Spring Break
Whether you're conquering the world at your internship, cursing the heat or cuddling beside the pool, your summer months need a soundtrack. Here are some essential summer sounds that you can count on one hand (unless you're one of "The Simpsons"). Five "Summer" Songs: 1.
"Re-Arrange Us" by Lawrence, Kan., natives Mates of State is in the running for my top summer album. The husband-and-wife duo is famous for its simple mix of keyboard and drums. The bombastic, endlessly happy "Team Boo" thrust the two into mainstream consciousness in 2003.
Foxboro Hot Tubs' "Stop, Drop, and Roll!" is a lot like guzzling a bottle of sno-cone syrup. It tastes great at first, but its excess will give you a stomach ache. It is universally known by now that Foxboro Hot Tubs is merely Green Day in the guise of a '60s garage-rock band, with leanings toward British Invasion staples.
Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Theatre presented its spring concert May 15 and 16 at White Recital Hall in the UMKC Performing Arts Center, which featured a premiere of a recent work by a new choreographer, "City" by Jennifer Muller. The concert also included revivals of several other high-powered works in the company's repertoire, such as "Trains" choreographed by co-founder, Mary Pat Henry, "Evidence of Souls Not Seen" by co-founder and former faculty member, the late Leni Wylliams, and "Games" by world-renowned choreographer Donald McKayle.
Notwithstanding a knee injury incurred during a May 16 "City" performance, May was a good month for DeeAnna Hiett. The UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance announced Friday, May 30, it had chosen Hiett to join its stable of considerable talent as the newest faculty member, citing her "extensive experience and expertise as a teacher and choreographer.
Six lucky male dance students from UMKC's Conservatory of Music & Dance earned the opportunity to perform in a professional production of "Romeo & Juliet" presented by the Kansas City Ballet Company. The classic romantic tale was presented at the Music Hall as the final piece of the Kansas City Ballet's 50th anniversary season, April 25-27 and May 1-3.
In the heat of a sunny Saturday, ink was dripping everywhere, as authors, publishers and literary fans from all around the Kansas City area on May 17 took over The Plaza for the second annual Kansas City Literary Festival. UMKC showed up in force with many professors appearing on the six stages and stands set up for BkMk Press, UMKC Creative Writing, New Letters and UMKC Friends of the Library.
Ladies and gentlemen, summer has officially arrived and, for some of us here in Kansas City, that can mean only one thing: Rockfest. It's a beautiful thing to see 50,000 people gathered together in one huge, happy, communal sweat. It is the largest one-day concert this summer in the Midwest, but as of May 29, only 2,000 tickets were still available.
539 Westport Rd. Mexican in Westport El Rancho, located in the heart of Westport, is an appealing little restaurant with a wide variety of items on offer - Mexican food at extremely reasonable prices. Most dishes average between $5 and $6, which is a happy treat for a college student's budget.
Inside the Blue Room at 18th and Vine streets, the funky music penetrated even the most conservative of souls Thursday, May 29. People were dancing all over the area. Others were snapping or swaying to the Latin groove. Makuza took what could have been a normal, boring Thursday night, and turned it into something much more exciting.
