Repertory Dance Theatre: Charette | Entertainment Picks | Salt Lake City Weekly

Repertory Dance Theatre: Charette 

Saturday Feb. 12 @ Rose Wagner Center

Pin It
Favorite
art13260widea.jpg
Repertory Dance Theatre’s annual fundraiser Charette has become an affair to remember. A bit of reality TV mixed with performing arts, this competition brings top-notch choreographers, celebrity judges and more than 30 of Utah’s best dancers to an event where audiences are encouraged to drink, mingle and eat to their hearts’ content.

The evening begins as the choreographers acquire a secret “ingredient” and venture off to work with a group of dancers. After audience members mill about snacking and peeking into the studios for about an hour, judges—including Janet Gray (of Janet Gray Studios) and Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker—deliberate upon whom to bestow the coveted title of Iron Choreographer.

This year, in honor of RDT’s 45th anniversary, the five contending artists will all be RDT alumni. The winner for 2010, who traditionally returns to the fold to defend their title, happens to be Todd Allen, who danced with the company from 1993-1999. Others slated to join in the fun will be Michael Kelly Bruce (1974-1981), Kim Strunk (1984-1996), Angela Banchero-Kelleher (1985-1992; 1998-2007) and Brent Schneider (1989-1994).

The speed of the evening presents a unique opportunity to accept creative impulses as they come, “like how the movement fits with the music or how dancers relate to each other in space,” Allen says. “Participating in Charette reminds me of the importance of allowing a process to unfold naturally … not to try to keep it constrained within some idea of a final product that is bouncing around in my head. Sometimes, it’s good to keep it quick and dirty.”

Repertory Dance Theatre: Charette @ Rose Wagner Center, 138 W. Broadway, 801-355-2787, Feb. 12, 7:30 p.m., $35. RDTUtah.org, ArtTix.org

Pin It
Favorite

More by Jacob Stringer

Latest in Entertainment Picks

Readers also liked…

  • THE ESSENTIAL A&E PICKS FOR MAR 14 - 20

    St. Patrick's Day, Bored Teachers Comedy Tour, Downy Doxey-Marshall: Bloom and Laura Sharp Wilson: Gilding the Lily: A Choreography , and more.
    • Mar 13, 2024

© 2024 Salt Lake City Weekly

Website powered by Foundation