Repertory Dance Theatre’s reprise of Natosha Washington’s I AM… is spectacular diamond on stage

Last year, Repertory Dance Theatre’s world premiere performance of Natosha Washington’s I AM…, which the company commissioned, was outstanding. Coming 13 months later, in line with the company’s season theme of Reflection, the eight dancers, joined by narrator and singer Dee-Dee Darby-Duffin, took the evening-length work to new heights in a riveting display of spectacular … Read more

November concert roundup: NOVA’s Musical Marriages; Bachauer’s Carter Johnson: The Four B’s; Flamenco del Lago’s Why Are the Women Weeping?

A roundup of several performing arts events this month in Salt Lake City: NOVA Chamber Music Series: Musical Marriages Two musical marriages — one from the 19th century and the other from current times — made for a splendid NOVA Chamber Music Series concert earlier this month. The first half was dedicated to Anthony Cheung … Read more

Repertory Dance Theatre set to reprise Natosha Washington’s evening-length I AM… this week; dancers complete East Coast tour with Whitney Museum of American Art performances

EDITOR’S NOTE: This preview of Natosha Washington’s I AM, which Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT) will reprise this week, was published in 2023, just ahead of the work’s world premiere. Just as essential as a choreographer’s skills in setting the most impactful movement upon a dance company in the studio is their capacity to trust the … Read more

Ballet West’s triple-bill Pictures at an Exhibition is absolutely breathtaking from start to finish

From 1910, in his seminal art theory book, On the Spiritual in Art, Wassily Kandinsky, the Russian painter who was one of the greatest early abstract artists, envisioned the concentric trinity of the visual arts, music and dance as separate in that each “has its own strength which cannot be substituted for another,”  but also … Read more

Carter Johnson, 2024 Bachauer silver medalist, set to return this week to Salt Lake City for Four B’s solo concert

Pianist Carter Johnson said that last summer’s Gina Bachauer International Artists Competition was one of the most fun he has had in his experiences in the world of piano competitions. While he took the silver medal in the event, the real reason for having so much in Salt Lake City was different. ”My wife and … Read more

The glory of the trinity of art, dance and music: Two Utah premieres, Balanchine classic highlight Ballet West’s Pictures at an Exhibition

This week, Ballet West’s new production will give the trinity of art, dance and music a resplendent tribute fit for an empress. It will feature Utah premieres of works by two of the best-known international choreographers and a reprise of a Balanchine masterpiece that was the choreographer’s first work he set in America 90 years … Read more

Behind the scenes: Spy Hop’s award-winning PitchNic program set for Nov. 7 premiere of 22nd edition of four student produced films

PitchNic, one of Spy Hop Productions’ most exciting programs, returns for its 22nd edition this year and this year’s class of young Utah filmmakers is looking to build on a legacy where more than 95% of films that have been produced in the program have gone on to be screened at and win awards at … Read more

The strength of acknowledging how representation matters in music: NOVA Chamber Music Series’ 2024-25 will be exciting from start to finish

Pianist Kimi Kawashima is well known to NOVA Chamber Music Series audiences as a frequent guest artist and now she has taken on a larger role, as the series’ new artistic director. She succeeds the members of the Fry Street Quartet, who will continue curating the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) Gallery Series as … Read more

Immigrant’s Daughter Theatre, Lil Poppet Productions offer dynamite interpretation in stage adaptation of Stephen King’s Misery

Misery, one of Stephen King’s best novels, is about an author’s deepest terror as he desperately tries to figure out how to stay alive, while he is imprisoned in the home of the woman who calls herself “his number one fan.” When the 1987 novel was adapted three years later into a film, directed by … Read more

Sterling cast propels excellent Utah premiere production by Pioneer Theatre Company of Joshua Harmon’s Prayer for the French Republic

“History, as nearly no one seems to know, is not merely something to be read.  And it does not refer merely, or even principally, to the past,” James Baldwin wrote in a 1965 essay for Ebony magazine (titled, The White Man’s Guilt). He added, “On the contrary, the great force of history comes from the … Read more