Among the healthiest and most encouraging developments in the performing arts world is how artists consciously draw themselves closer to their audiences. It’s a development that emancipates the artist from the cult of perfectionism and mysticism, where candid expressions about doubts and uncertainties in taking creative risks are welcomed. Likewise, audiences begin to see the … Read more
In 2002, Cédric Pescia was 26 when he won the gold medal in the international competition of The Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation. It was the first and only competition Pescia, a dual citizen of France and Switzerland, in which he participated. He had shied away from the competitive performance arena, assuming that everyone else … Read more
The eighth presentation of the Utah Film Center’s Tumbleweeds Film Festival for Children and Youth from March 1-3 brings in a slate of Utah premieres including films from Swaziland, Kenya, two from Iran and another from the Ladakh region of India. Twelve of the 13 feature-length films are exclusively from outside the U.S. while the … Read more
An Evening with Two Awful Men, the newest Plan-B Theatre production which opens Feb. 21, promises to be quite the reality show: a mix of CNN, C-SPAN, Jerry Springer, TLC, Judge Judy, History Channel, American Idol. Written by Elaine Jarvik, a former journalist with several Plan-B productions to her credit, her latest play captures the … Read more
Composer Andrew Norman’s fascination with architecture arises from his admiration for the fearlessness exhibited in some of the most innovative examples from the field. There are, of course, the creations of architecture’s two ‘Franks’ who have been represented in his music: Frank Gehry, now in his late 80s and Norman has had discussions with him, … Read more
Two-way communication, adrenaline-fueled stress and an assortment of different creative possibilities are just a few of the essentials for the four choreographers who will participate in the competition part of Repertory Dance Theatre’s Regalia (RDT), the company’s largest annual fundraiser. It is not a setting that is comfortable or typical for any professional choreographer, who normally … Read more
Editor’s Note: This is Part II of The Utah Review curtain raiser feature for Sundance 2019. Part I can be found here. It is a fixture in the annual slate of films for Sundance that the Utah Film Center, its cofounder Geralyn Dreyfous and the group to which she belongs Impact Partners Film as well … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: Part I covers a broad overview of the state’s film industry and Part II will focus on the fiscal sponsorship initiative of the Utah Film Center as well as an overview of the films with a Utah connection that are in the Sundance 2019 slate. Read part II here. As Utah prepares to … Read more
Artistic collaborations lead to many strategic benefits. They can make a lesser known creative group more visible, expand the potential audience base, secure additional financial resources and fine-tune longer term objectives for organizations that must prove their relevance in a community. Most importantly, they can lead to a unique performing and creative moment on the … Read more
Choreographer Natalie Desch says the experience of setting movement for a duet of dancers to Gity Razaz’s Chance Has Spoken emulates perfectly the mysterious yet clear-directed nature of the young Iranian-American composer’s music for string quartet and vibraphone. “It is a very haunting piece with beautiful lyricism and movement sensibility,” Desch says. Composed in 2011, … Read more