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

Backstage at the Utah Arts Festival 2023: Extending the dance spectrum: Devoncé; Lakshmi Parimala and Kuchipudi

Devoncé (June 23, 7:35 p.m., Festival Stage) When Devan Kinnear (Devoncé) was younger, he thought that his entrance into the entertainment industry would be behind the scenes, such as directing and producing films. But, as Kinnear explains in an interview with The Utah Review. “music was a huge outlet for me because I did not … Read more

Backstage at the Utah Arts Festival 2023: Flamenco del Lago set to bring fire and passion to The Round

Katie Sheen-Abbott grew up in West Jordan and like many Utah children, took up dance, studying various forms such as ballet, tap, and jazz. Later in her collegiate training, she thought about exploring Flamenco as a hobby and while in graduate school in Maryland, she took a Flamenco class. “It was very intense, athletic but … 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

Moments to shine: NOVA Chamber Music Series closes 45th season with spectacular Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, Repertory Dance Theatre’s Link Series presents Wind by John Mead and dancers

NOVA CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES: DAS LIED VON DER ERDE The clearest example of Thierry Fischer’s 14-year tenure as Utah Symphony’s music director is the significant improvement in the orchestra’s musicianship. Utah Symphony musicians are now prepared to take on everything in the orchestral repertoire, including new music commissions. Fischer is set to take a similar … Read more

Nijinska’s Les Noces (The Wedding) becomes crowning achievement for Ballet West’s superb 59th season

With each work evoking its unique intricate, intuitive rhythmically reciprocal relationship between music and movement, the trio of Ballet West premieres in its most recent production proved to be the crowning highlight of the company’s superb 59th season.  A complex program of rigorous demands in all aspects, the presentation of Bronislava Nijinska’s Les Noces, Jerome … Read more

Great Salt Lake is the silent collaborator: Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company set to premiere dance theatrical work To See Beyond Our Time

Environmental politics often are mired in attitudes that spring from guilt, fear, skepticism, denial and blame. As much as facts, statistics and plain observational data are compelling, there is almost always an aggressive rebuttal to refute, dilute or compromise their significance. As more attention has been focused on saving one of Utah’s greatest natural features, … Read more

Reviews: Wasatch Theatre Company’s Melancholy Play, RDT Link Series’ Matriarch by Jaclyn Brown

WASATCH THEATRE COMPANY: MELANCHOLY PLAY For the Wasatch Theatre Company production, Director Morag Shepherd took to heart Sarah Ruhl’s instructions for Melancholy Play: A Contemporary Farce: “Melancholy in this play is Bold, Outward, Sassy, Sexy and Unashamed. It is not introverted. It uses, instead, the language of Jacobean direct address.” In a very smart, gratifying … Read more

Myriad Dance Company’s Notion is richly textured, entertaining choreographed journey through dimensions of human nature and the experience of judgment

In past shows, the Myriad Dance Company has achieved excellent sensory experiences in site-specific works that fit beautifully in the Dreamscapes museum but Notion, their newest production, is an outstanding hybrid that feels like a black box theater show but still functions in their usual proscenium-free staging. Notion follows true to the form that has … Read more