Mesmerizing portrayals of auras, energies of individual, place in Chie Fueki’s Doctorow Prize show at Utah Museum of Contemporary Art

In Chie Fueki’s portraits, the auras and energies emanating from the individuals are mesmerizing, a fantastic probe of a deeper understanding of one’s self as an aggregate of their environment, interests, identities and their interactions with a physical world. Personality tests, zodiac charts and quizzes about being introverted or extroverted might be revealing to some … Read more

More from great November performing arts programs: Repertory Dance Theatre’s Venture, Opera Contempo’s Protectress, Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation’s ¡Jaleo!

November was an outstanding month for performing arts in Salt Lake City, including programs by the Repertory Dance Theatre, Opera Contempo and the Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation. REPERTORY DANCE THEATRE: VENTURE Repertory Dance Theatre’s (RDT) most recent production, Venture, demonstrated how the company’s eight dancers are sizzling in excellence during the company’s 58th season.  … Read more

Utah Symphony concert to feature Utah premiere of Jessie Montgomery’s Rounds with pianist Awadagin Pratt, guest conductor Teddy Abrams

Pianist and conductor Awadagin Pratt remembers meeting Jessie Montgomery, violinist and composer, several years ago and playing chamber music together for a week. “She talked about the experiences she had in making the transition from a violinist to a composer and her thoughts about music making in general,” Pratt said in an interview with The … Read more

A 2023 holiday season exclusive for U.S. and Salt Lake City: Pioneer Theatre Company set for production opening of Christmas in Connecticut musical adaptation

The most enduring Hollywood movies about Christmas reinforce the nostalgia about holiday celebrations, even when chaos threatens to upend plans for the perfect gathering. In 1945, as GIs began to return to the States after the long world war, American audiences welcomed the holiday madcap farce of Warner Bros.’ Christmas in Connecticut.  Nearly 80 years … Read more

More from a bountiful autumn season in performing arts: Fem Dance Company, Local Independent Theatre (LIT Co.) and NOVA Chamber Music Series

The fall performing arts season in Salt Lake City has been a bountiful harvest of enterprising programming. Featured reviews include Fem Dance Company, Local Independent Theatre (LIT Co.) and NOVA Chamber Music Series. FEM DANCE COMPANY: HEAR HER Earlier this month, Fem Dance Company’s premiere of Hear Her, choreographed by Alicia Ross, was an enlightening, … Read more

Utah Museum of Fine Arts’ Tatau: Marks of Polynesia meticulously documents everlasting cultural resilience of Samoan tattoo masters

To illustrate the everlasting cultural resilience of tatau, among the greatest art forms to emerge in Oceania, the story of Chris Lemuelu is potent in its lucidity. He is a Samoan who lives in Australia and is, as writer Fareed Kaviani has explained, “a soga’imiti, a man who has completed the full pe’a.” As Tatau: … Read more

Five choreographers will have premieres at upcoming Repertory Dance Theatre’s Venture production

Five premieres will mark Repertory Dance Theatre’s (RDT) Venture production later this week. The new works include three from artists who have been part of RDT’s Regalia choreographic competitions, along with a full company work by an internationally known choreographer from Poland and a piece for participants in RDT’s Prime Performance Workshop. Venture will have … Read more

Ballet West’s joyful, exquisite and evocative celebration of founder Christensen’s legacy in The Firebird production

By Chris Myers For 60 years, Ballet West has been arguably among the finest jewels in Salt Lake City’s artistic crown. As the recent retrospective in The Utah Review demonstrated, this company has led the way to bring artistic excellence to the Intermountain West. Beginning last Friday (Nov. 3) with the company’s latest production, Ballet … Read more

Outstanding performances propel Pygmalion Theatre Company’s first-class staging of Lauren Gunderson’s The Half-Life of Marie Curie

Some 60 years after Marie Curie died (in 1934) from a rare blood disorder caused by her work with radium and polonium, the French government had planned to move her body as well as that of her husband Pierre to the Panthéon. However, the team responsible for exhuming their coffins had to be extraordinarily cautious … Read more

¡Jaleo!: Spanish pianist José Ramón Mendez set to make his Salt Lake City debut on Nov. 10 Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation concert

Just last month, internationally known pianist José Ramón Mendez was in Utah to judge the state chapter of the Music Teacher National Association’s piano competitions. Later this week, Mendez will return to perform his Salt Lake City debut, in ¡Jaleo!, a concert of solo piano works by Chopin and Spanish composers Antonio Soler, Isaac Albéniz … Read more