Chatting with MIT Ballroom Dance Team
Tomorrow Rockwell Cage will shine with crystal-studded costumes, sleek hairdos, and elegant tail suits as dancers from different areas gather for MIT Open, the annual ballroom dance competition organized by MIT Ballroom Dance Team. The Tech took this opportunity to visit the team members during their weekend practice and talk about preparations, the team’s progress, and dancing in general.
Colors in all their glory Quilts and Color exhibit is an unexpected treat
Are quilts fine art or folk art? The exhibit Quilts and Color, currently on display at the Museum of Fine Arts, invites viewers to answer the question for themselves.
Crime never sounded so posh
Dom Hemingway, written and directed by Richard Shepard, stars Jude Law as the title character, a career criminal on parole after 12 years in prison. Dom is vengefully determined to claim what he thinks is rightfully his, and heads to the grand French villa of a powerful crime boss (Demián Bichir), hoping for a big payday as remuneration for his years of silence while in prison. Along the way, Dom gets himself in and out of trouble — most of it comical and amusingly mischievous, some of it brutal and truly menacing, and almost all of it involving copious amounts of drink and drugs — before turning his efforts to a reconciliation with his estranged daughter, and perhaps, a slim chance at redemption.
Time is Illmatic, keep static like wool fabric
From New York’s Queensbridge Houses, a teenager scripted a work of art so raw and compelling that twenty years later its stories still ring true, full of yet-to-be-mined jewels of wisdom, studied religiously, and revered by the Hip-Hop community.
Goulash and cabbage and veal, oh my!
After a short walk from Andrews station on the Red Line, you may find yourself thinking you are in Poland when you walk into the tiny room that houses Café Polonia. You will be greeted warmly by a strong Eastern European accent and menus written both in English and Polish. The Slavic comfort food delivers on authenticity as well as quality, making the quick trip down to Dorchester worth it any day of the week.
Ceci n’est pas une interview
There are known unknowns — that is, things that you know you don’t know. Back in 2003, Robert McNamara was for me, an unknown when I saw him standing awkwardly in a khaki raincoat on the poster for The Fog of War. I had at best a very vague idea of who he was, and I had never even heard of Errol Morris, the film’s director.
Quality and quantity
Dine Out Boston, formerly Restaurant Week, took place this year on March 16 – 21 and 23 – 28. Even though the second half of the citywide event coincided with spring break, the two-week celebration is a great chance for students to try out some high-end restaurants at slightly more affordable prices.
Dramashop welcomes spring with a dark comedy
Walking down the infinite corridor, you might have noticed the slightly demonic child on the poster for Dramashop’s latest production of The Pillowman. It’s hard to miss, as it looks like the cover of a horror film. The Tech chatted with cast members Salvador Esparza Jr. ’14 and Adam K. Strandberg ’14 about the production, their experiences as actors, and their early days in Dramashop.
Jupiter String Quartet masterfully performs Beethoven
Over lunch on the day of their first Beethoven String Quartet Cycle concert, I asked the members of the Jupiter String Quartet what makes their string ensemble unique. They answered that unlike many other musical ensembles, all the instruments in the string quartet are from the same family, meaning each voice blends uniquely with the others. The Jupiter String Quartet’s third Beethoven Cycle concert last Friday was dramatic validation of their answer.
The return of the blue macaw
If you liked Rio, you absolutely have to watch Rio 2. The first movie was great, but its sequel is nothing short of extraordinary. Honestly, I do not think an animated comedy — when constrained to have a blue macaw as its main character — can get any better than this. I took my whole family to see it, and we had a blast!
Daisies in the streets
Apart from their far-reaching influence and status as two of the most respected groups in Hip-Hop, Mobb Deep and De La Soul stand at opposite ends of the spectrum. Mobb Deep, self-proclaimed “official Queensbridge murderers,” represent the hard-hitting, ominous, street-fueled Hip-Hop that rose to popularity in the 90’s after N.W.A’s landmark Straight Outta Compton (1988). De La Soul stands in stark contrast as part of the Native Tongues Posse alongside A Tribe Called Quest, and helped establish jazz rap, afrocentric lyrics, and a playful positive style with their debut album 3 Feet High and Rising (1989).
MIT group joins Rueda de Casino event
On March 29, 2014 Salsa groups and dancers from all over New England joined together to enjoy a full day of Cuban-style dancing and a flash mob in Harvard Square in celebration of the first International Rueda de Casino Day. The Tech had the opportunity to speak with Or Gadish, vice president of MIT Casino Rueda, about this style of dancing and about the flash mob organized in Cambridge in celebration of it.
Not your average cafeteria food
On the corner of Newbury and Gloucester Street, Back Bay restaurant Cafeteria offers a classy interpretation of a typical cafeteria menu. Dinner prices range from $12 to $18, and the polished, upscale atmosphere resembles nothing of a stereotypical cafeteria. The menu includes a few quirky selections, like Cheeseburger Spring Rolls and a Boston Cream Burger, but there are also a variety of traditional American comforts like grilled cheese and macaroni and cheese.
A conversation with John Lyons Murphy
The Tech interviewed John Lyons Murphy, producer of Broken Kingdom and Kingdom Come. Murphy spoke about his experiences with both films, as well as his thoughts on independent film as a whole.
Broken Kingdom and Kingdom Come
Earlier this March, the independent film Broken Kingdom was released on iTunes. The film caught my eye because it was written and directed by one of my favorite actors, Daniel Gillies, who also stars in the film. The movie itself was fascinating — the story builds around two separate narratives, leaving the audience to wonder if these narratives connect. One follows a spiritually lost and self-loathing American writer and a poor teenage girl in the slums of Bogota, Colombia, while the other portrays the life of a Hollywood-based daycare teacher who suffers because she hides a tragic secret.
Shabu Shazam!
Shabu-shabu, the Japanese style of hot pot, actually translates to swish-swish, echoing the sounds that the ingredients make as you stir them in the soup at your table. It makes sense that Swish Shabu has evoked this auditory experience with their name, as they provide a dining experience that is a treat for all of the senses. Not only are the cook-it-yourself meats and vegetables delicious, the presentation is excellent and the pleasant service adds to an overwhelmingly positive meal.
The Tech interviews Leonard Nimoy
Over spring break I had the incredible opportunity to interview Leonard Nimoy. While he is perhaps best known for his role as Star Trek’s Mr. Spock, Mr. Nimoy is also a renowned and talented photographer. Mr. Nimoy shares his experiences with photography, his projects, and MIT. His photography is being shown at the Sherman Gallery at Boston University until May 9.
A prodigious piano performance
The stage of Symphony Hall — usually packed with over a hundred Boston Symphony Orchestra performers — seemed empty on Sunday evening, as it had nothing but one grand piano. But that all changed when Evgeny Kissin released the first chord of Franz Schubert’s Sonata No. 17. The sheer power of that first note, which filled the entire Hall, marked the beginning of a night of phenomenal piano music.
Garcia-Dominguez discusses music at MIT
The Emerson Scholars and Emerson Fellows program helps recognize the many talented musicians at MIT. The Tech had the opportunity to talk to Dario Garcia-Dominguez ’15 about what it’s like to be an Emerson Fellow, his Advanced Music Performance Student Recital this Wednesday at Killian Hall at 5 p.m., and music at the MIT. Garcia-Dominguez plays the piano and will be performing the following at his recital: Beethoven, Bagatelles, Op. 33, Sonata in E Major, Op. 109; Chopin, Ballade No. 2 in F Major, Op. 38; Prokofiev, Sonata No. 3 in a minor, Op. 28; and Liebermann, Gargoyles, Op. 29.
A good conversation about bad words
Jason Bateman might be well known as the affable pushover Michael Bluth on Arrested Development, but he leads Bad Words as the sarcastic antihero Guy Trilby, who hijacks a spelling bee for children and tells off anyone who questions him. The type of role is not all that’s new here: the film is also Bateman’s first time in the director’s chair. He was recently available for a college press roundtable, where he discussed the difficult balance between caustic and sweet that was needed to make this film work.