Preview

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

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

Celebrating commissioned work, including two world premieres, Repertory Dance Theatre’s Ovation later this week promises to be a blockbuster of dance

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A celebration of commissioned works, including two world premieres, is set for this week’s blockbuster Ovation production by Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT). As part of its 60th anniversary season, the five works for Ovation  constitute one of RDT’s most technically and stamina demanding programs in recent seasons. Just as dynamic as the company’s mission to … Read more

Two works by Grammy-nominated composer Shawn Okpebholo, along with two Bach cantatas, slated for Nov. 16 NOVA Chamber Music Series concert

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The juxtapositions of music by Bach and Grammy-nominated composer Shawn Okpebholo, in the upcoming concert Sacred Spaces, as part of NOVA Chamber Music Series current season, are wisely chosen. Distance for cello and marimba (2016) and Two Black Churches (2020 by Okpebholo will receive their Utah premieres, running parallel to two Bach cantatas, Liebster Jesu, … Read more

Arthur Greene, Bachauer gold medalist from 1978, set to perform Nov. 14 in Passages concert featuring music by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt

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Continuing its lead up to celebrate its 50th anniversary next spring, the Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation will feature the 1978 gold medalist from its International Artists Piano Competition in a Nov. 14 solo concert featuring music by Bach, Liszt, Beethoven and Chopin. The concert will take place at 7:30p.m. in the Jeanné Wagner Theatre … Read more

A twin bill of wedding celebrations and magical delight: Ballet West production of Nijinska’s Les Noces, Ashton’s The Dream set for Nov. 7-15

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Not wasting any time after concluding its superb production of Romeo & Juliet, Ballet West will open a twin-bill Nov. 7, with weddings as centerpieces in both works.  A delightful gem, Sir Frederick Ashton’s The Dream, a Victorian-era adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, blends classical ballet with theatrical comedy, including a male dancer … Read more

Ambitious short film projects highlight 23rd edition of Spy Hop’s PitchNic program, set for Nov. 6 premiere

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PitchNic, one of Spy Hop Productions’ most exciting programs, returns for its 23rd 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

Ballet West’s 62nd season set to open Oct. 24 with lavish production of Michael Smuin’s Romeo & Juliet set to famous Prokofiev score

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The historical significance of Ballet West’s 62nd season opener, Romeo & Juliet, for the company cannot be overstated.  As early as the late 18th century in Italy, ballet versions of Shakespeare’s famous play were being staged and in the first decades of the 1800s, versions cropped up in Denmark and Russia. But it was Sergei … Read more

Utah Film Center set to open 22nd Utah Queer Film Festival, with six feature-length documentaries, international slate of 40 short films

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EDITOR’S NOTE: For a detailed rundown of the 2025 slate for the Utah Queer Film Festival, see this link. At a hostile, polarizing time like now, many people understandably demur from being unapologetic about expressing their authentic selves. And, with that in mind, the 22nd edition of the Utah Film Center’s Utah Queer Film Festival … Read more