THE ESSENTIAL A&E PICKS FOR FEB 8 -14 

• Beau Pearson

Ballet West: Swan Lake
If you asked any given person on the street to tell you what they picture when you say the word "ballet," it would almost certainly be this: Young women in white costumes, standing en pointe. Tchaikovsky's 1877 creation Swan Lake—which tells the story of the tragic love between a prince and a maiden who has been cursed by a wizard to be a swan by day, and take human form only by the light of the moon—has transcended its initial poor reception to become practically the quintessence of classical ballet. It even made its way into Taylor Swift's 2014 video for "Shake It Off"—with Ballet West's own Swan Lake costumes worn by the dancers.

That's only part of Ballet West's own rich history with Swan Lake, as company founder William Christensen staged the first full-length American production of the ballet with the San Francisco Ballet in 1940. Company artistic directors over the years have put their own creative stamp on the work, including current artistic director Adam Sklute. "Swan Lake is one of the greatest pieces of theater of all time," Sklute notes in a press release, "... so multi -faceted and filled with profound, deeply moving storytelling, great music, powerful and athletic dancing, artistry, and magic. 

Ballet West's latest production of Swan Lake comes to the J. Q. Lawson Capitol Theatre (50 W. 200 South) Feb. 9 – 17, with performances at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Tuesday – Friday, and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sunday. Tickets are $36 - $116; visit arttix.org for tickets and additional event information. (Scott Renshaw)

• Courtesy photo

Salt Lake Winter Roundup
If the term "skijoring" is unfamiliar to you, you're likely not alone—but you've also been missing out. This unique mix of skiing and rodeo boasts a full professional circuit throughout locations in the West, including Heber Valley, but isn't well-known in metropolitan areas. That might change when Visit Salt Lake, in conjunction with Staker Parsons, hosts the first Salt Lake Winter Roundup event, with a skijoring exhibition as the centerpiece.

According to Visit Salt Lake CEO Kaitlin Eskelsen, the exhibition will feature professionals demonstrating the art of being pulled on skis behind a horse through an obstacle course (with special guests also potentially participating). West Temple in front of Abravanel Hall will be closed from Feb. 7 – 10 to allow for hauling in the snow required for the course. "There has been a lot of additional hype around potentially getting the Olympics in 2034," Eskelsen says, "so how do we start telling that story? We realized skijoring is the type of event people would travel for, and they always sell out. How cool would it be to pull it off in the middle of downtown?"

The free skijoring exhibition and associated activities kick off on the plaza of Abravanel Hall (123 W. South Temple) Saturday, Feb. 10 at 1 p.m., including music performances and food trucks (participants TBD at press time), bounce house, mechanical bull-riding, line-dance lessons and more. The Salt Chalet, located between Salt Lake's Visitor Center and Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, will feature curling lanes through February and beyond for those looking to test their stone-sliding ability. For more info, go to visitsaltlake.com/blog/stories/post/winter-roundup-event-skijoring-bullriding-olympians/. (SR)

• Gabriel Rutherford

Utah Indigenous Fashion Week Fundraiser
In 2023, The Leonardo hosted the first annual Utah Indigenous Fashion Week, celebrating Indigenous fashion within Utah and providing a showcase for designers to share culture through fashion, with 12 participating Indigenous designers, 20 Indigenous models and two Indigenous makeup artists and dressers. This year, in anticipation of the second annual showcase, Material gallery hosts a fund-raising event in support of the 2024 event, scheduled for April 6 at The Leonardo.

For the fundraiser, works by 75 Utah artists will be available for purchase, at prices ranging from $25 - $900; a VIP reception before the main event will allow a first opportunity to see and purchase the available works. Attendees will also enjoy an Indigenous food tasting beginning at 7 p.m., and live performance. According to Jessica Wiarda—Utah Indigenous Fashion Week producer, and a studio artist at Material—"Utah Indigenous Fashion Week was created for our community to learn from Indigenous perspectives on our own terms. We're committed to growing UIFW to become an annual event that includes educational panels, recruitment of Indigenous designers and models in Salt Lake City and Utah reservations, partnerships with grassroots organizations, and paying participating designers, models, and artists fairly for their work."

The fundraiser takes place at Material (2970 S. West Temple, Unit B) on Saturday, Feb. 10, with a free public reception from 6:30 p.m. – 9 p.m. VIP access begins at 5:30 p.m., with tickets $25; visit Eventbrite.com to purchase tickets, and materialartgallery.com for additional event information. (SR)