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Author: Susan Viebrock

10-19 TFF The Telluride Film Festival Cinematheque is a program of free films, food and discussion produced in conjunction with Telluride's Wilkinson Public Library for cinephiles in the greater Telluride community who want to enjoy the art of filmmaking all year 'round, not just  Film Festival weekend. The event is programmed by Telluride Film Festival co-director Gary Meyer. The next program is Monday, October 19.

Last season, the theme was French New Wave. This second season, the subject is film noir, a genre that emerged post WWII in the late 1940s when the mood in the country was dark. Post war malaise is the result of the atrocities of war and deeper understanding of the human nature's dark underbelly.

A defining characteristic of film noir is fatalism, one small step that leads to doom: an "ordinary Joe" protagonist, a predatory femme fatale.
18 October, 2009 /
[click "Play" to hear Susan's conversation with Valerie Madonia]

IMG_6708 Valerie Madonia is a Telluride local who, for years, commanded the world stage as a prima ballerina with The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. Earlier, she was in the corps de ballet of the National Ballet of Canda and danced solo roles with American Ballet Theatre under the direction of Mikhail Baryshnikov. Madonia still makes guest appearances at ballet galas and teaches around the globe. The pointe is the lady knows her stuff.

IMG_6952 Madonia founded, with Shirley Fortenberry, the nonprofit that eventually became the Telluride Dance Academy. For the past month, she has been rehearsing 30 young dancers from the Telluride region, including members of the Telluride Dance Academy, to perform in the cast of the State Street Ballet's production of Sergei Prokofiev's "Cinderella." The composer completed the popular ballet in 1944, first performed in 1945 at the Bolshoi in Moscow.
17 October, 2009 /

On Sunday, October 18, 3 p.m., Telluride's Palm Theatre presents the State Street Ballet's production of "Cinderella." The production includes about 30 young dancers from the Telluride region. A little birdie told me one of them is Katy Bowlby – playing a little...

15 October, 2009 /
[click to hearSusan's interview with Doug Dawson]           

Dawson-nudestudyofpam_sm The Telluride Gallery of Fine Art has a stable that includes some of the best pastel artists in the world, among them Sally Strand, Carole Katchen, Bruce Gomez, and Doug Dawson.

Doug Dawson is also a Visiting Artist at Telluride's Ah Haa School for the Arts, where he is teaching an intensive weekend workshop, "Pastel Painting: Studio Landscapes," November 6 – 8.

14 October, 2009 /
IMG_6942 That SWOOSH you hear is the sound of some gnarly skier passing you, hair flying, on one of Telluride's double black diamond bump runs. The tap tap tapping of her keyboard is that same woman running a business. She is also somebody's Princess.

When you tuck in your daughter at night, do you – or did you – tell her fairy tales about handsome Prince Charming riding in on a big white horse to sweep her away to a distant castle, where he will wed her and worship her for all eternity? The "Cinderella Syndrome" occurs when well-meaning parents set up unrealistic expectations for their precious little girls, high hopes which became unrealistic in the post-"Mad Men" era of feminism. That's when glass ceilings replaced glass slippers – or at least cause them to be tossed into a box and stuck at the back of a closet. Gone but not forgotten.
13 October, 2009 /
Roz jpeg Let's play a game of subtraction. When the subject is Telluride, we are talking only two degrees of separation. Case in point: Clint and I were strolling up Broadway en route to our New York digs, when I decided we might want some books on tape for a drive to Pittsburgh. We have passed that Barnes & Noble many times, but never stopped in. Who wants to carry books onto an airplane when the Internet delivers? The sign at the entrance to the store announced a book signing: British ocean rower Roz Savage would be on hand to sign copies of her just released "Rowing the Atlantic: Lessons Learned on the Open Ocean" (Simon & Schuster).

The posted time for Roz Savage's appearance, 6:30 p.m., was in direct conflict with the Michael Palm Concert Series, a house concert in support of the non-profit Classical Actions, which taps into talent from the world of classical music, jazz and Broadway to raise funds for AIDS-related services. We were to be guests of part-time, longtime Telluride locals Steven and Judy Gluckstern. Arriving late was not an option.
11 October, 2009 /
Holbrooke Fame can be a scourge of talent, but that's not the case for one of Telluride's first families. The name "Holbrooke" resonates on the world stage, but their varied talents remain undiminished and untainted.

The patriarch of the clan is Ambassador, now Special Representative, Richard Holbrooke, the subject of a recent New Yorker profile (September 28). Holbrooke was appointed by President Obama for his intellect and fearlessness to tackle the thorniest foreign-policy problem his administration faces: Afghanistan and Pakistan.

11 October, 2009 /