If you liked "Happy Feet," you may get as excited as I am for this Thursday's entertainment.
Brought to you by the WUD Performing Arts Committee, world famous tap dancer Savion Glover will grace the Union Theater Thursday, Nov. 10 at 8 p.m. in "SoLe Sanctuary." If you can tell me what this title actually means I will buy you a donut. I'm assuming it's some kind of pun having to do with soles being on your feet.
Anyway, if you're not sure which of the famous Glovers I'm talking about, he's not Troy on "Community" or rapper Childish Gambino (Donald) and did not play that guy in "Angels in the Outfield" (Danny). Nay, you may instead recognize his moves from the warm and fuzzy penguin flick "Happy Feet," where he came up with all of Mumble's breakdowns and co-choreographed dance sequences.
Not into cartoons? Glover also starred in Spike Lee's powerful film "Bamboozled." I'm also pretty sure he made more than one appearance on "Sesame Street" back in the day. Beyond this, you could have also seen him on Broadway.
The point is this guy is kind of a big deal.
If you are into music of any kind, I think Savion Glover's performance here at UW is a seriously exciting opportunity for students. Luckily for those of us with a Wiscard, tickets are only $10, versus the $25-40 the general public has to pay for the show.
Yeah, yeah, I'm broke too. But before you shoot down the thought of going just because of the price, please take a moment and think about how much money you have spent on booze for any given weekend... Right. So 10 bucks is really not that big of a deal and I guarantee this experience will be much more enlightening and a lot less hangover-inducing.
Still not convinced? Take 43 seconds of your time to open up YouTube (like you weren't already watching cute cat videos and ignoring the professor anyway) and watch "Savion ‘Happy Feet' Glover" to get a feel for the rhythm this guy rides. If the end of that last sentence made you think of "Cool Runnings," we could probably be friends. He's not called the best tap dancer in the world without reason, that's for sure.
Take a Thursday night out on the town for some tap and participate in one of the many unique opportunities students have to spice up their weeknights on campus. You may not realize it now, but we're a little spoiled when it comes to these sorts of things.
Other notable upcoming Performing Arts committee events include Dobet Gnahoré, a singer, dancer and percussionist from the Ivory Coast on Friday, Nov. 11, at 9 p.m. for $10, and Keyboard Conversations with Jeffery Siegel: A Beethoven Bonanza on Wednesday, Nov. 16 for free. I don't know about you guys, but beautiful, complex music created by a guy when he was deaf plus bonanza equals good time to me.
Both of these concerts will be at the historic Union Theater and you can buy your tickets online (search "Wisconsin Union Theater") or at the box office on Park Street on the west end of Memorial Union.
Support the performing arts and give your brain cells a boost before finals week with WUD's cornucopia of musical acts.
Think your money is better spent on booze? You should probably hold off for the weekend and study instead, but if you really want to, you can debate with Jaime at jbrackeen@wisc.edu.
