THE ESSENTIAL A&E PICKS FOR JUL 28 - AUG 3 

• Courtesy Photo

Springville World Folkfest
In 1986, BYU International Folk Dance Ensemble founder Mary Bee Jensen brought together a group of like-minded folks with a dream of creating a showcase for folk performers from around the world. More than 35 years later, that dream is still going strong, in a way that has inspired and enlightened thousands of visitors.

"Just last week, a young woman who grew up in Springville told me that the World Folkfest has been an important part of her life since the time she was a young girl," says the festival's general director, Timothy Lynn Elliott. "It helped open the world to her, and she has since traveled and worked overseas. I know there are more cases like this, because I hear them frequently. It is pretty unique that a small Utah city can have the infusion of international culture each year, and that our residents have a chance to see different peoples representing their own national cultures."

The 2022 incarnation of the festival is scheduled to showcase seven international groups featuring nearly 200 dancers, including Estonia's Kiitsharakad, France's Ballet de Savoie, Poland's Bielsko, Indonesia's Tim Muhibah Angklung, Spain's Basque performers Kresala Dantza Taldea and Hungary's Doina Folk Ensemble. Utah-based groups Quetzlcoatl, Morning Star and Rocky Mountain Cloggers round out the lineup.

The World Folkfest runs July 27 – 30 at the Springville Arts Park (700 S. 1300 East, Springville), with tickets running $5-$14 for individual day passes, plus availability group, family and full festival passes. Visit worldfolkfest.org for tickets and additional event information. (Scott Renshaw)

SB Dance: Curbside Theater
Two years ago Stephen Brown launched SB Dance's "Curbside Theater" mobile pop-up shows as a matter of necessity, bringing dance directly to patrons' doorsteps at a time when indoor performances weren't really possible. Now, they feel to Brown like an exciting artistic direction that he has no plans to change.

"Theaters are cool, don't get me wrong," Brown says. "But how far can you push this? The closest thing to it is site-specific work, but this is site-non-specific; the whole point is that we can do this at a high level of production almost anywhere. As a creator, it's this new canvas for me. ... And, I reach an entirely different group of people. You break down these barriers between artist and viewer."

The shows have evolved since 2020, with changing health and safety guidelines allowing for longer shows and more dancers in individual works. Plus, there's the opportunity simply to do more shows without the limitations of needing to book a theater space. "You've got to be able to practice your craft," Brown says. "When you do something 20 times, you just get better at it.

SB Dance's Curbside Theater will play multiple events throughout the summer, beginning with a free performance Thursday, July 28 at the evo Campus (660 S. 400 West) at 8:30 p.m., and a season-opener show at the Sugar Space Arts Warehouse (132 S. 800 West) on Friday, July 29 at 8:30 p.m., with tickets $15 general admission/$12 student. For schedule of additional performances, and how to schedule your own block party show, visit curbsidetheater.sbdance.com. (SR)

• Shianne Gray

Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival
The organizers of the Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival did a lot of improvising over the past two years, putting on a fully virtual festival in 2020 and a hybrid version in 2021 that included both virtual shows and live productions. This year, it's back to an all-live-and-in-person format, with local creators at the forefront. Says festival co-director Jay Perry, "Even though the last couple of years have been challenging, it's encouraging to see how many people keep creating. We seem to be serving our local community well, seeing how much our local artists continue to push forward."

The festival's programming features more than 20 individual productions, with topics ranging from timely issues like sexual assault and mental health to interpretations of Shakespeare and classical Greek drama. But co-director Shianne Gray also notes that there seems to be vein of work with a lighter tone. "When things get really heavy in our society, it's interesting to see how artists are responding," Gray says. "We see comedy and fantasy, things to take us out of all the horrible things in the world."

The Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival runs July 28 – Aug. 7 at multiple venues within The Gateway (200 E. 400 West); the productions generally have running times under one hour, allowing for the opportunity to sample multiple shows at the different locations. Masks are requested for all attendees at indoor venues. Tickets are $15 for individual shows, $30 three-pack or $85 10-pack. For full show schedule, tickets and additional event information, visit greatsaltlakefringe.org. (SR)

• T Charles Erickson

Hadestown
There's a reason that mythology persists through time and across cultures: The stories told in ancient myths were ways to help humans understand the challenges of their own experience. That makes it fitting that the journey of Hadestown from its earliest conception to the Broadway stage for composer/writer Anaïs Mitchell was a challenge all on its own, with the first version of the musical premiering in Vermont in 2006, a concept album released in 2010, and an evolution towards its current form once Mitchell began collaborating with director Rachel Chavkin.

The result—which won eight Tony Awards in 2019—combines the well-known legends of Orpheus & Eurydice and Hades & Persephone. It fashions "Hadestown" as a kind of factory fueled by workers who can never stop their labors, and Orpheus's love Eurydice as someone tricked into believing that there's comfort and constancy in the life Hadestown offers. Meanwhile, Persephone's reluctant occupancy of the underworld takes the form of running a speakeasy for Hadestown's workers, and a willingness to plead on behalf of Orpheus when he comes in an attempt to rescue Eurydice. But can Hades find a way not to make Eurydice a martyr that will not also result in an uprising by his angry workers?

The Broadway in Utah touring production of Hadestown visits the Eccles Theater (131 S. Main St.) Aug. 2 – 7 for eight performances. Ticket availability is limited at press time, with floor seating $150 - $199. Visit arttix.org to purchase tickets and for additional information, including current health and safety protocols. (SR)