Sambo Fogo’s Inspiraçâo Do Fogo @ Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center 04.03-05

Sambo Fogo’s Inspiraçâo Do Fogo @ Rose Wagner Performing Arts...
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Sambo Fogo, in addition to presenting Brazilian dance as fine art, also shows a clear commitment to the non-formal aspects of dance, specifically its capacity for improving cultural awareness and fostering social relations. In line with this, the company warmly encourages spontaneous audience response and interaction with its work, while the work is being performed. Thursday’s crowd did not fail to applaud, cheer, and rise to its feet at key moments during the evening. … read more

12 Minutes Max – First Iteration @ The City Library 03.23

12 Minutes Max – First Iteration @ The City Library...
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12 Minutes Max has long been a staple in the dance and performance world. It’s the signature program of Seattle’s famous On the Boards and now, Paul Reynolds has brought it to Salt Lake City’s downtown public library. This past Sunday at two in the afternoon, a respectable crowd––faces familiar to me from our city’s film, dance and visual art communities––filed into the auditorium at the library. … read more

Ghouls and Dolls: Bad Kids Pageant Preliminary #1 @ Metro Bar 03.13

Ghouls and Dolls: Bad Kids Pageant Preliminary #1 @ Metro...
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Faced with an overwhelming response upon the announcement of their second yearly pageant, the Bad Kids decided to give every applicant a chance to compete, splitting the pageant into two preliminaries before the actual main event, to be held on June 5. … read more

Two Arrows Through My Heart: Coleman Barks and David Darling

Two Arrows Through My Heart: Coleman Barks and David Darling
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The pairing of the two friends was really interesting to watch again, as it seems they balance each other in their friendship much like Shams did with his student Rumi. Throughout the night, Barks kept emphasizing that the beloved is in everything. He talked about watching Allen Ginsberg read “Howl” in 1955 and that he’s “Seen the greatest minds prowling the street for a fix, and that’s the beloved, too.” On the plane over to Utah he watched Louis CK for the first time, and Louis CK is the beloved, too.  … read more

Kingsbury Hall Presents Gallim’s BLUSH and a New Model for Touring to Utah

Kingsbury Hall Presents Gallim’s BLUSH and a New Model for...
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Whatever judgement one makes of Gallim’s 2009 work “BLUSH,” this is clearly an historic moment in the development of new models for presenting live performance in the state of Utah–– if Kingsbury keeps partnering with the College of Fine Arts departments in this way, their offerings might get a whole lot more interesting. … read more

SUITE: Women Defining Space 02.13

SUITE: Women Defining Space 02.13
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Four years in, SUITE continues to be one of a handful of places where emerging dance artists can get a foothold and start work in our city. … read more

The Night Contains the Day: An Evening of Rumi’s Poetry with Coleman Barks and David Darling

The Night Contains the Day: An Evening of Rumi’s Poetry...
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 For those who attended last year, don’t expect a rerun of the same pieces. According to Klerk, “They never do the same performance twice.” Barks chooses the poems spontaneously the day of, and Darling improvises in response. This reflects the essence of Rumi’s philosophy, which revels in the impulses that happen on the spur of the moment. By playing on their personal friendship, the duo makes manifest the love shared in every relationship, whether it be personal, professional, romantic, friendly or spiritual. … read more

Two to Watch: Gretchen and Paul Reynolds

Two to Watch: Gretchen and Paul Reynolds
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 They’re committed artists. Every room is clothed in images—landscapes of northern Utah, paintings for painting’s sake, personal photographs and points between. A leaved dining room table has been converted into a table tennis court, and that’s how our interview begins. Gretchen makes coffee for us and opens a beer for herself, while Paul beats me several times at ping-pong. Then we sit down to talk. … read more

The Skanks are Coming to Slamdance

The Skanks are Coming to Slamdance
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Documentary filmmaker David McMahon grew up in one of those pockets of open-mindedness and tolerance in the South. “It was a real lifesaver for me, growing up there. I got exposed to like-minded people and supportive people,” he says. So when he found out playwright Billy Ray Brewton was going to do an original musical called Skanks In A One Horse Town, he decided to give it a shot and turn the experience into a documentary, premiering at the Slamdance Film Festival this month.  … read more

Sharon Needles: Nightmare Before Xmas @ Metro Bar 12.14 with The Bad Kids

Sharon Needles: Nightmare Before Xmas @ Metro Bar 12.14 with...
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Out of the crop of RuPaul’s Drag Race contestants that Metro Bar has hosted in this post-Pride season—including Manila Luzon, Honey Mahogany and JuJuBee— Sharon Needles is most certainly the Baddest.  … read more