Linda C. Smith. Photo Courtesy of RDT.
At the upcoming School of Dance Gala concert, audiences will experience Helen Tamiris’ "Dances for Walt Whitman" reconstructed by guest artist, Linda C. Smith, and performed by University of Utah School of Dance students alongside artists from Repertory Dance Theatre. While the historic piece and live orchestral accompaniment are exciting in and of themselves, what the audience may not know is that the person behind it—Smith—is a significant figure in the Utah dance community, and has had a major part in shaping it to be what we know today.
“Linda is an iconic figure in the Utah dance landscape,” said University of Utah School of Dance Director Dr. Melonie B. Murray. “An artistic powerhouse and fierce advocate for the arts and arts education, she helped build this beautiful, expansive dance community that Utah is nationally known for.”
Linda C. Smith is a Utah native and began her dance career at Virginia Tanner’s Children’s Dance Theatre. She graduated from the University of Utah with a BFA and later was an Adjunct Associate Professor of Dance (now Faculty Emerita). In 1966, she became a founding member of Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT), where she served as a performer, teacher, choreographer, writer, and producer, eventually becoming Artistic Director, and then Executive Director, of the company. She became Director Emerita of the company in 2025.
As a key member of RDT, Smith has been instrumental in reconstructing and conserving the history of modern dance. “She has helped shepherd the reconstruction of works by more than 140 of America's most significant choreographers,” said current RDT Executive/Artistic Co-Directors Nicholas Cendese and Lynne Larson in a joint statement. Smith’s legacy also includes, they said, “helping bring the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center into existence, and carrying RDT's arts education work into more than 2,000 schools across the region.” Smith is the recipient of numerous awards, including the College of Fine Arts Distinguished Alumni Award and an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Fine Arts from the University of Utah.
Linda C. Smith. Photo Courtesy of RDT.
“When we’ve heard her talk about how she wants to be remembered, what strikes us is that she never reaches for the spotlight,” said Cendese and Larson. “She describes herself as ‘a facilitator, an enabler, a builder of teams’ someone whose job was to create the conditions for dancers to perform, for choreographers to realize their work, for history to be preserved, and for audiences to be moved. That instinct — to serve the art rather than herself — is, we think, her most enduring gift to this community.”
Linda C. Smith’s legacy will live on throughout Utah, and throughout the world, because of her contributions in dance education and dance history. “We all benefit from Linda's tremendous contributions to Salt Lake City and beyond,” said Murray.
Cendese and Larson agree. “She is, without question, one of the finest ambassadors Utah has — for the state itself, and for the power of art and dance to bring people together in common good.”
You can see Linda C. Smith’s reconstruction of Helen Tamiris’ "Dances for Walt Whitman" at the University of Utah School of Dance Gala on April 17 & 18. Find out more information or get tickets to the gala.
Linda C. Smith. Photo by University Marketing & Communications.