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Show TMJNDERB3RD 71 ' CHERIS TUCKER SETTING THE STAGE ; ? Pavarotti in Podunk? Recently I have heard a lot of people complain about lack of culture in Cedar City. You know the type: he or she comes from a huge city like Salt Lake and moans about the sparsity of culture here. However, culture is contingent upon the person rather than the environment. Cedar City has plenty to offer in the realm of culture. I grew up close to a large university and have actually found more culture available down here. The music department offers various concerts every quarter, and anyone who went to the orchestras last concert will say that it was excellent. All right, maybe it wasnt the Utah Symphony, but for a university of 4,000 students, it was exceptional. If anyone wants to enjoy the Utah Symphony on a regular basis, he should transfer to the University of Utah. True, the music department offers mainly classical music with little or no variety in the realm of jazz and other music forms, but if students desperately want to hear jazz and rock, they can listen to tapes. And if they get ambitious with their time (theres nothing to do in Cedar, anyway) maybe they can even learn to play the tuba themselves and organize their own band. This leads to the next complaint: There is no place open all night for various bands to perform. The closest such entities we have are the bars in town. However, if students need to hang out somewhere in order to be cultured, thats too bad. Culture isnt determined by where you hang out, but rather by ones degree of enlightenment or refinement. Websters Dictionary defines culture as being the act of developing the intellectual and moral faculties, Webster adds that culture is especially by education. the acquaintance with and taste in fine arts and humanities. So good luck becoming cultured by simply sitting around listening to a band that is probably mediocre anyway. However, there are plenty of events that students seeking culture can attend. And most of them are free or close to it ($2 for theatre productions), so there is no reason students cannot attend. Quality of productions is not an issue usually the concerts and plays on this campus are worth going to. The funny thing is, the people I hear complaining about Cedar City being a cultural wasteland never go to the events that are offered. My guess is that if these same students were at a school with 40,000 students and hundreds of places, they would still be making the same complaints. After all, like I have said twice now, culture is determined by the person, not the environment. ht Holiday concert set The SUU Concert Choir and OPUS will present their annual Christmas Concert tomorrow in the Cedar High School Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Bart Shanklin will direct the two groups in a program that will include a wide variety of Christmas music ranging from Pergolesi and Handel to the contemporary sounds of John Ness Beck, as well as traditional Christmas carols. SU students are admitted free with current activity cards. Drill team is not just for kicks It will still be some time before the sun peeks over the horizon as a voice barks out, Watch those lines! Keep it simple keep it simple you guys! Early morning drill at a military base? No, the scene is on the floor of the Southern Utah University Centrum as 21 members of the Waukeenyan drill team are put through their paces in preparation for the groups upcoming appearances. Tiffin Butcher, the new director of the Waukeenyans, is pleased with the progress the group is making. She says the team is now putting more focus on actual dancing rather than marching. Butcher is a 1991 graduate of SUU in theatre , arts with a dance emphasis. She began at SUU as a member of the womens gymnastics team, a ' discipline she has called on at times as a dancer. She studied dance under Terri Lauterbach-Cott- s and, as a member of the American Folk Ballet, under Burch Mann, San Christopher and Gwen Grimes-Arnet- t. Her gymnastic leaps and cartwheels often cause audiences to gasp during AFB performances. The dance connection with the Waukeenyans is strong. Choreography for their current routines is who also performed by Mann and Grimes-Arnet- t, with the Rockettes. Because some of the teams members graduate or leave each year and new members join, every school year begins with fresh training. And the training is tough. The Waukeenyans must show up a week before school starts and practice for eight hours a day. After hell week, things get easier for the Waukeenyans. They practice from 6 to 8 every weekday morning and take circuit weight training three times a week. If theyre late, they dont get to practice. If a member misses two practices she cannot perform. With only two credits of Dance 252 offered for Waukeenyan membership, Butcher noted, participation comes mainly from the desire to perform and to create a top team. It takes a lot to work out and keep smiling at 6 a.m., Butcher said But theyre a much better looking team physically than they were a few weeks ago. Other major performances this year will include a performance in the annual theatredance concert and probably a review of their own, Butcher noted. Shakespeare wants you for festival will soon be which range 1992 season. for their Positions, hiring from actors to box office assistants, are an excellent opportunity to enjoy Shakespeare. The plays to be presented are The Merry Wises of Windsor, King Lear and The Merchant of Venice in the Adams Memorial Shakespearean Theatre; in the Randall L. Jones Theatre, Blithe Spirit, Gyrano de ' Bergerac and Julius Caesar. Preceding the plays every night is the Greenshow,. a sampling of Renaissance singing, puppetry and comedy. Performers are recruited by audition in selected conservatory and training programs and by invitation to regional auditions on the basis of photoresume and recommendation. positions are recruited by application, recommendation and interview. The performing positions available are actors, musicians, acting interns, dance captainchoreographer, greenshowfeaste performers and assistant music director. The Utah Shakespearean Festival . There are numerous positions available in all categories of work behind the scenes. These include technical directors, scenic artists, carpenters, makeup and hair artists, costume crafts technicians, house managers, production assistants and many more positions. The deadline for performing applications is Jan. 10 and March 2 for applications. The majority of full season personnel must arrive in Cedar City on May 17. The first full company meeting will be May 18. Some contract dates vary according to position. All positions are paid and vary accordmg to experience and training. Contracts include living accommodations at no expense to company members. Applications and inquiries for sill positions should be addressed to the Casting and Personnel Office, Utah Shakespearean Festival, 351 West Center, Cedar City. Applicants can also call 586-788- 0. 7 |