The Fringe

The official Tumblr page of The Fringe, the newly-relaunched arts & culture section of the on-campus, student-run UWM Post.

[thefringeuwm-blog]

On Social Media and Patience

I've been thinking about this silly trend on the beloved World Wide Web. Among its many perplexities to be discussed (Ie. trolling, plagiarism, pornography, stalking, cyberbullies, dubious 'political conversations,' proliferation of viral Youtube, constant reiteration of memes and more), I've chosen one of the most popular for Gen X: posting of song lyrics and/or hyperlinks for music videos on social media.

Giant Disclaimer: I have done this many times.

Imagine a dreary-eyed night in which you've put off some menial work to attend to, interrupted by absent-minded scrolling down your fluorescent screen which displays all the things your whole 'friend' list has deemed sufficiently important to share from their lives, ("Just had the BEST DINNER EVER WITH THE BABE AT [insert ritzy restaurant]" / "THREE MORE WEEKS TIL MY BIG VACAY"/ "FOURTH DAY OF THIS LIFE CHANGING DIET, Y'ALL") amid reactions to the latest 'happening' TV show and 'likes' of mediocre products such as Diet Coke/ photos of meals, etc etc. This all being unenthusing enough prior to someone's quotes surrounding lyrics, just an artless mix of words accompanying an embedded Youtube video.

A familiar scene, no?

The thought process behind a post like this probably goes something like, "I am having a visceral moment with this beat/ string of words/ other human's voice and the realness of it is too much to withstand on my own... better ease that loneliness by sharing it" [scrambles way to keyboard].

Of course, the problem with this phenomenon is that we often don't care to take the time to listen to the song; after all, experiencing music can be an incredibly personal event specific to what we are going through at the time, not to mention our unique prized taste in music, and so on. Without the music and the subtleties of listening, the quote just looks like a sort of desperate attempt to connect with and/or stand out to all our indifferent, self-absorbed peers. Basically, goal unfulfilled.

Another facet of this situation is the fact that many of us are individuals who deeply appreciate music but are unfortunately, uhh, without musical talent. Ideally we would start a band and finally share our secret reservoir of creativity, but that's not always the most viable outlet. Therefore, our options consist of spending our limited funds on concert-going and drunkenly though passionately jamming out in a sweaty audience of half-conscious strangers or consistently professing our love for this and that artist to uninterested friends and family. Hence the social media. As we all know, however, interaction on these platforms can rarely yield much more than the sometimes disappointing interactions of real life. Yes, it opens doors to learn much more about each other and our world, but does that necessarily change our attitudes toward either of these things?  

While social media continues to remain this confusing periphery of our lives, providing a foggy window into all of life's unknowns, we can always work on compassion towards others, despite their banal updates and insistent pleas for more attention, and maybe sometimes even jam out to a Youtube video someone has posted.

In summary, live and let live. Or just avoid the internet.

But really, all of this was just a justification for me to do this:

"TO PHOTO/ TO RECORD MEAT LUMPS AND WAR"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3fTw_D3l10

Also, does anyone want to start a band??

-Maddy Hughes  

[thefringeuwm-blog]

Review: The Comedy

Rick Alverson's movie with Tim Heidecker is lame

By Kevin Kaber Fringe Editor

I finally got around to watching The Comedy, a film dedicated to the boring realism of hipsterdom. It's difficult to watch cultish humorists (in this case, Tim Heidecker of Tim and Eric fame) step out of their comfort zone and into challenging roles (think Punch Drunk Love); however, it's even more difficult when there's nothing coherent about the film's plot.  I'll keep the reasoning short.

Swanson (Heidecker), is an aging hipster of a wealthy family. He's likely done nothing with his life except fuck around with his friends (played by Eric Wareheim, a non-Neil Hamburger Gregg Turkington, and James Murphy of the defunct LCD Soundsystem) in New York City. They pretty much live the dream - riding fixies and drinking PBRs between messing with working class citizens and having one night stands.

Though his father is withering away and he's due to inherit his estate, Swanson continues to be painfully bored and reckless. After imitating landscapers and taxi drivers, he lands a job as a dishwasher a few days a week. That's about it.

The film's realism isn't the only thing that's draining - it looks and feels claustrophobic and the dark stabs at humor from Swanson are too Heidecker-esque   to place in a film that details the unfulfilling lives of rich hipsters.

Of course, irony plays a major factor in The Comedy, these are histpers, you know! The constant stabs of dark and perverted humor aren't fitting whatsoever; not to mention, it's difficult to laugh at someone so pathetic. Is it supposed to be funny? Probably (hopefully) not. Then why name it The Comedy? Because of the irony enshrined in the hipster culture, you dingbat! But does it work? Largely no.

[thefringeuwm-blog]

Patrick Watson charms Milwaukee

Turner Hall Ballroom was charmed with Watson’s indie pop and electric folk mash-up this past Friday.

By Emily Topczewski

With what appeared to be a mash-up of electric folk and indie pop, Patrick Watson charmed the Turner Hall Ballroom last night with piano melodies, experimental lighting and projections, a strong drum beat and a xylophone – a must have for indie bands across the nation and throughout the decades (it must be a requirement in a mysterious indie band rulebook somewhere).

With awkward transitions and quirky-at-best, bizarre-in-reality banter, opener Alpha Consumer, a three-piece band from Minneapolis, established the tone for the evening with a twangy indie-folk-rock set. Vocals were not the focus for the majority of the opener’s set, where cymbals played with heavy bass lines and fleeting guitar melodies. The beats and bass line vibrated the floor and gently shook the candles glowing on audience tables. Alpha Consumer excited a calm, seated audience with an intriguing combination of several unrelated genres and repetitive, quirky lyrics, prepping the stage for the leading man.

Patrick Watson, an artist who hails from Montreal, was greeted with immense applause and energy from an otherwise seated, polite crowd. His set experimented with a blend of electric folk and indie pop, pairing his indie-folk voice with a full band sound. It was reminiscent of Regina Spektor – Watson has a similar vocal feel and the same penchant for the piano – if she chose to change her acoustic works over with a full band.

Like opener Alpha Consumer, Watson spends a large portion of his set jamming with his band on stage, listening to how the sounds combine to create something new. This combination of piano, bass lines and a steady drum beat mixed with an eclectic assortment of tambourines, violin and xylophones created an inexplicably charming pairing of combative genres. He provided a little bit of everything for the audience from charming folk twang to jam band rock with a healthy dose of well-timed indie electronica, a mash-up that enchanted those who filled Turner Hall Ballroom Friday night. 

[thefringeuwm-blog]

REVIEW: SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

By Colton Dunham

In the midst of a difficult situation, those who are most optimistic will try to look for a silver lining in the clouds that hang above them. The attempt to find the silver lining makes one hopeful that everything will eventually be ok even though in that particular moment, everything is not. As the comedy/drama Silver Linings Playbook opens, we are introduced to Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) as he’s pacing around his room having a conversation with himself. We quickly discover that Pat is just about to be released after serving a brief stint in a mental institution because of a violent outburst that significantly altered his personal life. From this point forward, Pat declares that he’s going to find the silver lining in every dark cloud that hangs above him. Based on the novel by Matthew Quick, Silver Linings Playbook has more to offer than a quirky portrait of Pat’s mental illness. The film marks a comedic return for Oscar nominated writer/director David O. Russell who balances elements of a mental illness drama and a romantic comedy without failure. The film uniquely blends mental illness, football, romance, and dancing together into a cohesive narrative that doesn’t trail off into complete absurdity.

Pat’s stay at a mental institution is part of a plea-bargaining deal after his arrest. A few months before, he arrived home to find his English teacher-wife Nikki in the shower with one of her colleagues. After losing control of his anger, he nearly beats the man to death with his bare hands. His loss of control significantly altered his personal life. He lost his job as a substitute teacher, his home, and his marriage. When he’s welcomed back into his parent’s home, he is obsessively determined to win back Nikki but this proves to be difficult due to the restraining order. He convinces himself that he just needs to stay positive to feel better rather than take any of his medication to readjust his behavior. He feels by staying positive, reading every book on Nikki’s English class syllabus, and working out to stay fit, he’ll be able to win her back. During dinner with his friends, he meets the promiscuous Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) who has problems of her own. She’s a medicated depressive who is still suffering the loss of her husband Tommy. Ever since his death, she’s become addicted to sex and even lost her job by sleeping with everyone in the office. As Pat and Tiffany start to awkwardly connect, Tiffany decides to persuade Pat in being her dance partner for a dance competition. In exchange for being her dance partner, Tiffany offers to give Nikki a letter written by Pat.

Silver Linings Playbook could’ve gone many different routes to transform the narrative into a clichéd bore. Thankfully, the film manages to stay quirky, engaging, and surprisingly dark throughout the duration due to the solid script, direction, and Oscar-worthy performances. The most surprising aspect of the film was the performances. When you say the name Bradley Cooper people may immediately think of the Hangover films. In Silver Linings Playbook, Cooper acts against usual form and by doing so gives the best performance of his career so far as Pat. This is the first time I’ve ever seen the actor showcase some acting chops and I believe his performance is so good that he has a real shot at an Oscar nomination. Oscar nominated actress Jennifer Lawrence also gives a fantastic performance in the film as Tiffany. Lawrence certainly stands out from other actresses her age in Hollywood due to the fact that she’s willing to take risks in her performances. I sincerely hope that she takes on more riskier and darker roles as she advances in her career. Oscar nominees Robert Deniro and Jackie Weaver portray Pat’s parents in the film. While Jackie Weaver wasn’t given much to work with for her role, Robert Deniro is the true stand out by giving his best performance in the last twenty years. Chris Tucker (yes, THE Chris Tucker from the Rush Hour and Friday films) has a small humorous role in the film portraying one of Pat’s closer friends that he met in the mental institution but keeps trying to escape.

As mentioned previously, Silver Linings Playbook had every opportunity to go into a clichéd route but manages to stay fresh and engaging due to a solid script and direction by writer/director David O. Russell. The film has its fair share of both dramatic and comedic moments that helps the audience to be drawn to the dysfunctional characters. It also helps to be drawn to the characters due to the fantastic performances by the central cast. Writer/director David O. Russell is sure to get Oscar attention like he did two years ago for The Fighter. Silver Linings Playbook is certainly not the best film of the year, but it deserves your attention because a comedy/drama like this doesn’t show up in theaters often.

[thefringeuwm-blog]

REVIEW: LIFE OF PI

Ang Lee's adaptation is a visual master stroke

By Colton Dunham

At one point, critics and fans alike weren’t so sure that Yann Martel’s best-selling novel Life of Pi would ever make it on the silver screen. The fantasy novel was actually once deemed as “unfilmable” due to the substantial technical work that would have to go in making the film be a mere possibility. Oscar winning director Ang Lee, known for being an ambitious visionary, used state of the art digital technology to bring the majestic tale to life. The story of Life of Pi centers on the survival of a young man as he tries to endure a journey of hunger and faith on board of a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Life of Pi showcases not only Ang Lee’s progressive visual artistry but also an artistic use of 3D technology that, for the first time since it’s implementation in mainstream cinema, serves a purpose to the overall scope of the film by adding depth to the vivid imagery.

We are first introduced to Pi Patel (Suraj Sharma) when he’s a middle-aged man living in Canada (played by Irrfan Khan). He serves as the narrator of the film as he tells the story of his youth up to the point of his time on the lifeboat to a journalist (Rafe Spall) who’s interested in writing about Pi’s life. The narrative then takes us back to Pi’s youth in Pondicherry, India when his peers tormented him and he becomes interested in multiple religions. His father is a zookeeper and because of his father’s occupation, Pi has grown up to love and understand animals. As Pi grows older and becomes infatuated with girls, he and his family are forced to move out of India due to the tough economic times. Although they own the animals that inhabit the zoo, they don’t own the land so they board up all of the animals including themselves on a Japanese cargo ship to a Canadian destination.

In the middle of the Pacific, a devastating storm changes Pi’s life forever. The monstrous waves cause the cargo ship to sink. With no time to save his own family, Pi is forced to board a lifeboat that crashes into the fierce water. He’s not alone as he’s accompanied by a hyena, an orangutan, a zebra, and a Bengal tiger. As you can imagine, not all of the animals make it and eventually Pi is left alone with the 450-pound Bengal tiger by the name of Richard Parker. What follows is Pi’s survival tale that tests Pi’s faith as he’s left rationed with very little food and endurance to keep himself and Richard Parker alive.

Clearly the right choice was made when newcomer Suraj Sharma was cast in the role as Pi Patel. Sharma excelled at portraying the commanding role of a young man who is fearful but courageous as he tries to survive. As the days go on, he starts to become hungry and irritable as he seeks a comforting sign from God. There’s an emotional scene near the end when he feels that he cannot go any longer out on his own. Instead, he begs for God to take his life. An interesting aspect of Life of Pi is the subject of religion and faith. Pi is a man of many faiths as he’s devoted to multiple religions. During his time on the lifeboat, his faith is tested as natural elements threaten his life. Suraj Sharma was extremely impressive and carries the emotional weight of the film on his shoulders. If Life of Pi has any Oscar potential, it’ll get nominated mainly for the technical awards because the film is truly a technical achievement. As someone who has never been a huge fan of 3D technology, it surprises me to write that I actually thought the 3D displayed in the film is the most impressive I’ve ever seen to this day. It proves that when a master filmmaker uses 3D an artistic tool rather than a profit tool, the display can be jaw dropping. Director Ang Lee continues to prove that he’s a master of his craft by developing a film that was once deemed as “unfilmable” and still managed to make beautiful film. Life of Pi a visual feast that must be experienced sitting in a dark theater surrounded by others who want to be taken away.

[thefringeuwm-blog]

Safari Al at Art Bar

[thefringeuwm-blog]

[thefringeuwm-blog]

REVIEW: THE PAPERBOY IS A CRINGE-WORTHY FAILURE

Nicole Kidman pees on Zac Efron, though

By Colton Dunham

After he was surprisingly nominated for a Best Director Oscar for the average film Precious, writer/director Lee Daniels returns behind the camera for the sweat-soaked drama The Paperboy. Lee Daniels successfully enlisted a solid cast that includes Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConaughey, John Cusack, and Zac Efron. 

Even with the solid cast, the film fails to connect because of its failed and cringe-inducing attempt to be particularly edgy. The Paperboy had every ounce of potential to be a solid thriller but with a messy narrative and unlikable characters, the film ended up ignoring valuable conventions that otherwise would’ve made the film at least entertaining.

Based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Pete Dexter, the narrative takes us back to Florida in the late 1960s where we are introduced to Jack (Zac Efron), a college drop out who works for the local newspaper in his hometown. His older brother Wade (Matthew McConaughey) is a journalist for the fictional Miami Daily who returns back home with a fellow colleague to explore the possibility that Hillary Van Wetter, a death row inmate (John Cusack), was wrongly convicted of the murder of a police officer. Wade enlists the help of Jack. The irresistible Charlotte (Nicole Kidman) accompanies Wade and Jack as they work to prove Van Wetter’s innocence. Jack inevitably finds himself attracted to Charlotte, who herself desires Van Wetter.

As you can tell, the central plot itself hints at a solid thriller that ended up being not so thrilling judging from the finished film. The beginning scene is the murder of the policeman and then the narrative introduces the viewer to the main characters. So it’s safe to say that the first 15 minutes are good, but then the narrative quickly falls apart.

This is completely at the fault of Lee Daniels who decided it was a good idea to focus on the absurd characters and style while ignoring the main story for the majority of the film.

The character of Van Wetter is so unlikeable that as a viewer, I no longer cared if he was innocent or not and neither did the screenwriters. This wasn’t due to John Cusack’s bizarre performance; it was due to how the character is written. These journalists want to prove that he is innocent, but we aren’t given any clues to his supposed innocence. The narrative quickly shifts into Jack’s strange desire for Charlotte.

The Paperboy contains a scene that is completely absurd that I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. Jack is swimming in the ocean as Charlotte is relaxing on the beach. A jellyfish stings Jack repeatedly. As Charlotte discovers what has happened, she urinates on him to save his life. It’s a scene that didn’t serve any specific purpose to the story and felt completely out of place. It was oddly the most entertaining scene of the entire film, despite its absurdity.

The Paperboy honestly doesn’t seem like it was directed by an Oscar nominated filmmaker. Lee Daniels did something that a director should never do, which is to put style over substance.

As Lee Daniels struggled to identity what kind of film he was trying to make, he put his focus on making an edgy and outlandish film that ended up lacking a narrative structure and characters that otherwise would’ve made it watchable.

[thefringeuwm-blog]

CREATIVE CHAOS: PECK SCHOOL PRESENTS MOSAIC

By Clair Sprenger

Two hours, twenty people, sight-reading.

Peck music students meet up every other Saturday afternoon in the Peck Music Building’s basement to share, learn and record new music as part of Milwaukee Organized Sound and Instrument Collective. Anyone can write; everyone must play. Five or seven videos of newly composes songs and improv are uploaded on MOSAIC’s YouTube site after each meeting. Founder Sebastian Valenzuela called MOSAIC “a way to get fresh baked music every two weeks.”

“People always go into MOSAIC with a sense of, ‘I don’t know what the hell’s gonna happen,’” Valenzuela said. “And that’s great, because that’s the very nature of the kind of music that we have.”

Similar to the Unruly Music festival, MOSAIC aims to get music makers and audiences to embrace and take contemporary music seriously, instead of clinging to classical. “It’s not always gonna be reading Beethoven or playing Mozart concertos for the rest of your life…,” Valenzuela said. “I think that as an academic environment, it is our responsibility to prepare people for the new real world, the contemporary real world, the here and now.”

“MOSAIC gives us the opportunity to perform music that we wouldn't have the chance to play anywhere else,” said Kim Forsythe, a senior music education major who plays clarinet. “It's exciting to try new things and experiment with different sounds.”

Warren Enstrom, an officer of the Peck composer org, Music from Almost Yesterday, is also an active member of MOSAIC. “The most important thing about composing, whether you're a performer-composer, composer-performer, composer, performer, or even an audience member, is getting new music played so it can be heard,” Enstrom said. “Lots of people dislike so-called ‘new music,’ (specifically referring to art music) but if we can disseminate these works, perhaps someone will find something they like, and perhaps they'll come to a ‘new music’ concert.”

Valenzuela, as a composer and grad student, founded MOSAIC to address a dire creative/social blockage that art schools’ segregated cultures sustain. Within music departments, students have a handful of ensembles they must join and requirements that eat up time, creating an over-structured environment that Valenzuela said prevents many students from interacting with artists outside of their narrow disciplines. “I thought it was also kind of sad how people graduate from college, sometimes not even ever meeting anybody from another side of the music building,” Valenzuela said.

Composers and performers need each other for either to be heard. Valenzuela believes addressing the communicative lack he’s observed is vital for artistic and professional success. It’s unfair if composers don’t know what the heck it’s like for the tuba player or violinist playing their music. At MOSAIC, composers and performers work together and learn different skill sets from each other.

“It’s a great atmosphere there, everyone is very supportive of each other,” Nick Weckman, a MOSAIC performer, said. “Each time I go I am introduced to new ideas with music and ways to experiment with sound that I hadn’t thought of before.”

Amanda Schoofs, Valenzuela’s composition professor last year, told him about a similar group she joined at grad school in California, where student writers and musicians would gather every Thursday to jam, playing new music and improvising. This story, given the frustrating cultural backdrop, sparked Valenzuela’s determination to break academic divisions.

His apartment full of composers, Valenzuela pitched his plan to the other Peck composers before the fall. Valenzuela recalls he and the other composers talked for two to three passionately focused hours on what they wanted to do with MOSAIC. “I got their opinions in on things, and I was glad to find out that they were also on the same page,” Valenzuela said. “They were looking for something like this.” Other composers at the meeting also wanted better communication with performers.

After promoting MOSAIC for a bit, Valenzuela ran the first meeting a couple weeks into the semester. About 15 to 20 people come each meeting, with several newcomers and fifty-some regular members that come when they can.

“Before every MOSAIC meeting, [the other composers] literally go around and pick out performers and tell them, ‘Come on down, you should come to this. I’m gonna be there, other people are gonna there,’” Valenzuela said. “And really, the cool thing about MOSAIC is that everyone in there is already kind of friends…. It’s like we’re all there not just doing something that we love. We’re there having a great time doing it with other friends, and I hope to expand that.”

Vanelzuela wants MOSAIC to keep expanding, even to include Peck students outside the music department, from dance to visual art. “I didn’t want people to think we’re just an ensemble of composers, because I believe there are a lot of people that have the desire to write, and sometimes I feel like labels are so strong, the categories of specialty are so convincing to people, that it actually inhibits them from trying new things.”

“MOSAIC itself doesn't have a rigid structure like most other groups; we're musicians for musicians,” Enstrom said. “If performers want to compose, fantastic! If composers, want to perform, great! We have everyone taking multiple roles in the ensemble, and I think it really brings out the best in everyone.”

[thefringeuwm-blog]

[thefringeuwm-blog]

FALL(ing) together

(Image courtesy of presentmusic.org)

Clair Sprenger Staff Writer [email protected]

Over the weekend, the Helene Zelazo Center featured a collection of five modern dance pieces in the show, FALL(ing). Peck’s dance school decided to rebel from the norm and collaborate with professional dance organizations of Milwaukee on this show, instead of with other Peck departments, said Simone Ferro, chair of the UWM Department of Dance and one of the show’s choreographers.

Peck faculty and students collaborated with professional dancers and choreographers from the Milwaukee Ballet Company and Milwaukee’s Present Music Ensemble. Ferro wanted the three organizations to team up and approached Michael Pink, the director of Milwaukee Ballet, and Kevin Stahlheim, of Present Music, over a year ago about the idea. They were originally going to do a smaller project, but then it evolved into the large production FALL(ing).

“So this started with a microscopic, embryonic version of a small collaboration of one piece between, myself, Present Music and the Milwaukee Ballet and evolved [into] a full evening with four choreographers, professional dancers, student dancers,” said Ferro.

Ferro said that, like much contemporary dance, none of the pieces tried to tell linear narratives. Although this was mostly true, the first piece, “Bird-Prince-Bird,” definitely told a fairly straightforward story about a man and the two women fighting over him.

Ten dance students, choreographed by Petr Zahradnicek of Milwaukee Ballet, performed in the second piece “Fall to Rise.” The main difference that made this piece a little less convincing than the others was how the dancers didn’t have enough conviction with their movement, nor many emotions across their faces (with exception for three dancers given the limelight).

 “We all bear gravity, so the idea of FALL(ing) is resisting or not resisting gravity,” Ferro said. The ideas Ferro and those she worked with drew from the spanned from “fall, the season, falling in love, falling [or] dropping, falling as absence of gravity, falling as resistance to gravity.”

Ferro’s choreography for “Dis/Equilibrium” tries to capture the slow motion feeling you get when you fall, when your brain chimes in and is like – whoa, something’s amiss, and time slows down as you try to save yourself. And it really worked. There seemed to be a whole slew of mini-narratives sort of twisted together. It almost was like watching somebody’s life pass before his or her eyes.

“You know when you’re starting to fall, there is a mechanism in your brain that detects that some reason you are not you are in a position that is not customary, and by that time the brain fires impulses to your muscles in time to react,” Ferro said. “But this moment between brain and reaction seems sometimes endless.”

Ferro’s recreation of her 2007 dance “Magnetic Field,” which her notes describe as “the paradox that it makes you stronger to know that you can rely on someone physically and emotionally,” also seemed to have somewhat of a narrative. It seemed to portray a rollercoaster of a relationship.

Peck dance seniors Brenna Marlin and Gina Laurenzi worked on Ferro’s dance number as student researchers through the Office of Undergraduate Research, alongside Peck dance alum Katharina Abderholden, who graduated last spring. They worked for five hours a day, much like professional dancer’s schedules, Ferro said.

“Slowly and Always,” choreographed by Dani Kuepper, was the one piece in which dancers wore color. It would have been distracting if the piece wasn’t so darn good. It had the most movement, the dancers were all happy and the music, which had wowed throughout, sounded celebratory. It was fitting for fall.

Peck dance has gotten more press attention because of this collaboration, Ferro said. “It’s quite exciting to see UWM seen with different lens. Sometimes they say, ‘Oh, this is just and academic institution.’ So there is not the artistic – the artistic side becomes almost clouded, muffled, no?”

Set builders revamped Zelazo for the night. They installed everything from sprung floors to the lighting.

Abderholden, as a movement researcher for Ferro’s “Dis/Equilibrium,” “helped with the choreographic aspects/teaching the dancers how to perform the movement” and rehearsed with the dancers.

“I found it interesting to see how our techniques melded, because I would consider myself a modern dancer…” said Abderholden, who graduated last spring. “There’s an interesting collaboration between techniques and disciplines, because ballet technique is extremely formal, and modern technique is extremely pedestrian, and how the experience of understanding the middle ground and fusing the two together was like, I can’t even describe it, because it was such an involved process of personalities and kind of opening up to resistance and what not.”

Ferro thought having Peck dance students collaborate with professional organizations would also fuel innovation, noting that there’s six or seven dance companies in Milwaukee and this Peck-professional collaboration is only the first.

“The isolation is a dead end,” Ferro said. “So I think the more you promote this overlapping… this symbiotic work, the more you find the strength of this [artistic] community.”

[thefringeuwm-blog]

Recap: Sleigh Bells (w/ Araab Muzik) at Turner

Kevin Kaber Fringe Editor [email protected]

It was an excessive night of noise in the packed Turner Hall Wednesday. A crowd grew slowly to a point of near capacity, an oddity given the hit-or-miss obscurity of the night’s acts and that it was Wednesday night, a time usually reserved for whatever normal things normal people do at that time.

However, Wednesday’s concert goers were by no means the normal people that stay in and watch TV (what’s even on on Wednesdays?). A seemingly randomized group of diverse early 20-somethings dominated the hall, downing their drinks and almost evenly readying for AraabMuzik and Sleigh Bells – two bold acts with unique in their excess.

AraabMuzik, the incredibly talented Providence DJ, opened the night along with a probably stoned but nonetheless entertaining to watch hype-man. Typically, modern DJs (given those fucking laptops) are able to mix whatever whenever they so choose, then click play at their shows. AraabMuzik, on the other hand, does the seemingly impossible for DJs like Girl Talk and Skrillex, and performs his own music in real time.

With fingers like E. Honda’s arms when he does that move when you smash the buttons real quick like (the sumo from Street Fighter II – you’re worthless if you didn’t already know that), AraabMuzik worked samples on his drum machine with crazy precision. Although the end result was mostly dub - somewhat disheartening, but hey, it was suitable; the crowd liked it regardless if they admired the artist’s ability to create, in real time, what so many of his colleagues do in however damn long they want to.

By the time AraabMuzik finished (having not said a word to the audience himself), the crowd, now swollen in size and drunk, was excited to see Sleigh Bells donning their 55 dollar “Slay Bulls” jerseys and sweating at an ever-frightening pace.

Sleigh Bells was quick to get on stage after their soundcheck. The Alexis Krauss-Derek Miller duo, along with a touring guitarist opened with Reign of Terror’s “Demons.” Miller’s hardcore background ever-present, along with the Krauss’s screeching, and often inaudible, anthem-esque pop vocals blaring excessively loud throughout the hall.

While many like acts sometimes fail to keep the attention of their diverse audiences, Sleigh Bells succeeded due to the act’s catchy mix of metal and bubblegum pop that’s as danceable as is entertaining. Not to mention the leggy Krauss’s onstage banter, although obviously put on, received cheers every time an f-bomb was dropped. Krauss was in an advertisement for Nickelodeon Magazine too (“Nickelodeon Magazine PLEASE!”), which makes her all the cooler. Also, in many Sleigh Bells songs, she makes suggestive noises – look out boys!

Regardless of my crush on Krauss, the band played a great set that was engaging for all. Void of an encore, Sleigh Bells invited the brave women (and one odd guy) to get on stage and scream their excessive screams.

[thefringeuwm-blog]

The end to Sleigh Bells awesome performance

[thefringeuwm-blog]

Um, Slay Bulls

[thefringeuwm-blog]

I've always wanted to be a hype man...

[thefringeuwm-blog]

Araab Muzik @ Turner Hall

[thefringeuwm-blog]