Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 12, 1993 TAG: 9302110126
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Donna Alvis-Banks
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
AWARE OF APPALACHIA IN RADFORD
"You know how it is here among th' hills. A body's got to make a little money. I been makin' mine diggin' coal. I make enough durin' th' fall after th' crop's gathered in to buy my youngins some winter clothes and shoes and pay my taxes."\ - Jesse Stuart, "Vacation in Hell"
From the hollows of West Virginia to the hills of eastern Kentucky . . . from the laurel thickets of northeastern Tennessee to the dusty roads of northern Alabama . . . there's pathos and pride in Appalachia.
Radford University's Appalachian Events Committee will present its annual "Appalachian Awareness Weekend" today and Saturday in Heth Hall's lounges A and B. It's a chock-full weekend of acting, dancing and live music.
It gets under way at 10 a.m. today with a performance by Eco Theater, a non-profit touring company from Lewisburg, W.Va. The actors do improvisational scenes based on real-life stories. They will present "Ole Mis Dacey," a one-act comedy about a woman who has lived alone for many years until her life is disrupted by the appearance of little green men. Admission is free.
Here's the schedule for other events today in Heth Hall:
\ 11:40 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Local yokels Les Dotson and Helen White will entertain with Appalachian stories and music. Free.
\ 12:40-1:30 p.m. Bob Zentz of Virginia Beach will play folk, Celtic and bluegrass music using a wide range of instruments. Free.
\ 1:40-2:30 p.m. The Virginia Beach Highland Dancers will perform Scottish dances, including the traditional sword dance. Radford University student Heather Spradley will perform with the dancers. Free.
\ 2:40-4:30 p.m. Radford University students and faculty members will read from their poetry, essays and stories. Free.
\ 4:40-5:30 p.m. The Appalkids of Pulaski County High School will give a presentation that includes music, drama and yarn-spinning. Free.
\ 8 p.m. Bob Zentz will perform in concert. $1, public; free, RU students and staff.
Saturday's events include a workshop, "Setting Poetry to Music," with Zentz at 2 p.m. It's also happening in lounges A and B of Heth Hall and admission is free.
At 8 p.m., the music moves to Preston Auditorium. Laurie Lewis and the Grant Street Band will perform ballads, bluegrass and country music. Admission to the concert is $6 for adults, $3 for children and free with Radford University identification.
\ CLASSICAL BRILLIANCE AND LIVELY TEMPOS: According to James Glazebrook, that's what you have to look forward to this weekend.
Glazebrook, founder and conductor of the Chamber Orchestra of Southwest Virginia, has put together a program of classic works for two concerts in Virginia Tech's Squires Recital Salon. The first is Saturday at 8 p.m. and the second is at 3 p.m. Sunday.
The 26-piece orchestra, now in its second year, was created by Glazebrook specifically with the Squires Recital Salon in mind. Glazebrook gathered some of the best musicians from Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina to perform in the acoustical Arcadia.
This weekend's concerts feature Rossini's La Scala di Seta Overture, Haydn's Symphony No. 59 in A Major, Stravinski's Danses Concertantes and Ibert's Concertino da Camera. In the latter, David Jacobsen steals the spotlight on saxophone.
Advance tickets are available at the box office in Squires Student Center. Tickets also may be purchased at the division ticket office downstairs from the recital salon one hour before performances.
Admission is $5 for adults or $3 for students and senior citizens.
\ STAY HOME: Yes, stay home if you're unwilling to deal with topics that are unpleasant and disturbing.
The current Virginia Tech Theatre Arts-University Theatre production, "The Conduct of Life," is not for the faint-hearted.
Maria Irene Fornes, an American playwright of Cuban descent, has written a play that impels her audience to think about physical and psychological abuse, power and ambition and sexual aggression. It's an insightful look at oppression from a woman's point of view.
The play concerns Orlando, a Latin American military official whose contempt for women is frightening. He exercises violent control over the lives of three women: his wife, Leticia; her servant, Olimpia; and Nena, a 12-year-old girl he keeps locked in the basement.
The point at issue is how the women defend themselves against Orlando's brutality. Fornes probes the different coping mechanisms used by the oppressed women.
Female leads in the Virginia Tech production are played by Heather Simmons, Katie Grande and Aimee Bruneau. Glenn Rombough acts the role of Orlando. Darryl Gibson is assisting director Robert Leonard of Tech's faculty.
The production runs through Sunday in Squires Studio Theatre. It re-opens Wednesday and continues through Feb. 27. All performances are at 8 p.m. except for a Sunday matinee at 2.
Tickets, available at the box office in Squires Student Center, are $7 for adults or $5 for students and senior citizens. For reservations, call 231-5615.
\ HIGH ENERGY: Johnny Quest, a four-piece band from Raleigh, N.C., will be at Buddy's in Blacksburg tonight. The funk-rock-rap-metal group is returning by popular demand.
The band's first full-length album, "10 Million Summers," has received great reviews in such publications as The Washington Post, River City Music News and Billboard.
The original songs on the album are funky and funny, particularly cuts like "Rub-A-Dub" and "You Make Me Feel, Like, Unnatural Woman."
Immortal Chorus will open tonight's show. It begins at 10 p.m. at the restaurant on Jackson Street.
A $5 cover charge gets you in.
\ FOR SQUARES: Skyline Ford in Floyd is sponsoring a square dance Saturday at Floyd County High School. It's a heel-kickin' hoedown to benefit the American Cancer Society.
Plum Sideways, a five-piece bluegrass band, will provide the musical inspiration. The musicians will play from 7 to 11 p.m.
Advance tickets, $4, are available at WGFC and Skyline Ford or from members of the American Cancer Society. Tickets also will be sold at the door.
\ THE SIGNS OF SILENCE: Clayton Valli hears with his heart.
The deaf poet will read his work in American Sign Language today at noon in New River Community College's T.J. Anderson student lounge. The reading is part of a weeklong observance of deaf awareness at the college.
Valli, an instructor of linguistics and interpreting at Gallaudet University in Washington, has served as a consultant and researcher for various sign language research projects. He also has co-written three textbooks for the hearing impaired community.
He holds degrees in photography, social psychology and linguistics. He's now pursuing a doctorate in linguistics with emphasis on American Sign Language poetics.
Valli's presentation today is free and open to the public.