PAGE 2 - N.C. ESSAY
Commentary And Perspective
Photo by Barcelona
by mjf
The fact that the Design and
Production Department is now
meeting and talking (when time
permits) over the difficulties in
that particular school indicates
once more, just as the Drama
Department’s meetings last
November did, that all is not wine
and roses at NCSA.
The plight of the D & P
department is perhaps more
serious (if one can talk about
such things as being “more” or
“less”) than that of the School of
Drama. Both faculty members
and students in D & P have
concluded that a decision must be
made:either that school becomes
a full-time production service for
the other departments or the
students be given adequate time
to be students, learning their
craft without unrealistic and
often overlapping pressures.
That is the nature of their
dilemma.The work load on the
entire department has been so'
overbearing (and at extremely
inconvenient times, i.e., exams)
that too often other academic and
artistic considerations are (of
necessity) given less emphasis
and time. Certainly the depart
ment has not been able to func
tion as it might under different,
better circumstances.
Among the main points raised
by the department is that they
are seemingly always called
upon to do work for shows without
proper notification, man power
or time. They maintain that they
should receive a list of scheduled
performances at the beginning of
each year and that the schedule
should remain intact, allowing
to sufficiently plan their time
and resources. This is a
legitimate complaint. (One
glaring example is the fact that
while actors, dancers, etc. finish
tieir rehearsal periods at a set
time which is never violated, D &
P people often work well past
midnight - 4:00 in the morning as
some will attest - in an effort to do
what is demanded of them). It
would not be at all unreasonable
for the D & P department to
refuse an assignment which
seriously taxes students.
Solutions are not easy to come
by and certainly it’s easy for me
to sit here and write editorials
without having these very real
pressures sitting in my lap.
Nonetheless, the problems again
seem to be in the area of
priorities: What is important for
this school? What is most
essential for its students benefit?
Their growth?
The answers seem obvious to
me. I hope they are elswhere.
Where it counts.
I’ve said it before - these are
crucial times for this school. The
areas of discontent being openly
expressed by students and
faculty members represent only
the first signs of awareness of
what is wrong . . . and why. Our
administrators do not have easy
jobs. But there is nothing easy
about trying to implement a
“bold new idea.” If we really
want a unique and special school,
it’s time everyone started
working for it. In earnest.
N.C. ESSAY STAFF, 1970:
Editor
Managing Editor
Copy Editor
Feature Editor
Photographer
Arts
MichaelJ. Ferguson
Kathy Fitzgerald
Ed Schloss
Mary Beth Zablotny
Sam Barcelona
Alexander Marsh
Reporters Alan Zingale, Kevin Dreyer, Cortlandt Jones,
Fred Avery, Jon Thompson
Advisor Donna Jean Dreyer
Business Manager Tom Kovaleskl
Hovering Guru Buzbee
Publisher N.C. School of the Arts
Recital Review
By Cortlandt Jones
On February 20th, I was not
emotionally ready to sit and
listen to a senior piano recital and
expected'to be bored from the
beginning. Miss Rieko
Nakashima changed my mind.
From the first note of the
opening piece, “Prelude and
Fugue in G minor,” by Bach to
the last chord of the closing piece,
“Andante spianato and Grande
Polonaise,” by Chopin, my mind
ran fluidly through every color
and picture of its lifetime. Her
swanlike fingers and hands
showed excellent technique as
they breathlessly drifted over the
keys like stream water over
rocks.
I believe the best performance
of the evening was “Sonata in C
major,” by Beethoven. Its
constant melody line depicted
complete concentration in
phrasing. This, I appreciated
because understanding her
through her musical com
munication is important.
Her interpretation of the entire
program transcended an air of
heaviness like a huge eagle flying
in a baby blue sky. This ment^
picture does not represent a
rejection, but an acceptence of
her musical attitude.
The last piece by Chopin did
project a rippling lyricism and
percussive texture, but seemed to
shift for an instant memory
lapse. Her facial expression and
recovery showed a nice mastery.
Also included in the program
were “Poissons d’or” (from
Images, Book II) by Debussy and
Two Concert Etudes, by Lizt.
Miss Nakashima received
three curtain calls graciously as
the handful of an audience ex
tended justified raves of ap
plause.
Distemper
A Trip To Granny’s
If you want to try something
really different one of these
nights, why don’t you go eat your
fill at Ma’s located on Fourth and
Arden. It’s probably one of the
most unique experiences, you
could possibly ever want to en
counter, in fact, for those of you
who don’t want to encounter it, I
can’t blame you. But even so, I
feel it is worth a visit.
The first thing you notice is that
there are no neon signs to guide
you to the restaurant, instead all
there is is a rustic three story
house across the street from the
I.B.M. building. As you walk up
the entrance way, you feel like
yciT’re on your way to visit
No'-man Bates’ mother in
Psycho. There is something
macabre and brooding about the
entire atmosphere. The night was
covered in early evening mist,
the half moon silhouetted the
front porch, for a moment I
wished I had gone to Sam’s
Gourmet instead. In the doorway,
there is a musty smell of leftovers
and burnt coffee. We waited for a
hostess to usher us into the dining
room, but after a few minutes of
waiting we realized that we were
supposed to seat ourselves. We
walked down a long, drafty
corridor, which leads into two
box shaped inner rooms. As we
found a place to sit the other
customers look on with an oc
casional grunt, while others just
continued to chew their cud with
stone-faced intensity. We waited
to be served but don’t expect to
find a menu, there isn’t any.
by Edwin Schloss
Instead, a woman with plucked
eyebrows and a red hair net
walks in and chucks the food on
the table without even looking in
your direction. However, the
other customers didn’t seem to
mind her presence in the least.
Right outside the first dining
room is a large staircase which
leads to the private part of the
house. People have told me since
my visit that it is a boarding
house for unwed mothers. Others
say it is a boarding house for high
school drop-outs. But as far as
I’m concerned the atmosphere
has such an arthritic authenticity
that I prefer to think it’s a
watering hole for senior citizens.
But getting back to the food.
The dinner was very tasty. It
consisted of shredded lettuce,
sliced tomatoes, a vegetable
platter, mashed potatoes, English
muffins, and your choice of en
trees between fish and fried
chicken - and for dessert a
generous portion of vanilla ice
cream and all you can eat for
$1.25. The menu varies from day
to day.
When you finish your dinner,
you go into the kitchen to pay for
your meal which is another
unique experience. There is dirt
all over the floor, pots and pans
all over the place, food sprawled
over the kitchen table and Ma’s
kind face gleaming from behind a
cigarbox which is used in place of
the cash register. She smiles
confidently hoping that you’ll
come again soon. I wouldn’t
count on it. Grandma.
T. M. In A. M. & P. M.
by Fred Avery
By Gavin
On Wednesday, Feb. 17, one of
the campus dogs was put to sleep
for an advanced stage of
distemper (a highly contagious
and usually fatal virus.)
Distemper shots are not legally
required of dogs as dogs are
relatively harmless with
distemper and humans cannot
contract the disease. It is,
however, very unpleasant for
animals and a very pitable thing.
With many animals in this area,
most of which have had no
distemper shots, anyone seeing
any animal with distemper
should contact the Humane
Society immediately. Visual
signs of distemper are : nervous
tics, excitement and drooling of
the mouth, (Animals in the ad
vanced stage of the disease have
shaking and seizmic muscle
spasms).
Announcements have been
made over most local radio
stations informing the neigh
borhood that animals should be
vaccinated.
Dave, Shane, and Panion (real
name “Tex”) have had shots for
rabies and distemper and tags to
match. These tags must not be
removed as he is then vulnerable
to the whims of campus officials
who have the legal right to have
any dog shot by a security guard.
As of March, 1968 close to 8,000
students representing over 80
high schools, colleges and
universities have started the
practice of Transcendental
Meditation. Since then the
movement has grown to well over
60,000 students on over 300
campuses including our own.
“Before I started meditation I
was nervous, high strung, tense,
and had many problems with
drug use. When I started T.M.
these problems immediately
became much smaller , and with
a year of meditation have
completely disappeared. I expect
to enjoy life from now on.” -
Male, 21, guitarist.
Joe Clarke, Eastern Coor
dinator for Students In
ternational Meditation Society,
visited our campus in January
and quickly noted a disturbing
degree of tension among many
students. We need help and
Transcendental Meditation is
certainly a step in the right
direction. Here’s another
chance:
A rap-in will be held on the
benefits of T.M. for students of
the Arts in the Student Commons
Building, Seminar Room-B on
Wednesday, March 10 between
1:15 and 2:15. The program will
consist of a film, and a lecture,
followed by a question and an
swer session. The school will be
very fortunate to once again have
Joe CHarke presiding; a very
knowledgeable and well-spoken
young representative in the field
of meditation.
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