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November 10, 1969
The N. C. Essay
Page 3
The North Carolina School of
the Arts impresses the newcomer
immediately with its overwhelming
potential. It draws one with the
vaguely magical feeling of a dream
incarnate. The sensation of being
a part of someone’s happiest dream
is so real that one is willingly
enchanted into staying. But there
is a general unrest around this
school, a dissatisfaction among the
new students, a disillusionment among
the old, and a growing sense of dis
gust emluiating from the faculty.
The feeling is that someone is
botching it, and that the school is
growing away from the ideals that
conceived it.
What's causing this frustration,
and unifying so many highly individ
ualized and diverse people in a
common anxiety? No single incident
has jeopardized the school, to be
sure. There have been several in
cidents which clearly indicate a
trend, though, and the trend indi
cates a policy, and the policy smacks
STU
by Staay Meyers
A
"All we are saying is, give peace
a chance" - the chant so many people
contain and sometimes even sing out
loud. This time at NCSA it was danced
by students in works by two well-
known choreographers teaching at the
school. Pauline Koner choreographed
Fragments in April '69; "I don't
have to wait for a Moratorium',', she
admits. Miss Koner expressed her
"small comment" on the world today
in the not-so-subtle form of words
on banners which flowed lightly
through the hands of the dancers in
a fragment of the piece which dealt
with the characters of military men
and young women. In the end,« the
body/persons sit finally bare of the
coverings of plastic faces and regi
mentary suits and banners. Only two
dancers of the group face the audi
ence; two faces gazing bluntly, at me,
the audience, gazing blaringly and
asking silently, "why, why, why..." -
asking me almost hopelessly.
Pauline Koner's dancers and dance
suggested a renewed awakening of my
own youthful - perhaps adolescent -
idealism and anger. In Job Sanders'
Fug-itiDe Visions^ I saw my friends
dancing what they as dancers and per
sons actually feel about all the
blackness of crime, commercialization,
and war...Mr. Sanders'sensitively
knows all his dancers individually
as persons, and he obviously chose his
performers for Visions not only for
their talent but for their realness -
warmth, opennes s, hones ty.
-BEHIND TH€ UNREST
of inadvertant betrayal.
What is this trend and whose
trend is it? The sole function of
any school is the training and de
veloping of its students. Its en
ergies must always be focused on
the good of the student. At an arts
school, where the task is to train,
inspire, and encourage the students
for an active, artistic life there
is a need for a highly individual
ized curriculum. Each student has
completely unique talents and abil
ities which must be developed by
extensive individual work between
student and teacher. The admini
stration, however, seems to have
forgotten the need for emphasis
on individualization, and its
oi^iginal emphasis in all cases on
the good of the students. Instead,
the present administration has
indicated a policy of formal in
stitutionalization in which the
good of the school is preferred over
the good of the students.
Item: Why were 150 extra students
began rather calmly, only to build tb
an orgasmic frenzy followed by ex
hausted collapse to the floor. Then
a few dancers reawaken. They brush
back their hair and straighten their
free-form garments (effectively
designed by Cathy Casper) and walk
naturally to their slower friends to
help them regain themselves. All now
stand in a tight group, obviously
emotionally as well as physically to
gether, a white spotlight glaring
accusingly down at them. A smooth
flash as the center figure runs open
and almost frantic around the group
in a clear circle. When she returns
the others respond to her fear, share
it with her in a big mass hug. Her
friends closest to her begin the em
brace which continues to include
those on the periphery and to end/
continue as a softly slightly sway
ing group of persons together. I
doubt that the sway was choreographed,
it probably just happened as the
dancers felt it. The performers
held the hugj through the blackout,
and when the lights came up again for
curtain calls, the embrace opened...
to a line of smiles not flashy, but
small and warm. I couldn't applaud;
the old "Moratorium feeling" of
wanting to cry and be a child again
and emit Snoopy's frustrated express
ion of "Aaugh!" overtook me. No, I
couldn't applaud; I wanted to smile
at Job Sanders and at Pauline Koner
and thank them for restirring in me -
by means of their art form - those
uncomfortable questions October 15
really put on the line for me.
invited to come to this school when
it had already been demonstrated
that there we insufficient class
room, dormitory, cafeteria, faculty,
and infirmary facilities for the
340 students last year? The
answer is that the school had a
quota to fill to receive certain
funds from the State of N.C. But
the filling of this quota has led to
complications and problems and the
situation has worsened, not bettered,
even with the new, better late than
never, dorms.
Item: Why have the most popular
and outspoken faculty members been
dismissed? And why, when the stu
dents peacefully protested and pe
titioned for the reinstatements of
these faculty members has there been
only double talk from the admini
stration and silence from everyone
else? The latest and most blatant
example of this trend was the knowl
edgeable and dynamic Mr. Barry Boys.
Mr. Boys excited everyone he worked
with, and certainly would have
been an inspiring director for the
Drama School's coming production of
A Midsummer Night's Dream. Mr.
Pollock asked him to direct the play
and he agreed to if his schedule
allowed. The whole Drama School was
excited by the prospect, but it was
vetoed by Mr. Ward. Why? Well, Mr.
Boys directed a show with profanity
in it, and told the newspaper
(Cont. on page 4)
To the Editor of the N.C. Essay:
After seeing the so-called pro
test in the cafeteria and hearing
the comment, "Well, now we know there
are two factions in the school," I
was somewhat dismayed that this per
son had reached this conclusion. One
can either protest by behaving like
pigs, or one can go directly to the
food managers and let your gripes and
suggestions be known. The cafeteria
workers who would have had to clean
up the mess are not responsible for
the quality of food; it is the food
managers, the catering service, and
the budget-makers who are responsi
ble. That is one of the reasons that
we cleaned up the mess and then spoke
to Mr. Daniels, the cafeteria mana
ger. We did not clean up because we
are satisfied with the food and do
not want to protest—no. We do
agree that the food is awful, but
what is the point of a few people
creating a mess in which the rest of
the students must eat and also cre
ating additional problems for the
cafeteria workers who must operate
in adequate conditions? A protest
must be productive and not destruc
tive or we will continue to lose
ground.
Mari Iyn Me!ntyre
The final sections of Visions