Ballet West Annual Performance Gala (SLC: Nov 13)

BALLET WEST ANNOUNCES MUCH-ANTICIPATED
ANNUAL PERFORMANCE GALA
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13


SALT LAKE CITY – October 29, 2010 – Following on the heels of its wildly popular season opener “Carmina Burana,” Ballet West propels its artists ever further with the company’s annual performance gala on Saturday, November 13 at 6:30 p.m. This hour-long performance highlights every aspect of Ballet West, from its Academy to the youthful up-and-comers of Ballet West II, as well as Ballet West’s glamorous and versatile Artists. This evening of fantastic works is followed by an elegant evening of dinner and dancing at The Grand America Hotel, 555 South Main Street in downtown Salt Lake City.



The Program

Ballet West’s annual gala opens with a never before seen in Utah excerpt from George Balanchine’s romantic and classic Chaconne, set to music by Christoph Willibald Gluck. Next up is the show-stopping Men’s Regiment from Stars and Stripes, Balanchine’s salute to the marches of John Philip Sousa. The program continues with a performance by all levels of The Ballet West Academy, followed by the Utah premiere of Avichai Scher’s Mingling performed by Ballet West II to the lush piano music of Enrique Granados and the charming, and dazzling pas de deux from August Bournonville’s Kermesse in Bruges. Also on the bill is Mark Bogaerts’ The Line a unique collaboration between the Univeristy of Utah Modern Dance Department, the Berlin State Opera Ballet School and the Ballet West Academy. As a special preview, a spellbinding excerpt from Ben Stevenson’s Dracula will be presented to arranged music by Franz List, and the evening concludes with the dynamic, life affirming final movement from Jiri Kylian’s thrilling Sinfonietta, featuring the music of Leos Janacek.



Ticket Information

Tickets for the performance are $75; VIP tickets that include the performance, cast party, and dinner and dancing are $200. VIP tables are also available. All proceeds from this event benefit Ballet West’s educational and artistic programs. For more information on Ballet West’s annual gala, visit www.balletwest.org or contact Ashlee Christofferson at (801) 323-6917.

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NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS ANNOUNCES FIRST-EVER NATIONAL SURVEY OF OUTDOOR ARTS FESTIVALS

NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS ANNOUNCES FIRST-EVER NATIONAL SURVEY OF OUTDOOR ARTS FESTIVALS

Survey queries more than 1,400 outdoor art festivals around the country

Washington, DC – In a first-of-its-kind report, Live from Your Neighborhood: A National Study of Outdoor Arts Festivals finds outdoor arts festivals attract a range of audiences, they enhance their communities as creative placemakers, and they are a gateway to arts attendance.

“More than 100 million Americans attend arts and cultural festivals each year. It is time that we start to examine these festivals more closely,” said NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman. In his message in the report, Landesman encouraged audiences to share their reactions to the survey on the NEA Art Works blog .

Live from Your Neighborhood is the first-ever survey of U.S. outdoor arts festivals. The survey analyzes data from 1,413 outdoor festivals in nearly every state and Washington, DC. The survey reflects a cross-section of outdoor arts festivals in artistic disciplines such as music, visual arts and crafts, dance, folk and traditional arts, theater, literature, and film. Festival audiences, programming, staffing, and finances are also reviewed. Seven case studies profile a variety of outdoor festivals in large and small communities around the country, such as the Lowell Folk Festival in Lowell, Massachusetts and the Tamejavi Festival in Fresno, California. Arts festivals are one of the most popular arts activities according to the NEA’s Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, reflecting the growing demand for informal and interactive arts experiences.

Among the main findings:

Outdoor arts festivals are creative placemakers, and are integrated into the community. More than half of the festivals surveyed (59 percent) have occurred in their host communities for more than 10 years. Outdoor arts festivals are small-town affairs, with most festivals (77 percent) taking place in towns with fewer than 250,000 residents, and 39 percent of these in towns with fewer than 10,000 people. Festivals also provide education, employment, and volunteer opportunities to local residents. Outdoor arts festivals rely heavily on volunteers: 61 percent of festivals have year-round volunteer staff. On average, festivals have two to three paid, full-time, year-round staff, two to three part-time staff, and 15 volunteers. The case studies also reveal that volunteers provide professional services of significant value (marketing, event logistics, and fundraising) and take pride in their role as ambassadors for both the community and artists.

Most festivals have strong public-private partnerships, with 88 percent receiving support from corporate sponsors, foundations, or local, state, or federal government. Additionally, the case studies note that successful outdoor arts festivals present special challenges that require working partnerships with local government and public agencies. To best manage the myriad logistical and programmatic demands, festivals require support from municipal departments such as police, parks and recreation, tourism, street and sanitation services, and schools.

Outdoor arts festivals have diverse art forms and audiences. Typical outdoor festivals showcase many different art forms, with music (81 percent) and visual arts and crafts (67 percent) being the most common. Outdoor arts festival audiences are more representative of the U.S. population than audiences for many other types of arts activities; in general, Hispanic and African American audiences account for a higher percentage of audiences at outdoor arts festivals than at most ‘benchmark’ arts activities (such jazz or classical music concerts, opera, plays, ballet, or museums). Festivals yield a wide range of attendance rates, from fewer than 1,000 to 500,000 people or more. Nearly half (45 percent) of festivals reported audiences of fewer than 5,000 people, and another 25 percent reported 10,000-49,900 attendees. The largest festivals, attracting more than a half-million people, were in urban areas such as Chicago, Illinois, San Diego, California, and Washington, DC.

Outdoor arts festivals are a gateway to the arts. Many outdoor arts festivals share characteristics that make them appealing to audiences. Most festivals are free (59 percent), and many others offer discounted tickets. Festivals present high-quality, curated arts programming for audiences. Most outdoor arts festivals (64 percent) feature arts education opportunities. In the case studies, audiences said they liked the informal, family friendly setting where they can talk directly with participating artists. Audiences also said that they discovered art they would not have sought out on their own, suggesting that outdoor arts festivals are a bridge to new kinds of arts attendance.

The report will be presented at the fall meeting of the National Council on the Arts on Friday, October 29. Attending as respondents to the report will be Neil Barclay, President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta, Georgia, and Jennifer Pickering, Executive Director of the Lake Eden Arts Festival (LEAF) in Black Mountain, North Carolina.

About the National Endowment for the Arts

The National Endowment for the Arts is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established; bringing the arts to all Americans; and providing leadership in arts education. Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the Arts Endowment is the largest annual national funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities, and military bases.

The NEA is the only federal agency to conduct reliable and nationally representative research on significant topics affecting artists and arts organizations. For more than 30 years, the NEA Office of Research & Analysis has produced periodic research reports, brochures, and notes on arts participation among American adults and youth, arts organizations, and the arts labor force, often in partnership with other federal agencies such as the U.S. Census Bureau. The NEA is committed to extending the conversation about arts participation by making data available to both the research community and the public at large.

Live from Your Neighborhood: A National Study of Outdoor Arts Festivals and other NEA research are available in the Research section of the NEA website.


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Playwright Jim Christian Talk @ WSU (Ogden: Nov 8)

Acclaimed Playwright shares the Benefit of His Experience
Who: Weber State University Department of Performing Arts
What: Jim Christian: writing a play
When: November 8 • 2:00pm
Where: Hetzel-Hoellein Room, Stewart Library

Weber State University Department of Performing Arts presents a talk about play writing by Jim Christian, November 8 at 2pm in the Hetzel-Hoellein Room (Special Collections), Stewart Library, WSU campus. The public is invited to attend this event.
Christian has written two successful musical theatre plays that have been well-received: “Pirate!” (originally known as “Pirated Penzance;” and “Sleepy Hollow.” “Pirated” has been performed around the country since its premiere more than a decade ago. “Sleepy Hollow” received an award for play writing from the Kennedy Center-American College Theatre Festival last spring and was selected for workshopping at the National Music Theater Conference this summer.
The National Music Theater Conference was established in 1978 through the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. Since then, more than one hundred works have been developed. Many of the creators of those works have since won prestigious awards, and their works and subsequent works have received acclaimed recognition in opera houses, Broadway, off-Broadway, New York and regional theaters worldwide. It would be no surprise for local audiences to hear of the continuing success of “Sleepy Hollow.”
For more information about this event, contact Jim Christian 801 626 7992 or jchristian@weber.edu.

Australia's Central Queensland U's Jazz Ensemble @ SUU (CC: Nov 1)

CENTRAL QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY’S JAZZ ENSEMBLE
WHAT: The international music scene comes to southern Utah, when Australia’s Central Queensland University’s Jazz Ensemble appears in a free concert at SUU. The CQUniversity Jazz Ensemble’s program includes two numbers from the Broadway musical Chicago, an original composition by the Ensemble’s music director, Dr. Derrin Kerr, and other popular works.

WHO: Southern Utah University, College of Performing and Visual Arts, Music Department

WHEN: Monday, November 1, 2010

TIME: 7:30pm

WHERE: Randall L. Jones Theatre, Southern Utah University, Cedar City, UT

TICKETS: Phone: Arts Hotline: (435) 865-8800 or visit: www.suu.edu/arts

PRICES: Free and the General Public is encouraged to attend.

JAZZ FROM DOWN UNDER AT SUU
AUSTRAILIA’S CENTRAL QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY’S
JAZZ ENSEMBLE PERFORMS FREE CONCERT
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2010

Southern Utah University, Cedar City, Utah: The international music scene swings into Cedar City when Australia’s Central Queensland University’s (CQUniversity) Jazz Ensemble performs in a free concert at SUU, Monday, November 1, 2010. This scintillating evening takes place at the Randall L. Jones Theatre on the campus of Southern Utah University, and begins at 7:30pm. The concert is free and open to the public. The Jazz Ensemble’s appearance is made possible through the efforts of Kurt Harris, Interim Director of SUU’s Global Engagement Center, and Dr. Keith Bradshaw, Chair, Music Department, SUU’s College of Performing and Visual Arts.

Under the direction of Dr. Derrin Kerr, the CQUniversity Jazz Ensemble will perform a sizzling program guaranteed to please all music fans. “Roxie” and “When You’re Good to Mama,” two selections from the popular Broadway smash hit musical and Oscar-winning film Chicago with music by John Kander, are among the concert’s highlights. “Eveddie Madness,” an original composition by Derrin Kerr, is also on the bill. Other highlights include Kristin Berardi’s “Life Rite” and “The Last Time,” Vince Jones’ “Big City” and “Stricken by a Storm,” and Guy Sebastian’s “I Like It Like That.”

Dr. Derrin Kerr is Program Coordinator of the Bachelor of Music program at CQUniversity. He holds a Doctor of Education (CQUniversity), Masters of Music (Michigan State University) and a Bachelor of Music (Queensland Conservatorium of Music). Kerr has wide experience in contemporary music education and is a co-founder of the internationally recognized Hamilton Island Music Project. As an active performer, director of the CQUniversity Jazz Orchestra and co-producer of the highly acclaimed jazz tours, Derrin has been instrumental in the development of the extensive footprint of the CQUniversity jazz music program.


During their stay in Cedar City, the members of Central Queensland University’s Jazz Ensemble will have the opportunity to improvise with SUU’s Jazz Band, under the direction of Dr. Thomas Herb, on Tuesday, November 2. This improvisation session will be held in South Hall’s Rehearsal Room, 4:30pm to 6pm. Chairs will be set up and the public is invited to attend and experience this unique international jazz collaboration.

Become a part of the international jazz scene when the CQUniversity Jazz Ensemble performs at Southern Utah University. For more information on the SUU College of Performing and Visual Arts events, please call the Arts Hotline at (435) 865-8800, or visit www.suu.edu/arts.

ABOUT THE COLLEGE
The Southern Utah University College of Performing and Visual Arts is comprised of nationally accredited departments of Art and Design, Music, Theatre Arts and Dance, as well as a graduate program in Arts Administration. The College offers 16 different degree areas, including liberal arts Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees; professional Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Fine Arts in art and theatre degrees; and a Master of Fine Arts in Arts Administration degree. More than 60 full- and part-time faculty and staff are engaged in teaching and mentoring over 550 majors in the College. Over 1100 students enroll each year in over 195 arts classes on the SUU campus. The College presents 100 performances, lectures, presentations, and exhibitions each year. The College’s affiliate organizations include the Braithwaite Fine Arts Gallery, American Folk Ballet, Utah Shakespearean Festival, the performance group Acclamation, and the SUU Ballroom Dance Company. For more information about the College of Performing and Visual Arts, contact the Office of the Dean (435) 865-8561, or by e-mail at cpvamktg@suu.edu.

CONGOLESE DANCE WORKSHOP with Kim Strunk @ RDT (SLC: Oct 20 - Nov 17)

CONGOLESE DANCE WORKSHOP with Kim Strunk

Wednesday evenings October 20- November 17, 2010 5:45-7:00 pm
Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center
138 West Broadway (300 South) Downtown SLC
For more info visit: www.rdtutah.org

$12 drop in, RDT Community School punch cards accepted
Kim is an Associate Professor of Dance at Utah Valley University and former dancer with RDT (1984-1996) She recently traveled to Congo Brazzaville where she studied and observed the traditional dance, music and culture of CONGO.

Artist Chakaia Booker @ UMFA (SLC: Nov 4)


PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts
--Shelbey Peterson, 801.585.1306
shelbey.peterson@umfa.utah.edu
--Jill Dawsey, 801.585.3475
jill.dawsey@umfa.utah.edu


Contemporary Artist Chakaia Booker to Speak at UMFA
Thursday, November 4 at 7 pm


Salt Lake City- With growing demands on the world’s resources and energy, everyday items across the urban landscape increasingly find second lives through reuse and recycling. Few found objects, however, are reinvented in such interesting form as the rubber tires used by contemporary sculptor Chakaia Booker.

On Thursday, November 4, 2010 at 7 pm, the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) Young Benefactors and University of Utah Department of Art and Art History will host artist Chakaia Booker for a free public talk in the UMFA Katherine W. and Ezekiel R. Dumke Jr. Auditorium. The artist will speak about the UMFA’s newly acquired sculpture, Discarded Memories, and discuss her unique practice of cutting, twisting, and weaving pieces of scavenged car and bicycle tires into elaborate, large-scale sculptures.

Chakaia Booker was born in 1953 and raised in Newark, New Jersey. She received a bachelor of art in sociology from Rutgers University in 1976, and a master of fine arts from the City College of New York in 1993. She currently lives and works in New York City.

Booker first conceptualized her tire sculptures in the 1980s when she moved to the East Village, which was not then the gentrified neighborhood that it is now. The late 70s and early 80s saw frequent fires on East Village streets, often set by desperate landlords who sought to cash in on insurance money because they could not rent apartments. Stripping what she could from these burned-out wrecks, Booker began to experiment with automobile tires as a malleable medium of expression, forming petals, stalks, spikes, and skins from large rubber sheaves.

In 1988 she began to receive national attention and acclaim for her work, with its evocation of themes such as the environment, urban space, and the societal position of women and minorities. In the 2008 exhibition, Mass Transit, Booker was commissioned by the Indianapolis Art Council to install ten of her sculptures throughout the downtown area. In the summer of 2010, the DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts hosted the largest solo exhibition of her work to date, featuring thirty of her pieces.

Booker’s works are part of several collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Bronx Museum of Art, and The Studio Museum of Harlem. The UMFA is pleased to be part of this growing list. In fall of 2009, the UMFA Young Benefactors­––an affinity donor group that supports the museum’s contemporary art programs––selected one of Booker’s sculptures, Discarded Memories, as their annual purchase for the UMFA’s growing collection of contemporary art. This work will be on display for a limited time in the museum’s first floor galleries beginning November 4, 2010.


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The Utah Museum of Fine Arts is located on the University of Utah campus in the Marcia and John Price Museum Building at 410 Campus Center Drive. The UMFA’s mission is to engage visitors in discovering meaningful connections with the artistic expressions of the world’s cultures. Like the University of Utah, the UMFA strives to be a safe haven for discussion, dialogue, and free expression. General admission is $7 adults, $5 youth and seniors, FREE for U of U students/staff/faculty, UMFA members, higher education students in Utah, and children under six years old. Free admission offered the first Wednesday and third Saturday of each month. Museum hours are Tuesday – Friday: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Wednesdays 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Weekends, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.; closed Mondays and holidays. For more information call (801) 581-7332 or visit www.umfa.utah.edu.

"Five Carols for Christmas" & "JingleJacks" Musicals @ WSU (Ogden: Nov 12-20)

WSU Premieres Two Jim Christian Musicals for the Holidays
Who: Weber State University Department of Performing Arts
What: Five Carols for Christmas/JingleJacks, directed by Jim Christian
When: November 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 at 7:30 • 2:00 matinee Nov 20
American Sign Language interpretation provided Saturday, Nov 13
Where: Allred Theater, Val A. Browning Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets: $10/$7, Dee Events Center tickets: 1-800-WSU-TIKS

Weber State University Department of Performing Arts premieres two one-act musicals “Five Carols for Christmas/JingleJacks” by Jim Christian and Kenneth Plain; directed by Jim Christian, November 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 at 7:30 pm with a 2 pm matinee on Saturday, November 20. The November 13 performance will feature American Sign Language translations. Children eight years and older are welcome.

“Five Carols for Christmas” find five women (all named “Carol,” each with a different spelling) preparing for their holiday gala at the local community center - on the worst weather day of the year. The program includes songs about how the holiday is celebrated around the world. They start in a living room and end up on stage. The intervening mayhem (no murder) provides the fun.

“JingleJacks” begins with a variety of young lumberjacks returning from a day in the woods to prepare for their live, on-line, boy-band show. Their performances include a variety of styles. They also sell a variety of merchandise related to their boy-band songs and individual members: locks of hair, calendar, etc. Did we mention their program is a variety show?

When asked for the motivation for creating this set of musicals Jim says, “I think of this as filling a hole in the canon: a new holiday play, a play for all men and a play for all women. Also, I’m very fond of Christmas.

“Just as I wrote ‘Sleepy Hollow’ (original 2009 play premiered at WSU) to provide another opportunity for a Halloween show, I want this set of one-acts to do the same for the Christmas season. After all, as much as we like “The Christmas Carol” do we want to see it every year. Don’t theatre groups want another choice? Yes!

”With ‘JingleJacks” I wanted to explore the power of YouTube and the Web. It is a new venue for performers. More and more people are taking advantage of it. Imagine the excitement of having your millionth hit on YouTube.”

Scenic Designer Austin Hull, WSU theatre major, has the challenge of creating two complete sets for this performance: a stereotypical 1950s living room and a rustic Canadian cabin. An added bonus is decorating each set with appropriate Christmas decorations. Astute audience members will enjoy picking out the items as they watch the show.

Costume Designer Phillip Lowe also has double duty with complete sets of costumes for each show. He has done his research on the 50s dresses and hairdos for the women, individualizing each character while staying with the genre. His “lumberjack” costumes for each character are created with a gentle sense of humor as are the calendar theme costumes for the pin-up calendar. Pin-up lumberjacks? Wait and see!

For more information about this production, contact Jim Christian 801 626 7992 or jchristian@weber.edu.

photos available on request