A Brief Collection of Moments
Step inside rehearsals for Vanessa Cook’s new dance work with Utah Metropolitan Ballet
Premiering at Tribute on April 23-24 at the Covey Center for the Arts in Provo, Utah
“The world is so wide, so brimming, that it can’t possibly be captured in a single moment or a single body.”
International choreographer Vanessa Cook’s new ballet work, “A Brief Collection of Moments,” premieres with the Utah Metropolitan Ballet in their upcoming concert Tribute on April 23-24. Writer and essayist Isaac Richards wrote a commentary of piece.
“Whenever people try to accomplish this miraculous feat, they offer, at best, a gorgeous map or an illuminating snapshot. We call these snapshots ‘works of art,’” he continues.
If Vanessa’s choreography is just a snapshot, she successfully uses a very wide lens. Her new contemporary ballet work is a thrilling, “dazzling” take on the human experience.
Step inside the studio. Recently, the Center got a behind-the-scenes look at Vanessa in rehearsal with the Utah Metropolitan Ballet, and we’re sharing the inside glimpse with you.
Just a moment. Vanessa’s new piece as a “scale-model of the world in just about fifteen minutes.”
That might seem like a tall order. But in rehearsal, 19 dancers were really pulling it off. Leaning and looping; syncing and scattering; suspended somewhere between balance and collapse—they succeed, just for a moment, to hold something of the world’s vastness in motion.
Running through the work in progress, they cover a lot of ground. It’s a little like watching your life flash before your eyes.
The experience is a testament to the technical skill of UMB’s dancers, and the relationship Vanessa has built with them.
There’s still time. The choreographer herself is a force to be reckoned with. Vanessa moves on instinct, shaping the piece in real time with the dancers. There’s precision here, but also openness. She doesn’t let herself get bogged down with obstacles, and is quick to find a solution. A dancer doesn’t have enough time to get to their mark? She has them stop right where they are (now there’s plenty of time).
She’s enthusiastic, practical, and you’d never guess that she might be seriously jet-lagged from a commute from her home base in Switzerland just a few days prior.
In the studio, we watch her group up her dancers and direct them in ripples with a wave of her hand, and time seems to collapse again.
A Brief Collection of Humans. One of the most special parts of this ballet is the collaboration of Latter-day Saint Artists across disciplines.
Vanessa’s choreography is accompanied by music by composer Dylan Findley with lyrics by poet Darlene Young, plus visual artwork by Michelle Nixon and Justin Wheatley. Isaac Richard wrote an extended program note to accompany the work.
If those names sound familiar together, it’s because they all attended the Artists Residency at the Center in 2024. Leaving the Residency experience, the group had already discussed the idea of collaborating on a new project.
When Vanessa’s proposal was selected as the winner of the Ariel Bybee Endowment Prize of 2025, she called a few friends.
“You might be interested to know that it was originally titled, ‘A Brief Collection of Humans,’” writes Isaac. “But isn’t a human being just a brief collection of moments?” he continues. “This ballet dramatizes these timeless tensions in a fresh arc, from our sudden awakening in a world not of our making to our ultimate rest.”
A collective moment. Witnessing the unveiling of new work is unlike any other artistic performance, and “A Brief Collection of Moments” promises to be a thrilling premiere.
“Few performances feature as much genuine novelty in such a short amount of time,” continues Isaac. “All of its creators are sharply aware of the constraints and affordances of their genres. Together, they and all of you—the audience—are the lucky collection of humans that get to share this one brief and dazzling aesthetic moment.”
Experience the premiere. “A Brief Collection of Moments” debuts at Utah Metropolitan Ballet’s Tribute, a two-night performance honoring artists who have shaped the cultural and spiritual life of the Latter-day Saint community.
Event Details:
Tribute, April 23-24, 2026
At the Covey Center for the Arts in Provo, Utah
Use code TRIBUTE for 15% off tickets
