Ashley Anderson, photographed by Chrissy Pessagno
By Ashley Anderson and Molly Heller
Salt Lake has been, but is still becoming, a city for dance. It has created ample systems for learning about and practicing dance, starting in elementary education. Consistent exposure to various art forms has provided enthusiastic practitioners and audiences.
For dance, this arguably began with Virginia Tanner introducing students to modern dance at the the McCune School of Music.
In the 1960s, the Rockefeller Foundation encouraged (read: financed) Linda Smith, and other grads from the Dance Department at the University of Utah to found Repertory Dance Theatre. A bit before that, Shirley Ririe and Joan Woodbury set about creating a company for Nikolais repertory and, near the same time, Ballet West was founded.
In the contemporary moment some of this profound history is challenging, but also encouraging for younger artists. The Rockefeller Foundation won’t be offering any of us endowments to create companies anytime soon, and larger organizations are what many local funding structures are designed to accommodate. On the other hand, without much of our own infrastructure, it seems that anything is possible.
How to begin (an email list to join, a service organization to join, the local arts council…):
Individuals can apply for annual project grants (up to $2,000) from the Salt Lake City Arts Council, and registered non-profit groups are eligible for additional funding from the Utah Division of Arts & Museums and Salt Lake County’s Zoo, Arts and Parks (ZAP) program. Similar programs to ZAP are popping up in Orem City as well.
Artists seeking funding may also want a fiscal sponsor for their work and can find more information (as well as additional local opportunities) on loveDANCEmore. Signing up for ArtsPost or the UNA Job Board may also provide leads for jobs in the non-profit arts sector.
To find shows to attend, you can check Now Playing Utah. It is a huge site, but all arts organizations funded by the state are required to use it so it is comprehensive.
Where to train:
Class structures in the city are ever-evolving with varying degrees of success. The amount of undergraduate and graduate programs, and artists working full time in dance education, have made finding a professional class niche somewhat difficult. “Ration class” and similar formats have ebbed and flowed. For now here is some of what exists:
- Ballet drop-in at Ballet West
- Sporadic classes offered with guest artists at RDT & Ririe-Woodbury. RDT also offers a community school designed for beginning/intermediate dancers across various genres.
- Ample somatic practitioners. A few include:
Feldenkrais, Structural Integration with Daniel Schmidt: http://www.somadan.com
Feldenkrais, Embodied Life work with Carl and Erin Rabke:
http://bodyhappy.com/embodied- life/
Yoga, Body Mind Centering with Roz Newmark: http://www.songlinesofthebody.com/index.html
Alexander Technique with Cathy Pollock: http://theembodiedway.com/
- Sugar Space Studios & Millenium Dance Complex -- various forms
- University of Utah: Intermediate and Advanced Modern and Ballet classes through Continuing Education & Integrated Movement Studies Certification Program
- Porridge for Goldilocks Open Improv Jams
Where to rehearse:
A lot of choreographers in SLC double as full-time teachers. As mentioned above, elementary and secondary education have a high number of full and part time dance teachers and specialists. In that climate, many find a tradeoff in using the school as free rehearsal space. Similarly, alumni of college programs find that using their old stomping grounds offsets other costs of making work.
For those outside of education there is rental space at Sugar Space in both Sugarhouse and the River District.
Molly Heller, courtesy of Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company; photo by Stuart Ruckman
How dancers get performing gigs:
Most performance opportunities present themselves through networking. The dance community is small, and performers are usually working with multiple choreographers.
Ririe-Woodbury and Repertory Dance Theatre hold auditions depending on the annual needs of the company.
For students from area universities, a network can be built in. I (Ashley) grew up in Sandy, Utah, a suburb outside SLC, but did not attend school in the area. It was a process of going to a lot of shows to find my way to people who I wanted to work with.
Opportunities for emerging choreographers:
SLC is amazing in part because of its DIY nature. Things are always happening at spaces you might not have imagined. There are a few more structural opportunities to check out from the start:
- Mudson: a works-in-progress series by loveDANCEmore. Application process in the fall and spring.
- RDT’s Link Series: individually based and by contact only.
- 12 Minutes Max: a multidisciplinary series for works-in-progress at the Main Library. Contact Paul Reynolds, preynolds@slcpl.org
- Showing work at Sugar Space Studio for the Arts: Sugar Space Presents and Artist In Residence Program
Festivals:
- Ririe-Woodbury, Summer Intensives
- Repertory Dance Theatre, SummerDance
- University of Utah, SaltDanceFest
Venues where out of town artists perform and organizations that present them:
National tours frequently visit Kingsbury Hall but also venture up the canyon to the Eccles Center in Park City. Works by national choreographers are regularly performed by area repertory companies at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center.
Small tours are frequently presented at Sugar Space in Sugarhouse and the River District, most recently Kari Hoass traveled from Norway. loveDANCEmore also periodically presents work by national artists who are passing through.
Opportunities to teach dance, the amount of work in the area, and ages and settings for teaching:
Those interested in elementary and secondary education may also consider conferences or workshops from Tanner Dance or the Utah Dance Education Organization.
Elementary education has specialist positions through both Tanner Dance and the Beverly Taylor Sorenson program, among others. Secondary education has ample jobs which can be competitive. Private studios in SLC and surrounding suburbs regularly seek dance instructors of various disciplines including: Janet Gray Studios, Creative Arts Academy and South Valley Creative Dance, among others.
Local colleges and universities with undergraduate and graduate programs:
- University of Utah (SLC): BFA and MFA in Modern Dance and in Ballet, Minor in Modern and Ballet
- Westminster College (SLC): BFA in Dance
- Classes offered at Salt Lake Community College (SLC)
- Weber State (Ogden, UT): BA in Dance, BA in Dance Education, BS in Dance Education, Dance Minor, Dance Teaching Minor
- Utah Valley University (Orem, UT): BS in Dance Education and Ballroom, BFA in Modern and Ballet, Associate of Science Pre-Major in Dance
- Brigham Young University (Provo, UT): BA in Dance, BA in Dance Education, BFA in Music Dance Theatre
- Southern Utah University (Cedar City, UT) : BA or BS, Dance Minor
- Snow College (Ephraim, UT): Two year college
Salt Lake City based artists who have been featured on Life as a Modern Dancer:
Final thoughts:
We are excited to be a part of the growing artistic community here in Salt Lake City, and we are committed to supporting, making, educating, writing and researching dance.
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Ashley Anderson is the recipient of the 2014 Mayor’s Artist Award in the Performing Arts. Recent choreography has been presented locally by the Rio Gallery, the BYU Museum of Art, Finch Lane Gallery and the Utah Heritage Foundation as well as national venues including DraftWork at Danspace Project, BodyBlend at Dixon Place, Performance Mix at Joyce SOHO (NY); Mascher Space Cooperative, Crane Arts Gallery, the Arts Bank (PA); and the Taubman Museum of Art (VA), among others. Teaching includes: the American Dance Festival, Hollins University, the University of Utah, Dickinson College Dance Theater Group, University of the Arts Continuing Studies, Utah Valley University, the HMS School, the Virginia Tanner Dance Program and many high schools and community centers. Her community projects, loveDANCEmore, are shared in Utah’s visual art magazine, 15 BYTES, where she serves as the dance editor.
ashleyandersondances.com lovedancemore.org
Molly Heller holds an MFA from the University of Utah in Modern Dance where she received the 2015-2016 Thomas G. Stockham Medal for Conspicuously Effective Teaching. Molly owns and operates a loose-leaf tea house in SLC with her husband, and she will be teaching at the University of Utah this upcoming academic year.
I've also noticed several opportunities to perform in summer festivals around the city including, the Salt Lake City Arts Festival, Craft Lake City, The Urban Arts Festival, and The Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival.
Posted by: Erin Romero | 06/07/2015 at 05:25 AM