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Dance Society

By Charles Ribakoff

Well, it certainly is a shame that
the Dance Societies no longer appreciate
criticism. Perhaps they feel
that their accomplishments, like the
writings of Socrates, are beyond
criticism, for much the same reasons.
Perhaps they feel they have
some sort of immunity from observation.
Perhaps they would like to
explain why, in Mr. Fioravanti's
soul-purging self abrogation of
guilt, he failed to answer any of the
points I brought up in my earlier
column.

There is a certain element of the
absurd in Mr. Fioravanti's reply.
Who else but one of the University
concert planners could read in an
article that 19 of the groups he
thought were available (nearly 20
per cent of the preference poll) no
longer exist or do college tours, and
accuse the writer of being "misinformed."
Perhaps the societies'
hard hitting defense and inclusive
overview if the situation is best
summed up in Mr. Fioravanti's sentence
"If (a) group is either not
available or not deliverable for the
date to which the Societies are
committed to provide a concert,
the group will not appear." And to
think I doubted that they know
what was going on!

Not A Vendetta

But this is not, and should not
be, a personal vendetta. I, and most
of those I have talked to, are simply
annoyed and disgusted at the total
lack of well-presented, first-rate
entertainment, and at the fact that
the prices we pay to see this
inferior entertainment are exorbitant
in relation to prices charged
by other schools, and commercial
concerts. I do not doubt that Mr.
Fioravanti and his cohorts try hard.
I simply doubt that they know
what they are doing, or suspect that
they do know, and are putting us
all on.

Let us examine the concerts and
prices of recent concerts. We had
James Brown for $1. (James Brown
played in Boston last spring in a
commercial concert in a smaller hall
than University Hall for $2). We
had The Rascals for $2.50 (they
mysteriously played a full concert
at Chapel Hill the week before for
something like $1.25; Procol
Harum are notoriously inexpensive
generally). We saw Hugh Masakela
and John Sebastian, two young
hard workers who may someday
make it, for $2 (At Chapel Hill,
they have presented Janis Joplin,
presently one of the hottest acts
going although their concerts have
not been great for $2, Joan Baez
for $2, and The Association, an
established if lesser group, for $2).

Richie Havens For $3

These situations, insofar as seating
capacity is concerned, are comparable.
Johns Hopkins, a school a
third the size of the University,
presented Richie Havens, and other
such hot acts for prices beginning, I
believe, at $3. If the prices look
similar, the difference is certainly in
the quality of the entertainment.
While this is a totally subjective
judgment, first-echelon groups (of
which there are about 15) are generally
universally recognized. They
are conspicuous by their absence
here. With the notable exception of
soul groups, which seem to be

within the realm of understanding
of the societies, and are thus generally
excellent, we seem to attract
talent of a much lesser rank than
other comparable Universities. And
a large percentage of students are
rather sick of soul groups.

Logistical problems do exist.
Even if Eastern Airlines is not
P-K German's fault, are the airlines
responsible for the sound system
faults, the continual scheduling of
two noncompatible acts on the
same program, improper lighting,
and other things that just don't
seem to happen with the same
frequency and sincerity anywhere
else.

If the Societies have nothing to
hide why were they so upset when
Student Council was considering an
investigation?

And, even given the great instability
of Rock groups, there is
really no excuse for not knowing
about groups that have broken up
months ago.

Quasi-Dishonest

The Societies are saddled with a
miserable, quasi-dishonest, malcompetent
image which they may or
may not deserve, but seem to be
totally uninterested in changing.
Although, perhaps, the Societies
have nothing to gain by improving
their images, they do have exclusive
rights to all big weekend concerts, a
guaranteed lucrative concession.
And there are rumors (which are,
admittedly, unsubstantiated) that
the Societies' leaders make a good
deal of money. One member of
Societies estimated one officer's
"salary" at $1500 per year. I've
heard the same figure from three
other members; although this is
admittedly only a report from
Society members, even rumors
must start somewhere.

I don't honestly know all the
problems, or all the reasons involved
in the constant problems. I
intend to find them all out, and
report them in a series of columns
following Break. It is very possible
that we will find that the Societies
are completely correct; perhaps the
Rascals did increase their price in a
week, perhaps these problems really
do happen elsewhere. But somehow
I doubt it.

It's time that the Societies
started giving the University student
credit for having some brains,
and stopped trying to hide, or act
guilty, behind a wall or irrelevant
invective. I don't think it fools
anybody anymore.

Ignoring these, or failing to answer
these bothersome points cannot
possibly help the Societies. And
it may hurt them a lot.