Choreographer Jodi Porter loves to skate.
"I was a pro figure skater until I found myself at the (University of Utah), enrolled in a dance class," Porter told the Deseret News. "So, when I was asked to this project, I wanted to incorporate modern dance with ice skating."
Porter heads up the Urban Ice Project, which has been performing at Bud World, located at the Gallivan Utah Center (the entrance is at 200 South and Main Street). Her next couple of shows will be Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 16 and 17, at 7:30 p.m. Admission to Bud World is free.
For those who can't make it to the evening performances, Porter and her troupe offer rehearsals that are open to the public (and free) on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 16 and 17, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Bud World ice rink.
"I was working on this project for awhile," Porter said. "I wanted to tie the ideas of skating with the ideas of rhythm and a popular, urban hip-hop feel. I also wanted to make it appealing visually."
Twelve skaters from the Utah Figureskating Club join Porter on the ice for the brief, five-minute program. But the audience is treated to colorful choreography, bright costumes and banners, with torches thrown in for good measure.
A recent graduate of the U., Porter, who toured with "Disney's World on Ice" while a skater, has received training from such world-renowned choreographers as Sean Curran and Murray Louis. She has attended various workshops and master classes with Alvin Ailey Dance Company, the Trisha Brown Company and the Paul Taylor Dance Company.
"I would like to continue working on different undertakings," Porter said, "like the Urban Dance Project, and hopefully do some workshops with children or college students."
OUT AND ABOUT: At the Itzhak Perlman concert Tuesday night, the audience was typically overzealous. The audience gave the musician standing ovation after standing ovation and even applauded exuberantly between each of the three movements of Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major. In fact, the applause was so abundant that one audience member turned to his wife and asked, "Were all three of those by Mozart?"
• Usually, scalpers want to buy spare tickets and sell them (at inflated prices) to music fans desperate to get into a show. But at the Lifehouse concert at the Medals Plaza last Sunday, one ticket broker complained that he was not buying tickets because he couldn't sell the ones he already had.
• An eager volunteer working at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center during the Russell Malone concert last week was a bit naive. One concert attendee approached an usher and told her (in an obviously American accent) that he was a member of the "Italian Zamboni Jousting Team."
"Really?" the usher responded in all earnestness. "Welcome to Utah!"
DON'T MISS: First Warrior Exhibit at the Eagles Dance Indian Museum, the Canyons Resort in Park City. The exhibit is free and open daily from 9 a.m.-9 p.m.
Pilobolus Dance Theatre, tonight and tomorrow, 8 p.m., Capitol Theatre. Tickets are $25-$70 at the door.
Marcus Roberts, with the Utah Symphony, Scott O'Neil conducting, tonight, 8 p.m., Abravanel Hall. Tickets are $22-$45 at the door.
E-MAIL: scott@desnews.com ; pthunell@desnews.com
