Category: Entertainment

Despite limited attendance, Ohio Wesleyan students embraced distinctive cultural dances last Friday in a workshop sponsored by SANGAM, the South Asian student organization on campus.

Senior Krina Patel, SANGAM president, said the event was the first of its kind.

The workshop featured lessons on many quintessential dance forms from the eastern side of the world, such as India’s “Bhangra” and the classical styles of “Bharatnatyam” from more Southern regions.

Senior Priyanka Venkataramen said the workshop came about because high student interest in cultural dances at other cultural events such as Culture Fest and Diwali.

“SANGAM thought it would be a great idea to offer a dance workshop to those who may be interested in learning some dance styles from different cultures,” she said.

The event took place in Welch Hall’s basement and attendance was low.

Patel said she thinks the conflict with Anchor Splash, Delta Gamma’s annual philanthropy event, may have caused this.

“We had posters up for weeks as well as a Facebook event, so I don’t think lack of advertising was the issue,” she said.

However, the Facebook page for the event had been accidently set to “private” until a few days prior to the workshop, which could account for lack of student presence.

Venkataraman said she thought the workshop was successful in the sense that the leaders represented a variety of dance forms from the subcontinent.

“The choreography was provided by OWU students, so it was nice to see how much our very own students know and can demonstrate about their cultures and dancing backgrounds that they belong to,” she said.

Patel said she thinks the low attendance did not detract from the experience.

“For someone who has only been exposed to Bollywood, this event was a great learning experience,” she said.

Despite limited attendance, Ohio Wesleyan students embraced distinctive cultural dances last Friday in a workshop sponsored by SANGAM, the South Asian student organization on campus.

Senior Krina Patel, SANGAM president, said the event was the first of its kind.

The workshop featured lessons on many quintessential dance forms from the eastern side of the world, such as India’s “Bhangra” and the classical styles of “Bharatnatyam” from more Southern regions.

Senior Priyanka Venkataramen said the workshop came about because high student interest in cultural dances at other cultural events such as Culture Fest and Diwali.

“SANGAM thought it would be a great idea to offer a dance workshop to those who may be interested in learning some dance styles from different cultures,” she said.

The event took place in Welch Hall’s basement and attendance was low.

Patel said she thinks the conflict with Anchor Splash, Delta Gamma’s annual philanthropy event, may have caused this.

“We had posters up for weeks as well as a Facebook event, so I don’t think lack of advertising was the issue,” she said.

However, the Facebook page for the event had been accidently set to “private” until a few days prior to the workshop, which could account for lack of student presence.

Venkataraman said she thought the workshop was successful in the sense that the leaders represented a variety of dance forms from the subcontinent.

“The choreography was provided by OWU students, so it was nice to see how much our very own students know and can demonstrate about their cultures and dancing backgrounds that they belong to,” she said.

Patel said she thinks the low attendance did not detract from the experience.

“For someone who has only been exposed to Bollywood, this event was a great learning experience,” she said.

A man sits in a dimly lit room bent over a piece of paper struggling to justify developing a relationship with someone who wasn’t even born until his sixteenth birthday.

He subtracts their ages, 35 and 19. He realizes that he had already graduated college when she was still in single digits.

He begins to give up, until he realizes that when he is 50, she will be 34, when he is 87 she will be 71, and suddenly the differences don’t seem so appalling.

The above scene is one of my favorites in Josh Radnor’s film “Liberal Arts.” There is no dialogue, barely any sound; just a man, a pen and a piece of paper.

But everyone in the audience understands exactly what the numbers mean and what is going through the character’s mind.

Although I was unable to attend Campus Programming Board’s showing of the film last week, being the connoisseur of flaky indie films that I am, I had already viewed “Liberal Arts” multiple times previously.

Jesse Fischer, the film’s protagonist, is a  35-year-old admissions officer who never quite let go of his alma mater. Zibby is a 19-year-old student attending said college.

When invited to revisit the campus to attend the retirement festivities of a beloved professor, Jesse leaps at the opportunity to step back in time.

I enjoy this film more and more at each viewing. “Liberal Arts” offers an epiphany unto itself that we should be quick to recognize as attendants of a small liberal arts school.

As I lay in a bed strewn with assignments and reminders of the deceivingly far-off graduation deadline, I sympathize with both Jesse and Zibby.

College is its own world where it is acceptable to break out into a game of hacky sack, or spend forty food points on ice cream and soft pretzels at one a.m. or exclusively use disposable dishes and silverware.

But college isn’t just about clinging onto the excuse of not yet being an adult. It is the one last “bubble” where it is socially acceptable to still not know who you are, or where you want to go.

And that freedom is very hard to give up.

It is easy to see why Jesse would want to relive his college years, and with a young intellectual who shares his taste for long walks through the campus of Radnor’s real life alma mater, Kenyon College.

Those who seek knowledge gravitate to arenas such as college. It is a place full of life, ambition and the pursuit of education.

Perhaps I am embellishing a bit, but “Liberal Arts” is a film that leaves me feeling more refreshed and energized to learn, and to care, and to embrace my state in life more than ever before.

It is the lines that Elizabeth Olsen delivers through the character of Zibby that give me a moment of “Woah, that makes so much sense.”

For instance in a final scene with Jesse, “I sometimes feel like I’m looking down on myself. Like there is this older, wiser me watching over this 19-year-old rough draft.”

This is a time and a place where it’s okay to not be a final copy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCVJcdQXJ14

The self-titled album is a curious beast.

Most often it seems a cop-out when no other title fits a record because it lacks unification. But then there are self-titled works like St. Vincent’s.

This is a record where the artist goes on a journey of self-definition and shares what she finds. Titling it after the artist herself, then, unifies it in a way no other title could. This is what makes “St. Vincent” so compelling.

Annie Clark, the woman behind the pseudonym, opens the record with a story of being confronted by a rattlesnake naked in the desert. It alerts her that she isn’t “the only one in the only world” — but she might desperately want to be.

With this comes two of the most eloquent, coherent indictments of America’s dangerously obsessive relationship with technology, the Internet and social media. “Huey Newton” and “Digital Witness” expose how these provide space for us to say and do anything we want without consequence, where we can hide behind anonymity or identities not our own, how we have a compulsion to share everything — and how truly grotesque it all is.

The songs are juxtaposed with “Prince Johnny,” a song about how people often need each other’s help in the real world free of judgment.

Clark’s whole self, both the parts that desire isolation and those that recognize the importance of relationships, is present here. She fully embraces the power of self-identity inherent in self-titled albums. The question remains whether this is Clark’s identity or that of a persona — St. Vincent’s. But that mystery makes her the enigma she is.

The Department of Theatre and Dance’s production of “Almost, Maine” provides audiences with a glimpse into the heartfelt lives of several members from the fictional  town, “Almost” as they explore realities of love and relationships.

The play, “Almost, Maine”  is written by John Cariani and premiered off-Broadway in 2006. The cast features 20 characters, but originally only had four actors, according to Ed Kahn, the director of the Ohio Wesleyan show.

According to Kahn, the play did not do well during its original run in New York City, but has progressively earned more fame. The show returned to NYC for the first time in early February.

“It’s fun to do this show at OWU at the same time as the New York revival,” said Kahn.

Because OWU’s production features 10 actors and actresses each person has two characters to portray.

Senior Jenea Dominguez plays the roles of Sandrine and Suzette.

“It’s been a fun discovering process,” Dominguez said. “They’re two different women and deserve respect in different ways.”

The play is full of “literal idioms made literal,” said Kahn. The audience will witness broken hearts, people falling in love and “waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

About the Show

The play consists of eight scenes that follow individuals and couples in the town of Almost, Maine as they forge new relationships, confront old lovers and fall out of love, all under the watchful gaze of the Northern Lights.

Kahn said, “[The characters] know what they want, but are human in the way they go about getting it.”

“The play is very witty, clever and truthful,” said junior Kristen Krak, who plays Ginette and Gayle. “It’s heartbreaking and funny and it’s been a lot of fun digging into it.”

Senior Nick Ehlers plays Steve and Man. He said, “It’s an honest look at love; sometimes cute, sometimes messy.”

“Almost, Maine” opened last weekend and will have three more performances this weekend: Feb. 28 and March 1 at 8 p.m. and March 2 at 2 p.m.

Students, faculty, and a Ohio Wesleyan alumna explored various creative outlets at this semester’s Culture Cafe.

Attendance was fewer than for September’s Culture Cafe, however Peter Szabo, music and public services librarian who hosted the event, said he felt satisfied.

“The smaller crowd created a more intimate, supportive environment for the performers,” said Szabo.

“We had a lovely little sing along at the end to Woody Guthrie’s ‘This Land is Your Land’,” added Jillian Maruskin, Public Services librarian and co-organizer of the event. Maruskin also read a poem aloud.

Szabo said he hopes to ramp up attendance by increasing publicity and awareness.

“Facebook seems to work very well,” said Szabo. “[The small attendance] is also likely due, in part, to the fact that many students have exams coming up,” Szabo said, “Back in September, students probably had more free time.”

Maruskin said, “I loved all the performances, I can’t pick a favorite.”

Maruskin added, “Ryan Haddad’s piece was exceptionally stunning.”

Haddad, junior, preformed a monologue that was excerpted from a longer solo performance. His reading induced laughs and cheers from the crowd as he removed his shirt halfway through the comedic and adult-themed piece.

Szabo said he plans to host another Culture Cafe event in April.

Through dance, drag and prose, OWU students raised $80 last Saturday to help fund a mission trip.

The Chicago Mission Team of 12 students and two faculty advisors will be traveling to Chicago during spring break.

They hope to explore issues of homelessness and poverty, as well as other issues within Chicago’s marginalized LGBTIQA community.

“I decided to propose the team because it’s never been done before,” said senior Nola Johnson, co-leader of the mission team. “I thought it would be great to explore the issues [beyond same-sex marriage] within the LGBTIQA community,”

The team will be working with various organizations that provide services for at risk LGBTIQA youth.

Junior Meredith Harrison, co-leader of the mission team, said she jumped at the opportunity to attend the trip.

“Since I am interested in the intersectionalities of race and poverty within the LGBT community, I knew I wanted to be a part of this team,” Harrison said.

“There is only so much reading and documentary viewing  that can be done about these issues.”

The team as a whole came up with the drag show as a fund-raising idea.

“We thought it would be a fun way to raise money,” said Johnson. “And [drag] is a subculture of the LGBT community.”

Harrison said she thought the show would generate a lot of support and attendance.

“Although drag performers don’t always necessarily identify with the LGBTIQA community, it is an art that is often associated with gay culture,” she said.

“We do plan on attending a drag show in Chicago as a fun team bonding activity.”

Unfortunately for the team, professional drag show performers were harder to contact than they had imagined.

Harrison said it was difficult to get professionals over the weekend because of Valentine’s Day.

There was also no budget for the performers, which made it even more difficult to get them to attend.

About 30 students were present at the show, but the money raised still pleased the team members.

“I would have been happy with any amount of money raised, but I was surprised when I heard the total,” said Harrison.

“I was really impressed and thankful for everyone’s monetary support.”

There were a total of six performances at the show that included an opening act by Jenna Culina ‘13, who performed as “Dustin Beavers” and was the emcee of the event.

Other sets were performed to rap and country music, there was also a recital of lines from Shakespeare’s  “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.

“In between performances we played music,” said Johnson. “It was literally a drag show and a dance party.”

Senior Alisa Nammavong, another member of the mission team said, “Even though the numbers were small, the energy was definitely there.”

She said the hardest part about getting more students to attend such events is the fact that OWU has so much going on that a lot of events clash one another.

“There are so many mission teams that dates get confused with others and such so it was a challenge to really stand out and not overwhelm the student population,” she said. “I really was thankful for all the performers. They really made the show!”

By Breanne Reilly
Transcript Reporter

A new exhibit in the Ross Art Museum unleashes themes of mortality, religion and nature from the New Mexico areas of Albuquerque, Taos and Santa Fe.

The show, which opened last Thursday, was curated by a group of Ohio Wesleyan students who traveled to New Mexico for a Theory-to-Practice grant organized by Ross Art Museum Director Justin Kronewetter.

Sophomore Catie Beach, senior Amy LeFebvre, senior Ha Le, junior Bill Milanik, senior Linh Nguyen and sophomore Maddie Stuntz chose over 100 pieces to feature in the show after being able to explore the artists’ homes and studios.

Artist Nancy Sutor, whose series “Compose/Decompose” is featured in the gallery, served as the keynote speaker for the exhibit’s opening.

Sutor presented a preliminary talk, “My Work in New Mexico”, which gave students and faculty a glimpse into her many sources of inspiration.

“It makes me think there is some order to the universe,” Sutor said of her central theme of contrasting dark/light colors in her series of photographs that examine the timeline of her compost pile.

“Compost breaks down to become the richest gold in the garden world,” Sutor said. “The pictures are chronicles of the seasons and show different degrees of decay. It’s a life cycle.”

LeFebvre said Sutor’s work impressed her because it shares a message with viewers.

“I was really interested in how she wanted her images to impact the way that people think about food and sustainability,” LeFebvre said.

Beach said Sutor’s work represents the passage of time and the seasons and is unique since the photographs were unplanned.

“She photographs the everyday object,” Beach said. “Whether it’s something she consumes or experiences.”

LeFebvre and Beach said that although they enjoyed Sutor’s work, initially she was not one of the artists they selected as the speaker.

Justin Kronewetter, who said he has known Sutor for years, asked her to be the keynote speaker mainly because she has experience teaching college students at the College of Santa Fe.

“She is the only academician in the group of artists,” he said.

Kronewetter said certain artists couldn’t come to speak because of scheduling conflicts and complications due to cost, weather and other obligations.

In addition to not presenting a speaker chosen by the students, multiple pieces that the art students wanted to feature in the exhibit did not make the final cut.

Kronewetter explained certain art wasn’t displayed since it is “off the market” and will not likely be sold while at the Ross Museum.

However, Beach said artist Nina Marrow’s jewelry, which is made of driftwood and silver, was all hand selected by the students.

“I am doing the best I can do to honor the preferences of the students,” he said.

Sophomore Zoe Morris, who attended the exhibit’s opening said, “They’re colorful, musical and emotional [pieces]. It makes me want to go to New Mexico, especially since I’m from Massachusetts.”

Similar to Morris, Catie Beach said the artworks echo the artists’ homes and cultures through color, subject and choice of medium.

“Everything was connected there, the land, people, spirituality and cultures,” Beach said. “And it’s reflected in the art.”

Kronewetter said several of the artworks have religious themes because Hispanic artists in the area frequently depict religious icons.  He said “La Conquistadora” (Our Lady of Conquest), a statue by Nicholas Herrera and Susan Guevara, exemplifies the value of religion and how saints are frequently idolized.

“Historically and culturally, Christianity is ingrained in the southwest and is a major driving factor in any community,” LeFebvre said.

Kronewetter said various artworks on display have skeletons in them because of the celebration of Dia de los Muertos—The Day of the Dead.

“In Mexican culture, celebrating dead relatives and friends is very common,” he said. “It might seem macabre to those of us that are not familiar with the Roman Catholic tradition or celebration.”

He also said Anita Rodriguez, who painted “Burning of Eden” and “La Santisma Muerte,” which depict skeletons, will be coming to campus on March 27 to discuss the theme of death in Mexican art.

Native American photos, paintings and sculptures are also featured in the exhibit. Kronewetter said he is attempting to arrange for a lecture on Native American art later in the semester from artist Roxanne Swentzel.

Swentzel currently has bronze pieces titled “Held,” “Woman in Stone” and “Special Girl” on display in the museum.

Kronewetter said the goal of the exhibit is to show the local community something they wouldn’t normally expect, something new.

For the first time in its 98 years of operation, the local Strand Theatre closed its doors for an extensive period of time.

Manager Kara Long discovered complications with the theater’s heating system last Friday.

“When I went into the Strand on January 24 it was cold,” Long said. “So I called the HVAC (Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning) tech and he discovered broken pipes due to freezing.”

Since then, Long said they are still unsure as to whether the frozen pipes broke the boiler, or if the boiler malfunctioned and affected the pipes.

In order to get the theater up and running again, Long said a new high efficiency boiler is necessary.

The boiler alone has a five day installation time and will take even longer to get the building back to normal temperatures; thus shutting the Strand down and unable to screen films for about three weeks.

To compensate for the loss of business, the Strand has been reaching out to the Delaware community.

Messages asking for any and all donations to keep the historical theater running include those from their Facebook page and website: “We will really need your help rebuilding our bank account after losing three weeks of business and buying a new boiler,” and “Please know that tax-deductible contributions are not only welcomed but encouraged.”

The response to the closure of the local theater has been overtly positive with fans of the establishment posting statuses about their love and appreciation.

Promises such as “See you soon” and “You can count on us”, as well as hopeful encouragements, “Can’t wait for the re-opening” practically flood the theater’s Facebook page.

Ohio Wesleyan University students should not be forgotten in this community loss.

Junior Kelsey Caspersen recalls taking trips to the Strand in her spring semester, “I took Intro to Film with Dr. Hipsky, so I went and saw weekly movies there and I always had a great experience.”

“It makes me sad that I can’t eat their popcorn or be able to support a local business,” Caspersen added. “If I want to go see a movie it is so much cheaper [at the Strand] because they offer a student discount.”

So far donations to the Strand have amounted to $1,450, which will help to cover the cost of replacing the boiler, but not make up for the loss of income.

Senior Tim O’Keeffe mentioned the Strand could be missing an opportunity for major Valentine’s Day business if they cannot re-open by Friday.

Long said hopefully they will be ready to screen films such as “The Lego Movie” and “The Monuments Men” by Valentine’s Day weekend.

Caspersen also raised the point that if there is no accessible theater in downtown Delaware then people will likely go elsewhere to see films.

“They’re probably going to be spending their money at the theater in Polaris,” she said. “As it is the Strand already has a hard time getting big name movies, which we learned about in our film class.”

The Strand Theatre opened in 1916 and has not had complications such as these in over 28 years. As the manager puts it, downtown Delaware isn’t just missing access to a building, they’re missing a source of entertainment.

 

Ohio Wesleyan’s Opera Workshop navigated the twists and turns of relationships on stage during their rendition of  “A Little Night Music” by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler.

This dramatic and comedic show follows 10 people as they work through marriages, old loves and liaisons to find their happiness. In the end, one marriage is broken, one is rekindled and one is formed.

Junior Ryan Haddad played the role of Madame Armfeldt, the elderly mother of Desiree Armfeldt, played by Meg Linebaugh. He said he auditioned for this role because he loved the part.

While Haddad didn’t think he would get the part, he thought the college setting would be his only chance to perform as Madame Armfeldt, as there are no elderly students auditioning for the role.

“I never thought I would play a woman in the middle of Ohio,” he said on receiving the role. “But I’m honored by this opportunity.”

Junior Annie Fishleigh said Haddad’s character was her favorite part, particularly his wig.

“I felt like he was the comedic relief and kept the show together,” she said. “He helped explain what was going on in the show.”

Freshman Kiersten Payne said, “I really enjoyed the show-it was a lot funnier than I expected.”

In the past, the Opera Workshop has focused on performing various scenes from different shows instead of one whole musical.

Director Tim Veach said this show was different because the singers would have to act and talk besides just singing well.

Maeve Nash, Hannah Simpson, Reggie Hemphill and Haddad are cast members, as well as theater majors.

Veach is a guest director from Columbus Dance Theatre who has worked with the Opera Workshop for about six years. He said this musical is not done all the time because it is a “pretty spicy story.”

It was chosen because the “music is spectacular and appropriate for serious singers,” he said.