Scorched

By Thayer Jonutz

With premieres in Michigan, Utah, & New York City

UTAH PREMIERE

Presented as part of Repertory Dance Theater’s Link Series

March 20-21, 2026

Rose Wagner - Leona Wagner Black Box Theater

Salt Lake City, UT

Out of the Ashes

A combination of two works by Thayer Jonutz—Hammer and Nail, and Scorched that tell personal history through spoken word, acting, and dance.

An Artist’s Witness from Grand Blanc, Michigan

After a life-changing residency in New York, one choreographer’s dance became a meditation on loss, faith, and the ashes left behind after a tragedy occurred at his own stake center in Grand Blanc, Michigan.

“Scorched started as a general desert landscape themed work but quickly emerged as an emotionally packed biographical account, like Hammer and Nail. The final scene was profoundly inspired by the tragic LDS Grand Blanc Michigan attack that ended with human casualties and the church building burned to the ground.”

-Repertory Dance Theater

CREATED IN PART AT THE

Thayer joined five other artists in New York for seven days of creative work, where he first began developing Scorched. He described his time at the Artists Residency at the Center as a “life altering” experience.

Applications are now open for the 2026 Artists Residency, and are open to artists of a variety of disciplines.