THE ESSENTIAL A&E PICKS FOR NOV 21 - 27 

• Lydia Daniller

Sean Dorsey Dance: The Lost Art of Dreaming
Like all art forms, dance—and particularly modern dance—has evolved greatly over the years and decades. Yet there might still be an expectation in audiences about gendered norms in the art form, whether in terms of costuming or in terms of the gender expression of dance partners. Those expectations are continuously turned upside down, however, by choreographer Sean Dorsey, a transgender man who has made it a priority over more than 20 years to create work celebrating the experience of queer, non-binary, gender-expansive and trans people.

His current production, The Lost Art of Dreaming, showcases Dorsey's talent for story-based dance, unique combinations of dancers of all gender expressions and fabulous costumes. While the show has been touring for a couple of years already, it feels sadly timely for a community fearing what might be soon to come in America. "As queer and trans folk, we don't grow up being told we have a right to dream about our futures," Dorsey said in a 2023 interview with The Bay Area Reporter. "And especially at this brutal moment in America—well, when has it not been a brutal moment—permission to dream and feel joy is hard to come by. I created this show as a love letter to longing and our deepest dreams."

Sean Dorsey Dance brings The Lost Art of Dreaming to Kingsbury Hall (1395 E. Presidents Circle) on Thursday, Nov. 21 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $13 - $57; visit utahpresents.org to purchase tickets and for additional event information. (Scott Renshaw)

• Troy Hallahan

Matteo Lane @ Kingsbury Hall
Fifteen years into his career as a stand-up comedian, Matteo Lane has absolutely carved out a distinctive niche for himself as an out gay man sharing stories—often TMI-personal ones—about his life and experience. And nobody is about to tell him that being a gay comedian means his comedy has to be explicitly political.

"I found a groove in expressing myself this way, whereas other comics like Trevor Noah, for example, or Jon Stewart, are people who find the humor in politics," Lane said in a 2024 interview with The Advocate. "I don't know that I find the humor yet. I don't know if that's my lens in life. So, do I hate Trump? Of course. Is my show a political rally to prove to people that Trump's an idiot? No. But are we all like-minded because we're all coming from similar backgrounds? Probably."

Even those who aren't from similar backgrounds can find the hilarity in Lane's material which has at times turned into full-on crowd work. In his The Advice Special (available via YouTube), Lane listens to audience members' unique situations, and offers them words of wisdom—whether the audience member is a gay man trying to figure out how to deal with a relationship with someone who doesn't speak English, or a straight woman who created a break-up text via ChatGPT.

Matteo Lane brings his "Can't Stop Talking" tour to Kingsbury Hall (1395 E. Presidents Circle) on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $39.50 - $69.50; visit artstickets.utah.edu to purchase tickets and for additional event information. (SR)

• Penguin Random House

Leo Espinosa: The Creature of Habit Tries His Best
Let's face it: Learning to do something new is hard. And although it may seem to get even harder for us the older we get, it's still an often-frustrating experience at any age. With wisdom and gentle humor, best-selling YA author Jennifer E. Smith (The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, This Is What Happy Looks Like) and illustrator Leo Espinosa approach the challenge of new experiences from a kids'-eye-view in the new picture book The Creature of Habit Tries His Best.

The story is set on an island called Habit, where a large creature is experiencing the joys and disappointments of trying to learn new things, and not always succeeding immediately or without problems. His latest effort involves learning to ride a bike, which might be easy to do once you already know how, as the saying goes, but isn't quite so easy at the outset. This is a story about the big emotions involved in trying to do something hard, and the payoff of sticking with the effort, told with charm and an understanding of how to keep going when you sometimes just want to stomp your feet.

Illustrator Leo Espinosa—a native of Bogotá, Colombia now based in Salt Lake City—reads from the book and will sign copies of The Creature of Habit Tries His Best in an appearance at The King's English Bookshop (1511 S. 1500 East) on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 11 a.m. The event is free and open to the public; visit kingsenglish.com for additional event information. (SR)