Four Utah premieres featuring works by two choreographers who have had a major impact on ballet and Broadway are on deck for Ballet West’s newest production West Side Story: Broadway & Beyond, which opens Friday, April 10, to start a run of six performances in the Capitol Theatre. In a literal storybook season for the … Read more
In her 2015 master of fine arts’ thesis, Molly Heller wrote about her formative development as a dancer. performer, choreographer and teacher. “It is in the act of being witnessed and witnessing that I feel my existence. I believe that we are all part of the same mystery and collectively we search for meaning. On … Read more
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 world premiere production of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Pamela Robinson-Harris, Ballet West’s rehearsal director, who has been the creative force behind Family … Read more
Nothing but net. Pioneer Theatre Company’s Utah professional premiere production of King James by Rajiv Joseph is flawlessly executed. With Final Four-worthy performances by Eli Mayer as Matt and Khiry Walker as Shawn, the production, directed by Miriam Laube, is perfect for the Meldrum Theatre at the Einar Nielsen Field House, where plenty of Utah high … Read more
One of the greatest hallmarks in 20th century choreography was a broad movement of multi-media dance compositions performed by the Blue Man Group, Cirque du Soleil, Pilobolus and MOMIX. Influenced in part by the legendary choreographer Alwin Nikolais, these groups have honed elements including multimedia, costumes, music and lighting techniques. One example was Physalia, a … Read more
Published in 1820, Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow stands out as America’s first ghost story. The town’s residents enjoy telling stories of the supernatural and The Headless Horseman is among the most fascinating. The ghost of a Hessian mercenary hired by the British during the Revolutionary War who was decapitated by a cannonball, … Read more
Born in Massachusetts, the heart of New England where the American Revolution was born, pianist Mackenzie Melemed is 60% on his way to performing his recital tour Keys Across America in every state in the nation, which began last year and will continue through 2028. Expectedly, Melemed has selected an all-American repertoire for this tour. … Read more
Definitely a first for NOVA Chamber Music Series, Recuerdos Musicales (March 8, 3 p.m., Libby Gardner Hall) will feature Spanish, Cuban and Mexican music by composers from the diaspora, all of whom make for one of the richest chapters of music history to be represented this season at NOVA. Among them will be Manual Ponce … Read more
Visiting Liberty Blake’s studio is like stepping into a portal that gives the fortunate visitor a glimpse into the muses and the spiritual journey which the artist traverses. Her workplace and what she surrounds herself with allow us as visitors to appreciate the foundations of her visual expressive language in the body of abstract collages … Read more
The most significant takeaway from the Utah Museum of Fine Arts ongoing salt exhibition series, has been demonstrating the diasporic knowledge of culture as so spiritually, socially, ethically and epistemologically potent that its most meaningful and historically accurate expressions emerge not through the neutral space of conventional categorization, but rather by honoring the diasporic origins … Read more