With 2018 silver medalist Aristo Sham, Darkness Descends concert set to open 2023-24 season for Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation

At 21, in 2017, Aristo Sham was thinking about ways he could do multiple things. A decade earlier, just as he was entering his adolescent years, he already had won first prize in the Ettlingen International Piano Competition in Germany in 2006, and then the top prize in Salt Lake City at the Gina Bachauer … Read more

Memorable dance programs for summer performing arts scene: Myriad Dance Company’s Dream Spark at new Dreamscapes location; Fem Dance Company’s State of Flux

MYRIAD DANCE COMPANY: DREAM SPARK Truly a gratifying collaboration in the best sense of the word, Myriad Dance Company’s Dream Spark could not have been a more fitting opening for Dreamscapes in its newest location. Now housed in the former Macy’s store at The Shops at South Town in Sandy, Utah, the immersive art museum … Read more

The Sting & Honey Company offers an elegant cosmopolitan palette of myth and folklore in Sleeping Beauty’s Dream

Watching Sleeping Beauty’s Dream, by Javen Tanner, in a recent production by The Sting & Honey Company, one can appreciate the cosmopolitan melange of myths that supersedes the traditional Disney-like narrative portrayal. Tanner’s script shows that the relationships connecting the romantic lead characters extend beyond physical attraction into loyalty, commitment, friendship and dignity.  The results … Read more

Sundance 2022: All That Breathes exceptional documentary testament to human-nonhuman interaction in the midst of Delhi

Of numerous remarkable moments in the exceptional documentary film All That Breathes (Kiterabbit Films and Rise Films production), India’s sole entry in this year’s Sundance, among the most unforgettable are those portraying the psychological and philosophical attitudes of brothers Nadeem and Saud, who have put their heads down in total focus for nearly the last … Read more

Sundance 2021: Mormon-themed dark comedy narrative and Turkish sociological thriller shine as part of festival short films slate

A Mormon-themed dark comedy narrative and a Turkish sociological thriller surrounding two university students underscore just how rigorously curated this year’s Sundance short film program is. Gregory Barnes’ The Touch of the Master’s Hand and Serhat Karaaslan’s The Criminals are among this year’s 50 short films which were selected from 9,933 submissions. The Touch of … Read more

Five choreographers set their sights on commission prize in Regalia competition, Repertory Dance Theatre’s annual fundraiser

Few dance companies in the U.S. would take the audacious path of holding a choreographer’s competition in which the audience determines the winner with the prize of a commission for a composition to premiere in the company’s next season. However, the format of Regalia, the largest fundraising event each year for Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT), … Read more

Repertory Dance Theatre’s Voices concert caps unforgettable expression of diversity, inclusion in 53rd season

Repertory Dance Theatre’s (RDT) Voices concert capped an unforgettable expression of diversity and inclusion for its 53rd season. However, before delving into the specifics of the rich, subtly emotional dynamics of the Voices performances, a broader context is essential. The theme of Manifest Diversity came full circle with Voices. In the season’s first concert last … Read more

Sarah Sample Kicks Off Singing With the Birds

Sarah Sample and Edie Carey

For urban dwellers the thought of birds can sometimes conjure unpleasant associations with pigeons and seagulls using cars and humans as public restrooms or other feathered friends sounding early morning wake-up calls long before sunrise. But these misguided city folk have got it all wrong. Birds aren’t intruding on our environment—quite the opposite! One visit … Read more