The Towerlight, November 10, 2011

WINTER SPORTS PREVIEW Paqe 24 Matthew Hazlett / The Towerlight Katherine Hutchinson dances in "Ball Couture,” a modern repertory piece choreographed by Nicole Martinell. "Ball Couture” is one of six pieces performed in “Passion,” the first concert put on by the department of dance and the TU Dance Company this semester. ‘Passion’ includes ballet, jazz pieces LAUREN SLAVIN Editor-in-Chief The most difficult part about per¬ forming on stage is pretending to do it as a ghost, according to junior Beth Griffin. "You have to emote human feeling anyone can identify with,” she said. Griffin is referring to her role as Giselle, the main character in the self- titled romantic ballet that's the open¬ ing piece to "Passion." The show, which opens Friday, Nov. 11, features both classical contem¬ porary pieces performed by the TU Dance Company and pieces staged or choreographed by professors for reper¬ tory classes. The TU Dance Company, which includes 24 students, will per¬ form two pieces that bookend the concert. Junior dance major Maggie Kurdirka, the other company member cast as Giselle, has taken center stage before in lead roles such as Odette in the fell 2010 dance concert’s per¬ formance of “Swan Lake.” Preparing for this role was a learning experi¬ ence, since "Giselle" calls for a dancer who can also portray a character and advance a story. "This is the first ballet where danc¬ ing tells the story, where it's not pan¬ tomime, where the movement tells the story,” Kurdirka said. "Giselle," first performed in 1841, tells the story of a prince and a peasant whose love ends in tragedy when it is exposed that the prince is betrothed to another. Giselle, a beautiful peas¬ ant, goes mad when she discovers she won’t live happily ever after with her prince and succumbs to her grief in the ballet's first act. The curtain rises in the Stephens Hall Auditorium for Act II, where Giselle is initiated as a Wilis, or a ghost that a woman turns into when she dies before marriage. Catherine Horta-Hayden, who was assistant provost for academic affairs from 2007-2010, returned to the department of dance last fall as an associate professor. When planning the first piece she would stage for a dance concert since returning to the department, Horta-Hayden looked to her past at Towson: Nine years ago, she first staged "Giselle” for the TU Dance Company. See DANCE, page 14 Student files discrimination complaint against Applebee's LAUREN SLAVIN Editor-in-Chief Towson University junior Courtney Haywood said she went to work Oct. 31 expecting a mediation meeting with management regarding a discrimination claim. Instead, she was handed a termination letter. After making several complaints to no avail that a manager at the Towson Applebee’s Neighborhood Bar and Grille was harassing her and that she was only assigned to tables of black customers, Haywood has filed a complaint of racial discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. "It felt unfair and it shouldn’t happen to you,” Haywood said. Haywood, former Applebee’s employee Raenelle Cole, and Director of the National United Youth Council Salaam Ismial held a press conference outside the LaSalle Road Applebee’s in Towson Tuesday, Nov. 8, to make the public aware of the way this particular Applebee’s treats its employees, according to Ismial. "This is courageous for Courtney to step up," Ismial, who is also Haywood’s uncle, said. "You do have rights, and it’s best to file a complaint than not complain at all." At the press conference, Bob Hughes, Applebee’s Area Director for district six, would not comment on the situation regarding Haywood’s termination. Hughes is an employee of The Rose Group, a restaurant managing company that owns and operates 59 Applebee's on the Eastern Shore. Communications firm Diccicco Battista Communications released a formal statement regard¬ ing the organization’s response shortly after the press conference. "We take these allegations very seriously. We’re fully committed to creating a fair work envi¬ ronment for all of our team members," the statement read. "We have not received a copy of the alleged complaint, so we do not have any further information to offer at this time." Under new management Haywood, a 23-year-old single mother, started working at Applebee’s in 2007 as a way to fund her education at Towson University. In May 2011, the Applebee’s acquired new management, See RIGHTS, page 9 ШОКЕ BJ