Repertory Dance Theatre believes that each of us has a unique “sense of place” that can be explored through movement and art. RDT’s newest commission by Zvi Gotheiner, Sacred Lands/Sacred Waters, is the Company’s latest exploration, this time, linked to the newly-proclaimed Bears Ears National Monument in south-eastern Utah.

This new work will be a tribute to Bears Ears, to the collaboration of Native tribes, and to the sacred spaces in each of our lives. RDT wants to honor the land, its influence upon us, and the tribes that have been connected to it for centuries. This will be the springboard for Gotheiner’s brand new work at the center of RDT’s 52nd season.

The ambitious project involves not only a dance commission, but a trip to Bears Ears, as well as five public events. These events will help RDT, ZviDance, and the public explore the meaning and history behind Bears Ears as well as celebrate the unprecedented work that the coalition has done.

The events will take place over the course of the development of the work, as well as during its premiere in October. The first two events are in the next week and have received funding from the Utah Humanities (UH). UH empowers groups and individuals to improve their communities through active engagement in the humanities:

SACRED LANDS / SACRED WATERS ORIENTATION PANEL

When: May 7, 2017, 5-7 pm

Where: Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, Salt Lake City, UT

Admission: Free and open to the public, please RSVP here

 

 

 

Panel Discussants:

• Utah Diné Bikéyah (UDB), Gavin Noyes (moderator)
• UDB Spiritual Advisor, Jonah Yellowman (Diné)
• UDB Board Member, Mary Benally (Diné)
• Author-Photographer, Stephen Trimble
• RDT Project Director, Linda C. Smith

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HEALING THROUGH MOTION: A Celebration of the Sacred Lands of the Bears Ears

When: May 11, 2017, 4-8 pm

Where: Community Center, Bluff Utah

Admission: Free & open to the public

AGENDA

• Tribal Leaders Speak: background, history of the Monument
• Native Dancers: school children
• 6:30 pm Traditional Native American Dinner (donations accepted)
• Story-sharing and traditional Native music
• RDT/ ZviDance Improvisational Performance
• Special Guests: Linda C. Smith (RDT), Zvi Gotheiner (ZviDance),  Alisha Andersen, The Board and friends of Utah Diné Bikéyah

Learn more

“Earlier this year Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT) and Utah Dine Bikeyah (UDB) sat across from each other trying to figure out if together they could offer to be some kind of steadying order to the growing imbroglio of the recently announced Bears Ears National Monument in southeast Utah. What does concert dance have to do with preserving federal lands considered sacred by Native Americans?… It turns out quite a lot.”

Read more about the history of how this project came to be on the Wilderness Interface Zone blog