Nintendo’s cult classic Fire Emblem series is known by gamers the world over for its ability to inspire both pleasure and frustration in shockingly equal amounts. Seldom-used word combinations like “punishingly addictive” or “enjoyably frustrating” are employed freely by anyone and everyone that’s ever given the franchise a spin.
What do sequins, flowers and feathers all have in common? They are being spotted on heads all across campus. Headbands and elastic head wraps have returned once again. Celebrities like Mary-Kate Olsen, Nicole Richie and Rachel Bilson have been seen sporting hippie style headbands throughout the last couple of years, and this vintage style hair accessory has made it to the mainstream.
“For one afternoon people cover each other in colored powders, and our differences are erased in one swipe,” says Charu Das, manager of Holi, also known as The Festival of Colors. Celebrated largely in countries with large Hindu populations such as India, Nepal and Bangladesh, the festival is also held yearly at the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork.
Ballet West in Salt Lake is at it again with another new and exciting performance called Treasures of the Ballets Russes. This recital is set to sample some of the original Ballet Russes’ most famous and profound pieces, including Les Biches, The Prodigal Son and Polovetsian Dances.
Dial M For Murder, the play on which Alfred Hitchcock based his movie of the same name, opened March 20 at Pioneer Theater Company in Salt Lake. Murder, the story of a scheming former tennis player and his heiress wife who refuses to play the victim, was written by English playwright Frederick Knott.
One can only express admiration for the director Laura Barnham and her youth program Acting UP! at the SCERA. Teenagers from all over the valley audition for her program, and once admitted become part of an ensemble that focuses on family-friendly fun and uplifting entertainment.
The Springville Art Museum’s latest exhibit, the American Collection, is as diverse in styles and artists as America is in cultures and regional personalities. At the exhibit’s core are statues of America’s great Emancipator himself, Abraham Lincoln. The pieces range from life-size statues of a young Lincoln to a large bust of him.
The comfort food of the Utah Valley theater scene can be found in an unassuming small venue beneath the Pleasant Grove Library. The team at PG Players, a city-sponsored troupe, knows their way around contemporary American theater. Often led by the dynamic husband and wife team of Katherine and Howard Little, the PG Players consistently produce great mid-century American comedies and dramas.
“International cinema allows people to learn about different cultures, customs, languages and arts,” says Mark Olsen, the coordinator of integrated and interdisciplinary studies at UVU and cinema studies club advisor. Many students are unaware that the cinema studies club offers free admission to international films in LI 120 on Thursdays from 7 to 9:30.
Sitting in class, grabbing lunch in the cafeteria, or riding in the parking shuttle, students are in danger of coming to a confidence-shattering conclusion: At UVU, there is a crowd. And you’re just a part of it. Standing out from the rest of the Wolverines isn’t easy — it takes work.