WEDNESDAY
JANUARY 2D, 2D16
STYLE
; new'Tapped Out!'
Lucia Jervis
^nior Reporter
lelonpendulum
Elon University’s annual tap
irformance “Tapped Out!” is back
with surprises and rhythms from
i| all over the world. This show has
s^eral tap pieces, each telling a dif-
; ferent story and evoking different
feelings within the audience.
The show is directed by Gene
Medler, adjunct instructor in dance,
who choreographed two pieces in
the show. But different from other
rs, students this year also cho-
igraphed some of the numbers.
Dancers were chosen for num
bers by taking into account their
in different strengths.
I “The show just forms itself,”
Medler said. “It’s a resolve of the
different likes and dislikes and de
sires that the dancers bring to the
( show. I have a preconceived idea
of^what I want to do for my two
dances. We don’t really say, ‘This is
our show and this is how it’s going
to go.’ We kind of find out who we
have and we mold the show from
there.”
The dancers of “Tapped Out!”
are both new and returning per
formers. Junior Dan Lusardi has
oeen invited by Medler to perform
je.in “Tapped Out!” for the second
-'^^^ime. He has been tap dancing
since he was 11, and even as a mu
sical theater major he still manages
I ito take one of Medler’s tap classes
aKvery semester.
Lusardi is choreographing his
own piece for the show. Using the
song “Something” by The Beatles,
he took aspects of the classic-rock
hit into a song he can tap to.
“It’s cool because I just took
the baseline and then some of the
drums,” Lusardi said. “It’s very
rhythmic. Maybe that will be- the
highlight of the show, but no prom
ises.”
Each number has a different
tone, even the two numbers Medler
choreographed, the opening
number has Peruvian and Cuban
rhythms whereas the other is a be
bop piece.
Senior Jillian Hannah believes
the first number will captivate the
audience. The dance follows the
rhythm of a Cajon, a wooden drum.
“We split into three groups
and we’re each tapping a different
rhythm,” Hannah said. “My group
starts and we do this one rhythm,
and then we bring it all together
and do it all at the same time.”
There will be some audience
interaction throughout the perfor
mance so the audience feels a con
nection with the dancers.
During the last number, the
dancers will teach audience mem
bers a simple tap dance so everyone
can participate.
“At the end we always do the
shim-shim which is that one tap
dance that anybody who’s ever tak
en tap knows,” Hannah said.
Hannah believes this interactive
number is just as good as the chal
lenging opening dance because it
brings everyone together.
“I love that we finish with the
shim-sham,” she said. “Honestly,
I think it’s the greatest part of the
show, because like here we are do
ing all this crazy stuff, and then you
finish it with the dance that every
DIEGOPINEOAfStaff Photographer
Senior Rachel Ingersoll rehearses her number for 'Tapped Out!' with director Gene Medler for their show starting Friday, Jan. 22.
body learns and that everybody
knows.”
According to Lusardi, this per
formance is completely different
from all of the other dance shows
at Elon.
“It’s the only thing like this on
campus all year,” he said. “It’s just
really cool how much work they
can all get done in just two and a
half weeks. I hope it impacts the
audience. Maybe it will inspire
someone to take a tap class. It’s not
too late to start. I just hope that
they gain an appreciation for the
art form because it’s hard. It’s hard
work.”
Shows will run Friday, Jan. 22 at
6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Saturday
Jan. 23 at 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. in
the Black Box Theatre.
DIEGO PINEDA I StifPhol^5^
Students rehearse the tap numbers they choreographed themselves.
Winter Stock Theater presents Shakespeare's problem play
Alexandra Schonfeld
Senior Reporter
@aschonfeld096
With its premiere only days away, the cast
and^crew of this year’s Winter Stock Theater
production of William Shakespeare’s ‘All’s
Well That Ends Well” is making the final
touches to bring the classic play to life.
“All’s Well That Ends Well” tells the story
of unrequited love and what a young wom-
_ an is willing to go through to win the love
of her life.
Each year, Elon University’s performing
a arts department offers the course “Winter
Stock Theater,” which combines both a class
I. and preparation for the full-length show.
The actors are cast before November so
they have time before the rehearsal period
to memorize lines. Actors have been work-
j hour days since the start of Winter
Term.
“All s Well That Ends Well” is one of Shake-
speare’s lesser-known works, which director
Fred Rubeck, professor of performing arts
and [chair of the department of performing
arts, said has worked to the actors’ advantage.
“It’s kind of cool to think about one of the
most famous playwrights and bringing one of
his lesser known pieces to life,” Rubeck said.
It’s the kind of freedom that gives us because
it doesn’t carry all the same baggage that the
more famous ones do. We’ve been able to
make it our own.”
The script has not been changed aside
from some line cuts, which most directors do
when working with Shakespeare to adapt it
for modern audiences.
Instead of completely changing the litera
MEGAN KOnKAMP I Staff Photographer
Winter Stock Theater's 'All's Well That Ends Well' is set in the early 20th century Instead of the 1600s.
ture, Rubeck has chosen to set the play in the
early 20th century in Europe between World
War I and World War 11.
This change will be reflected in the set and
costumes the actors wear.
“The play has a lot of issues about men
and women and women’s rights, so the idea
of early 20th century and women’s rights and
suffrage has become a lot more of a hot but
ton topic around the world, which made it a
decent time for the show,” Rubeck said.
Senior Hunter McCormick, who plays
The Countess, one of the leading roles in the
show, said the alterations allow the audience
to connect more with the story.
“The great thing about Shakespeare is you
really can change it and it just adds to the in
terest of the audience seeing the play and to
the interest of the actors doing the play,” Mc
Cormick said.
Junior Olivia Richardson, who plays Hel
en, the heroine of the play, said the adjust
ment takes one of Shakespeare’s more diffi
cult plays and makes it less complicated.
“The language is a little bit more difficult,
the story is a little more complicated than
usual,” Richardson said. “Moving it up in time
brings it more into the now.”
“All’s Well That Ends Well” is considered
one of Shakespeare’s “problem plays” because
it is neither a comedy, romance or tragedy —
it falls somewhere in between. This ambigu
ity brings about many questions that many
playwrights oftentimes just hand over to the
audience.
“We found very human flaws among the
whole cast of characters,” Rubeck said. “Here’s
a young woman who is in love with a young
man who doesn’t love her back and the ends
to which she goes to win him. Some of the
things we look at and say, ‘Well I’d have you
at the judicial hearing board’ because it’s
stalking and things like that from a modern
viewpoint. While you root for her, you think,
‘Well, that’s kind of creepy.’”
Usually by the end of a play, the audience
understands the moral of the show. But “All’s
Well That Ends WelT is more perplexing.
“This one you get to the end, even the title,
the idea of the ends justifying the means is a
really questionable viewpoint,” Rubeck said.
“That’s a very modern sensitivity to leave
those loose ends and allows us to talk about
what happened and what it meant, rather
than wrapping it up in a neat, little package.”
The unusually restricted amount of time
the actors were presented with to prepare for
this show did nothing but heighten the expe
rience for both actors and director.
“I think the work just has to happen fast
er, and we have to trust each other more that
there was work done before coming into re
hearsals,” Richardson said. “But I think it’s a
great experience to do it at such an accelerat
ed pace because you’re there and you’re in it
everyday, which is every actor’s dream — to
be doing that and not anything else.”
Though the show has been more difficult
than previous Shakespearian shows, the cast
and crew tackled the challenges.
“[It’s] a problem play,” Rubeck said. “But I
hope we enjoy the problem.”
Performances will be on Jan. 21-24 and
Feb. 3-6 at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday to Friday,
2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m.
Sunday in the Black Box in Roberts Studio
Theatre.