"MAN" that was good

A lot of hype comes with the words "Magnet Arts Night." Rumors of auditions, cuts, "the list" and epic performances seem to fire like neurons through the 300s hallways in early February. And while the excitement may be contained upstairs, the whole school feels the after-effect of what is said to be one of the most impressive showcases at Blair. This year, Magnet Arts Night lived up to it all, making for a knock-out blend of new and old, tradition and modernity.

Senior Cyril Lan set the tone for Act I with a sweeping rendition of Franz Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsodie #8 in F#" during the Prelude. Lan's intro to the show started softly, and gradually picked up speed and energy to produce a roller-coaster of emotion that somehow traveled from the tips of his fingers to the auditorium seats.

Next was the first act of Act I, the Senior Bhangra Dance, featuring senior Samarth Gola, Sparsh Gola, Rohit Gopal, Maanasi Mistry, Anjana Mohanty, Anjali Parekh and Amit Singal, who performed a traditional Indian dance. The group performed to a medley of upbeat songs, waving glittering scarves and bouncing around the stage with enough energy to ring through the next act, the Bruch Octet, which was intense enough to make you never question the excitement of chamber music again.

The modern side of Magnet Arts Night began to shine through with "Ft. Lbs." at the end of Act I. Decked out in white laboratory coats and large-framed black glasses, seniors Alice Fan, Rachel Lee, Bao Nguyen and Wenjia Zhu bounced around a box painted with the words "Ft. Lbs." while a nasal voice sang about foot pounds in the background (For you non-Magnets: a foot-pound is an English unit of work or force, equivalent to a joule). Seniors Samarth Gola, Brian Han and Isaiah Yoon and junior Anton Do, dressed in street-clothes, entered the stage from both sides to shake their heads at the "nerdy" girls. No sooner did the boys shake their heads than the girls stripped off their dorky attire and started shaking it to a medley of hip-hop songs, starting with "Shake" by the Ying-Yang Twins. The unexpected striptease elicited more than a few roars from the audience, but the girls quickly showed that their dancing skills were more than a joke. The act proved to be one of the best and most memorable of the night, especially after the boys joined in to bust a few break-dancing moves.

Act II opened with a bang with an ensemble performance of "Tank," by the Seatbelts. The song featured seven seniors, five juniors, three sophomores and a single (but brave!) freshman. The musicians were energetic and with their matching aviators, successfully invoked a jazzy atmosphere to match the song, and surprisingly synchronized, even in their large numbers.

One of the best acts of the night featured two Magnet teachers, John Kaluta and Robert Donaldson who provided guitar riffs and back-up vocals for senior Monika Chadda in "Driftin' Too Far From the Shore." The twanging guitar sounded like something out of "O Brother Where Art Thou" behind the smooth, soulful sound of Chadda's voice.

In case you thought Nsync was out, a group of magnet seniors (dubbed "ROCKTHISHOUSE") put together an act to prove you wrong. After a series of medleys and, yes, a group effort of "the worm," these guys ended their act by stripping off their matching button-down shirts to reveal "BYE BYE BLAIR!" written on the backs of their t-shirts.

The night concluded with the senior act, "Born to be Wild," featuring what seemed to be about half of the Magnet class of 2007. The first portion of the act poked fun at the "origins of Magnet," mostly filled with inside jokes indecipherable to non-Magnets (analysis of algorithms and fish?), but well received by the supportive audience. The other half of the act was a song-and-dance routine to "Born to be Wild," and, while it was difficult to decipher anything coming from the speakers, the mere sight of senior Alex Hyder doing his own "grandpa dance" was enough to make any act hilarious.

As the last chords of "Born to Be Wild" blared from the amps, everyone in the show rushed the stage and danced in a mob; the Bhangra dancers, violinists and drummers all together in one entity, mixing tradition with modernity. As the Magnets danced, the lights changed to create a black silhouette, boldly contrasted against the rainbow-colored background before the curtains closed on a successful and captivating Magnet Arts Night 2007.