Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company set to close 60th anniversary season with Ascent, including two world premieres, live performance by Salt Lake Electric Ensemble

Set to close out a superb 60th anniversary season, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s Ascent show is pulling out all the stops for a thriller. There are two world premieres: Chapters of Being by Charlotte Boye-Christensen, who served as the company’s artistic director for 11 years, beginning in 2002, and Storyograph by current artistic director Daniel Charon. … Read more

Reviews of new dance works: Ririe-Woodbury’s Traverse, Repertory Dance Theatre’s Emerge

TRAVERSE: RIRIE-WOODBURY COMPANY  In the middle of Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s 60th anniversary season, Traverse was a perfect Homecoming production, highlighting six new works and a company premiere, which exemplified the tremendous artistic culture that has defined the company. With works by two alumni company members and the six current dancers, the creative principles which the … Read more

A Homecoming to celebrate the 60th anniversary season: Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s Traverse set to premiere works by two alumni, six current company dancers

It is Homecoming Week for the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, which continues to celebrate its 60th anniversary this season. Many alumni also are expected to attend Traverse (Feb. 1-3, in the Jeanné Wagner Theatre of the Rose Wagner Center for Performing Arts), which will feature world and company premieres of works by alumni Keith Johnson and … Read more

Courage, creative fire, innovation, enterprise: The Utah Review’s Top 10 Moments of the Utah Enlightenment in 2023

This year’s selections in The Utah Review of the top ten moments of the Utah Enlightenment in 2023, the ninth annual edition, were the easiest to curate in the nine years of publishing this annual list. Likewise, selecting the top moment among the ten was just as easy. In Utah, there are creative producers in … Read more

Season opener review roundup: Pioneer Theatre Company’s Murder on the Orient Express, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s Groundworks, Plan-B Theatre’s Squeak, NOVA Chamber Music Series on Hungarian music

PIONEER THEATRE COMPANY: MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express has remained resilient. It is surprising for a 1934 novel that more often than not has been denigrated by contemporary scholars of literature as lowbrow along with what they perceived as insensitive portrayals of cultural and ethnic stereotypes they contend … Read more

Groundworks to set the pace of excellence, historical significance for Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s 60th anniversary, with works by Shirley Ririe, Joan Woodbury, Alwin Nikolais, Daniel Charon

In tandem with The Utah Review’s accompanying historical feature about the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s 60 years on the international performing and education dance scenes, Groundworks promises to be the perfect opener. The production will pay tribute to the cofounders Shirley Ririe and Joan Woodbury, both of whom are now in their nineties, as well as … Read more

60 years of Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company: ‘A Story of Two Extraordinary Individuals’

EDITOR’S NOTE: Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company is celebrating its 60th anniversary during the 2023-24 season. This is a two-part feature, highlighting the legacy and impact of its two founders: Shirley Ririe and Joan Woodbury. For information about the opening Groundworks production and for a summary of the forthcoming anniversary season, click this link. There are many … Read more

Six resident companies in Rose Wagner Center for Performing Arts set for Aug. 26 Mix Tape offering of their artistic strengths

Formerly known as Rose Exposed, the annual fast paced one-hour show of the six resident companies in the Rose Wagner Center for Performing Arts has been rebranded as Mix Tape, frankly a better title for the event. The show will go on Aug. 26 at 8 p.m. at the Jeanné Wagner Theatre in The Rose. … Read more

Backstage at the Utah Arts Festival 2023: Two contemporary dance titans – Repertory Dance Theatre, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company – set to perform

Two of Salt Lake City’s internationally known dance institutions return to the Utah Arts Festival stage this year.   REPERTORY DANCE THEATRE (June 25, 5 p.m., Festival Stage) Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT) holds a special distinction in the history of the Utah Arts Festival. The historic contemporary dance institution has performed in every festival, save one (when … Read more

Earth Month roundup: Repertory Dance Theatre’s Flight, Samba Fogo’s The Seed of Samba, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s To See Beyond Our Time, NOVA Chamber Music Series’ Connect with the West

REPERTORY DANCE THEATRE: FLIGHT Producing a gratifying trio of works to highlight Earth Month, Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT) made its Flight program its strongest offering within the last four years. Zvi Gotheiner’s Dancing The Bears Ears, a 2017 commission for the company, and two first-time RDT performances of existing works — José Limón’s The Winged … Read more