The Pendulum
arts & ENTERTAINMENT
Wednesday, September 19, 2007 / Page 13
Carousel Festival
brings nostalgia
David Koontz
Reporter
If there’s one place where every
body can find something enjoyable
to do, it is at local festivals and
fairs. This weekend, Burlington
celebrated its annual Carousel Fes
tival in the community park.
“It’s one of those things that
people in Burlington do every
year,” said junior Mandy Padgett,
who grew up in Burlington.
“There’s food, crafts, booths and
sometimes good live music too.”
Calling the festival one of the
“staples of Burlington,” Padgett
described it as a “showcase of what
Burlington has.”
The festival proved that Burlington
and its residents have a lot to exhibit.
There were bouncy castles, booths for
local organizations, craft stands, food
stands, shop stands and rides.
Some rarities showcased around
the park included a sand sculptor who
worked all day transforming pounds
of sand into art, and a pirate, complete
with parrots perched atop his shoulders,
doing magic tricks to entertain festival-
goers.
Many families came with their
children to enjoy the weather, rides and
entertainment throughout the park. The
two most popular rides were the train
ride around the park and the carousel,
which is nearly 100 years old.
While festival food is not always
the healthiest choice, there’s something
about blooming onions and funnel
cakes that make festivals that much
better.
David Koontz/ Photographer
Festival attendees enjoy the main event.
The main stage typically fea
tured country music from both local
and national bands that soothed the
crowd. This year, national recording
artist Whiskey Falls was the main
attraction on the stage.
The festival serves as a place
where children and parents can create
memories together. Parents who grew
up in the area feel a sense of nostalgia
while they watch their kids enjoy the
rides and eat the food that they grew
up loving.
“There was this one dark enclosed
tunnel section on the train tracks,”
Padgett said. “We always used to
scream when we went through it as
kids.”
By the end of the weekend,
festival-goers were satisfied with new
trinkets to place around the house, a
couple extra pounds from all the food
and another Carousel Festival to look
back on and smile.
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Dance Alloy Theater
brings audience analysis
Kara Griffin
Reporter
The Dance Alloy Theater perfor
mance at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 25 in Mc
Crary Theatre, however, is especially
exciting for the 49 dance major students
and the countless number of dance
minor students.
Before the performance, 15 of the
dance majors enrolled in the choreog
raphy class this semester take a master
class with the Dance Alloy Theater’s
Executive Director Beth Coming.
Lauren Kearns, assistant professor
of performing arts, hopes students will
receive a “heightened awareness of
contemporary choreography and perfor
mance” that will be “inspiring in their
own dance-making.”
In the show Coming features her
own works as well as pieces by modem
choreographers Susan Marshall and
Donald Bird.
“Arms,” one of the pieces by Bird,
is one that all can relate to because it’s
about the “fragility of relationships,”
Keams said.
One of the more unusual and notable
aspects to this performance is the 30-
minute European Intermission. While
most intermissions give the audience a
chance to stretch their legs, run to the
bathroom or grab some refreshments,
this respite will be quite intellectual.
During this time the audience
members will each receive a cupcake
with a question regarding the dance
pieces they’ve seen. The goal is for the
audience to congregate and discuss the
emotional themes of the dances and
what they expect to analyze and look
for in the pieces coming once the
show resumes.
The dance majors and minors will
also help facilitate the conversations
and contribute their own insight to
what they’ve seen and their own
predictions.
Keams said the audience will
get “a better hold on how one reads
dance and interprets it,” and “that
type of dialogue happening on a col
lege campus is phenomenal.”
“[The European Intermission]
would help me to leam a bit about
how to interpret dance better,”
freshman Dylan Ketcham said.
Although Ketcham isn’t involved in
the performing arts department, he’s
interested in what the show could
teach him.
Similarly, freshman Emily Adams
said, “I think [the European Intermis
sion] expands your horizons.”
With the master class for Elon’s
dance majors and choreography
students, the innovative and contem
porary dance pieces, and the highly
analytical 30-minute European
Intermission, Dance Alloy Theater s
presence on campus is bound to be a
beneficial and educational experience
for all who attend.
“It should be a transformative
experience,” Keams said.
“Dance Alloy breaks that fourth
wall [of the theater], figuratively and
literally,” allowing the audience to,
as Keams described, “really witness
work that is heartfelt and immedi
ate.”
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2700 Campus Box
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