Scott Joplin

Why tamper with the tried and true? This year's Scott Joplin Festival, like its predecessors, split its program with music in the first half and dances in the second and ended with the traditional "Cake Walk March."The seventh festival, presented by Eva Anderson's Baltimore Dance Theatre yesterday at Howard Community College, opened with two strong musical works by pianist and composer David Alan Bunn and his accompanying quintet. The group Rude Kulcha rounded out the musical offerings.Mr.

Celebrate the spirit as "Dancing Hearts" presents "Classical Rocks," Sunday, April 22 at 7 p.m. at Resurrection Church, 3315 Greencastle Road, in Burtonsville. Enjoy works such as Aaron Copland's evocative Duo, Scott Joplin's irresistible Rags and the soulful tango music of Astor Piazzolla. The program features flutist Karen Johnson, pianist Carlos-Cesar Rodriguez and percussionist John Kilkenny. Concert is part of the Living Arts Concert Series. A reception follows the concert.

For the sixth year, Eva Anderson and her Baltimore Dance Theatre have put together an entertaining and instructional tribute to American composer Scott Joplin.The program was split between Joplin's music in the first half and dances choreographed by Ms. Anderson, based (albeit loosely) on facets of Joplin's music, in the second. Guest pianist Raymond Jackson and Ms. Anderson provided historical insights and anecdotes for each of their selections.Mr. Jackson, a professor of music at Howard University, provided renditions of various marches, waltzes and syncopated melodies, such as "The Strenuous Life," "March Majestic" and "The Maple Leaf Rag," with a bright but leisurely tempo that, as Mr. Jackson noted, was in tune with the pace of life at the turn of the century.

A SONIC revolution started 100 years ago, ignited by a joyous, herky-jerky, syncopated beat. Everywhere, it seemed, people could not get enough of this new music. They wrote songs about it, danced to it.The music was ragtime, and its signature song, Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag," was published in 1899. "Maple Leaf" is the biggest-selling piece of instrumental ragtime music. Perhaps 1 million copies ended up in American homes before phonographs and piano rolls killed the market for sheet music.

A SONIC revolution started 100 years ago, ignited by a joyous, herky-jerky, syncopated beat. Everywhere, it seemed, people could not get enough of this new music. They wrote songs about it, danced to it.The music was ragtime, and its signature song, Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag," was published in 1899. "Maple Leaf" is the biggest-selling piece of instrumental ragtime music. Perhaps 1 million copies ended up in American homes before phonographs and piano rolls killed the market for sheet music.

Celebrate the spirit as "Dancing Hearts" presents "Classical Rocks," Sunday, April 22 at 7 p.m. at Resurrection Church, 3315 Greencastle Road, in Burtonsville. Enjoy works such as Aaron Copland's evocative Duo, Scott Joplin's irresistible Rags and the soulful tango music of Astor Piazzolla. The program features flutist Karen Johnson, pianist Carlos-Cesar Rodriguez and percussionist John Kilkenny. Concert is part of the Living Arts Concert Series. A reception follows the concert.

Name: In honor of sports equipment innovator Howard Head and his wife, Martha.Location: 700 N. Calvert St., three floors above the Pearlstone Theater.Capacity: 100 to 400.Seating: Eight two-story, 18-seat towers that can be rearranged for each production (three possible arrangements are illustrated above).Cost: $5.9 million.Construction: 17 months.Architects: Ziger, Hoopes & Sneadof Baltimore and Theatre ProjectsConsultants of New York.Additional renovation/construction: Scene shop, paint deck, prop shop, hoist way, two elevators, two rehearsal halls, dressing rooms; support facilities include lobby, coatroom, restrooms and lounge.

The Rev. Henri Nouwen,64, a Roman Catholic priest and prolific author on Christianity, died of a heart attack Saturday in Hilversum, Netherlands.He died before he was to have left for St. Petersburg, Russia, for production of a film based on one of his best-known books, "The Return of the Prodigal Son."Better known in the United States than in his native Netherlands, Father Nouwen taught at Notre Dame University before becoming a professor at Yale's divinity school from 1971 to 1981. From 1982 until 1985, he taught theology at Harvard.

If there were such a genre as ragtime theater, it would probably look a lot like Eric Overmyer's "The Heliotrope Bouquet by Scott Joplin & Louis Chauvin," which is receiving its world premiere in Center Stage's new Head Theater.What Mr. Overmyer has done is the tricky task of translating one art form into another. Specifically, he has taken a collaborative composition, "The Heliotrope Bouquet," by Joplin and his little-known contemporary, Louis Chauvin, and sought out the equivalent words and images for the notes and music.

St. Louis, America's 17th largest metropolitan area, may be famous for its historical role as America's Western gateway and for its unusual arch, a towering stainless-steel monument to Thomas Jefferson. The Mississippi River city also boasts the St. Louis Zoological Park and Union Station, a restored 1890s train terminal.But to get to the heart of this town, I had to find the blues. On a recent weekend jaunt, I embarked on a tour of St. Louis that took me through the city's crazy quilt of neighborhoods.

The Rev. Henri Nouwen,64, a Roman Catholic priest and prolific author on Christianity, died of a heart attack Saturday in Hilversum, Netherlands.He died before he was to have left for St. Petersburg, Russia, for production of a film based on one of his best-known books, "The Return of the Prodigal Son."Better known in the United States than in his native Netherlands, Father Nouwen taught at Notre Dame University before becoming a professor at Yale's divinity school from 1971 to 1981. From 1982 until 1985, he taught theology at Harvard.

St. Louis, America's 17th largest metropolitan area, may be famous for its historical role as America's Western gateway and for its unusual arch, a towering stainless-steel monument to Thomas Jefferson. The Mississippi River city also boasts the St. Louis Zoological Park and Union Station, a restored 1890s train terminal.But to get to the heart of this town, I had to find the blues. On a recent weekend jaunt, I embarked on a tour of St. Louis that took me through the city's crazy quilt of neighborhoods.

Our American heritage and its diversity are the themes for this weekend's Family Program by the Kinetics Dance Company.This is not an ordinary history lesson. Your history teacher was never this animated.The five-part program is comprised of music from Scott Joplin to Bobby Short, with themes on topics such as American Indians and blacks. The program will be performed by seven professional dancers and seven apprentice dancers of Kinetics, along with a guest dancer, Jill Blizzard."This is geared toward those who have an interest in the American heritage.

Why tamper with the tried and true? This year's Scott Joplin Festival, like its predecessors, split its program with music in the first half and dances in the second and ended with the traditional "Cake Walk March."The seventh festival, presented by Eva Anderson's Baltimore Dance Theatre yesterday at Howard Community College, opened with two strong musical works by pianist and composer David Alan Bunn and his accompanying quintet. The group Rude Kulcha rounded out the musical offerings.Mr.

Center Stage patrons know him as a judge, a waiter, a Nazi, assorted Shakespearean fools and Cardinal Wolsey.Beginning Friday in the new Head Theater, he'll be portraying a stablehand, a titled British lady, an Egyptian tour guide and a mummy -- all in one play, Charles Ludlam's spoof of penny dreadfuls, "The Mystery of Irma Vep."He's Wil Love, and he's played more parts in more Center Stage productions than any other actor. Including previous instances of multiple casting, the total comes to 35 roles in 28 plays.

THE GHOST of Louis Chauvin, the "Ragtime Natural Genius," dances on the edge of Scott Joplin's murky recollections of his own life in playwright Eric Overmyer's newest work."

Center Stage is one of six American theaters chosen for financial support by AT&T during the 1990-91 season.Three new plays, including one by Eric Overmyer at Center Stage in February, and three adaptations of the classics will be presented by AT&T: OnStage, AT&T's umbrella theater sponsorship program.Overmyer's play, "The Heliotrope Bouquet by Scott Joplin & Louis Chauvin," is a lyrical theater poem about the world inhabited by Joplin and his foremost, now-forgotten ragtime contemporary, Chauvin.

Our American heritage and its diversity are the themes for this weekend's Family Program by the Kinetics Dance Company.This is not an ordinary history lesson. Your history teacher was never this animated.The five-part program is comprised of music from Scott Joplin to Bobby Short, with themes on topics such as American Indians and blacks. The program will be performed by seven professional dancers and seven apprentice dancers of Kinetics, along with a guest dancer, Jill Blizzard."This is geared toward those who have an interest in the American heritage.

THE HELIOTROPE Bouquet By Scott Joplin and Louis Chauvin,'' first production in Center Stage's newly dedicated Head Theater, is a visual feast more than it is a dramatic or thematic piece.While the organization couldn't have chosen a more suitable inaugural presentation for the theater, the new play is really little more than an impression, a dream-like remembrance of the only time these two ragtime composers met in collaboration.The show is, however, quite interesting, and it doesn't hurt to know, going in, that it runs no more than one hour and 20 minutes without intermission.

If there were such a genre as ragtime theater, it would probably look a lot like Eric Overmyer's "The Heliotrope Bouquet by Scott Joplin & Louis Chauvin," which is receiving its world premiere in Center Stage's new Head Theater.What Mr. Overmyer has done is the tricky task of translating one art form into another. Specifically, he has taken a collaborative composition, "The Heliotrope Bouquet," by Joplin and his little-known contemporary, Louis Chauvin, and sought out the equivalent words and images for the notes and music.