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(03/29/00 10:00am)
Accompanied by two of Penn's established performing arts groups, Yofi! burst onto the scene this weekend before a packed house at the Annenberg Center. The Israeli dance troupe made its campus debut Saturday night at a sold-out Harold Prince Theatre with its first full-length performance, entitled "Ya'lah." In addition to the Israeli and Middle Eastern style dances in which Yofi! specializes, the show featured guest appearances by two other performing arts groups, improv comedy troupe Without a Net and a cappella group Dischord. The 15-member Yofi!, one of Penn's newest performance groups, is as diverse in membership as in expertise. "The people in Yofi! come from six countries, four continents and three religions," boasted the evening's emcee, College junior Josh Wilkenfeld, to the approximately 220 students, family members and Philadelphia residents who came to the show. The show opened with a number entitled, in Hebrew, "Pitom Kam Adam," which translates to "Suddenly, a Man Got Up." "Yofi! is still in its first year of existence, and suddenly they, too, can shoot up on the scene," Wilkenfeld said. The group's performance, which lasted for about two hours, included interpretations of traditional Jewish songs and contemporary Israeli and Turkish rock music. The group changed into different colorful costumes for each song. All of the dances Yofi! performed were choreographed by members of the group, primarily artistic directors Elana Leventhal and Rachel Bergstein, both College sophomores. After the show, Yofi! member and College freshman Micah Liben acknowledged their contributions to the group. "I can't get over the expertise with which they mold the whole group into an aesthetically beautiful sequence of steps and movements," he said. "We have traveled a long way from the old Israeli dance group to the new Yofi!," added Bergstein, also a member of Yofi's predecessor, Ayalah. "We are increasingly recognized and respected on campus." "The success of this show was in some ways very surprising considering how inexperienced we were with the whole thing," said College and Wharton sophomore Joseph Mazor, the group's treasurer. Just in case Without a Net had not provided the audience with enough laughs, Wilkenfeld experimented with a bit of improv comedy of his own to fill the time between dances. "I didn't write a script for this evening's show," Wilkenfeld told his audience. "But it doesn't really matter because I have the microphone and you don't." Between all of the applause, laughter and singing alone, it was clear the audience enjoyed the performance. "The show was really well done and the costumes definitely added a lot," College freshman Nini Ghosh said after the performance. "The emcee was also great and very entertaining." Engineering sophomore Tom Langen added, "Yofi! did a great job and it is exciting to see that they have come so far so soon. I room with one of the members, so I know how hard they've all worked."
(01/13/99 10:00am)
Writers and World Wide Web site designers discussed the positive and negative aspects of the on-line world. The Kelly Writers House welcomed a group of visitors rather different from its regular crowd yesterday as it hosted a meeting of the minds -- cyber-minds, that is. Nearly 50 students and faculty members attended the "Digerati at Writers House" discussion to exchange ideas with a panel of Internet experts. The term Digerati -- derived from the notion of digital literati -- refers to people also known as "cyberintellectuals." It was coined by human communications professional Tim Race and has been adopted by journalists the world over. One of the main topics of discussion on the panel was the dichotomy between the purely commercial aspects of the Internet and its ability to distribute information. The event was advertised as an "effort by cyberintellectuals to bridge the gap between science, technology and humanities in contemporary culture." The discussion was led by a nine-member panel, including founders of popular World Wide Web sites, an Internet trade magazine reporter and educators of multimedia studies. Penn English Professor and Writers House Faculty Director Al Filreis opened the discussion by introducing John Brockman, author of The Third Culture and organizer of the event, along with the other panel members. Filreis also mediated the 90-minute discussion. In conjunction with the debate, Jason McCabe Calacanis, editor of the trade magazine Silicon Alley Reporter, brought up the increasing popularity of MP3 music files on university campuses. These files, which are compressed to take up a small amount of disk space, can be easily copied and distributed over the Internet. Besides allowing amateur musicians to record their music for public use without being under contract, they also allow consumers to copy music without paying for it, raising concerns over copyright infringement among those in the music industry. While in the past the technology was limited to computers, companies are now developing Walkman-style MP3 players, which has prompted a recent lawsuit on behalf of the music industry. "MP3s are the music industry's Vietnam," Calacanis noted. "It's a war they can't win. "The next Madonna may break on the Web and she may not have a contract." Members of the panel agreed that the recent explosion in Internet popularity is a good thing as long as the information superhighway remains user-oriented and not geared toward corporate profiteering. Participants also stressed that there needs to be more discussion about the subject. "We tried to see if the gap could be closed between people who make the tools and the people that use them," Filreis said of the meeting. Judging from student response to the discussion, the participants may have moved one step closer to meeting that goal. "I use computers a lot and I play with computers a lot, but I'm not extremely plugged into Web culture," College sophomore Nick Kraus said. "It's always interesting to hear what the professionals have to say." College senior Lucia Zapatero added that the meeting was "a great opportunity for students, faculty and guests to share ideas about new media industries."
(10/16/98 9:00am)
The owner of the noted University City Ethiopian restaurant spoke at a Civic House lecture. Amare Solomon, a chef well-known for his cuisine both on and off campus, discussed finger food, the business environment of the area and his own ingredients for success with an audience at Civic House yesterday. Solomon, famous for his Ethiopian fare at his Dahlak restaurant as well as his culinary creations made on the Class of 1920 Commons grill, spoke as part of the house's participation in the University City-wide Go West! Go International! 3rd Thursdays program. The lecture was attended by nearly a dozen students who gathered in Civic House, the newly renovated, three-story Victorian at 3914 Locust Walk that housed Penn's Division of Public Safety until earlier this year. It serves as a center for University community-service programs in its new incarnation. "The secret of business is to be friendly and to make people happy," Solomon said. Solomon is the owner and manager of Dahlak, located at 47th Street and Baltimore Avenue. Several local publications, including Philadelphia Magazine, have recognized Dahlak for its excellent Ethiopian cuisine and unique dining atmosphere. Since Dahlak opened in 1983, Solomon has turned his dream into a thriving business. Solomon tries to maintain a cultural dining experience at his restaurant. To this end, customers are requested to eat with their fingers rather than conventional utensils. The Baltimore Avenue Business Association, of which Solomon is president, has worked hard to make the neighborhood a safer working and shopping environment. Area business owners have found that the key to success is cooperation rather than competition. "It doesn't help anyone if five competing businesses open and then five shut down," said Solomon, explaining his professional philosophy with the group. Solomon is originally from the African state of Eritrea; he moved to the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa as a child. Later, following brief stays in Switzerland and Washington, D.C., Solomon found himself amid a 2,000-member Ethiopian community in West Philadelphia, he explained. Solomon added that he especially enjoys the international flavor of the University City area. Students from around the world who attend Penn, Villanova University, Swarthmore College and Drexel University make up much of his diverse customer base. "My restaurant is a mode of communication for me," he said. "It helps me maintain and teach my ethnic background." College senior Michelle Weinberg said she was fascinated by Solomon's speech. "He has a great perspective on America as the 'land of opportunity'," Weinberg said. "To hear from an immigrant that America still lives up to its name is a great feeling."
(09/25/98 9:00am)
The recent celebration of 1980s pop culture in America -- from last year's hit Adam Sandler movie The Wedding Singer to the emergence of '80s theme nights at local dance clubs -- has spread to Penn's campus with the founding of the Children of the Eighties club. The club held its first meeting Wednesday night at the Xando coffeehouse and bar near 36th and Sansom streets. College freshman Adam Sussman officiated the gathering of about a dozen students. Sussman introduced himself to the attendants of the meeting as "founder of the COTE club and a proud child of 1980." His claim to fame, he said, is that he and singer Debbie Gibson had the same orthodontist. The idea for the club "started out as a joke this summer on America Online," Sussman said. "But I'm very serious about this." Sussman hopes that the leadership board, to be elected at the next COTE meeting, will help him organize events focusing on '80s culture appreciation. Suggestions for such events included movie theme nights, such as the "Brat Pack" or Molly Ringwald, karaoke night, an '80s dance party and pop culture trivia night. A loyal Kevin Bacon fan, Sussman posed the idea of holding a "Bacon-fest" featuring many of the actor's earlier films. A "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" tournament is in the works as well, based on the game that tries to link all actors back to Bacon through his many movies. The most elaborate undertaking Sussman suggested at the meeting involves a trip to New York to see the Broadway adaptation of the 1984 movie Footloose. When his idea was met with skeptical snickers, he responded, "Hey, it could happen." The meeting concluded with a short reminiscing session where everyone shared his or her favorite '80s pop-culture memory. "Definitely Rainbow Brite and She-ra, princess of power," College freshman Caroline O'Reilly said. "I had all the toys and whatnot that came with them." Tina Turner's "What's Love Got to do With It?" was Engineering and Wharton freshman Eileen Mccarthy's favorite memory. "Joan Collins and Linda Evans duking it out," said Dental School freshman Elli Saba in reference to the prime-time soap opera Dynasty. "Classic television." Sussman was very excited about the success of the meeting, which actually ended up serving as a forum to exchange memories of his favorite -- and first -- decade. The next meeting, he said, would be held at 7 p.m., October 5 at Xando. "The Wonder Years was definitely the greatest show," he said. "I also love? The Goonies, Saved by the Bell and Thundercats." When students interested in the COTE club asked for a phone number at which to contact Sussman, a smile burst across his face. "I had hoped to get 7-5309," he explained, referring to the Tommy Tutone hit single "867-5309 (Jenny)" He settled, instead, for the number assigned to him by Penntrex.
