exceeds, his good looks. His vocals started out murky in his opening number, but quickly took a turn in the outstanding pup pet master song, and the larger than the most surrealistic life, courtroom number. Queen Latifah plays Momma, an amusing caricature of a warden turned public relations manager. From her undeniable rhythm to her hard-nosed demeanor, she acts like mother hen, but doesn't bat an eye when prison inmates get hanged. Latifah potrays Momma as a mixture of Carol Brady and Cruella DeVille. She can even make you famous- for enough dough, that is. Latifah, one of the most talented in the bunch, combines attitude and genuine talent in this unfortu nately listless role. Her opening number, "Momma," amuses at its best, but does not really give Latifah the chance to prove her ability at either song or dance. Though disappointingly underused, Latifah provides laughs throughout the film. John C. Reilly, playing Roxie’s husband, performs one of the most fantastic numbers in the film. Through his song "Cellophane" Reilly proves himself an inspiration to musical theater, combining sheer strength of voice, with a tonality of incomparable pleasure. "Cellophane" showcased his tal ent, in a role that could have easily swallowed him up and spit him The Plaeides Productions theatre group perform “The Really Hip Adventures of Go-Go Girl, Epi sode 9-Space Vixens With Sassy Attitudes,” on Friday and Saturday ights at the BeBe Theatre througfi Feb. 8. - I If the title seems confusing. Di rector Lars Clark might be able tp better explain the performance. “It is more of a party than a play, he said. On the other hand, maybe that just makes it more confusing. This B-Grade comedy by Marlj Landon Smith combines the feel ol low budget science fiction and the teenybopper movies of the ’60s. Filled with tons of dancing and full 60’s pop music, this play provides an experience like no other in the- “I’d basically say it was fun and silly and campy. Learning to dance was the most fim,” said actress Dana Eatman who plays the part of Muffy Midway. The opening night of the play sold out the 50 seats of the BeBe theatre and then more with willing audi ence members sitting on the floor. The general feel of the audience seemed very relaxed. The audience appeared to enjoy the craziness oi the play as much as the perforjrnejs, “I thought it was a total woncferfiil experience. Good music, good dancing,” said Michael Sulock, senior. “The Really Hip Adventures Go-Go Girl” tells a comic book like story of heroine Babs Broad way by day, Go-Go Girl by night TJie play starts out with four beaut)' contestants competing in the Miss Magic Oval Lift Panty Pageant. When the beauty contestants ai rive in Florida for the pageant, passing comet captures the girls and takes them to the planet Sniggle O’Cheese. Two of the contestants, Nanette and Phoebe, join Higk Priestess Marge from Snij O’Cheese to travel across the axy, dancing the pony and the monkey to pop 60’s music all the The two other contestants. Mavis and Oma, become victims of“Bouf fant Fusion” during the crash are sent back to Earth with es Moo Goo Gai Pan. Their mission: to steal “Mystery Formula X, potion the planet needs to survive, Go-Go Girl, cleverly disguised Babs Broadway, a popular “college co-ed” at Nancy Sinatra State Uni versity, must defend Earth. Go-Gc Girl, along with her sassy sidekick Princess Dancing Squaw, takes the mission to battle High Princess Marge. Confused yet? The full effect qi “The Really Hip Adventures of Go- Go Girl” can only make someone who’s seen it. Many people may go to theatrical events looking to find a deeper message in the overall theme, but not the audience members of this play- “It’s purely fluff, ” said Clark. On the other hand, some people migh have gotten more out of it than ji entertainment. All the actors and actresses g extraordinary performances. The audience especially seemed to like Skip Steel, played by Jason Adams and Muffy Midway, played by Eatman. “The whole thing was fun because I’d never been in a play before. The hardest part was not laughing di ing my lines because the whole thing was so silly,” said Eatman. “We thought the play was so funny we laughed all the time in rehearsal, but it was scary to see how the audience would react to Megan Scheaer, also former Miss Bikini Beach, played the leading heroine Go-Go Girl. Schearer has participated in Plaeides Productions sir ginning. I see bikers the n arrive dowtc eclect: filled Pavic The Trio, left tl had crow( back ones. Isn; throu pastn lets 'Hov tome wayti barte: Ted II
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