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arts & culture
KANSAN.COM | MONDAY, MAY 1, 2017
Aries
Aries (March 21-April 19)
Home comforts entice.
Plan a luxurious domestic evening. It's a good time for an important conversation. Talk with family about dreams and plans.
Taurus
Gemini
the word out.
(April 20-May 20) Creative expression flows with ease. Write, record and film your masterpiece. Learn new tricks and apply them. Intellect and intuition agree. Get the word out.
(May 21-June 20) Provide leadership, and cash flow increases. Delegate to your support team, and provide clear instructions. Imagine getting what you want. Creative negotiation wins big
big.
Cancer
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
(June 21-July 22)
You're energized and
confident. Advance on a
personal goal and let oth-
ers know how it's going.
Add creative flourishes.
Celebrate what you accomplish.
Leo
(July 23-Aug. 22)
Finish old projects. Sort,
file and organize papers
and photos. Reminisce
and remember. Review
where you've been and
consider the road ahead.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
Virgo
(Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
Look back and laugh.
Discuss wishes, goals and dreams with friends. Their inspiration and passion sparks something for you.
Muse about the future.
Libra
(Sept. 23-Oct. 22) You're in the spotlight, and someone important is paying attention. Charm and put on your best performance. A professional opportunity beckons.
Scorpio
(Oct. 23-Nov. 21) Get adventurous and get out there! Expand your territory. Both actions and words go farther than expected today. Embark on a valiant quest.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
Buy, sell, pay bills and manage finances. Send invoices and time sheets.
Review and update the budget to avoid gaps or breakdowns. Communication provides resolution.
Sagittarius
Capricorn
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan.19) Collaborate to get more done for less. Give up preconceptions about how you think it should look, and let others contribute their way for impressive
(Jan. 20-Feb. 18) Put your back into your efforts. Work up a sweat, and get your heart pumping. Tap into an energy surge. Balance motion with stillness and peace.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
Pisces
(Feb. 19-March 20)
Consider what (and who)
you love. Passion motivates your words and
actions. Invite others to participate in your game.
It's more fun with someone wonderful.
Stunt Dog Experience entertains audience members of all ages Friday at Lied Center
One of the dogs at Chris Perondi's Stunt Dog Experience jumps over three audience volunteers and the show's mascot. Disney Sarah Wright/KANSA
▶ JOSH MCQUADE
@L0neWOlfMcQuade
A stunt and acrobatic dog show that has made TV appearances on shows like "The Queen Latifah Show" visited the Lied Center Friday, April 28.
Chris Perondi's Stunt Dog Experience is a show that has highly trained dogs perform specialized tricks. For example, a border collie named Super Freak is an expert in catching discs. Super Freak caught nine out of 10 discs during one segment, while Spitfire Spinelli — a husky/cattle dog mix — is trained in the art of jumping rope on her hind legs.
Chris was the host of the show Friday night with his wife Suhey Perondi, and two other trainers: Sara Carson and Abby Cline.
Chris introduced the show to the almost sold-out audience by telling them what kind of fun they should be having: "Doggone fun."
The show was geared toward children, but adults in the audience found the child inside of them whenever one of the dogs onstage performed a stunt.
cleared the line of children.
Chris invited three children onto the stage to assist one of the dogs during one of the stunts. The mascot of the show, Diggy the Dog — a man dressed in a dog costume — also showed up and helped line himself and the three children up for the stunt.
A dog came sprinting from the side of the stage, jumped off Chris' back, caught a disc in mid-air and
The show included the aptly-titled Golden Bone Showdown, a competition between two teams of dogs. It included five events where the dogs on the red and blue teams faced off against one another: High-Jump Challenge, Ball Launching Challenge, Weave Pole and Barrel Racing, Disc Dog Extreme Games and the Stunt Dog Triathlon Race — a race including weave poles, running through a tunnel and catching a flying disc.
The blue team was able to take the Golden Bone home after a tie-breaking triathlon.
Every year five million dogs go homeless and end up in shelters in our country."
Suhey Perondi Co-host
On stage, Chris said they train the dogs to catch discs by first putting food
in the disc, creating a relationship between food and the disc. They then teach the dog $ ^{*} $ accuracy by having them run around their legs and grabbing the disc when reaching the front of the legs. The final step is to throw the disc to the dog and marvel at the sight.
Suhey also came out to promote adopting animals of all kinds from shelters. Every dog that performs in Chris Perondi's Stunt Dog Experience was either adopted from a shelter or rescued from the streets.
Alexis Alfaro and Wen-Ting Ong won the KU's Got Talent competition this spring.
"Every year five million dogs go homeless and end up in shelters in our country," Suhey said.
Audience member Brady Shirk is a dog-owner and sophomore at the University. After the show, he said that he enjoyed the show because he got the chance to see dogs that were much better trained than his own.
- Edited by Paola Alor
KU's Got Talent winners blend pop, classical music
Yusra Nabi/KANSAN
▶ HANNAH COLEMAN
@hecoleman33
To graduate opera student Alexis Alfaro, classical music is the foundation of all other genres of music. Alfaro and fellow KU's Got Talent Winner Wen-Ting Ong sang a version of "Lay Me Down" by Sam Smith with a classical take on the popular tune. With the mixture of Alfaro's opera singing and Ong's abilities on the piano, the duo took the win.
Ong, a graduate student studying piano performance met Alfaro early in their music program studies and became friends. Seeing the opportunity to combine their talents, the two decided to collaborate and compete in KU's Got Talent. They chose the popular Sam Smith song that they had both previously worked on, in order to better connect with an audience that may not be as familiar with classical music and opera.
"I said, 'What are we doing? We're classical musicians and we're singing pop music,'" Alfaro said. "She said, 'We're doing our own thing,' and that's really cool, so that's what the collaboration has been. What's really cool is that we were recognized for it, because we put ourselves out there
As a pianist, Ong does a lot of improvising, and likes to add her own spin to popular music. Ong said she was inspired by her newfound hobby of taking tango classes, bringing out improvisation and tango influences in the Smith song and other collaborations the two have done.
and won the competition."
Today, Alfaro said people are inundated with music. In the past, it used to be that you stuck to a particular style, such as classical. But now, with this added mixture of genres, him and Ong could create a song
Ong's classical training in piano began as a child, having two parents who were singers. They would often ask Ong to accompany them and she realized that piano came easily to her. It wasn't until the last year of her undergraduate studies, when she was working to become a doctor, that she realized she wanted music to become a career, rather than just a hobby.
She decided to devote herself to it. Ong is getting her doctorate in piano performance. She wishes in the future to teach at the university level. In addition to her current studies, Ong works with the University's Department of Dance and the Lawrence Arts Center playing for ballets.
"Doing this enhances my ability as a pianist," Ong said. "Instead of using sheet music, I improise my own music. I just look at their movements, and follow them while they're dancing. So it paints a very different picture of music for me."
based on popular genres that everyone is familiar with.
Alfaro also had an love for music early on in his life, when he was a singer for his
church choir in his hometown of San Diego. His family, also musically-inclined, is made up of many devoted singers. His family would often get together to sing.
Alfaro said that he diligently listens to all sorts of music to gather information on how to better compose a mixture of styles in his music. Though Alfaro doesn't often improvise, he said he enjoys the work of other talented musicians and putting his own voice on the songs through his natural abilities in opera.
After he graduates, Alfaro wants to keep singing opera. He currently works with the San Diego Opera. He wants to continue moving up the ladder and achieving the next steps in getting recognized as an opera singer.
The two musicians are thoroughly invested in their own musical studies and focused on individual projects, though they hope to see a possible second collaboration down the road.
"I'd love to collaborate again," Alfaro said. "I'd love to see that happen."
- Edited by Paola Alor
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