Taiko Drummer Revisits SRU

Takumi Kato, a Japanese Taiko drummer, performed at Slippery Rock University Saturday April 28 at 7:30 p.m. in Swope Music Hall.  The performance was a part of the Kaleidoscope Arts Festival which took place from April 15-29 across the SRU campus.  There was great anticipation for Kato’s performance, as he performed here at SRU in the past. 

Taiko drummers combine dynamic drumming and movement using the Taiko drums, Shamisen (three-string Japanese instrument) and Shinobue (Japanese transverse flute). 

This performance was Kato’s largest performance in North America this far, and he repeatedly let the audience know that he was nervous.  He had a translator accompany him, because he is not fluent in English. 

Kato adorned an outfit made by his mother which he cherished, as well as armbands made by his grandmother back in Japan.   Most of Kato’s song choices related to his family and friends and their support throughout his music career.  He started playing the violin at a very young age, but laughed when he told the audience that his instructor suggested that he started playing the drums instead.  Kato admitted that he was not very good at playing the violin. 

Other songs that he played included one about his noisy household at home, where he mocked his mother yelling at the children.  Kato is the youngest of three children in his household and let the audience know that he is still a little childish. 

It takes a tremendous amount of upper body strength to play the Taiko drums, so it required Kato to push himself at a younger age to work out constantly by doing pushups.  Many of the women in the audience gushed over Kato, even asking him to take off his shirt to play one of his songs. 

When the performance was over, Kato took a picture of himself with the audience in the background.  He said that he loves coming to Slippery Rock because he can sense a strong family connection and bond between the people in this area.  It reminds him of his family life back in Japan. 

Audience members asked questions, including how old the Taiko drums were and how long they maintain its durability.  Kato said his current drums were about 50 years old and that the skins usually last about 10 years, depending on how often they are played. 

The crowd checked out Kato’s CD’s and t-shirts for sale when the performance was over, and could donate to his charity which supports the Japanese tsunami victims and family members affected by the storm.  Kato personally lost a 20-year-old cousin in the tsunami. 

He also made sure to take pictures with fans when the hour-long show concluded. 

Kato will be performing for Japanese Emperor Akihito later this year.

Third Coast Dance Film Festival

The second entry of my three-part series of Kaleidoscope events took place on Thursday, April 26 in the Advanced Technology and Science Hall Auditorium.  It was the Third Coast Dance Film Festival, which celebrates the intersection of contemporary dance and the moving image with a screening series of short dance films. 

This dance film festival was an hour-long program that featured both national and international choreographers, dancers, and filmmakers who excel in the dance film as a distinct art form.  The Third Coast Dance Festival was able to be shown at Slippery Rock University through the donation of SRU alumna Rosie Trump. 

Colleen Reily is the Director of the Kaleidoscope Arts Festival.

Overall, 10 dance film videos were shown over the hour-long program.  Some were longer than others, but each brought its own uniqueness to the overall feel of the Third Coast Dance Film Festival. 

One of my favorite pieces that were shown was entitled “Nobody’s Darling” and was made in the United States in 2010.  The dance film was directed and choreographed by Marta Renzi, and featured dancers Amos Wolff and Tina Vasquez.  It is easy to tell from the clip, but the dance film is a duet danced by a pair of independent spirits, whose intimacy is both tough and tender.  The graphic treatment of the image and their posture definitely heightened the underlying sexual tension between the two dancers.

Lola was the first piece shown on the April 26 to the audience, and was directed and choreographed by Anna Potapova.  Lola’s description is that she cannot speak, but she knows how to feel and how to dance.  She is the only one around who expresses herself by dancing.  The people around her live ordinary lives, but Lola used ballet in order to speak.   The music for this piece was by Xploding Plastix.

  

One of the most interesting clips shown at the Third Coast Dance Film Festival was Stranger Dances, which was also created in 2010 in the United States.  The dance film was a simple way of showing the wide variety of dances people would do in front of the camera.  It explores the unpredictable dance moves that people would choose to express themselves through movement, which most of the time was very humorous.  The dance film was directed, produced, and edited by Sabrina Cavins. 

Dead and Cast Away (United States, 2010) and Plan B (United States, 2011) were two other clips that I really enjoyed throughout the hour-long performances.  Dead and Cast Away featured three dancers that embody different personalities inside each of us.  It was directed and choreographed by Emily Lockard. 

Plan B as choreographed and directed by Jasmine Ellis, and gives the viewer a glimpse about waiting.  Three young men are impatiently waiting for their laundry to be finished, and have to come up with ways to occupy themselves in the meantime.

Be sure to check out my third and final installment of the Kaleidoscope Arts Festival this Friday!

A Look into the 2012 Kaleidoscope Arts Festival

The Kaleidoscope Arts Festival at Slippery Rock University was a series of events provided by faculty, students, and professionals during the time of April 15-29, 2012.  Throughout the two week time period, a number of activities took place on SRU’s campus for everyone in the community.  In my three-part series, I will captivate on three different events during the final week of performances. 

First, I attended the Frederick Douglass Sixty-Second Lecture Series, which took place on Wednesday, April 25 in the Multi-Purpose Room in the University Union.  Previous to Wednesday evening, there was a preview for the lecture series held on Thursday April 19, and also the opening celebration on the quad during common hour. 

The Frederick Douglass Sixty Second-Lectures was a series of one-minute lectures given by faculty, staff, and students of SRU to about 50 audience members.  Frederick Douglass was not only a former slave, but also a distinguished orator, journalist and author who gave a number of lectures on the topics of his time.  Most of these dealt with human rights and social justice.  Faculty, staff, and students were able to lecture in a one-minute time, some of the great works of Douglass, in which dance and art was incorporated.  Some of the topics included history, English, political science, public health, modern languages, anthropology, geography and physics.

The night consisted of eight performances, including one of the Communication department’s own Dr. Christine Pease-Hernandez.  Dr. Pease-Hernandez presented “Spring 2012 Voices of Intercultural Communication”.  She was assisted by sophomore dance major Tara Schlosser, who provided a routine behind the one-minute lecture. 

Another performance included Dr. Cindy Lacom for Women’s Studies and English, in which she recited “Twice Enslaved”, accompanied by Professor Ursula Payne in dance.  Professor Payne, an alumnus of SRU, participated in three, one-minute lectures that evening.  She composed all of these herself and did not meet with the speakers prior to the performances. 

Professor Payne danced during Jacqueline Garland’s presentation of “Ain’t I a Woman”, by Sojourner Truth, and also for Dr. Katherine Cooklin, during “What is a liberal education?” 

The remaining speakers included Dr. Athula Herat, Dr. Jason Kush, and Dr. Christophas Walker.   Along with dance, the speakers used music as a way of expression.  The guitar, as well as the saxophone were used in demonstration.  Dr. Walker used an art major, Heather Hertel, to demonstrate his piece, “Social Justice and Equality in an unjust and unequal world.”

Overall, the Frederick Douglass Sixty-Second Lecture Series provided the community and students a sense of the former slave and also the world around us then, and now.

The event was sponsored not only by the Kaleidoscope Arts Festival, but also by the Frederick Douglass Institute and Women’s Studies.

Stay tuned for Part Two of my series, when I attended the Third Coast Film Festival!

College Athletics: A Look into SRU's Own John Kovalik

John William Kovalik is a 20-year-old sophomore pitcher for the Slippery Rock University baseball team.  He is from Aurora, Ohio, which is a suburb about 20 minutes southeast from the city of Cleveland.  As Kovalik played baseball at Aurora High School, his dreams of being a college athlete progressed.  When SRU contacted John about playing for the University, he was thrilled to have to opportunity to play college ball.  He had always known the Slippery Rock baseball team to have a good reputation, and so he took a visit to the campus to look at the facilities and meet the team. 

         Kovalik came to Slippery Rock on a recruiting visit, and was blown away by the campus and baseball facilities especially.  He knew that he wanted to play for the University and he would later enter his college career here at SRU. Slippery Rock’s own, Jack Critchfield Park, is Kovalik’s favorite part of campus.

“I love being out on the mound in front of our home crowds and look forward to another solid two years as a pitcher on the baseball squad,” Kovalik said.

Kovalik had a very successful high school career at Aurora High School.  He lettered three times in baseball, was named the Chagrin Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year as a senior, and also led his alma mater to a conference championship in 2009 and a sectional title in 2010. 

At Slippery Rock University, Kovalik is one of the best closing pitchers on the team, and has contributed a great deal to the successful Rock team.  Last year in 2011, Kovalik accounted for 14 relief appearances as a freshman and struck out 23 batters in 26.1 innings. 

John’s most memorable game at Slippery Rock University was just this past Saturday, when The Rock swept Mercyhurst College on the road.  He relieved Nic McCowin in Game 2 as the score was tied at 3-3.  Kovalik held Mercyhurst to only 2 hits in the final six innings of the game, counting as the winning pitcher.  The Rock went on to win the game 5-3 against a very good Laker team. 

Kovalik loves the game of baseball, and he couldn’t imagine playing anywhere else, or with any other teammates.  He believes that Slippery Rock offers some of the best baseball facilities that can be found in Division 2 baseball, with Jack Critchfield Park stealing the show. 

Representing number 27 for The Rock, Kovalik plans to remain at this University for the remainder of his college career; something most athletes are not able to do because of injuries, transfers, etc. 

Kovalik was a marketing major until the spring of this year, in which he switched to public relations.  Baseball will remain his main focus in college, and requires a lot of time and effort, especially as a student athlete for a program like Slippery Rock baseball.  The Rock baseball team moved to above the .500 mark (20-19-1) with the sweep at Mercyhurst last Saturday.  The team is 8-8 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-West division.

The Rock’s has only four remaining series, but Kovalik is hopeful for the rest of the 2012 season. 

Hungry for Hunger Games

From April 9, 2012

The Hunger Games, released March 23, has taken the box office by storm, earning a record $155 million in North America on opening weekend.  At the rate of this success, critics believe that "The Hunger Games" will be one of the biggest film franchises of the decade.  The film was ranked as the strongest opening weekend total for a spring release ever, replacing Tim Burton’s, Alice in Wonderland in March 2010.

            As of Easter weekend, the film earned $33.5 million, breaking the $300 million mark in 17 days, which is record time for a non-summer or non-sequel movie.  The Hunger Games has won in the box office for the third consecutive weekend, beating popular movies, American Reunion and Titanic 3D. 

From April 9, 2012

               Only two movies, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” and “The Dark Knight” recorded bigger opening weekends.  Both movies were sequels. 

                The film stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth.  It is based off the first of three books in Suzanne Collins series, which serves as a story about a future society, where teenagers from different districts are forced to battle to death until one remains.

From April 9, 2012

               Experts had projected $100 million opening for the film, but had no idea of the amount of success it would have for both women and men audiences, something most films cannot do.  The Twilight series, for example, draws a mostly-female crowd.

                An interesting fact about this film is that Lions Gate Entertainment is the production company for “The Hunger Games”.  This same company bought Summit Entertainment in January, which happens to have the “Twilight” series.  It is estimated that between these two movies, Lions Gate could generate over $450 million in profit. 

                 I personally saw this movie Saturday night, and have to say that it is definitely in my top five favorite movies of all time.  I bought the book Sunday and plan to read the series after seeing the movie.  It outdid my expectations, and I have already watched it for a second time. 

Kraynak's: Fun For All Ages

Kraynak's is a year-round store for all seasons.  The store is located at 2525 E State Street Hermitage, PA 16148.  Their hours are 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Saturday and they are closed on Sunday.  Kraynak's provides a florist and has a selection ranging from bird feeding to licensed sports.  Other goods include collectibles, flower bulbs, gifts, greenhouses, lawn & garden, outdoor furniture, perennials, toys and trains.  They have an Easter display going on now, which is great for families and children.  Kraynak's features displays for every season.  The Easter Bunny is available in the store for children after they walk through the Easter showing.  Overall, Kraynak's has something for everyone, year-round. 

2012 MAC Competition at Blackhawk High School

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