THE ESSENTIAL A&E PICKS FOR APR 18 - 24 

• Stephanie Batten Bland

Ririe-Woodbury: Ascent
As Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company closes its historic 60th anniversary season, it offers a program in Ascent that brings together two key parts of that history. In a pair of world-premiere performances, current RWDC artistic director Daniel Charon and his predecessor in that role, Charlotte Boye-Christensen, show the creative thinking that has guided the company for years.

Boye-Christensen's Chapters was commissioned specifically as part of this anniversary celebration, and the choreographer took the opportunity to explore the capabilities of RWDC artists. "This work is very much shaped and inspired by the current dancers in Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, who each brought a uniquely different approach and perspective to the material that they were given," she writes in a press release. "It has been a privilege to work with these dancers who were fearless and dug deep, and I wanted to encourage the conditions for their talents to thrive." Charon's Storygraph, meanwhile, continues his collaboration with the musicians of Salt Lake Electric Ensemble for a work about the notion of immortality across generations. Rounding out the program is a return of Stefanie Batten Bland's 2018 Look Who's Coming to Dinner (pictured), a theatrical dance work about those who have found it challenging in the past to find "a seat at the table."

Ririe-Woodbury's Ascent comes to the Rose Wagner Center Jeanne Wagner Theater (138 W. 300 South) for three evening-length performances April 18 – 20 at 7:30 p.m. for $35 general admission. A family- and sensory-friendly "Moving Parts" 60-minute performance will be offered Saturday, April 20 at 1 p.m., $10 general admission. Visit arttix.org to purchase tickets or for additional event information. (Scott Renshaw)

Tumbleweeds Film Festival
Every year, Utah is home to one of the country's most prestigious film festivals, but it's not the only one. While Sundance brings out the big talents of independent film from around the world, the Utah Film Center's Tumbleweeds festival focuses on programming for younger budding cinephiles, including opportunities to learn about the art of filmmaking itself.

The events begin with the Kids' Film Competition on April 19, showcasing age-grouped short films by K-8 students from around the state. Meanwhile, Saturday offers the festival proper, with two short films programs and four features, including the animated adventure Giants of La Mancha (pictured), the fantasy Rosa and the Stone Troll, the Norwegian tween comedy Dancing Queen and the French family comedy Coco Farm. In addition to the screenings, several special workshops offer age-appropriate guidance about a range of skills required to make movies: character design for animation; acting for the camera; introduction to stop-motion animation; editing and lighting; even special effects make-up. Special guests include alumni of the popular Studio C comedy series to secrets of family-friendly sketch comedy.

The 2024 Tumbleweeds Film Festival takes place at the Viridian Event Center of the Salt Lake County Library West Jordan branch (8030 S. 1824 West), with the Kids' Film Competition April 19, 7:30 p.m. – 9 p.m., and the main festival April 20, 9 a.m. – 8 p.m. Individual film tickets are free with online registration, workshops may have fee required, and VIP passes are also available. Visit tumbleweedskids.org for schedule, registration and other event information. (SR)

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• Scotty Mitchell

Look at Us: Portraits of Endangered Species
New Mexico-based artist Scotty Mitchell has primarily focused on plein air landscapes, part of her focus, as she describes it, on "looking afresh at the natural world and seeing its rhythms and flow." Yet she found herself drawn to another project that still falls within that same thematic idea, one that came to her unexpectedly.

"One morning, while drinking my coffee in a meditative state," Mitchell shared on her website, "these words just dropped down from the ether: 'Look at us, for we will be gone.' And with that came the idea of a series of panels of animals that are endangered. I would do fifty panels to make a wall display of twenty feet by ten feet, or fifty feet by five feet. The feeling that I really needed to make this a reality was compelling. I felt and feel that the animals want to be seen, loved and appreciated, in all of their wondrous beauty and astounding diversity." The result is a bright and compelling series of images of creatures including the tiger, the rhinoceros, the elephant, the polar bear and many more.

Images from Scotty Mitchell's Look At Us, For We Will Be Gone series will be on display at The Leonardo (209 E. 500 South) April 19 – Aug. 31. An artist reception, sponsored by The Leonardo and Ken Sanders Rare Books, will take place Friday, April 19, 5:30 p.m. – 7 p.m., free and open to the public. Visit theleonardo.org for additional event information, or scottymitchell.com for more information about the artist. (SR)