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women and the machine
Typewriter by Altered Dance and Music
BY ERIN THURSBY scopes1925@msn.com
What: Typewriter
When: September 15 th @ 7:30 pm
Where: Jacksonville University’s Swisher Theatre
For an evening of original dance, music and
art by Altered Dance and Music, come out to see
Typewriter, held at Jacksonville University’s Swisher
Theatre.
The typewriter is much more than a dinosaur
of the printing era. It is a machine that had its place
in history, playing it admirably. For women of the
late19th century through the 1970s, the typewriter
was one of the few means of independence. Three
professors at Jacksonville University—Barry Wilson,
Cari Coble and Tony Steve, began discussing the role
of women from the 1950s to today. After reading an
article on the typewriter as a means of economic
freedom in the early 20 th century, they decided that
both the typewriter and women needed to be represented
on stage.
The title of the piece has a double meaning.
Typewriter can mean the actual machine, but in the
earlier part of the 20 th century, it was used to refer to
the typists themselves, the type writers.
So the woman is, in effect, the typewriter and
so is the machine. At some point, women stopped
taking dictation, writing what they were told to write,
and they began using the power of words on their
own. With the death of the manual typewriter and the
advent of the Internet, words have become freer and
the power of the printed word now belongs to everybody.
As society changed, a woman’s accepted
role changed. As technology changed, so too did
the typewriter. You might argue that it disappeared,
but as I write this on a QWERTY keyboard, I can only
think that it hasn’t died, it’s just evolved to survive.
Barry Wilson, a Jacksonville artist who teaches
printmaking at the school, had his own private collection
of antique typewriters. He provides the videography
that plays behind the dancers.
Tony Steve, assistant professor of contemporary/world
music, wrote the score for the piece, putting
together live music that he says is “sometimes a
little sarcastic.”
Cari Coble, the last of the trio, choreographed
the dance, interpreting their vision through movement.
The jumping off point for their vision was
two-fold: an article on the role and extinction of the
type writer and a list called “The Good Wife’s Guide”
which has widely circulated the Internet. It’s purported
to come from a Ladies Home Journal article
or a home economics textbook from the 1950s,
but Snopes.com debunks it as a fraud. Even if the
exact text never existed, the attitudes and sentiments
within are certainly believable as part of 1950s
wifely ideals, if only because the ideas are found
throughout printed materials of that time.
Pieces of the text from this list are projected
as part of the videography, as the dancers act out
parts of the text. At one point, when the projected
text says: “Minimize all noise. At the time of his [the
husband’s] arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer,
dryer, or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to
be quiet.” In response, composer Tony Steve wrote a
cacophony of sound, instead of a soothing piece.
Typewriter is a multi-faceted production, designed
to do many things at once. It tells us where
we’ve been and how we’ve changed, how the idea
of what a wife should be has changed and how all
of that is tied to the history of a machine, inexorably
linked to the women that once used it as a ticket to
independence.
You can see Typewriter at Jacksonville
University’s Swisher Theatre on Saturday, September
15 th at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $10 for adults, $7
for seniors, $5 for general students and free to JU
students with the proper ID. For more info call (904)
256-7374 or visit arts.ju.edu.
art events
SEPTEMBER
13 Auditions: Amateur Night 5-6:15 Ritz Theatre, Jax
13 Governor’s Luncheon To Benefi t United Negro College
Fund Omni Hotel, Jax
13-15 Exhibit: Jim Draper – “Produce” Stellers Gallery,
Neptune Beach
13-16 “Shout! The Mod Musical” FCCJ Wilson Center, Jax
13-17 “Lost & Found” Exhibit Women’s Center of Jacksonville, Jax
13-21 Exhibit: “Made of Steel” Metalworker Photo Studies
FCCJ S. Campus, Jax
13-21 Exhibit-14 Artists-Printmaking, Tile, Photography The
Art Advocate, St. Augustine
13-23 “Criminal Hearts” Limelight Theatre, St. Augusitne
13-25 Exhibit George Phillips Pitlak FCCJ Kent Campus, Jax
13-26 Brad Silverstein Art Exhibition JU Alexander Brest Library, Jax
13-29 “Cinderella” Orange Park Community Theatre,
Orange Park
13-30 Elemental Atmospheres Paintings By Princess Simpson
Rashid MOSH, Jax
13-30 Exhibit: William Newby New Works in Oil Energy Lab
Art Gallery, St. Augustine
13-OCT. 7 Steel Magnolia’s Alhambra Dinner Theatre, Jax
13-OCT. 14 381 Days: The Montgomery Bus Boycott Story
Ritz Theatre, Jax
13-OCT. 14 Dinosaurs & Ice Age Mammals MOSH, Jax
13-OCT. 27 Mystery Dinner Theatre Dave & Buster’s, Jax
13-NOV. 4 The Cummer Is…Photographs By Ingrid Damiani
Cummer Museum, Jax
13-FEB. 28 Oh Say Can You See: American Art Cummer Museum, Jax
14 Opening Reception: Coherent Structures by Carol Prusa MOCA, Jax
14 Dark of the Moon Tour St. Augustine Lighthouse, St. Augustine
14 Nightowl Cinema-E.T. The Amphitheatre, St. Augustine
14 X Benefi t MOSH, Jax
14 Brew at the Zoo-entertainment, Food, Beer Zoo, Jax
14-16 Southern Monster Truck Showdown Clay County
Fairgrounds, Green Cove Springs
14-29 “Cabaret” Players by the Sea, Jax Beach
14-30 Exhibit-Artist Ron Burns To Benefi t Humane Society R.
Roberts Gallery, Jax
14-OCT. 6 “A Midnsummer Night’s Dream” Theatre Jax, Jax
15 Experimental Painting with Instructor Kim Barry MOCA, Jax
15 American Heart Association Heart Walk Metro Park, Jax
15 Typewriter – Altered Dance & Music JU, Jax
15 Barbie’s The Island Princess DVD Event The Zoo, Jax
15 Film Series “Boycott” Ritz Theatre, Jax
14-OCT. 6 A Midsummer Nights Dream Theatre Jax, Jax
14-JAN. 6 Sculptor: Minoru Ohira Exhibit MOCA, Jax
16 Craig Hall – Brahms Church of the Good Shepherd, Jax
16 Intermezzo Concerts Main Library, Jax
16 Auditions: Moon Over the Brewery Theatre Jax, Jacksonville
16 Concert Series-Robert Breault, Tenor Cummer Museum, Jax
16 Music From the Movement/Charles Cobb Lecture Ritz Theatre, Jax
18 Tale Tellers Theatre of the Mind Limelight Theatre, St. Augustine
19 Go Figure: Drawing Live Models With Jonathan Lux MOCA, Jax
20 Taste of the NFL Touchdown Club, Jax
21 Comedian Ron White Stephen C. O’Connell Center, Gainesville
22 Miracles in the Moonlight Gala Benefi t Hyatt Regency, Jax
22 Open Casting Call-HBO’s “Recount” 8am-6pm Ed Ball Building, Jax
22 Dance Alive National Ballet “Cleopatra” Philips Center, Gainesville
22 Race Revolution: Jax During the Civil Rights Era Ritz Theatre, Jax
22 21 st Annual Rollin on the River Car Show The Landing, Jax
24 Betty Griffi n House Annual Luncheon & Fashion Show
Marriott Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra
eujacksonville.com | september 13-19, 2007 29