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Are We Alike?
36th Annual Spiritual and Religious Art of Utah
Chris Bacon
Dylan Findley
Michael Hicks
Ryan Hamliton
Love Your Lineage
Rat Fink
Ammon & Liahona
Olayan
Insta-Artist
Greg Kearney
Introducing:
Peek Back
Waiting for The Chosen
The Season
I want to thank you for the incredible work you do. I've been reading The Season and have been blown away, both by the subjects covered and also by the writing and journalism. You talked in one article about FOMO. I have that about the magazine—how I wish I could participate in some way in such an incredible endeavor. That being said, I can see God working through you. The voice you are giving to the people—the ones gifted with incredible talents—is needed and important. Thank you for continuing to be led by the Spirit in sharing the talent in our community on a larger stage!
Marci Stay Stringham
Morris Plains, New Jersey
Michelle Dorrance
I was extremely fascinated by Glen Nelson’s article highlighting Michelle Dorrance in the October issue of The Season. As an aspiring professional dancer and member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I find great inspiration from choreographers and dancers like Michelle. Her artistry and creativity are truly remarkable and one of a kind. I continue to be amazed by her talent and ability to connect with so many through her art.
In the article, Glen Nelson references Michelle’s history of pulling together and collaborating with dancers who specialize in other styles of dance besides tap including ballet, modern, and break dancing. As someone who has spent most of my years training in ballet and modern techniques, I am astounded by her choice to come together with other artists to showcase how tap and other styles of dance can complement each other and work together to elevate a performance experience.
As I reflected on this article, I couldn’t help but be reminded of my own dance journey and specifically some of my earliest memories of when I started tap dancing. That began not very long before I moved to New York City in 2011, to play the title role of “Billy” in Billy Elliot The Musical on Broadway. Although tap was less familiar to me than other styles of dance, the more experience I had tapping, the more inspired I became and really grew to appreciate it.
In addition to Michelle Dorrance being a talented tap dancer and choreographer, she is also a highly regarded educator and teacher. In 2021, Michelle Dorrance served as the Program Director of the Tap Program for The School at Jacob’s Pillow in Becket, Massachusetts. There, selected college-age dancers have the opportunity to strengthen their distinct artistic voices by working with an elite Artist Faculty and other choreographers who have an abundance of expertise and knowledge. As someone who was fortunate enough to have been selected for the Contemporary Program at The School at Jacob’s Pillow this past summer, I know how valuable and special it is to benefit from working with such talented and hardworking artists like Michelle, who are so willing to give, share, and experiment with different ideas that they have learned during their career. Although my tap skills are pretty rusty, reading this article has definitely made me excited to dust off my tap shoes and get tapping again. It is a pleasure to read articles that highlight dance within the arts community in the Church.
Tade Biesinger
New York, New York
Lyuba Prusak
I am a long-time admirer of the work of Czech-American sculptor Lyuba Prusak, featured in The Season's last issue. She was anything but an unknown artist working in obscurity. Prusak exhibited in five countries, had a long exhibition history in the U.S. and Europe, and her work can be found in many private and public art collections, including the Czech National Gallery in Prague where she gained a following before emigrating to the U.S. Her accolades and honors are too numerous to mention here. Posthumously, Prusak's powerful sculptures in the style of European expressionism, are sought out by curators and collectors.
Laurie Lisonbee
Woodland Hills, Utah
The Season
How incredibly grateful I am for this wonderful resource! Can it last forever? My TBR pile is now officially out of control, yet I have significantly less time to read because I’m so busy visiting galleries, attending concerts, and listening to new podcasts (and of course, studying Come, Follow Me with all my new reference materials). I’m simply overwhelmed by and proud of the creative endeavors of my people. Keep it coming!
Raquel Cook
American Fork, UT
Michelle Dorrance
The story of your October issue “The Expanding World of Michelle Dorrance” mentioned that Michelle is the daughter of “a gifted dancer.” That gifted dancer is M’Liss Dorrance (née Gary), who has a fascinating story and compelling career of her own.
Born in Lisbon, Portugal, to a United States Air Force family, M’Liss grew up and studied dance all over the world. Her first dance teacher, starting at age three, was a woman who Umberto II, the last king of Italy, brought from England to Portugal to teach his grandchildren. M’Liss showed such interest and talent that the teacher offered to give her lessons separately from the rest of the class. From there, she studied under James Jamieson in Wilmington, Delaware and then with a woman recalled only as “Madame Rossi” in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Rossi, a Russian woman married to an Italian military man, carried a big stick to keep time for the students who came from all over the world. At the age of fifteen, M’Liss won a scholarship to Pacific Lutheran University, where she trained with Edna McRae through Robert Joffrey’s program at that school. M’Liss cites McRae as her most influential teacher, as McRae pushed the dancers toward more technical awareness. McRae asked the dancers to understand the scholarly side of ballet by forcing them to pause in the middle of a dance and recite the names of steps they were doing and how to spell them.
After studying through a scholarship under David Howard at the National Ballet School in Washington, DC, M’Liss went professional with Eliot Feld’s American Ballet Company in New York City in 1970. She moved to the Arlington Dance Theater in Virginia shortly afterward to be near her then-fiancé, Anson Dorrance, who was attending the University of North Carolina. She moved again to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1974, where she worked as a teacher for a private dance studio and for Duke University as an instructor and then as faculty. She eventually served as the co-director of the Duke Repertory Ensemble.
In 1979, when Michelle was one year old, M’Liss co-founded the Ballet School of Chapel Hill. Michelle started taking dance lessons there at age three. The school continues teaching hundreds of students today and is recognized as one of top dance schools in the region. M’Liss has choreographed many works, including, most importantly: “Romanza” (1999) and “Valley” (2002) with Duke Ballet Repertory Ensemble and “The White Doe” with Chapel Hill Ballet Company.
M’Liss is the first to say she doesn’t have the “ideal” body for ballet: long legs, long neck, and a small head. Instead, her success came from what Eliot Feld praised as her “quality of movement,” or her ability to speak to people through the motion of her body. This legacy, as well as her humility and generous commitment to building the community of dance, clearly shines through in her daughter’s work.
Margaret Olsen Hemming
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Eduardo Alvarez
Eduardo Alvarez is a Chilean/American artist born in 1958 in Chillán, Chile. Since the beginning of his career in the late 70s, he has pioneered in the use of matter painting and mixed media as a figurative visual art form.
Keith Lionel Brown
Keith Lionel Brown is a 30-year retired US Navy veteran. He is a freelance writer and a beginning songwriter, having published two songs thus far.
Richard Bushman
Richard Bushman, a Bancroft Prize-winning historian, is the author of Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling, and many other books on American history. His forthcoming volume is a cultural history of the Golden Plates.
Maddison Colvin
Maddison Colvin is an interdisciplinary visual artist residing in Orem, Utah. Her work focuses on themes of ecology, built environment, and communal knowledge, and spans media from drawing to photography to video game design.
Emily Larsen Doxford
Emily Larsen Doxford is the marketing and communications director for the Center for Latter-day Saint Arts. A writer and communications professional, she received her MA in American and English Literature from NYU.
Megan Eckersley
Megan Eckersley is a graphic designer based out of New York City and has worked with clients like Squarespace. She is currently at Square as a Brand Designer.
Megan Knobloch Geilman
Megan Knobloch Geilman has exhibited in New York City and throughout the state of Utah, winning several awards. Her work is inspired by, among others: the Dutch masters, Jeff Wall, Sandy Skoglund, Bill Viola, Fred Wilson, and the many artists she attempts to pay tribute to through her pieces.
Greg Kearney
Greg Kearney has worked as an editorial cartoonist for over 40 years. His work is syndicated in 170 newspapers in the United States and abroad. He specializes in local politics and agricultural policy. Born in Maine, he lives in Topeka, Kansas.
Glen Nelson
Glen Nelson made his professional performing arts debut at the Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake City with the American Folk Ballet. He writes about dance, visual art, literature, film, and music.
Steven Ricks
Steven Ricks is a Professor in the BYU School of Music where he currently serves as Composition and Theory Division Coordinator. Several recent chamber and electronic works are featured on the album,Assemblage Chamber, released on the New Focus Recordings label, and he maintains an active recording and performing schedule with colleague Christian Asplund as “Ricksplund.”
Arisael Rivera
Arisael Rivera is an actor, playwright, and poet based in The Bronx, New York. Most recently, his poem "Jubilant Feet" was published in the anthology Love Letters to Gaia by Miro C.
Joël René Scoville
Joël René Scoville is an actress, writer, and lyricist. Her work includes musicals, an upcoming comic book, and her web series, Crazy with a K! She is a member of the prestigious BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop as both a librettist and lyricist. She lives in Spanish Harlem, NY with her husband and they have three sons.
Joseph Sowa
Composer by day, rock climber by night, Dr. Joseph Sowa resides in Boston, Massachusetts.
Sam Zauscher
Sam Zauscher is an award-winning commercial and editorial portrait, fashion, and dance photographer. She is based in San Diego / Los Angeles.
