Arts

With 75 dancers joining from the community, Repertory Dance Theatre’s Emerge achieves ideal milestone for its diamond anniversary season

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The time for the 10th edition of Emerge, Repertory Dance Theatre’s annual showcase of original choreography by company dancers and staff, coincided beautifully with the company’s season-long celebration of its 60th anniversary. When RDT was founded with a Rockefeller Foundation grant in 1966, it included a commitment that the company’s artists would develop choreography. Emerge … Read more

Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s Traverse to feature world premieres by award-winning choreographer Annie Rigney, four company dancers

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Continuing its 62nd season. Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company brings back the programming concept of Traverse, a collection of world premieres, including works by award-winning guest artist Annie Rigney and four current company dancers (Luke Dakota Zender, Fausto Rivera, Sasha Rydlizky, and Miche’ Smith). While the venue is the Jeanné Wagner Theatre in the Rose Wagner Center … Read more

New and recent music to highlight Jan. 13 Sō Percussion concert, presented by UtahPresents, University of Utah School of Music

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Percussionist and composer Brian Blume said in a 2017 concert talk, “I think that, by nature, percussionists are tinkerers. We are explorers.” In the Cambridge Companion to Percussion, Adam Sliwinski wrote that percussionists are “curators of sound.” In the world of classical chamber music ensembles, string quartets have many encyclopedias of masterworks to consider. Meanwhile, … Read more

Fearless, fierce and indomitable in human spirit: The Utah Review’s Top Ten Moments of the Utah Enlightenment in 2025

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This year’s selections in The Utah Review for the top ten moments of the Utah Enlightenment in 2025, the eleventh annual edition, stood out for being fearless, fierce and indomitable in human spirit. Wholly liberated, art ensures nothing is erased, censored or compromised. Reiterating the core premise of the Utah Enlightenment: In Utah, there are … Read more

Discovering the enchantment that propels a living historic landmark as America’s 1st Nutcracker™: two City Academy students review the 2025 edition of Ballet West production of this holiday classic

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Editor’s Note: In extending its tradition, The Utah Review, with  the assistance of Christal Jackson, an English teacher and ELL coordinator at City Academy, asked two students to review Ballet West’s production of Willam Christensen’s The Nutcracker. For a preview ahead of this year’s production, see this link to The Utah Review feature.  Before turning … Read more

Impressive, immersive delight: Two City Academy student reviewers have fun with Salt Lake Acting Company’s Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Rock Experience

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Editor’s Note: In extending its tradition, The Utah Review, with  the assistance of Christal Jackson, an English teacher and ELL coordinator at City Academy, asked two students to review Salt Lake Acting Company’s production of Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Rock Experience, with script and lyrics by Mo Willems and music by Deborah Wicks … Read more

Magnificent calls to the spirit of the season: Christmas with The Tabernacle Choir, Eccles Organ Festival’s Brass and Organ Christmas Concert

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CHRISTMAS WITH THE TABERNACLE CHOIR CONCERT There were plenty of notable moments of impressive musicianship in the Christmas with The Tabernacle Choir concert at the conference center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The choir, with music director Mack Wilberg at the helm, did full justice to its eminent reputation. One example … Read more

Pioneer Theatre Company decks the halls with farce in splendidly hysterical production of Noises Off

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Let’s be honest. There is no better season for farce than the holidays at the end of the year. Ask any host who envisions the perfect holiday gathering only to see it unravel, thanks to clashing egos or the chaos of personal drama and fragile relationships. Pioneer Theatre Company (PTC) has wisely chosen farce as … Read more

Utah Museum of Fine Arts’ Relative Truths, University of Utah art faculty show, intellectually invigorating, acutely timed exploration

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It would be a very easy task to find examples that counter the assertion of the existence of one truth. In the history of civilization, it often has been assumed that how we inscribe, connote or annotate every experience will lead to a single correct definition or interpretation, thereby negating every other possibility. For instance, … Read more

Peeking behind the scenes, as dancers set for the holiday season run at Ballet West of America’s 1st Nutcracker™

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For Ballet West dancers, the company’s historic production of The Nutcracker is more than an annual holiday tradition. For many, it is a proving ground. It is sort of a report card for dancers who are ready to expand into more prominent performing roles not just in The Nutcracker but also in the company’s internationally … Read more