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

Birds, rivers, Bears Ears National Monument as creative anchors: Repertory Dance Theatre sets Flight April 20-22

With birds, rivers and the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah as the creative anchors, Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT) will close its regular portion of its 57th season with Flight, featuring two existing works that are being performed for the first time by the company and a revival of a 2017 commissioned piece by choreographer … Read more

The rededication of spirit: Top 10 moments of the Utah Enlightenment in 2017

It is not an artifice that the mind has added to human nature. The mind has added nothing to human nature. It is a violence from within that protects us from a violence without. It is the imagination pressing back against the pressure of reality. It seems, in the last analysis, to have something to … Read more

The glorious expressive power of dance: Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s Parallax, Repertory Dance Theatre’s Sanctuary

While the competing theoretical, philosophical and ontological discussions of dance’s unique status as a performing arts form are too complex and dense to handle or digest in a compact peroration, it is sufficient to acknowledge the extraordinary happenings in the world of dance that challenge conventional ideals. Choreographers and performers are probing new territories that … Read more

Repertory Dance Theatre’s Sanctuary promises to be thrilling 52nd season opener

In many traditional perspectives – political, cultural, environmental, anthropological – sanctuary often is articulated in terms of its physical preservation and distinct integrity. But, as we contemplate the issues of public lands, national monuments, and the vitality of cultural legacies, we also are learning that sanctuary is not just ecclesiastical, physical, political and anthropological. Sanctuary … Read more

Authentic voices in the Utah Enlightenment: Plan-B Theatre, Torrey House Press, Repertory Dance Theatre

While the bomb-throwers—both metaphorical and literal – invariably claim to speak for the locals, most of the locals I’ve met prefer to speak for themselves. They’re old-timers and newcomers, Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals. They’re scientists, tribal members, ranchers, and telecommuters, often more than one of the above. Some criticize the federal government, and … Read more

Repertory Dance Theatre sets spring concert with Zvi Gotheiner’s Dabke

In the 21st century, cultural appropriation—like globalization—isn’t just inevitable; it’s potentially positive. We have to stop guarding cultures and subcultures in efforts to preserve them. It’s naïve, paternalistic, and counterproductive. Plus, it’s just not how culture or creativity work. The exchange of ideas, styles, and traditions is one of the tenets and joys of a … Read more