Daniel Charon

Daniel Charon to step down as Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company artistic director next spring after 12 seasons: A detailed look at his tenure, forthcoming transition

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Daniel Charon, artistic director of Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, has announced that he will step down at the end of his 12th season in the spring of 2025. This feature encompasses interviews with Charon and Thom Dancy, executive director, as well as an overview of Charon’s work over the last 12 years. In the … Read more

Making a bit of Utah dance history: Audience’s roaring approval propels Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s Re-Play season opener

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Made evident by the consistently enthusiastic response by the audience throughout the 90-minute show, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s 61st season opener, Re-Play, was a roaring successful sampler of the legendary institution’s artistic brand and character. Joining a sharper, more rousing rendition of LajaMartin’s The Bunker (2022), the two world premieres — Purple Sonata 24 by Daniel … Read more

Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company set to open its 61st season with Re-Play, including two world premieres, 28 guest dancers from six Utah universities

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Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s 61st season will open with Re-Play this week, featuring two world premieres and a reprise of a 2022 dance theater piece that was tapped as one of The Utah Review’s Top 10 Moments of the Utah Enlightenment that year. The production features the first regular season performance of two new company dancers … Read more

Passing the test of collaboration with full honors: The Rose’s Performing Arts Coalition show ReFramed hit perfectly with sold-out house

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As appealing as collaboration is, many arts organizations are more likely to make a bit of an awkward, even contentious mess of it. In some instances, performing arts organizations choose the safer route for collaborating, by setting a broadly articulated theme for everyone to contribute their distinct piece to the effort. But, if groups sincerely … Read more

An exciting twist to the annual Performing Arts Coalition show at The Rose: Six resident companies fully collaborate on forthcoming Pictures at an Exhibition: ReFramed

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While Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition is among the most familiar pieces in the classical musical repertoire, it might surprise more than a few just how little we actually know about what the composer’s expressive intentions were when he composed in 1874 the piano score in memory of his friend, the Russian painter and … Read more

Subdued, intimate Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s Ascent closes with perfect treat, featuring Storyograph and live original music

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Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s 60th anniversary season has been a unique experience. Last fall, Groundworks, its superb season opener which honored its founders (Shirley Ririe and Joan Woodbury) reminded us of legacies, which define why we cherish and prize something for its excellence and its value in the community. High school dancers were the focus of … Read more

Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company set to close 60th anniversary season with Ascent, including two world premieres, live performance by Salt Lake Electric Ensemble

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Set to close out a superb 60th anniversary season, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s Ascent show is pulling out all the stops for a thriller. There are two world premieres: Chapters of Being by Charlotte Boye-Christensen, who served as the company’s artistic director for 11 years, beginning in 2002, and Storyograph by current artistic director Daniel Charon. … Read more

Season opener review roundup: Pioneer Theatre Company’s Murder on the Orient Express, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s Groundworks, Plan-B Theatre’s Squeak, NOVA Chamber Music Series on Hungarian music

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PIONEER THEATRE COMPANY: MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express has remained resilient. It is surprising for a 1934 novel that more often than not has been denigrated by contemporary scholars of literature as lowbrow along with what they perceived as insensitive portrayals of cultural and ethnic stereotypes they contend … Read more

Groundworks to set the pace of excellence, historical significance for Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s 60th anniversary, with works by Shirley Ririe, Joan Woodbury, Alwin Nikolais, Daniel Charon

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In tandem with The Utah Review’s accompanying historical feature about the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s 60 years on the international performing and education dance scenes, Groundworks promises to be the perfect opener. The production will pay tribute to the cofounders Shirley Ririe and Joan Woodbury, both of whom are now in their nineties, as well as … Read more

60 years of Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company: ‘A Story of Two Extraordinary Individuals’

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company is celebrating its 60th anniversary during the 2023-24 season. This is a two-part feature, highlighting the legacy and impact of its two founders: Shirley Ririe and Joan Woodbury. For information about the opening Groundworks production and for a summary of the forthcoming anniversary season, click this link. There are many … Read more