The Battalion
LIFESTYLES
Thursday, November 16,1989
‘Forward! . . . hip drop! . . . shoulder shimmy! . . . undulate!
University Plus belly dancing classes provide students with strenuous exercise, exotic recreation
By Katsy Pittman
Of The Battalion Staff
Angela Consford was flipping
through one of the thousands of
University Plus magazines found
around campus at the beginning of
the semester when one of the dance
courses caught her eye.
Having already taken ball room
dancing from University Plus, Cons
ford, a senior secondary education
major from San Augustine thought
a belly dancing class might be fun.
The class turned out to be so
much fun, Consford is now thinking
of joining a local belly-dancing
troupe.
Instructor Nancie Cortiaus said
belly dancing is the latest craze to hit
the nation. She moved with her fam
ily to College Station about seven
years ago and has been teaching
belly dancing classes at A&M since.
If you’re thinking that the conser
vative A&M campus is the last place
students would sign up for exotic
dance forms, it might surprise you to
know the classes are often Filled be
fore many students get a chance to
sign up.
Times have definitely changed.
“I taught belly dancing courses at
a time when you would be stoned for
using the word ‘feminine,’ ” Cor
tiaus said, “And belly dancing is a
very, very feminine dance form.”
Egyptian, Persian, Algerian, In
dian, and even some American
forms of belly dances are taught in
Cortiaus’ class.
“I use every possible kind of Mid
dle Eastern style that I can correct
(the students on),” Cortiaus said.
Cortiaus’ students aren’t the only
ones interested in her class. The
dancers get a lot of looks from male
students in adjoining MSC rooms. In
fact, one time when the belly danc
ing class ran a little over, an all-male
assertiveness training class outside
almost broke the door down.
But if you think that all belly
dancers do is wear a lot of veils and
show a little navel, you might be sur
prised to learn that belly dancing is a
great form of exercise.
“The aerobics craze has come and
Photo by Kathy Haveman
Kathy Wehrmeister (left), Marian Wilkerson and instructor
Nancie Cortiaus (right) practice belly dancing Tuesday eve
ning in the MSC. The dance class is a popular offering of
A&M’s University Plus program.
gone. I taught aerobics for years and
totally flattened out my feet by doing
it,” Cortiaus said. “But belly dancing
is non-stressful and you can’t find a
better way to strengthen your abdo
minal muscles.”
The 20-odd women in Cortiaus’
class agree that their muscles feel the
burn. They just can’t agree where
they feel it the most. Some say it’s the
arms, some the stomach and others
the hips.
But they all smile as Cortiaus
shouts out the movements.
“Forward! . . . hip drop!. . . shoul
der shimmy!. . . down,up,down! . . .
reverse! . . . undulate! Keep that pel
vis under control — that’s another
kind of dance,” Cortiaus jokes.
It keeps Karen Balke, a graduate
statistics student from Pasadena,
laughing through the dance.
“I love the class!” Balke said. “The
warm-up exercises hurt, but Nancie
doesn’t mind if we moan andtl
about it among ourselves. She'ii]
teacher and it’s a fun class.”
Balke said all her friendsge.;|
kick out of her newest form old
cise — especially her male fner;!
“They always tell me to come i
and show them what I’ve learj
Balke said while laughing i
some reason, they are veryaraJ
to critique me.”
However, Balke doesn’t pgl
any performances forthem-Fon
matter Balke is still a little
barrassed to perform for atijia
Cortiaus said that most ofhtil
dents are like that.
“They never want to danitl
anyone, and the last persony
dance for is their boyfriends,'
tiaus said. “They’re afraid:
might not be perfect enough
So exactly what types of stua
continue dancing after this |
Cortiaus said she’s been teadunil
classes for so many years itu
predictable.
“By and large, the ones who
with it are the very, very fenc
type. The jocks are attractedtoiH
cause of a whim, and becairf^
good exercise, but they nevtia "V 1
with it.” H—
Of T
Cortiaus said most oftheor^^_
Middle Eastern dancers didn:| If
with it very long either. Thao( look
cause many hundreds of yeans it’s i
the dancers were very poor.ir. Siiui
ried girls who were looking fcq A&N
bands. In order to obtain er< facu
money for their dowries, thev> ® T1
go dance in the marketplace! kept
coins, and attach them to them than
(which is why belly dancers t trun:
wear symbolic coin belts). of th
■T<
After the girls earned ec-fflym
money for their dowries, the" j s to
their harem pants away and p^givjn
their modest robes. s i on
But the modern Aggies q
tiaus’ class aren’t worried a s
earning enough money to Qjmeni
their husbands. 'have
"The best thing of all is thar(K st;(
can do something that not E|need
other people know how todo t ‘s re l a>;
Balke. “It kee
re
of
•ps you young.
‘Steel Magnolias’ blooming with wit,
FI
wort
convincing acting, heartwarming hilarity
By Todd Stone
and Chuck Lovejoy
Of The Battalion Staff
“Steel Magnolias” is a film bloom
ing with offbeat characters, serious
situations and all the wit, candor and
innuendo one would expect from a
movie about six Southern women
grinding the gossip mill of a small
town.
The film was presented by MSC
Aggie Cinema as a free sneak pre
view Monday night in Rudder Audi
torium. The audience was so capti
vated by the movie that not even the
bats dive-bombing the screen could
break their concentration on the
film’s heartwarming tale.
Robert Harling wrote the screen
play, basing it on his acclaimed play
of the same title. The film is in
tended to be an expansion — not
just a recapitulation — of the play,
which is patterned after the lives of
his mother and sister.
The original story takes place en
tirely in a beauty salon in the fictio
nal town of Chinquapin. The play
was expanded for the big screen,
adding most notably male charac
ters, which were only gossiped about
in the play.
Rich visual settings, such as a wed
ding, funeral and a Christmas light
festival — only described in the play
— are also shown. Besides becoming
a more well-rounded story, the film
becomes an impressive visual effort.
This film is star-stuffed with six of
today’s most highly acclaimed ac
tresses.
“Magnolias” begins on, the wed
ding day of Shelby Eatenton, ex
pertly played by Julia Roberts. She
and her mother, M’Lynn (two-time
Oscar winner Sally Field), as well as
their friends and family, happily
struggle through the trials and trib
ulations of the wedding prepara
tions. They try to stop Mr. Eatenton
(Tom Skerritt) from scaring away
birds with his pistol and to prevent
Shelby’s younger brothers from dec
orating the wedding getaway car
with condoms.
One of the funniest scenes of the
movie is the wedding, the colors of
which Shelby describes as “blush and
bashful,” but which M’Lynn de
scribes as looking “like someone
hosed down the church walls with
Pepto Bismol.”
M’Lynn is a stern but still sweet
mother. Her motto for raising her
children is: “whatever makes you
happy.” Her daughter, Shelby, is a
Town Hall Coffeehouse
director hopes to continiii
success, diversify show
air sz
an in
Fc
coulc
lege!
it co i
for v
one
and 1
mem
bersl
By Chuck Lovejoy
Of The Battalion Staff
Ouiser Boudreaux (Shirley MacLaine) has a
pleasant conversation with neighbor Drum
Eatenton (Tom Skerrit) in the film “Steel Mag
nolias,” based on Robert Harling’s play.
beautiful but diabetes-stricken
woman who wants to be happy at
any cost. This desire explains Shel
by’s decision to become pregnant,
despite doctor’s warnings that child
birth would be too great a strain on
her body.
In the most touching moment of
the movie, Shelby tells the skeptical
M’Lynn that the consequences of the
pregnancy don’t matter to her.
“I’d rather have 30 minutes of
wonderful than a lifetime of nothing
special,” Shelby says.
happy M’Lynn, “What’s wrong, do
you have a reindeer up your butt?”
Dukakis is captivating as Clairee,
the wealthy town busybody and clos-
Although the film does have seve
ral serious moments, “Magnolias” is
one hoot of a film.
The plot centers around Shelby
and M’Lynn, but the real story is the
gossipy yet caring friendship shared
by six friends: Shelby, M’Lynn,
Truvy Jones (Dolly Parton), Ouiser
Boudreaux (Shirley MacLaine),
Anelle Desoto (Daryl Hannah) and
Clairee Belcher (Olympia Dukakis).
MacLaine steals the screen as the
town grinchette Ouiser, who is best
typified by two of her friendlier
lines: “You are a pig from hell” and
“You are evil and should be destro
yed.” At one point she asks an un-
barely attains mediocrity with her
performance as the backward, born-
again Christian Anelle. >
Tom Skerritt, as M’Lynn’s hus
band, Drum, is the only male actor
that distinguishes himself from the
the female-dominated cast. Sam
Shepard earns his character’s name,
Spud (Truvy’s husband), and is for
gettable and worthless in the role. It
would appear that the film’s produc
ers were more interested in billing
Shepard’s name than in developing
the character of Spud.
est friend of Ouiser. Clairee is the
antithesis of Ouiser because she is al
ways happy, sweet and supportive.
Parton most notably features a
E ermanent plastic smile in her hap-
:ss role as the sickeningly cheery
Truvy. Still, her performance in
“Magnolias” is better than her pre
vious film efforts. Daryl Hannah
Veteran film director, Herbert
Ross, who has directed 21 feature
films including “The Secret Of My
Success” and “The Goodbye Girl,”
balances the performances of all six
actresses without allowing one to
dominate over the rest.
Ross also smartly takes advantage
of the scenery and small-town atmo
sphere of the town Natchitoches,
La., where the film was made.
If you are a fan of any of the six
actresses starring, or just want to see
some vicious tongue-wagging, you
won’t be disappointed. To quote the
characterShelby, “Steel Magnolias”
is two hours of “wonderful.”
The third and final MSC Town
Hall Coffeehouse of the 1989-90
school year will be held at 8 to
morrow night in the Rumours
snack bar.
Coffeehouse is a free amateur
talent revue where the audience
sits on the floor, enjoys free re
freshments and snaps (instead of
claps) to show appreciation for
the performers.
Mark Kirk, Coffeehouse vice-
chairman, said he expects a solid
turnout for this week’s perfor
mances by acoustic guitarist John
Reysa, original poet Jarrett
Downs and acoustic/vocal group
None of Your Business, which
performed at Coffeehouses in the
spring.
Kirk also said this semester’s
first two shows were successes.
“The first two shows were as
packed as the last couple of shows
in the spring, when word about
the show had finally gotten
around,” he said. “It’s really been
kind of surprising, but we
couldn’t have hoped for better.”
Although this is the last Cof
feehouse of this semester, Kirk
said he is shooting for five shows
in the spring.
He cited scheduling conflicts
with other Town Hall programs,
Bonfire activities and general
“start-up” problems as reasons
for only three shows this fall.
Coffeehouse is a revival of a
beatnik talent show called the
Basement Committee popular at
Texas A&M in the ’60s and ’70s.
The first Coffehouse was held
in the fall of 1988. Performances
continued through the spring.
Coffeehouse was declared best
new program in the MSC for the
1988-89 school year.
Kirk said he hopes to continue
the Coffeehouse success by im
proving the show’s pool of per
formers, in hopes of providing a
more diverse show.
“We need a better cross-section
of the performing arts,” he said.
“I feel our duty is to provide a ve
nue for those acts who don’t
really fit anywhere else, like poets
and multimedia performers.
“I’d love to get calls (asking to
perform) from more poets and
Cana
dramatic readers or from peopkl ^ :
who play different kinds of iTlub:
struments, such as a violinist." ev eni
Kirk also said he has consife J
ered moving Coffeehouse toi| Wot
larger space so more peopF ( Ac
could he admitted. But he sa > an
there is no place at present tta ln K (
would allow him to retain thii four-
show’s relaxed atmosphere. footb
“We considered moving ifsBe ti
Rudder Forum, but you can'tcs| In
in there, and that’s one of theatishare
dience’s favorite things,” Kiri °f a j:
said. “Also, you would have to? c ost \
in the chairs there — and peopl °f th<
like sitting on the floor. Th
“Rumours isn’t an ideal platf plane
especially in the warmer month small
but we’ll just have to live withit c ost
But regardless of the show s- ^n y
or audience’s — size, Kirk said); r ente
e ngin
fit
Coffeehouse is sti
in its infancy, but it
seems to be growing
exponentially.”
— Mark Kirk
Coffeehouse vice-
chairman
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mainly is concerned with provif
ing the best show he can.
“Coffeehouse is still in its it'|
fancy, but it seems to be growinj
exponentially,” he said. “AsCoi
feehouse gets more and ntoi*
loyal patrons and a larger f
former pool — it will get bettf
and better.”
Kirk said he thinks Coffr
house, along with other program
such as OPAS and the grow®:
A&M music department, is pl>’
ing a part in A&M’s transitionH'
more well-rounded institution.
“Because of these, A&M !
moving from a tradition-nilt 1
school that concentrated on af
cult ure and mechanics to a mo®
diverse institution — not tliM
(what it was before) was
Kirk said.
“I’m glad it’s happening,
said. “And that’s coming from®
engineering major.”
II