Cultural Events

Cultural Event #1- Aspen Santa Fe Ballet

At the beginning of the quarter when I discovered the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet would be performing at the Newman Performing Arts Center here at DU I immediately went out and bought my ticket. They’re a very well respected dance troupe and it is a treat to see them live. I danced all through high school and even through I wasn’t even close to the level these dancers are at, I can still respect ballet as the beautiful work of art it is. The performance consisted of three, 20 minute long pieces that mixed modern and contemporary ballet with more traditional ballet. These dancers had such amazing talent and were so in tune with not only their bodies, but also each other’s. They could bring tears to your eyes one moment with their sensuality and grace and a lighthearted, inspiring feeling the next moment as they leap across the stage.

Founded in Aspen, CO in 1996, by Bebe Schweppe, the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet is one of the greatest success stories in American dance today. They travel nationwide as well as worldwide, delivering amazing performances in each city. They also host schools and camps in Colorado and New Mexico for children to come learn ballet. They are a troupe of ten dancers, and represent many different ethnicities as well as countries. On stage though they all move as if they were one.

My favorite piece they preformed the night I saw them was one called “Uneven”. On the back corner of the stage there was a single cellist in front of a stretched, white, triangular fabric, providing the viewer with a sense of asymmetry. The piece was presented in a series of duets. Often male and female duets, the dancers proved in many different, unique ways, how two bodies together can move, intertwine, and be lifted. The way the men so easily lift the women and the way the women gracefully move and contort around then men is truly breathtaking. Their bodies seem unreal, with the muscles in the men’s legs popping out under the lights of the stage and the way the women’s limbs seem to bear no elasticity. All together the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet and its dancers was truly one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.  

Cultural Event #2- Denver Public Library Photo Exhibit

           Our field trip to the Denver Public Library was an eventful outing that provided a wide array of interesting pictures at their photography exhibit. Upon walking in the room you were immediately drawn to the array of different pictures conjured onto one large canvas. The pictures seem to be candid snapshots of mostly women in shopping malls and some of them are frankly quite hilarious. This was a very interesting collection, for it’s something unique, compared to seeing pictures of people posed.

The next photograph that caught my eye for one very main reason; it reminded me of my hometown. The photograph was in the country, with an old rancher sitting in a lawn chair between two trees. Above him there is rope strung high between the trees. Hanging from the rope is the dead carcass of a deer head. It seems the rugged looking man is in a way, keeping watch over the dear head, his prize. The reason it reminds me of my hometown, Hotchkiss, CO is because this sight would not be unusual to see at many of my neighbor’s houses. My town is in the valley, with ranches and farms covering the landscape. It is not unusual for there to be a line of traffic following a slow tractor down the main street, which is 7 blocks long. Old-timers and hardy ranchers make up a large percent of my town, most of which love to hunt every time deer season rolls around. Many people would probably look at this picture and see it as a little strange and extreme, but I look at and feel at home.

Cultural Event #1- Warhol Exhibit

 Color, color, and more color. The minute you walk into the Andy Warhol exhibit at the Denver University Art Building this is the first thought that pops into your mind. An amazing display of Warhol’s classic works of art fill the room, including the infamous Campbell’s soup can. Along with this soup can was a dress, made out of the same Campbell’s soup can. This was a very interesting piece, for it turned something that was usually perceived as hard metal into fabric that flows. All the pieces in the exhibit pop out of the walls, something that Warhol is famous for. The faces that were one color and the lips and hair another color is a signature trademark of his, with one of his more famous one’s being of Marilyn Monroe. His quote, “Art is what you can get away with,” is definitely very fitting for his avant garde style, but that is what makes Andy Warhol the art sensation he is.