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| Rennie Harris performs at Farthing
tomorrow evening |
Stephanie
Marshall
Entertainment Beat |
Performing art is
not confined to the many preconceptions of stuffy plays, operas
or music performances.
The Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA) will prove this point with
the Rennie Harris Puremovement in Farthing Auditorium tomorrow.
The Rennie Harris dance company takes pride in looking at the roots
of hip-hop and blending the different cultures, OCA Director of
Marketing Dennis R. Ringler said Tuesday.
This is a different portrayal of hip-hop and not something you would
see when turning on your television, Ringler said.
Rennie Harris and his high-impact dance company transforms the energy
and spirit taken from the street into a fascinating form of body
language, which can be seen in their dance performance, according
to OCA’s Web site.
The dance company was founded in 1992 by Rennie Harris, who since
the age of 15 has been teaching dance workshops and classes internationally.
He is knowledgeable of the hip-hop dance. This includes dances such
as “B-boy”(break-dancing), house dancing, stepping and
various other styles, according to an OCA’s press release.
Cultural Affairs discovered this dance company at a conference in
New York where they saw the group in a showcase and was very impressed,
Ringler said.
This performance is part of the North Carolina tour, where they
will also be visiting places like North Carolina State University,
Ringler said.
According to the press release, today at 3:30 p.m. dancers from
the company will be giving a free lecture and demonstration on “The
History of Hip-Hop” Farthing Auditorium.
This opportunity is open to everyone including the public.
“We encourage students to take advantage of the lecture and
the hands-on experience one will obtain by going,” Ringler
said.
The lecture will discuss the roots of hip-hop came from African
and various other cultures throughout the diaspora—including
African American, Afro-Brazilian, Afro-Cuban and Puerto Rican—during
the early 1960s up to modern time, according to the press release.
“We encourage people to take the opportunity to see hip-hop
performed by this particular company,” Ringler said.
They are authentic and widely regarded as one of the best, Ringler
said.
The show begins at 8 p.m. and will last almost two hours.
The group will accept questions after the performance in a short
session.
Tickets are on sale in the Farthing Auditorium box office at $16
for the public, $14 for seniors and Appalachian faculty and staff
and $8 for students. |
| Weekend Excursion back in Boone,
at Legends tonight |
Stephanie
Marshall
Entertainment Beat |
Appalachian Popular Programming Society
(APPS) is starting the second semester off with a bang, bringing
a band to Appalachian State University whose members once were
Appalachian students themselves.
Weekend Excursion, consisting of Appalachian
alumni, is coming to Legends tonight.
Weekend Excursion is a popular, fun band that
always puts on a good show that brings in the crowd, Peter D.
Van Schoick, stage shows chairperson, said Tuesday.
Weekend Excursion’s members include, but
are not limited to, lead guitarist and backing vocalist Chris
Groch, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Jeff Foxworth and
drummer and backing vocalist Cas Edmunds, according to the Weekend
Excursion Web site. This Raleigh-based band
got its start in 1995 while the members were still seniors in
high school. Their first show was held in Edmunds’ basement.
According to their official Web site, that year they ended up
making a demo tape that was sold in a local dentist’s office.
After graduation the band headed off to become
students at Appalachian. When they received an overwhelming response
to their demo tape, they brought in John Plymale to record their
debut, self-titled CD, according to their Web site.
From then on, the band was forced into juggling
its time between school and weekend tours. The time paid off because
they again recorded with Plymale in 1998 for a second EP, “Five
to Six.”
While at Appalachian, Weekend Excursion was
involved with the fraternity scene, Van Schoick said.
After college, the band went on to record their
third EP, released in 2000, called “Radioactive,” which
would become one of North Carolina’s hottest sellers released
that year. The band also spread their touring radius from Florida
to Washington, D.C., according to their biography on the Web site.
In 2001, violinist Mike Ferry announced that
he would be leaving the band, which was a shock to all, including
the other band members, according to www.SamHillbands.com.
Mike Ferry left the band to go to graduate
school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Van
Schoick said.
Weekend Excursion recently released their debut
with The Redeye label called “Take Me Home.”
This new release is the first song-writing
contribution of Fisher and the first without the violin work of
Ferry, according to the Web site.
“Kick off the new semester with a party,
Weekend Excursion style,” Van Schoick said.
The tickets are $7 in advance and are being
sold at the information desk in W.H. Plemmons Student Union or
$9 at the door.
The show starts at 9 p.m. with an age limit
of 18 years or older. |
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