| Show Volume 71 Number 95 Utah State University Logan Utah Monday August 5 1974 Dancing expresses soul Lecture series slated for Aug 1 according Jo Petrus Muyden by Carol Harmer managing editor Dance is performed not just with the feet but with the head too Petrus van Muyden former Ballet Master with the San Francisco Ballet instructed his Ballet West class at Utah State University The line of the neck becomes important in the transmission at-of a mood to the audience in tempting to achieve the total effect of the dance he added was caused by the blood entering and leaving his lungs The nurse who was there day and night advised van Muyden to not tell his doctor as he would become indignant over the self-diagnos- Van Muyden’s diagnosis Paris he studied under Madame Olga Preobrajenskaya and Madame Rousanne He has with danced companies throughout the capitals of Europe The story of Petrus however doesn't really begin until as recently as three years ago Having lived in the United States for 21 years van Muyden was in Michigan three years ago when he chanced to slip on a piece of ice breaking his ankle After undergoing an operation during which the doctor inserted a pin into van Muyden’s ankle he then set upon the task of recovering to full health Petrus soon discovered he was having trouble breathing and that the problem self-diagnos- ed was found to be correct when another doctor was consulted after van Muyden’s first doctor was called out of town However the trouble didn’t stop with the recognition of the cause While still recovering from the Petrus operation Born in the Netherlands van Muyden has been dancing since the age of 12 His earliest training was in The Hauge and later in Paris He finished his studies at the Sobourne in Paris where he majored in psychology While in is said that suddenly he felt the blood drain from his head and explode within his system He then felt a pop and clinically he was dead For four minutes the doctors and nurses worked to bring him back to life before having success The story that van Muyden tells is of his remembrances during that period of “death” Petrus said he felt himself leaving his body and suddenly he was watching the efforts of the doctors while surrounded by a yellowish light he Van says Muyden in occurred all that remembers can and was dead the time he recall what everyone did and how they acted After revival van Muyden remained in a coma for three weeks and once again flirted with Petrus This time death a remembers seeing figure in front of him— male long hair beautiful— thinking immediately that it was Christ but being afraid to ask Petrus said he asked “Who are you” The figure merely smiled in response Trying another approach van Muyden asked “Am I dead” The response was quiet and direct “Do you mean physically?” Petrus said he tried one more time to find out what was happening and asked the Christ-figur- e “If I’m not dead when will I die” The answer: “Sunday morning at 2” Van Muyden soon came out of his coma and looked to the nurse in his room He recalls his first words being “What day is it” And the nurse ansering “Easter Sunday at 2 in the morning” This experience has become the guiding force in my life Petrus said “Since then everything has been for now this moment is the most important” This philosophy has come across in his work as a dancer Now a teacher instead of Premier Danseur Etoile as he once was van Muyden transmits to his class the need to perform for the moment as if it is the most important time the dancer will know The future is very much a mystery to van Muyden but he says he feels at ease with the direction of his life The immediate future for van Muyden includes going back to Pittsburgh Pa his new home and teaching as an professor at assistant Point Park Colleges He will also begin working soon on the staging of the “Gaie Parisienne” for the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Third outstanding alumnus named by The third" Distinguished given by the Utah State University Alumni Association has been presented to Gerald R Sherratt Alumnus Award The award was presented by Jay R Bingham Bountiful president of the USU Alumni at a dinner and Association reception honoring Mr Sherratt July 26 Sherratt is assistant to the president for development and special projects and director and of the USU Development Fund He is former director of the Alumni Association and secretary made significant contributions to inthe association’s progress of its cluding computerization USU association records and reaching an e and high in membership activities association-sponsoreall-tim- d the old Branch He attended (now College Southern Utah State College) at and received Cedar City bachelor’s and master’s degrees at USU where he was a cheerleader and student leader He is a candidate for the PhD from-iga a St a£e University Agricultural deg-ree- - M h where he began employment as a member of student activities staff in 1963 also has an appointment as At USU instructor education in his the he an elementary He founded and has directed 4 Pages for many years the Robins an annual recognition program at USU for students Awards faculty and alumni Last year he wrote and produced the first Festival of the and the American West festival’s major element a historical pageant received the George Washington Honor Medal from the Freedoms Foundation Valley F orgePA The festival continued this year for an extended run And characteristically the busy Mr Sherratt rushed from the dinner where he was honored to the USU Spectrum for the third in this year’s 10 performances of the pageant Dr Kent G Stephens of professor educational administration at associate Brigham Young University will speak Wednesday August 7 at Utah State University as of the College of part Education Distinguished Lecture Series The lecture to be held from 1:30 to 3:30 pm in the is a Business Auditorium Fault Tree Analysis approach to education entitled “Thou Shalt Not Fail” “Fault Tree’’ takes a negativistic approach to analyzing the possibilities of future failure in a system by defining what could go wrong in the system The means of success are then defined and plugged into the system to see how well they work “By defining the modes of failure in the system af firmative action can be taken to insure success” Kent Wood associate professor of instructional media said Stephens is a former secondary mathematics teacher and director of -- business of the Seattle Public Schools He has served as a consultant to the US Office of Education the California of State Department California and Education Community Colleges He is currently working with such projects as the Alaska Pipeline and International Fisheries Dr of Stephens will be by Dr Keith Oakes of the Department Education Administration at BYU formerly of the College of Education and School Aministration at USU |
