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University Daily Kansan
Arts/Entertainment
Thursday. Feb. 20, 1986
Kids learn easy way to trail animal tracks
Above, Tom Swaringen, director of exhibits for the Museum of Natural History, explains that the way an animal walks, whether it has a tail and whether it has claws can all help in identifying an animal's track.
Near right, Paul Allen, 9, son of Lewis and JoBeth Allen, 1901 New Hampshire, to make to a few tracks of his own in the snow. Allen attended an annual "Animal Tracks" outing Saturday.
Far right, Swearingen points out coyote tracks to Courtney Maurin, 7, daughter of Dalton Maurin, Easton. Swearingen lead the tracking field trip to teach how to detect and interpret the signs animals leave in the winter.
It's not every day that a person can go out into the wilderness and play Daniel Boone. But Saturday morning, 12 kids and nine adults did just that.
By Diane Dultmeier Special to the Kansan
"Many animals track by smell," said Tom Swearingen, director of exhibits for the Dyche Museum of Natural History who led the group. "But today we're going to learn the art of following animal tracks by sight."
river banks, and, after a tough morning of tracking animals, drank hot cocoa and ate roasted marshmallows.
For three hours the group identified paw prints, made their way down rocky inclines, followed paths, crossed streams, stood on sandy
Luke Allen, son of Lewis and Jobeth Allen, 1901 New Hampshire St., has been on the outing for the last several years.
"We found lots of tracks this time," he said. "Most of the time we find this many kinds of tracks, but not this many of them."
The annual Animal Tracks and Trails outing is part of the increasingly popular public education program sponsored by the Museum of Natural History. In fact, so many people signed up for Saturday's expedition that Swearingen is going to do it again this Saturday. Five other Winter Weekend Workshops are planned for this semester.
The goal of the Tracks and Trails outing is to teach the participants, ages eight to adult, how to detect and interpret the signs animals leave in winter.
Tammy Stude/KANSAN
During the three-hour hike sudden yells from the group could be heard.
"Wow! Look at the eagles."
What's this:
"Is that a racoon track?"
The group learned about many signs that animals leave. Some of them are paw prints, chewed off trees and animal feces. By looking at these signs, Swearingen and the group could tell what animals had been in that particular area recently. The group saw three eagles and some beaver during the trip.
"There's a lot of variation to the wildlife down there," Swearingen said. "There's a lot of fox, coyotes, beaver, muskrats, minks, eagles, hawks, rabbits, mice and birds."
Swearingen said this was the first year he had taken the Tracks and Trail groups to the north side of the Kansas River. In other years, the group has gone to the Baldwin timber, the Sante Fe Trail, Backpack Park, Hole-in-the-Wall and Stranger Creek.
Paul Allen, 9, Luke's brother, said,
"It was fun, except I got cold at the
very beginning because the wind was
blowing at us."
But a borrowed stocking hat and the shelter of the nearby trees kept him warm after those first cold moments.
"My favorite parts were the racoon tracks, crossing a stream and roasting marshmallows," he said.
A few spaces are still available for this Saturday's trip. The cost is $4.00 for Museums Associates members and $5.00 for non-members. Anyone who is interested should contact the public education office, 602J Dyche Hall, 864-1737.
Swearingen said he didn't know where he would take the group this weekend. He said he usually decided at the last moment.
Trio's talent enhanced by solo work
"It just depends on driving conditions, walking conditions and the whole bit," he said.
By Grant W. Butler
The Kalischtein-Laredo-Broinson Trio is scheduled to perform at 3:30 p.m. in the Crafton-Preyer Theater in Murphy Hall as part of the 1986 University Arts Festival and the KU Chamber Music Series. Tickets may be purchased at the MU Hall Bldg. They cost $4.50 and $5.50 for KU students, $10 for ICE students and other students, and $9 and $11 for the general public.
Opportunities for solo work as well as for ensemble performances give the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson trio a fresh approach to chamber music, a member of the trio said last week.
"I think that since we're not a group that plays together 12 months out of the year, it makes our concerts a little different," said Jaime Laredo, a violinist. "It's fresher."
"It's something we enjoy so much that if it meant taking time away from our solo careers and canceling some solo performances we wouldn't care.
"We all feel that our work together helps us as a trio and also in our solo work. We all feel we learn a lot from each other."
The trio members are Joseph Kalichstein, pianist; Sharon Robinson, cellist; and Laredo.
Laredo said one of the reasons the ensemble work helped each member of the trio was because it expanded the amount of material each could perform.
For a cello, violin and piano trio, there is a lot of music written by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms and Mendelssohn, he said.
"It's a vast repertoire," he said. "If we played for the next 30 years straight, we couldn't get through it all."
For its performance at the University of Kansas, the trio will play Mozart's "Trio in B-flat Major." Schumann's "Trio in F Major, Opus 80" and Brahms' "Trio in C Major, Opus 87."
The trio was formed in 1976 and made its debut during one of the inauguration week parties for Jimmy Carter in Washington in 1977.
President Carter had a great love for chamber music, Laredo said, and it was exciting to be asked to play for him.
"It was so wonderful that here was this man who was interested in having world class chamber music at the White House instead of rock or country," he said. "Apparently he really loved classical music, and when he'd work, he'd always have music on."
Laredo said that when the group re-formed after having played solo concerts, it didn't take much time to recapture the enthusiasm for music that they hoped to convey to the audience.
Performances at summer music festivals, on university campuses and in cities around the United States and Europe have kept the trio occupied since that time.
"When we get back together there's never any time for stalemates or routines," he said.
The audience is one reason why the trio travels often, Laredo said. People can find chamber music rewarding, but only if they have the opportunity to hear it.
David Gottlieb, professor of law and a member of the Lawrence Symphony Orchestra, said he had heard the triple years ago in New York City and had been impressed with its musicianship.
"They're all superb musicians in their own right," he said. "They've all done solo work in addition to their chamber performances."
Each member of the trio is a sensitive and mature chamber player. Gottlieb said.
"I think they're terrific, and I know it will be a good concert" he said.
Dance improvisation adds new twists in play
By Monique O'Donnell
The Picnic Project: A Deconstructive Performance in honor of William Iwgle, will be presented at 8 a.m. Friday and Saturday and Feb. 27, 28 and March 1 in the Crain-Pryer Theatre in Murphy Hall. Tickets are $1.50, $2 and $250 for KU students, $4 and $4 for senior citizens and other students and $3, $4 and $5 for the general public.
Staff writer
They stretch, they crawl, they chant and dance. But not a word is spoken for the first 15 minutes.
Dim lighting, eight actors and two carts are on stage. The actors' improvised movements become a rhythmic dance that slowly ebs off and freezes in a silent pose.
What the audience will see for the first 15 minutes of "The Picnic Project" is the actors' warm-up.
Findlay said he had never included the warm-up in the performance before. If the play was not taking place in the academic setting he wouldn't have included it.
"We're taking a big chance," director Robert Findley said about including the exercise in the performance. "Because it's absolute improvisation and we don't talk about what we're doing."
After a few minutes to change clothes the actors flock on stage and begin the play. The story is based on a play, "Picnic," written by William Inge in 1853.
Cast member of "The Picnic Project" are from left and clockwise, Duane Sharp, Westwood junior, as Howard; Dehbi Shannon, Lawrence senior, as Mrs. Helen Potts; Diego Taborda, Colombia junior, as Alan; Leslie Ann Spires, Lawrence freshman, as Millie; Roddy C. Robody Jr., Overland Park sophomore, as Hal, and Jennifer Glimpse, Wichita junior, as Rosemary. Robert Findlay, professor of theatre and media arts will be directing "The Picnic Project," an adaptation of William Inge's original play "The Picnic."
Mark Mohler/KANSAN
The setting is a small Kansas community that is preparing for a Labor Day picnic. A young man who has drifted into town adds an unsettling element to the daily routine of the town's people. The drifter's uninhibited behavior disturbs the community and leads to conflict.
Findlay said he applied this paraphratical method to the play. In this approach the actors improvise on a given theme without discussing or interpreting what they are doing.
"I haven't taken Inge's text and done something traditional with it," he said. "We're trying to create a play that can be applied in 1986, not a fictitious world. We're trying to hit people where they are now."
The story is indigenously Kansan,
but not in a cornbail sort of way.
Findlay said. It has the sensibility
particular to this part of the country.
Diego Taborda, Buenaventura, Columbia, junior and an actor in the play, called the cast would try something out in the rehearsals and the director either accepted or rejected the innovation. Eventually, certain gestures become constant in each performance of the play.
But a certain amount of improvisation remains, Findlay said, and no performance is ever the same.
Taborda said the improvisational method brought out the creativity in the actors and made working on this project fun. He said he was a little confused during the first week of rehearsals because he had never dealt with the para-theatrical method before.
Conductor's style inspires enthusiasm in KU orchestra
Chen has proved himself a master of inspiration, transmitting his qualities to the people who work with him.
Humor flavors his style; talent directs his wand; but it is his enthusiasm which strikes the most distinctive chord in Zuohuang Chen's conducting.
Attendance at concerts and special events that feature the orchestra has soared, partly because of Chen's reputation. Yet he's been at the University of Kansas for less than one year.
Chen is the first Chinese conductor to pursue a doctoral degree in conducting at an American university. He finished his courses at the University of Michigan and agreed to conduct KU's orchestra for a year. He completed his oral dissertation in December and will return to the People's Republic of China in May to conduct the Central Philharmonic Orchestra in Beijing.
Students call him tough and demanding. What good conductor isn't? But Chen is more — he stimulates progress and growth.
The qualitative differences in the
The slightest discordant note does not go unnoticed, and he's quick to point out improvement. He's a perfectionist and demands the same of the University Symphony Orchestra.
Arts/Entertainment Editor
And Chen's innovation finds creative outlets. On Oct. 31, he convinced orchestra members to disguise themselves in costumes and perform a Halloween concert. Chen, in his gorilla costume, and the orchestra were a whopping success.
Jill White
Certainly the Outstanding Educator Award that Chen will receive this Sunday is a wellserved recognition of his contributions.
Students attribute their renewed interest and pride in the orchestra and concerts to Chen. Quality improvement has been bolstered by an 11.5-percent increase in the size of the orchestra.
Snapshots
Faculty members in the music department spare no praise when referring to Chen. They even want to keep Chen at KU for another year. Besides continuing a steady progression of growth in the orchestra, he would be helpful in establishing a new cultural exchange program between his alma mater, the Beijing Central Conservatory, and KU's department of music.
Band to play at KU
The Wall of Voodoo will perform at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Kansas Union Ballroom.
The concert is sponsored by Student Union Activities as part of its Standing Room Only Series. Tickets are on sale at the SUA box office and cost $7 for students with KUIDs and $8.50 for the general public.
The five-member rock band from California has released two albums. The group's music is known for its polished and somewhat commercial sound.
orchestra have not gone undetected by either faculty members or students.
The "Models of Leonardo da Vinci" will be on display Feb. 25 through April 6 at Kansas Union Gallery.
New exhibit to open
International Business Machines Corp. has compiled the exhibition of models built according to Leonardo's scientific and
IBM selected the models from its larger collection to give the audience an indication of Leonardo's diverse interests and investigations.
Weekend Outlook
technical drawings. The show tours museums, universities and public libraries throughout the United States.
"The Dogs?", at 9 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday at Cogburns, 737 New Hampshire St.
■ Bon Ton, at 9 p.m. today tomorrow and Saturday at the Jazzaus 92% - Massachusetts St.
Psychic Archie at 9 p.m.
Saturday at the Outhouse, four
miles east of Massachusetts Street
on 15th Street. The Descendents at
10 p.m. Sunday at the Outhouse.
Rope Burn at 9 p.m. tonight at Johnny's Tavern, 401 N. Second St.
Beth Scafett at 10 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday at the Up and Under, 403 N. Second St.