European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 26, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse Creative hats and canes Are lined up for later use in a dance routine. At work during a drama workshop Are from left Chris Cummins Julia Rivellino and Dean Lee. Lisa Livingood enjoys a dance session. Fibres for use in weaving workshop. Continued from Page 13 part of the Price of admission to the dance ensemble class. After the first Day my whole body ached the Frankfurt High school senior said. At the end of the Day i m totally drained. I did t Forsee doing so cracking the dancing whip is the Job of Leni Sloan. The new York City choreographer was directing his sixth creative connections dance workshop and enjoying it. I m in the Middle right now of an opera in Chicago choreographing Sweet Charity in san Francisco and preparing for an International festival he said. But As Long As they invite me i la come. These Are talented kids. They have the fire. They have the drive. They have the desire. They re thirsty to learn this that group include Ben who usually employs his Between session time to work on getting his dance Steps in the right order. At times it goes a Little too fast for me he said. I have to work a Little he said he s making Progress. My first High school show was finian s Rainbow and i had to dance with a girl who had taken Ballet alls a photos by l. Emmett Lewis or. Her life. I Felt like i was a he walked off the stage toward Sloan then turned around. I still think i m a Klutz Ben said. But not As much of Valerie Gerdes threaded a piece of Green yarn through the Middle fingers of her right hand and stared at her creation not 6 inches away. The design is the female Symbol and i la just fill it in with colors around it she said. Valerie is one of Only nine students in the free weaving with fibres class led by Vilseck High school instructor Jerry Andresen. He attributes the Small class in part to an absence of boys. It has always been that Way he said. Boys tend to stay away from it. They think it s a feminine Art the weaving make take longer than creative connections allows but Andresen in t concerned. Some of the kids May not he said. But the Success is measured by what they do with it when they move with Only one Day to go before thursday s night s performance Julia was still grappling with How to play the role of the wife in the uni com in the Garden. One word can be used so Many ways she said. What s she thinking what s going through her head you can make her hardened or very but there is no question that Julia likes the play even though she had t expected to get into acting so i really love the ending where the husband got rid of the mean wife. I m a bit of a romantic myself. If i met a Unicorn i d think How wonderful How magical1" while Julia pondered How to play her role her instructor wrestled with the concept of actually performing after just three Days of rehearsals. They need to know that thursday they can do something they could t have done sunday Carr said. But i Don t believe you have to stand up before 200 people to know and if there were no scheduled performance i would see to it on the last Day that my kids would at least perform for one another Carr said. They need to be Able to see the skills that have been stressed Are at least going thursday night s show which he called the Frame. You can take the most expensive picture and if you Don t put a Frame on it it does t look like Art. Thursday night helps these kids in seeing Art. Otherwise it s a set of lectures and examples without any Ben and his 15 dancing colleagues were Given three dance routines to work on. Sloan said that the troupe needs to have their friends see them in motion up on stage. That s Why i use As my opening number if my friends could see me now from Sweet Chanty. Because when Ben s friends see him lifting that girl they re going to say wow " thursday night translates into one word for Valerie. Deadline. Her creation now includes purple Blue and Orange Wool. By wednesday s 11 . Everyone in bed curfew she Hopes to have added some Birch bark White feathers and beads. I m trying to get if finished but it s going incredibly slowly she said. I m going to take it up to my room tonight and work on Sloan meanwhile had no doubts about the value of sixteen hours later Valerie stood in the hallway in front of her creation. She says it s still not finished but with her Mother standing at her Side she s obviously pleased. Some of the people have come up and said they liked it because it was different Valerie said. She then discussed having her Mother take the weaving Home because it would t be a Good idea to bring it on the moving toward the auditorium to see the performances Valerie said she had plenty to take Back with her already. I met some very interesting people. People that i thought i did t get along with i found out that i liked them a lot. Plus i be Learned How to an hour before the show Ben sat alone on a Bench running the dance Steps through his mind one More time. I still have my doubts about How Well i m going to do he said. But i think that will make me try harder because i know i will have to get up there on stage. If my mind goes Blank i m going to keep dancing no matter Sloan is aware of Ben s doubts but said the Frankfurt Frankfurt High school student Ben Johnson practices his routine during a dance workshop. Creative connections facts location Ober Wesel youth Hostel students 138 guest instructors three other school system teachers and instructors 25 workshops acrylic painting Ink drawing paper environments Block printing weaving with fibres string ensemble dance Story theater clarinet ensemble and vocal ensemble eligibility High school students in Germany Cost per student 180 Marks about $100 which includes room Board and supplies costs paid by school system about $8,000 sponsoring organization department of dependents school Germany Region organizers Barbar Elter Carol Mauch and Inge Burck number of previous workshops nine senior is a valuable almost necessary addition to the dance class. He has Wisdom beyond his years Sloan said. He has a very deep Well of information. He s been a Point person and also an Anchor for the other Julia s theater class precedes the dancers. The skits draw several laughs which suits her just Fine. Sitting in the audience was sheer torture she said following the skits. I was sitting there just shaking. I liked the music but i wanted to get up there. Once i got up there i thought great " the thought of the next Day brought no such thoughts of euphoria. This whole week has been a High for me she said. Ill be disappointed to go Back to the dance ensemble brought the performance to an end having Ben a Chance to take on the role of dance critic. I think the audience liked it More and More he said. The people were cheering us on. I guess they were sharing similar feelings about what it s like up and to be a part of creative connections. Page 14 the stars and stripes sunday february 26,1989 the stars and stripes Page 15
