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Show R8 L - THE ARTS MAR31 - 2C01 - RED J'Ow J1 "AlA1 ;r,?.&5' P 15 W AiWnVjW' The Futun of Art Without All the Dirt by Erin Robinson fined. was absorbed in the performance and later wondered if my impression of flawless transitions was at all indebted to their quality of presentation of the nature of water. You never know what it may 1 wasn't particularly in the mood as I walked into Capitol Theatre Friday night Nor was I anticipating such an exceptional performance as the one that followed. Simply put. Repertory Dance Theater has a way about it. There was the slide show. Some familiar and some unfamiliar imagery of our state's landscape caused for a few seconds on the giant screen of curtain. These calming photographs between each quarter of the performance wound and me down from the with the the connection into deep performances. The four pieces of "Landscape Suite" (all commissioned by RDT) brought the imaginative dance of nature to the stage. Choreography and music compofor the sition were "Watertitled opening performance I work-wee- hand-in-glov- do. With extensions and leaps, the dancers shaped the stage like it was sandstone, then immediately dove in lunges like waves in the wind. This near half hour feat was an enthralling opener to the rest of the night's exhibit. "Liquid Interior" had the strike and unimplied humor that I should have anticipated after such a soothing dance as "Watermark," but I didn't. The costuming made use of random appendages of the same white material the bodies were covered in. The extra parts seemed particularly appropriate as the dancers twitched and strutted like mating birds showing their feathers. Choreographed in 1994 for RDT by Margaret Jenkins and Ellie Klopp of San Francisco, in cooperation with Utah composer Phillip Birnstein, the collaboration produced a dance which explores the insect and fowl life in the arid desert perimeter of k e mark." Sustained notes of a tenor and alto were like a subliminal reminder of the majesty and power of water. The nine dancers shifted through movements in pairs like tiny waves, or chiseled across the stage with the uncertain nature of liquid uncon- - by Brent Olson performance was a talented tribute to the diverse and ancient land in Utah by one of the oldest modem dance companies of its kind. d Regardless of how the New Trisha Brown Company's performance ended at Kingsbury Hall, I left satisfied to have spent the evening with the few at Capitol the Great Salt Lake. had never thought the ritualistic mating dances of birds to be so alien. They paraded, oblivious to the others, with pecking pride and vigor. Eventually the birds moved on and the performance came to the most curious sectioa which moveinvolved flitting insect-likment. Incredible screeching bug noise literally pierced the otherwise silent hall. If grasshoppers and mosquitoes were as large as humans, they would be as scary and amusing as the performance was at this point. This choreography was an excellent example of the extensive realms of modern dance RDT holds in its repertoire. The two final pieces of the evening, "Erosion" and "Summit," focused on the red rock and wildlife of Southern Utah, and the e mountain " ' ' of the state. RDT's "Landscape Suite" Incorporates nature into This past weekend's I e Frank Sanguinetti as director of the Museum of Fine Arts in February of 19 67, half of today's museum staff wasn't even When York-base- B. away. Since last year a search committee has be scouring the nation to find Sanguinetti's successor. The search process is now coming to a close, with two executive-directo- r finalists visiting the campus this week. Both finalists will be giving public lectures as part of a packed schedule of interviews with the search committee, President J. Bernard Machen and many others. The fast of the finalists, John Wetenhall, will give a lectur e this Friday. Wetenhall is currently the director of the Cheekwood Museum of -- dance. - to-- Johnson was still presi- dent of the United States, and the Summer of Love was four months range-backbon- " E. J - L Art in Nashville Tennessee and has held that position for the past five years. Prior to that, Wetenhall has been at the Birmingham Museum of Art and Smithsonian National Museum of American Art. "His education is fairly broad-base- d it isn't just art," said Isabel! e Kalantzes, communications coordinator for the Utah Museum of Fine Arts. "He's also just com- - .. pleted an MBA; you rarely see that on an art director's resume." Wetenhall's topic positioning and transforming a museum after significant expansion 4s one with which he has personal experience and one that is highly pertinent to the Utah Museum of Fine Arts. At Cheekwood he planned and ran the museum's $18.5 million capital campaign that doubled the size of the museum and raised stature considerably. On Wednesday Inez S. Wolins, another finalist, will present a lecture titled "So Much to See, So Little Time: Reflection and Research about Art Museum Visits." Wolins was most recently director of the Samuel P. Ham Museum of Art at the University of Florida in Gainesville and was previously director at the Witchita Art Museum. One of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts' primary missions is education, an area in which Wolins has a very strong background, Kalantzes said. Wolins has worked as curator of education at three museums and is the author of more than twenty articles on education's role in modem museums. In her lecture Wolins will focus on who visits museums, what they do during their visits, and what they take with them when they leave. After both Wetenhall and Wolins lecture they will take questions from the audience. Since the lectures will be held in the new Marcia and John Price Museum Building, attendees will get a sneak peak at the auditorium and reception area of the museum. Wetenhall's lecture will be held at the Price Museum auditorium at 6 p.m. preceded by a 530 p.m. reception on Friday, March 2. Wolins's lecture will be held at the same time and place but on Wednesday March 7. Cheek-wood- atow Pwv 1 ofrvr i i 1 r rl kcZ Art hangi on the dark walls of The Warehouse, by Erin Robinson aybe we just don't have glam. Maybe we never will. Not that glam is something this valley needs to be aiming for, but around Mardi Gras time, a little would be nice. Who's to say glam saves the day in New Orleans each year, but I do think it would have helped The Warehouse last Saturday night. The Warehouse is a club just north of Club Axis. ' Owner Ben Framed calls it a "cultural center" for "everyone." Everyone, that is, except all those who want a drink. Maybe that's why there was no line at the door. It's too bad, actually. The building the club occupies is exception- al when compared to other clubs, which shall nameless. remain Still, few were lower-levedisl dancing on the cotheque floor. Most attendants congregated to the second story where jazz, belly dancers and folding chairs comforted them. Poorly-li- t local art hung on the cement walls. A couple of people strolled and M poorly-feesigne- reg-'ga- e, d talked loudly since the noise level was hard to bear. I wanted to pat the handful of Mardi Gras-clafaithful on the back, and say, "Good job," or, "You get an 'A' for effort," and I really would have meant it. But I didn't. There was a girl with a festive, e feather and her top off in the Axis line outside, but everybody seemed to be standing there in dumb confusion as I drove by. Every time we get a little spice, and the salt of our valley just drowns it out. Glam doesn't necessarily require topless, feathery women, but although we likely have our own opinions on the subject, I will venture to say that during Mardi Gras, that falls in the glam category. Then there is the rest of the year. Sundance Film Festival brings in its fair share of fashionably gaunt glimpses of outside the glam...and then they leave. Sometimes, Saltaire treats us to glam-rocpassed-daand then they go back to Milwaukee. But real glam, the glam of Sunset Boulevard and runway models, can't find a home on the Wasatch ?' v d head-piec- alligator-pants-typ- Zion-curtai- Front. My partner and I drove home with spaced discussion of our night. I think he was right when he said the Salt Lake club scene is a product of theory. We are what is around us. d And so, many stood in to jeans waiting participate sub-po- p Lucky-Bran- in some crazy Salt Lake Others sat on folding chairs club-actio- n. This flame-eat- er entertains a small crowd. sipping coffee, half-conscio- time. e, n y Wildly dressed partners showed up to of the fact that everyone there wished they were having a better celebrate Mardi Gras at Tne Warehouse. 's |