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Show BALLROOM DANCING From page 7 In addition to the performances of the USU Ballroom Dance Company, the show will also feature performances by Skyview's dance team, the Star Steppers (a local dance studio) and some soloists from the Salt Lake City area. "It will be an exciting show," Tonioli said. "A lot of people have worked really hard to get this show together. It would be a shame to miss it." The dance team competes at various locations around Utah and California. Recently, the team placed fourth in team formations in a California competition held in San Diego. "During the four years that I've been involved with USU's dance team, we have competed against other schools in Utah, Idaho, San Jose, San Diego, Las Vegas and Vancouver BC»" Tuckett said. "We compete both as a team and as individual couples, and do fairly well at both. Last year, our team tied for second place in San Diego, and our individual couples have taken home ribbons in a wide variety of dance styles." In addition to dance competitions, the team performs several times each year at a number of community events. "This year so far, we have performed in Preston at a Christmas fundraiser, we have performed at church events and we performed at Thanksgiving Point in February," Tonioli said. "The highlight of performances was when we performed for the King of Tonga and the National Tongan Association at the Sheraton in Salt Lake City in February." The team consists of nine couples (18 members) and two coaches who practice three hours each day on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and sometimes all-day on Saturday for choreography sessions. "Team members are encouraged to get together as partnerships outside of practice, and some have been known to put in an additional four to six hours per week in preparation for competition," Tuckett said. Team members joined the company for a variety of reasons, but most of them come back to a love of dance. "I started dancing when I lived back home in Montana my senior year of high school," team member Shelby Mergenthaler said. "When I came to USU I was eager to continue dancing, so I thought, 'why not try ballroom?' I ended up making the team and falling in love with it." "I dance because it is so much fun, gives me something to do (not to mention a great cardio workout) and I really just love doing it," company vice president Alyssa Brande said. "In my opinion ballroom dance is much more strict than any other style of dance. That doesn't mean you can't have fun with it, it just means there is more structure to it, and more technique to acquire to really become good at it." Unlike hip hop, which is really free form, ballroom requires each step, hip movement and arm movement to be exact, especially in team formations, Mergenthaler said. On Sept. 8, 1997, the International Olympic Committee granted the International DanceSport Federation status as a recognized federation and a member of the IOC. Though still not an Olympic event, ballroom dancing has been categorized as a sport because of the technical skills and physical prowess required to compete. USU Ballroom Dance Company members participate in an exercise regiment that includes running up to two miles and doing many pushups and situps before dance practice. "We are a USU team just like the hockey team or any other club sport," Mergenthaler said. "We work hard to represent USU. We would love to have some 'fans' come see what we're all about at our spring show. We may not be on a court with a basketball, but we've still got moves." Students who are interested in joining the dance team should watch for the flyers that are put up at the beginning of Photo Courtesy British Open Dance Championships COMPETITIVE BALLROOM DANCING each academic year. Auditions are usually held during the first or second week of the fall semester. "There has been a ballroom dance team here at USU for the past 10 years," Tuckett said. "I am optimistic about the future of ballroom dancing at USU. My hope is that the team will continue to grow and improve and that someday soon, Logan will be able to host it's very first 'Aggie Dancesport Festival.'" Tickets to this year's spring show cost $5. For more info on the show, tryouts or ballroom dancing in general, e-mail the dance company at ballroom@cc.usu.edu. -mattgo@cc.usu.edu 'Ice Age 2' survives crass dialogue with smart, silent, and squirrelly slapstick If you, like me, remember American animated films of the 8O's, there seemed to be two competing brands: dominant Disney and then those Don Bluth films. The latter's films, like "An American Tail" and "The Land Before Time," were original, well crafted, and still deserve credit despite their place in Disney's shadow. Fast forward about twenty years, and you have a somewhat similar situation in the digital animation world. Pixar is obviously the digital animation king, and, other than Dreamworks, Blue Sky Studios is the queen, consistently producing solid pictures. Example A: "Ice Age: The Meltdown." This sequel builds upon the optimistic energy of the [Rated PG, original while taking some enjoyable chances (like a pack of vultures singing an "Oliver" tune). "Meltdown" has a likable story, cast and particularly great music. However, the film slides off course only by including PG language in what naturally feels like a G film. To blame are the film's writers, Peter Gaulke and Gerry Swallow, whose credits include the deplorable "Black Knight" and Saturday Night Live. Consequently the dialogue is sprinkled witn akward modern-day coarseness in the first act. Despite the dismal dialogue, this is still a well-crafted film. The setting is near the end of the world's ice age. The heroes include the meloncholy mammoth Manny (voiced by Ray Romano), the gruff saber-toothed tiger Diego (voiced by Dennis Leary) and Sid (voiced by John Leguizamo), a dim but affable sloth. The three make up an unconventional herd enjoying warming weather with other animals of the past. Thanks to an animal seeming to be the world's first con artist (voiced by Jay Leno), the herd discovers that they are living right next to a breaking ~~ dam. Thus, another exodus from the ice Chris Blakesley begins. Along the way, Manny, the film's true protagonist, meets a female mammoth (charmingly voiced by Queen Latifah) who coincidentally thinks she's a possum. Just as notable is how 'Meltdown' smartly gives much screen time to Scrat, the movie's mascot— half squirrel, half rat. Grade B+ \ Scrat never says a word, and exists only to gather acorns. The Scrat sequences actually remind me a lot of silent comedies - where facial expressions and movement proved words unnecessary. I noticed that the theater, full of children, was silent whenever Scrat twitched his way on screen. I hope filmmakers note that showing (as opposed to explaining) always wins over an audience. For its opening weekend, "Ice Age: The Meltdown" took in almost $70 million, a record high for the month of March. Studio heads stated this week that another Ice Age film is practically guaranteed, after completion of Blue Sky's next film, "Horton Hears a Who." Long live the queen. . Chris Blakesley is a film critic for the Utah Statesman. Comments and questions can be sent to him at cblakes@cc. usu.edu. Reel Reviews has developed a large following in recent years. TOP OF THE Box OFFICE 1) "Ice Age 2" Gross Sales: $68,033,544 2) "Inside Man" Gross Sales: 515,437,760 3) "ATL" Gross Sales: $11,554,404 4) "Failure to Launch" Gross Sales: $6,463,434 5) "VforVendetta" Gross Sales: $6,2995,358 6) "Stay Alive" Gross Sales: $4,506,719 7) "She's the Man" Gross Sales: $4,429,426 8) "Slither* Gross Sales: $3,880,270 9) "The Shaggy Dog" Gross Sales: $3,242,414 10) "Basic Instinct 2" Gross Sales: $3,201,420 |