THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2002
ARTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN - 13
Dancers flip out at Sundays swing nights
By Michelle Burhenn
mburhenn@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Kristen White changes into a pair of dancing shoes minutes after she walks into The Dance Academy, 1117 Massachusetts St.
She's ready to flip.
White, Olathe sophomore, seems like a veteran at the academy's Sunday swing night. Her partners flip her through the air, exposing her red bloomers, and swing her into a "death drop," as her head narrowly misses the floor. She's been going to the academy for six months.
Dance instructor Ed Schliitenhardt shows graduate student Jenny Pool the ropes during a swing dance session at the Dance Academy, 1117 Massachusetts St. Sunday nights host enthuasists from Lawrence Topeka and Kansas City who practice swing dancing in an informal setting from 10 p.m. to midnight.
"I just knew ghetto, high school swing." White says as she taps her dance shoe to the swing beats. "I just love dancing. I just like the tricks. It feels neat to do the flips and the flashy stuff."
John Nowak/Kansan
About 50 people have paid their $5 to dance and the music picks up. Not many people came with partners. Everyone dances with everybody else, says Spencer Roberts, who runs the weekly dance from 9 p.m. to midnight. Another dance is also held from 9:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Tuesday at Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204 Oread Ave.
"Swing dancing really opens up a lot of communication between people who normally wouldn't communicate," he says.
hand. In minutes White is spinning confidently with her partner. Her friend, Hayley Parker, watches from a nearby table. It's the Plano, Texas, sophomore's first night at the academy. She watches her friend dance as if she had been a pro for years.
A partner comes and grabs White's
After the song fades, White joins her friend at the table.
"I don't know about dancing." Parker says as White takes a break from swinging. "Everyone here is so good. I'm kind of scared."
"Oh, you'll have it down in two minutes," White says.
"You got to start somewhere, I guess," Parker says.
Within minutes, a stranger asks Parker to dance. She accepts, telling him she's new at this.
"That's Matt," White says. "He'll take good care of her."
After the song, the lights go up and the dancers form a circle and take turns showing their best moves.
Jamie Zerbe, Council Grove graduate student, and Loren Cunningham, Overland Park resident take their turn in the center. They've been regulars at the academy since they met at Louie's, a swing club in Overland Park, and started dating eight months ago.
Cunningham admits that he partly wanted to learn to swing dance because of the girls.
"Obviously it worked," he said.
Rod Pellegrini, La Serena, Chile, graduate student, leads his partner, Stephanie Filardo, Owensville, Mo., freshman, into the center. Pellegrini, a four-year veteran, spins his partner around the circle. It's Filardo's third lesson with Pellegrini.
"Some things are easy to learn. Some things are difficult," she said. "But it's all worth it."
Pellegrini, who is known for his dedication to the Sunday night dances, says the music and the dancing were addictive. He loves lifting his partners into the air.
"I love aerials," he said. "It takes a lot of coordination and teamwork, and it just looks awesome. What's not to like?"
—Edited by Adam Pracht
Professor visually documents cultural melting pot
By Katie Nelson knelson@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
Contributed art
Pok-Chi Lau travels the world making social commentary through photography, and now his art is traveling the world as well.
Lau, 52, is an associate professor of art and design. Throughout his career as a social photographer, Lau has documented the melting pot that is the United States: interracial relationships, multi-racial children and the assimilation of immigrants into American culture.
The 33 prints on display were taken from 1975 to 2000 in different Chinatowns
A portion of his work is currently on display at the Jan Weiner Gallery in Kansas City, Mo. Many of the prints displayed at the gallery are seeped in symbolism, satire and insinuate social responsibility, he said.
Pok-Chi Lau's portrait, "Tyler Kakeru Lau," is a photo of his son on his first day as an Asian-American. The photo was taken in Lawrence in 1988.
"He's not just showing photos, he's teaching sociology," Jan Weiner, owner and director of the gallery, said.
throughout North America. Some of the photographs were also taken in Hong Kong just after British rule ended there. Others are of Asian descendants who live throughout Kansas in places such as Tonganoxie, Wichita or Salina.
"When people migrate from one part of the world to another, they form different values and different relationships," Lau said. "My work tells about why people
leave to live a lifestyle like us — where we eat the best, wear the best. They want to come to live in the American dream."
Lau has been working on a 244-page book, Dreams of the Golden Mountain (Pace Publishing), that tells about his experiences as an immigrant. It's written in English, French and Chinese, and includes photographs and poetry by Lau.
In January, the editor of Lau's book, Suko Lam, is hosting a gallery exhibition in the suburbs of Paris.
The U.S. release has been delayed because of shipping strikes on the West coast. Lau has one copy that was mailed to him by air, but the rest are still somewhere between the Hong Kong printer and Lawrence.
In the meantime, Lau is planning on returning to China in 2004 to photograph "the good life" of the Chinese people, he said.
"He's very bright and has lived through some of the most unusual experiences,"
POK CHI LAU Photography exhibit
"From Hong Kong with Love"
Saturdays from Nov. 8 through Dec. 31,
noon to 5 p.m., Friday Dec. 6 from 5 p.m. to
8 p.m. and by appointment
Jan Weiner gallery, 4800 Liberty St.
Kansas City, Mo., (816) 931-8755
Book Signings
Dreams of the Golden Mountain Jan Weiner gallery, Friday, Dec. 13, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The Raven Bookstore, 8 E. Seventh St. Wednesday, Dec. 18, 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Weiner said of Lau, "His work reflects that. Some of his work — it's scary as hell, but what he shows is our history as a sociological journey."
- Edited by Amanda Sears