6
Friday, December 8, 1978
University Daily Kansan
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Night Life
Lawrence, Opera House, 644 Massachusetts St.
- Koko Taylor and Her Blues Machine,
D-8 9/6 p.m. to 12:30 p.m., $3 general admission
- Vale Spell, Dec. 13, 9 p.m., to 12:30 a.m.
tree
- Morningstar Concert Dance, Dec. 14, 9 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., $2.50 general admission and $2 members.
Off the Wall Hall, 737 New Hampshire St.
Off the Walt Hall, 737 New Hampshire St.
Spare Time
- Worm Ranch Warriors, Dec. 8, 8 p.m. to midnight, admission $250.
- East Kansas Song Writers, Dec. 9, 2-5*
n.m. admissions $150.
- Norman Blake, Dec. 16
* Jam Session, Dec. 13, 8 p.m. to midnight
from
- Earl Robinson and the Red Hot Scamps
Dec. 8, 9 p.m.; midnight, $5
Paul Gray's Jazz Place, 926 Massachusetts
- Jam Session, Dec. 14, 9 p.m., free.
Concerts
Queen, Dec. 8, Kemper Arena, $7.50 and $8.50.
Recitals
Student Recital Series
- Murphy Quartet, Dec. 8, 8 p.m.
SWarthwout Rectal Halt, free.
- swiftfor Hecifar Man.free!
* Vocal students of Richetta Manager. Man.
* Teaching English in Paris.
- David Weir, piano, Swarthout, 8 p.m. free.
- Trombone choir and Tuba ensemble,*
* Dec. 11 8.a.m. Swarthout*
*Collegiate Musical conductor by J. Bunker Clark, Dec. 12, 3:30 p.m., Spooner Hall.*
Doctoral Rectal, Sylvia Reynolds, piano
Dec. 12, 8:30, Swarthout
Carillon Recitals, Dec. 10, 3 and 7 p.m.
Soencer Museum
Exhibits
- Paintings by Hung Hsien, until Dec. 10
* Collector's Choice
- Early, Topographic and Documentary Photography.
Kansas Union Gallery, Walker Evans at Fortune.
photography
Kansas University Gallery, Walker Evans at For-
niture
Nelson Art Gallery, 4525 Oak Street, Kan-
lonsville, MO
- Twas the Night Before Christmas, student works in the Junior Gallery. nondocument
Theatre
The professors said their previous dancing experience would help them with what they called the difficult job of expanding KIT's dance program.
Electra, by Sophocles, Dec. 8, 2015, b.m., Inn
Theatre, free for KU students with ID.
KU's revived dance company to perform
The Fledgling University Dance Company will present its first concerts tomorrow at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. in the theater at Hashiner Hall.
Admission is $1 for students, $1.50 for the public and 50 cents for senior citizens.
"The ground in Lawrence is fertile for dance," Cline said recently. "Audiences are responsive. We have people climbing the walls to get into dance classes. Dance is growing everywhere and I think it should be growing at KU, too."
The company is three years old, but until this year it met informally and never gave a concert. The company's rise stem from the school he attended, his first semester, Joan Sloss and Kay Cline, assistant professors in dance, who said they were assigned to build up KU's dance
Sloss and Cline have backgrounds in modern dance. They said the company would do only modern dance this year and maybe some ballet next year.
Sloss said dance in Kansas was not progressive and was dated because Kansas was not in contact with the East Coast, which has sent dance into new directions.
"BUT, I was pleasantly surprised because the dancers here are better than I thought." Sloss said. "The audiences are like nice people, even smaller and growing and very supportive."
The company has 15 members. Eleven will perform in this weekend's concert. Auditions are held every semester, and members must readdition each semester. Sloiss readauftions keep the company professional and hard-working.
SLOSS SAID the company's most important functions were to give students the opportunity to develop their dancing to a level developed and to learn how to run a dance company.
Money for the troupe has come, so far,
from the dance department and from Sissol's
and Cline's pockets. They said they would
try to get Student Senate funding.
Clare said she thought the company had worked hard to put a concert on in one semester. Members have practiced twice with a float two hours since the first week of class.
THE CONCERT will feature two large group pieces, two small group pieces and a solo work. All are modern and abstract. Chine cloque two of the works, Sloss one of them and Willie Lenoir, a company member, choreographed one.
"The dances are about dance. The movement is the medium," she said.
"The most important thing for anyone who wants to perform for a career is to perform and that is the opportunity that the company presents," she said.
Bense Reiss, a member of the company,
explained why the company was important.
Traditional Christmas Vespers to be observed this weekend
Staff Reporter
By RICK ODELL
Christmas is made of traditions. At the University of Kansas there exists a 54-year tradition that ushers in the holiday season with splendor—the annual Christmas Ves-
Vespers, a program of traditional Christmas music, is the School of Fine Art's Christmas gift to the campus and community. That gift will be presented at 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 10 in Hoch Auditorium.
THE VESPERS TRADITION began in 1923 under the initiative of Donald M. Swarthout, then dean of the School of Fine Arts. The first Vespers services were performed in the auditorium of old Fraser Hall.
A handful of people listened as a tiny chorus sang "Silent Night."
The next year the chorus was considerably larger and so was the audience. The Fraser Auditorium was filled to capacity. For the next three years Fraser Auditorium was full two hours before the services began. Hundreds had been turned away, and hundreds Christian music at KU spread through the town neighboring Lawrence.
The Vespers crowds continued to grow, and people were continually turned away because of the limited capacity of Fraser Auditorium. In 1927 the auditorium in Hochschule Grafenburg had when Hoch Auditorium, with a seating capacity of 4,000, was completed.
WITH EACH YEAR, however, more and more people would flock to Hoch for Vespers. It wasn't long before Hoch was accustomed to the loud "Jingle Bells." In 1957 another means was found to accommodate the growing popularity of Vespers—an additional performance was added. Since then, attendance fell and Hoch fills up well before performance time.
James Ralston, director of choral activities, said the music of the Christmas Vespers has not changed a great deal over the years. Ralton said he tried to stay true to his musical roots by selecting which usually included traditional Christmas favorites. The traditional musical opening, "Fanfare for Christmas Day" by English choral composer Martin Shaw, and the processional, "O Come all Faithful," will be performed again this year.
OTHER CHORAL WORKS will include "Glory to God," and "The Dance of the Gift," the KU Symphony will feature works from the Nutracker Suite by Tatikovsky.
Two new additions to Vespers for 1978 include a joint work by the choirs and orchestra, "Christmas Day" by Gustav Holst, an English composer, and a new work, "Sung Lilyab" which was composed by Tracy Icengelo, a KU student.
Iceogle, a Topека senior majoring in music theory, composed the piece not knowing whether it would be used. Iceogle said he presented "Sing Lullaby" to
Ralston who immediately liked it.
HELEN WILSON KEWALD
ICENOLE SAID HE was surprised but happy that his composition went together so easily.
"I sat down at the piano and started composing. Everything just fell together. I had the work completed in one day."
Choir and orchestra rehearsal of the compositions will take longer than Icengle's work took to compose, however. Ruth Runnels, Topeka freshman, one of the singers in the Vespers' balcony chalk, also has been rehearsing for about three weeks.
had the work completed. Ralston said he thought this would be the first time a student's work had ever been used in Christmas Vespers.
"THE CHORIS AND the orchestra rehearsed together last Saturday and it sounded really good. I think we just are ready for the Vespers," she said.
Runnels' participation in Christmas Vespers appears to be somewhat of a tradition in itself. Runnels' mother sang in Christmas Vespers in 1967 and now runs the choir she has attended just about every Christmas Vespers service since his graduation from KU in 1929
Cotton, who remembers Dean Swarthout as being "one heck of a great man and a fine musician" said the Vespers were a wonderful way to bring in the holidays.
"The Vespers are a most beautiful expression of the season," he said. "I guess that's the reason I have attended the Vespers for so many years."
Reach out
6. 11.3. Newberry Dixon Company released Wednesday for its concert, which will be presented Saturday and Sunday at Hashinger Hall. The group is directed by Joan Sissom and Kaye Cline, assistant professors in dance.
HARLEY/DAVIDSON HONDA
1811 West 6th Street
843-3333
1527 West 6th 842-4311