Arts
Staging The Self with Martha Wilson
How does one begin, in this progressive moment, to speak of the work of Martha Wilson? How to explain the beauty of the work’s relentless exploration of selfhood and its defiant feminist declaration of the body as the site of art to an audience whose ideas of art have been formed by technological saturation—a material reliance on electronic screens and an everything all at once attitude towards, well, everything? … read more
Dead Dog Song, Choreographer’s Dream, Puppeteer’s Nightmare @ Ladies’ Literary...
I first saw the nascent dead dog song at loveDANCEmore’s Arrivals/Departures exhibit at the Rio Gallery, where viewers were free to come, watch and leave as they pleased. Anderson has nourished this piece to where it transcends the unicity I saw in the Rio Gallery iteration: She rooted this dance into the Ladies’ Literary Club structure and, once again, has exhibited that dance plays out differently beyond traditional stages. … read more
Make Us Laugh, Clowns! SLC’s First Comedy Carnivale
Hold on to your dicks, because Utah’s first-ever submissions-based comedy festival, SLC Comedy Carnivale, is happening from Sept. 17–21. … read more
The Rose Exposed Variety Show @ Rose Wagner 08.30
The Rose Exposed is a kickoff party of sorts, designed to celebrate the upcoming seasons of six very local and very talented groups of performing artists. With performances ranging from modern dance to miniature piano concertos, The Rose Exposed offered a little something for everyone. … read more
Ririe-Woodbury: Kinetic Spaces @ UMOCA 08.16
Increasingly “performance,” of one kind or another, is as important at these events as painting, sculpture or video art. The Utah Museum of Contemporary Art’s inaugural Utah Biennial: Mondo Utah, is one such effort, and last Friday it played host to Kinetic Spaces, a dance installation performed by Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company. … read more
Creature Feature: A Conversation with Willard Cron
Willard Cron came into Salt Lake City to fill the dark corners of its alt. nightlife with everlasting light and kitschy attitude. Willard helped initiate the Bad Kids performance group and became an insta-celebrity, towering over crowds at his height of 6’4” (7’ in homemade creepers). Who is Willard? Who are the Bad Kids? Willard answers these and other pressing questions. … read more
Let The Dance Begin: NOW Dance Company Performs The Wedding
On Friday and Saturday, July 26 and 27, NOW Dance Company officially launched its career with a performance of The Wedding, held in the Salt Lake Masonic Temple ballroom. NOW was formed by Charlotte Boye-Christensen in collaboration with her partner/husband Nathan Webster. Boye-Christensen recently departed from the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, after serving for several years as artistic director. … read more
Saturday’s Voyeur 2012 @ Salt Lake Acting Company 07.27
This is my fourth or fifth year in a row checking out the Salt Lake Acting Company’s yearly satire on Utah living and politics, and after sitting through another Jell-O shot filled night, I was not disappointed. This year, they took a slightly different approach than previous years when they have focused almost entirely on headlines from the year. We found ourselves following the narrative of Nephi Jensen, a lowly LDS accounts auditor, as he comes to grips with his relationship wants, his work needs and his religious must-do’s. Nephi is joined by other LDS office building employees, members of Quorum of the 12 and even Mr. Mitt Romney himself. … read more
Bellyography: Viktoriya – June 2009
For the past several years, Utah’s Middle Eastern dance community has often had the opportunity to watch the amazing Viktoriya. … read more