By Linda C. Smith Artistic/Executive Director, RDT During TOP BILL (Nov. 16-18, 2017), Repertory Dance Theatre honors a dedicated RDT Board Trustee, a friend, and a beloved member of the dance community. Known for her dynamic energy, wry sense of humor and her dedication to the arts, Janet Muse Gray has created a legacy that has helped make Utah a
In this artistic statement, William "Bill" Evans talks about his upcoming concert at Repertory Dance Theatre (Nov. 16-18, 2017) TOP BILL, a retrospective of five decades of choreography. Evans, an RDT dancer alum, has regularly returned to Utah, where he is from, to create new work for RDT and to re-stage contemporary classics from his prodigious oeuvre. RDT's
Written by Linda C. Smith Artistic/Executive Director We live in a country like no other. As Americans, the landscape we call home has always been part of our continuing story. Since the early 1990’s, RDT has been commissioning works that celebrate and examine our human connection to land and water, critical issues here in America’s Mountain and Southwest regions. SANCTUARY focuses
In Part II, Linda C. Smith, RDT's Executive/Artistic Director, reported on the group's visit to Fry Canyon Ruin, the precipitious switchbacks of Moki Dugway and a kiva at the Cave Tower Ruin before the dancers spent time doing improvisation, culminating in a shamanic healing ritual by one of the Native American guides, Ida Yellowman (Dine). Here in the final
In Part I, Linda C. Smith, RDT's Executive/Artistic Director, talks about the origins of RDT's new commission, inspired by the recently proclaimed Bears Ears National Monument in southeastern Utah. To tour the Bears Ears is to enmesh in oneself in the cultures of Native Americans who have lived in this area from time immemorial. It is not only
By Linda C. Smith Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT), believes that each of us has a unique “sense of place” that can be explored through movement and art. Out of this impulse now comes RDT’s new initiative “Sacred Lands/Sacred Waters” and its first iteration, linked to the newly-proclaimed Bears Ears National Monument in southeastern Utah. Titled “Dancing the Bears Ears”
By Linda C. Smith This weekend, RDT presents BRIO … an appropriate title for a concert filled with vigor, vivacity, gusto, verve, zest, enthusiasm, vitality, dynamism, animation, spirit and most of all energy. BRIO will present five works created by two incomparable artists known as Shapiro & Smith. Danial Shapiro & Joanie Smith, husband and wife, started collaborating in 1985. Fascinated by
By Linda C. Smith Artistic | Executive Director At the turn of the 20th century, many dancers worldwide were exploring ways to express the energy of a new era … one that was influenced by technology, the access to travel and the discovery of scientific principles that were to change our lives forever. Daring choreographers boldly rejected the status
This is the final post of our 3-part series "A Space Odyssey" celebrating the creation of the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center (you can read the previous post in the series here.) Be sure to join us this Saturday, August 27th, for the Rose Exposed celebration of "Flight" – a night to benefit the Tracy Aviary. Click HERE for more