There has been a recent spate of articles about the dynamics of live performances as musicians, actors and dancers return to the stage after more than 14 months of pandemic restrictions. While some have focused on anxieties, fears and awkward feelings for both performers and audiences, others have taken on a different tone. In an … Read more
What appears to be a genuinely holistic appreciation of the potential of home in all of its meta dynamics will anchor the forthcoming premiere of Home Run by the internationally renowned Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company. It is worth thinking about this hour-long concert as a documentary shorts program one might see at a film festival. Set … Read more
One might never imagine that finding a tranquil sense of healing in the space of an underpass below 600 South and 600 West in downtown Salt Lake City is possible. Above this concrete open cave, cars rumble persistently on one of the city’s busiest interstate interchanges. Nearby, Union Pacific and Utah Railway trains pass by … Read more
Following several weeks of a hiatus, performing artists of the Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT) are returning to full speed and for 2020’s first weekend, most of the company is setting new short pieces to be performed at Emerge. The concert, in its fourth year, fulfills in part a major component of the dance artist’s contract … Read more
The diverse, multilingual sphere of dance in Salt Lake City succeeds because choreographers and performers continuously take the risks to translate their movement into elucidating expressions that compel audiences to see dance as enhancing how we communicate about the issues, emotions and experiences that affect us. Introducing Sphere: Phase One, Natosha Washington told the audience … Read more
Perhaps the most consequential development in Salt Lake City’s outstanding modern dance scene is the uninhibited freedom of choreographers and dance artists to create movement with a potent story-telling connection. Movement languages provide multiple canvases for dancers finding their voice precisely in the way a poet, author, playwright or philosopher would approach. Add music to … Read more
Ann Carlson’s Elizabeth, the dance, is the supreme example of an organic, living work of art. And, the six current dancers of Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company nurtured and nourished it in a rich, superb performance in Traces, the opening concert of the company’s 56th season. As The Utah Review mentioned in an earlier preview, the 2017 … Read more
Three dance works – a trio from 1949 by one of the greatest American choreographers and two 2018 compositions by internationally known artists from New York City and Tel Aviv, respectively – will receive their Utah premieres next week in the opening concert of Repertory Dance Theatre’s 54th season. Rounding out the Inside Outside concert … Read more
Just as families track their genealogy through tree charts, many creative artists and producers have traced their own lineage, often stretching decades, a century or more and, sometimes, even 300 years or longer. In music, the context of, say, an American School, French School or Afro-Cuban School of style, technique and pedagogy can be defined … Read more
The challenge in any holiday season is to find fresh entertainment that carries a theme without resorting to conventional tropes or clichés. Two local companies have offered their own version of a holiday program not set necessarily in the season but with a spirit that fits perfectly into the celebration: Sackerson’s ongoing production of The … Read more