Displaying items by tag: Utah

We spoke with School of Dance MFA graduate student and guest teacher Shane Davis, also known as Janice Janice Janice, about his evolution into dance, drag, teaching and self realizations about his true self.

By Noelle Sharp.

Tell us about yourself: Name, where you are from, what you do and how you got into in your field of work.

My name is Shane Davis. I also go by the performing name of Janice Janice Janice. I am most recently from Provo, Utah, where I attended Brigham Young University garnering a Bachelors of Arts in Modern Dance. I grew up near Seattle, WA, Houston, TX, and Albuquerque, NM.

What do I do?

Right now I am working on my MFA in modern dance and the graduate certificate in Gender Studies. I hope to be a choreographer for various venues, including music videos, Broadway and different dance troupes. Outside of academia, I perform as Janice Janice Janice around Salt Lake City. I have not become to proliferated in the Drag scene here in SLC but I hope to make my mark a little more pronounced in the coming months after graduation. I have been accepted as a performer at the Austin International Drag Festival which takes place in November. I am also currently teaching a course entitled "Dragging Gender into the 21st Century" that is a seminar type survey course that is part discussion of issues in and around Drag and part embodiment of the subject matter.

My sister Amanda, who is one of my best friends and mentor, encouraged me to go into both modern dance and Drag. I began my undergraduate career at BYU in the film program, but once one of my instructors said that my film art should primarily testify of Joseph Smith and Jesus Christ, I quit the program and drifted around for a couple of semesters. My older sister suggested that I take a modern dance class. I did and I fell in love. Years later, once I returned from an LDS mission and after coming out to Amanda as gay, she encouraged me to watch RuPaul's Drag Race. I got around to it and fell in love with that performance form and decided to try it out. I participated in the first (that we know of) Drag pageant in Utah county and won second place. I have since been involved with the scene here, and have won first place at the Miss City Weekly pageant that kicks off pride weekend each summer.

I decided to come to grad school after working a year in a dead end job after graduation with my undergraduate degree and I had a panic moment. That that job was not what I wanted to do with my life. I had more to learn. So I begged the director of the MFA program to allow me to audition (as I was a few months late) and the modern dance faculty granted me an audition and accepted me. I then also discovered the Graduate certificate in gender studies and decided to pursue that as I lacked sophisticated and critical thinking on the topics of sexuality and gender. I wanted to fill in holes of my understanding and to push my thinking.

What has surprised you the most in your life?

Uhf, that I'd be here of all places. Five years ago, I was still immersed in Mormonism and trying to adhere to their standards of compulsory daily drag. I had even gone back into the closet, telling my parents to disregard my previous coming out and that I was going to date women and make things work out in the path that they had chosen for me from the time the first ultrasound dubbed me a "boy." Now to see a crown and trophy hinting at my wins in a somewhat subversive art form, and also teaching a university course on Drag, is a tad surreal. I have traded in my missionary ties for high heels.

What do you wish you had known/been told?

I know this is kinda out of left field (what... a sports reference?), but I wish I had know or been told that I was not a freak and that I was ok to not be the same as the other "boys." I wish I had known that there were many ways to be a person in this world and to not have the yearning to put myself in a restrictive box. I wish I had come out at an earlier age and been stronger in my sense of self. I wish I had known about queer and feminist theories. Theorizing can be therapeutic and healing. I wish I had known that it was ok to experiment, ok to be fluid, and ok to fail.

Read about Davis's "Dragging Gender into the 21st Century" class here. Photos courtesy of Shane Davis. Photo credits: Anna Day @moabchica, Steve Conlin @steve_conlin_photo, and Gilbert Garcia @instaguygil

Interested in contributing to this series? Contact Noelle Sharp.

The University of Utah Department of Theatre closes the 2017-18 season with The Two Noble Kinsmen at the Babcock Theatre 4/7 – 4/15. As one of 39 plays to be translated into modern English for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Play On! Project, this play was translated by Professor Tim Slover with production dramaturgy from Alex Vermillion and Play On! Project dramaturgy from Assistant Professor Martine Kei Green-Rogers. The production is directed by College of Fine Arts Distinguished Alum Randy Reyes, with Artistic Director Bill Rauch and Executive Director Cynthia Rider.

The themes of The Two Noble Kinsmen are universal—love, honor, respect—but in the world of our protagonists, Arcite and Palamon, these ideas come at a much higher cost than for the average modern US citizen. “The world these cousins live in is one of turmoil, it’s war-torn, blood-drenched, and controlled by the gods. And yet, The Two Noble Kinsmen reminds us that even in the darkest of times, there are moments of humor, gentleness, and celebration,” said Vermillion.

MU Performing Arts Artistic Director Randy Reyes has created a world inspired by ancient Greece, the Blackfriars’ stage, war, “The Hunger Games,” hip-hop culture, and high fashion. “By combining all these elements we are creating a unique world reflective of the past (Shakespeare’s original inspirations), the present (Slover’s translation), and the future (with the next generation of Shakespearean actors),” said Reyes. The translation celebrates Shakespeare’s masterwork by focusing directly on translating the antiquated language to increase understanding, while maintaining the vibrancy of the original.

The Department of Theatre’s production of The Two Noble Kinsmen hopes to reach Shakespeare fanatics and make Shakespeare more accessible and inclusive to audiences who have little to no experience with his work.

About the Play On! Project: Oregon Shakespeare Festival commissioned 36 playwrights and paired them with dramaturgs to translate 39 plays attributed to Shakespeare into contemporary modern English. By seeking out a diverse set of playwrights (more than half writers of color and more than half women), they hope to bring fresh voices and perspectives to the rigorous work of translation. Each playwright is being asked to put the same pressure and rigor of language as Shakespeare did on his, keeping in mind meter, rhythm, metaphor, image, rhyme, rhetoric and emotional content. By the end there will be 39 unique side-by-side companion translations of Shakespeare’s plays that are both performable and extremely useful reference texts for both classrooms and productions.

Join us for a post production “Shakespeare Translation Discussion” with Dr.Lou Douthit on 4/7. Dr. Lue Morgan Douthit is the Director of Play on! 36 playwrights translate Shakespeare, the post-show discussion will include the highly debated topic of translating Shakespeare and the impact that Play on! is achieving through making Shakespeare more accessible and inclusive. Other members of the post-show discussion will include The Two Noble Kinsmen Director, Randy Reyes and Assistant Director for Play on!, Taylor Bailey. Reyes is an alumni of the University of Utah Actor Training Program who received a College of Fine Arts Distinguished Alumni Award in 2016 and graduated from The Juilliard School Drama Division in 1999. He is currently Mu Performing Art’s Artistic Director.

Two Noble Kinsmen runs 4/7- 4/9 and 4/13- 4/15 at 7:30PM with a matinee at 4/15 at 2PM. Located in The Babcock Theatre, located at 300 South and University Street (1400 East) in the Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre, lower level. Free parking is available to the south of the theatre and at Rice Eccles Stadium.

Post-Performance Discussion is on 4/7 with Randy Reyes, Director; Dr. Lue Douthit, Play On! Director; and Taylor Bailey, Assistant Director of Play On! and the Post-Performance Panel on 4/14 with Dr. Ann Engar, Professor of Intellectual Traditions and the Honors College; Dr. Richard Preiss, Associate Professor of English; and Dr. Disa Gambera, Associate Professor of English.

General Admission tickets are $18, University of Utah faculty and staff are $15, U of U students are free with UCard and all other students with valid student ID are $8.50. Tickets can be obtained by calling 801-581-7100, online or at the Performing Arts Box Office, located at Kingsbury Hall.

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This February, the School of Dance at the University of Utah is honored to welcome Gino Grenek of the Stephen Petronio Company for an exciting residency with dancers from both the Modern Dance and Ballet programs. Grenek's work with the company spans over 17 years, and he will work with the dancers to reset Petronio’s seminal work, MiddleSexGorge. This will be the first time the work has ever been performed by a university, and the school is alive with anticipation of this powerful part of the Gala program.

The inclusion of work in the Gala by the groundbreaking company, which celebrated its 30th anniversary just a few years ago, is a wonderful way to celebrate our start as the new School of Dance. It is without question an incredible honor for our students to have the opportunity to perform Petronio’s MiddleSexGorge.

Since founding SPC in 1984, Petronio has created over 35 works for his company and has been commissioned by some of the world’s most prestigious modern and ballet companies, including William Forsythe’s Ballett Frankfurt (1987), Deutsche Oper Berlin (1992), Lyon Opera Ballet (1994), Maggio Danza Florence (1996), Sydney Dance Company (2003, full evening), Norrdans (2006), the Washington Ballet (2007), The Scottish Ballet (2007), and two works for National Dance Company Wales (2010 and 2013).

His career has been greatly influenced by his work with Steve Paxton, as well as his time with the Trisha Brown Dance Company (1979 to 1986), of which he was the first male dancer. He has gone on to build a unique career, receiving numerous accolades, including a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, awards from the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, an American Choreographer Award, a New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Award, and most recently a 2015 Doris Duke Performing Artist Award.

Stephen Petronio Company is now working on an unprecedented program, Bloodlines, which will honor a lineage of postmodern dance-masters. Over the course of 5 years SPC will perform choreography from influential artists along with creations by Petronio. Dedicated to the concept of artistic lineage, SPC will be the first contemporary American company to perform these iconic works outside of their original choreographer’s companies.

The School of Dance is thrilled for this unique engagement with the Stephen Petronio Company and looks forward to sharing this exciting program with the Salt Lake community.

Please join us for the School of Dance Gala on 3/23 – 4/1 at the Marriott Center for Dance.

By Emerging Leaders Ambassador and Guest Writer, Rachel Luebbert

One of the first things you do each morning is put clothes on. You make decisions of what to wear and what not to wear, covering your body in very specific ways. This is an act of drag and although it might be unconscious at times, it influences the way the world receives us.

Shane Davis, a third grad student in the Modern Dance program founded a new class this semester entitled “Dragging Gender into the 21st Century” that explores these themes. Davis explained, “My course looks at how drag, both the intentional art form and the subconscious daily routine, can be used to examine gender normativity.” This course presents a critical lens to analyze the role of drag across history and in the 21st century.

Natalie Oliver, a grad student in the Art & Art History Department decided to take this course because it aligned with her own studio practice research. Oliver explains, “I develop different personas in my studio work. This course has helped me understand the history of Drag as well as the different ways to perform my created characters.” This class, for example, is structured with a variety of readings that unpack the history of drag, along with performance exercises, guest speakers, and even make-up tutorials. Each of these classes is intended to prepare students for their creative final performance. Oliver explained that one of the most impactful readings for her surrounded the Medieval European transvestite saints who were women who would dress like men, then join the church in order to escape a forcefully oppressive life. Oliver mentioned, “This topic allowed me to consider Drag history from a female perspective, as opposed to a male perspective.” Throughout this course, Davis initiates conversations on what is considered masculine and feminine and how we can co-switch between all these symbols as we negotiate identity within the body.

In addition to this course, Davis is presenting his thesis “We Gender and So Can You” which also explores the interplay of drag, gender, and the body. This original work premieres on March 24th and is composed of nine different puzzle pieces that each react to different parts of gender. Davis explains, “I explore how we can be less serious about the institution of gender to create more of an openness to others.” One of these pieces was inspired by the societal construct that has taught women to take up less space than men. This piece includes a quartet of women that are taking up space, eating it up, splicing through it and commanding a reaction. This will be an exciting evening of exploring the identity we as individuals adopt based on the forces of society, drag, gender, and the body.

“We Gender and So Can You” premiers March 24th at 9:45PM, $5 entry fee at the Metro Music Hall (615 West 100 South).

*Must be 21 and up (a later presentation will be shown that is open to all ages).

By Emerging Leaders Ambassador and Guest Writer, Rachel Luebbert

Student leadership opportunities in the College of Fine Arts (CFA) are the veins that pump new ideas and collaboration among the different disciplines. The College offers countless leadership positions each year which provide students a way to build vital skills toward their professional careers.

Lien Fan Shen, Associate Professor in Film and Media Arts recommends that students take advantage of the countless opportunities outside of the classroom, “It takes more than simply course work to be an active student.” Shen recommends supplementing your class load with different experiences at the University from leadership roles to fellowships to research opportunities to even volunteer experiences.

The Emerging Leaders Interns who create programing to better your arts education, hosted the Business of Arts Symposium and Annual Networking Luncheon on March 4th with a seminar from the Personal Money Management Center on the importance of early budgeting. This was followed by a lecture from Aaron Garret of Non-Profit Legal Services of Utah who shared important recommendations for artists such as the necessity to involve a written contract in all freelance jobs. Also, a representative from Lassonde spoke about the role of artists are entrepreneurs. These informative seminars were followed by a networking luncheon where students had the opportunity to speak with various arts organizations in the community.

The Ambassadors are also interns within the College and help with freshman orientation, administrative tasks, and guest writing for the Finer Points blog. This is an exciting position to have your perspective shared through writing about the endless events and collaborations occurring in the CFA. The Ambassadors not only interview students, faculty, and guest artists on campus but also have the chance to establish their own creative voice through their blog posts.

Another leadership opportunity in the College is the Emerging Leaders Council (ELC)—an annually established cohort of first year and continuing second year students that are involved in collective leadership and collaboration. On March 8th, seven of the most involved members were invited to the ELC Dinner which provided students the opportunity to network with faculty, professors, and advisors within the College. Amelie Bennett (Ballet major), acknowledged that her involvement in the ELC has allowed her to become a part of a supportive artistic community in just her first months at the university.

The ELC is currently working to create a collaborative film that represents every academic unit in the CFA. Bennett for example is creating the choreography. While, William Liu (EAE Major), is producing the film. Liu explained, “Being involved in the ELC has helped me to understand my leadership skills.” For Liu, the ELC workshops help develop connections and leadership potential. Don’t miss your chance to engage outside of the classroom and involve yourself in the exciting CFA leadership positions.

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Fifteen College of Fine Arts students are among the U’s most articulate ambassadors, without ever saying a word. School of Music students in the Red Hots! program perform for events all over campus, sharing their talents and love of music and transforming the ordinary into something special. Their appearance ensures that the arts have a presence at the University’s most important events.

As Jacqueline Voland of the School of Medicine explains, they are “the hidden gem on campus.” In its fourth year, the School established the Red Hots! to provide freelance experience for its students, while exposing the campus community to its exceptional musical talent. With a string quartet, jazz ensemble, pianists, harpists and classical guitarist, plenty of options exist for those wanting to create just the right ambience for their event.

The University President’s Office is a frequent requestor of Red Hot! Performers. “They bring high caliber talent, class and elegance to any event and leave a wonderful first and lasting impression,” explains President David and Dr. Sandi Pershing.

The student Red Hots! gain professional experience and strengthen their resumes by serving as University ambassadors to alumni, donors and the community. They also receive payment for every performance, providing support similar to a fellowship.

“The Red Hots! offers me opportunities to perform for varied audiences and to move people by my music,” said pianist and Red Hot! Shanmo Guan. The School of Music’s Advisory Board funds the Red Hots! program through its annual Camerata Awards Gala. Events that qualify pay no charge for Red Hot! Performers.

For more information please visit Red Hots!.

By Guest Writer and MFA Student, Allison Pinegar

Anna Campbell Bliss is just one of the artists who will be featured in the all-female exhibition in the UMFA’s Contemporary and Modern gallery when it reopens on August 26, 2017. In preparation for the all-female show, The Finer Points will be highlighting female artists from the UMFA’s collection, the state of Utah, and the University of Utah.

The work of Anna Campbell Bliss is organized and structural, yet organic and experimental. The first thing that typically hits the viewer when confronted with Bliss’ work is the extraordinary use of color. A student of the Bauhaus greats like Walter Gropius of Harvard and Josef Albers of Black Mountain College, Bliss developed a unique way of integrating color theory with architecture and technology. While her style is difficult to define, one common theme throughout her career is intersectionality. Bliss’ works combine form, pattern, structure, color, texture, science, mathematics, nature, dance, and poetry.

Bliss moved to Salt Lake City with her husband Robert when he accepted a teaching position in the School of Architecture at the University of Utah. Moving from Minneapolis, the Blisses left behind their active architecture firm, Bliss & Campbell Architects, and a vibrant arts community where they were highly involved with the Walker Art Center. When Bliss arrived in Utah in 1963, she felt as though she had been exiled to a “cultural desert.” The lack of art funding and activity in Salt Lake pushed Bliss to establish the Contemporary Arts Group, a group of artists, engineers, dancers, poets, and architects working together to build up support for the arts in Utah.

A true descendent of the Bauhaus, Bliss looked to Utah’s burgeoning technology industry for additional creative inspiration. Much of Bliss’ later work uses computer algorithms and draws from scientific experimentation. Bliss’ was never fully dependent on computers or technology in her process – she firmly believed in the significance of the artist’s hand. That unique touch is what allows these various disciplines to work together cohesively.

Bliss’ ties to the University of Utah through her husband allowed the UMFA and the University to collect a considerable amount of Bliss’ work. Extended Vision, a large mural commissioned for the Cowles Mathematics Building in 2001 is a significant addition to the sixteen pieces in the UMFA’s permanent collection. Bliss worked well through retirement age before her career garnered serious attention and was still actively working when she passed away in 2015 at the age of 90. Some of her works have been collected by large institutions, but she did not receive her first commission until 1989 at the age of 64 when she installed Windows at the Salt Lake Airport.

Anna Campbell Bliss ushered modernism into Utah’s art world and stimulated the Salt Lake art community into much of what it is today. Be sure to look for Bliss’ Celebration in the UMFA’s contemporary gallery when it re-opens in August 2017.