Volume 30, No. 25
March 19, 1999
Contact: Scott A. Miller 570-662-4844
NEWS
You'll flip for the Chinese acrobats
MU will host the World Famous Chinese Golden Dragon Acrobats, Thursday, March 25, at 7:30 p.m. in Straughn Hall.
The Chinese Golden Dragon Acrobats have won the National Campus Activities' "Entertainer of the Year Award" seven of the last 10 years and have received Campus Activities Today's "Performers of the Year Award."
World-renowned manager for Chinese acrobatics Danny Chang and his choreographer wife, Angela, combine their expertise to produce this popular cultural attraction. The group has appeared in over 65 countries.
Chinese acrobats have been entertaining audiences for 27 centuries, making it the longest running folk art form in history. Notable for their daring feats, colorful, hand-embroidered costumes and body and facial expressions, Chinese acrobats begin training as young as age 4. Coupled with an acrobat's athletic strength, balance and timing is Chi Kung, the oriental philosophy of inner strength, which focuses the body and mind to work in harmony. This provides the structure to support choreographed programs of balancing, juggling, dance, comedy and magic.
The ancient art of the acrobat continues to be supported by traditionally vibrant color, grace and precision. Chinese acrobats are a combination of actor, athlete and artist. The Chinese Golden Dragon Acrobats mix their award-winning acrobatics with authentic costumes, and ancient as well as modern theatrical techniques to produce a show unlike any other.
General admission tickets are $7.50. Admission is free to MU students with current ID. For more information, please call (570) 662-4980. The event is sponsored by MU's Student Activities Office and the Mansfield Activities Council.
Student musicians converge on MU this weekend
MU will host a concert of the 52nd Annual Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Band Sunday, March 21, at 2:30 p.m. in Steadman Theatre.
The band will comprise 127 musicians from 27 institutions across the commonwealth. The students will arrive Friday, March 19, and begin their rehearsals under the direction of guest conductor William Wakefield, coordinator of conducting studies and associate director of bands at the University of Oklahoma.
The band will perform numerous selections including "A Crescent Still Abides" by David Gillingham, "Lincolnshire Posy" by Percy A. Grainger, "Fantasia in G Major" by J.S. Bach, "Festival Sinfonia" by Rolland Barrett, and John Phillip Sousa's "Bullets and Bayonets."
A different school hosts the event each year. MU has hosted the event twice in the past, most recently in 1973. Coordinator Adam Brennan, director of bands and percussion studies at MU, expects this to be one of the finest concerts in the region this year.
Tickets are $3 general admission and $1 for MU students with current ID. They are available at the door or by calling 4735.
Campus to host advocacy conference March 26-28
The MU Advocacy Association will host the Eighth Annual National Student Conference on Campus Sexual Violence March 26-28.
The conference, titled "Imagine a World Without Sexual Violence," is coordinated by student Stephanie DeNicola. The conference seeks to provide student leaders with ideas and programs to combat campus sexual violence on their campuses.
Speakers and topics during the event include keynote speaker Ed Gerety's "Empowering Us to Reach Our Dreams," Friday, March 26, at 8 p.m.; Katie Koestner and Brett A. Sokolow, "He Said, She Said," Saturday, March 27, at 8 p.m.; and Bob Hall, "Hands Off! Let's Talk! Sex, Conflict & Intimacy" Sunday, March 28, at 9:30 a.m. All three events are in Straughn Hall.
In addition, the conference will offer workshops, small-group discussions and a showcase of advocacy programs from other institutions.
MU students, faculty and staff may attend all sessions and presentations for a single contribution of $5 to the MU Advocacy Association. A dinner at the Corey Creek Golf Club Saturday from 4-8 p.m. is $20. Conference T-shirts are also available for $10.
For additional information, contact DeNicola at 5804 or Peggy Hayes, MU advocacy coordinator, at 4939.
Jazz fest welcomes trumpet legend Randy Brecker
The annual MU Jazz Festival will include a performance featuring modern trumpet legend Randy Brecker Saturday, March 27, at 7:30 p.m. in the Steadman Theatre.
Brecker is a hard bop trumpet soloist who is versatile enough to fit into the worlds of pop, funk and electronic fusion. He was a founding member of Blood, Sweat & Tears and, with his brother Michael, is the co-founder of the critically acclaimed Brecker Brothers Band. The pair won two Grammy Awards for their song "Out of the Loop" in 1994.
Randy Brecker has appeared on the albums of a virtual "who's who" in the jazz and rock genres: David Sanborn, Bob James, Louis Del Gatto, Bob Mintzer, Bootsy Collins, Frank Zappa, Elton John, Charles Mingus, Todd Rundgren, James Brown, John Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr, the J. Giles Band, Spyro Gyra, Steely Dan, Diana Ross, Luther Vandross, Frank Sinatra, Dire Straits, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Aretha Franklin and Aerosmith, among others.
Performing with Brecker will be the Randy Brecker Quintet with Ted Rosenthal, piano, Dean Johnson, bass and Ron Vincent, drums. Known as the "The Rhythm Section," the three were the foundation for Brecker's "Best Improvised Solo" 1999 Grammy nomination for "My Funny Valentine."
Saxophonist and multi-woodwind musician Adam Kolker will also perform with the band. He has performed on two Grammy nominated CDs with Ray Barretto, and is currently a jazz lecturer at the University of Massachusetts.
MU's annual Jazz Festival concert will also feature the university's award-winning Jazz Ensemble under the direction the Dr. Michael Galloway, as well as the best high school jazz ensemble attending the all-day festival. Ensembles performing include representatives of West Seneca, NY, East Senior High School; Johnson City, NY, High School; Sidney, NY, High School; Ernie Davis Middle School (Elmira, NY); Bangor, PA, High School; Dover, PA, Area High School; Berwick, PA, Area Middle School; and North Penn Junior-Senior High School (Blossburg, PA).
Tickets are $5 general admission and $2 for MU students with current ID. Tickets will be available at the door.
Have an Updater announcement? Send it to Scott A. Miller
Bonnie Lea Kutbay, art, served as a consultant for the Discovery Channel's documentary "Cleopatra's Palace," which aired on Sunday, March 14.
Angie Crater fired a complete game shutout and freshman Kristen Lewis went 2-3 with a double and RBI to lead the softball team to a 2-0 win over Bentley College in the second game of a doubleheader at Myrtle Beach. Crater struck out four and walked just one while allowing four hits to improve to 2-1 on the season. The Mountaineers ended their South Carolina trip with a 4-2 mark and travel to the West Virginia Softball Classic this weekend.
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