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[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 /
Michael_d_palm Telluride may have been his second home, but our mountain hamlet was one of his great loves. The gravitational pull of the wandering planet called Michael D. Palm was irresistable. Michael was, by any measure, a remarkable man: gifted educator, musician, athlete, businessman, and philanthropist. Michael and another long-time, part-time Telluride local, Steven Gluckstern  (Steven first visited Telluride in 1976 and in 1980, became superintendent of school) founded reinsurance company Zurich Centre Group. Throughout their highly successful business association, Michael, Steven and Steven's wife Judy remained the best of friends. After Michael's death from complications from AIDS in Telluride in August 1998, Steven and Judy dedicated themselves to ensuring the causes Michael embraced in his lifetime would continue to receive his support.
09 October, 2009 /
Signatures Theinformant_smallposter The Nugget Theatre in Telluride is showing "The Informant" the week of Friday, October 9-Thursday, October 15. Showtimes for "The Informant" are 7:00 pm nightly except Saturday, October 10. On Saturday, it will play at 6:30 pm, with a special viewing of "Signatures" at 8:30.

"The Informant" (rated R for language) stars Matt Damon as a whistle-blower at Archer Daniels Midland. You don't have a story unless there are problems. In this one, the problem is Mark Whitacre (Damon). When you want to blow the whistle make sure your own situation is very clean.

"Signatures" looks like a must-see: snow-porn at its best. Shot on the northern Japanese island of Hokaido, the movie is poetry in motion.

See the showtimes schedule below, and check out the Nugget website for trailers and reiviews.
08 October, 2009 /
[click "Play" to hear what's happening at Ah Haa this Fall]

Ahhaa_hp_middle Fall in Telluride is a colorful time of year as aspens turn gold and local institutions  such as the Ah Haa School for the Arts announce their kaleidoscopic Fall/Winter season.

Abstract paintings and drawings pulsing with the energy of the Telluride region by artist Meredith Nemirov are on display throughout the month of October in Ah Haa's newly renovated Daniel Tucker Gallery. In November, the exhibition space will feature the work of the winner's of Ah Haa's Youth Arts Awards. (Submissions from 7 – 12 graders due by October 26.)

07 October, 2009 /
[click "Play" to hear Susan speaking with Dave Wakeling]

Image001  He describes himself as "The happiest man in ska." Tonight, October 6, Telluride welcomes back Dave Wakeling and The English Beat. The band is performing at Telluride's historic Sheridan Opera House, resplendent in its re-stenciled glory.

Doors/box office open at 7:30 p.m. Show time is 8 p.m.

The English Beat is celebrating its 30th anniversary...For Crying Out Loud. The set includes a medley of the band's greatest hits such as "Stand Down Margaret," "MIrror in the Bathroom," covers such as "Tears of a Clown" and "Can't Get Used to Losing You," and chestnuts-in-the-making such as "The Love You Give Forever."

06 October, 2009 /

[double click to view in larger format]

OK, Telluride: dress for the occasion, thinking caps and party shoes, when singer/songwriter Dave Wakeling and The (reincarnated) English Beat perform Tuesday, October 6, at Telluride's historic Sheridan Opera House.

English Beat in Concert Margaret Thatcher may be out of the spotlight, but Dave Wakeling's band, (they blasted on to the scene in 1979, the year she became PM) is still making news – and tracks, on tour to  celebrate the band's 30th anniversary...For Crying Out Loud. (Still, the band's "Sit Down Margaret has relevance as more and more Americans embrace the power of one.) Since then, Wakeling has never met a challenge he didn't want to take on: Greenpeace, Rock the Earth, CND, Amnesty International, The Smile Train, and Heal the Bay to name a few headliners.

05 October, 2009 /

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The Nugget Theatre in beautiful downtown Telluride is showing "All About Steve" once each evening at 7:00 pm the week of Friday, October 2-Thursday, October 8. Rated PG-13.

Mary (Sandra Bullock) is a socially backward, over-the-top smart crossword puzzle creator who has a blind date with hunk TV cameraman Steve (Bradley Cooper). Will nerd get stud? You guess.

For reviews and trailers, see the Nugget website. Movie showtimes are repeated below.

01 October, 2009 /
[click "Play" to hear Meredith speak about her art]

[double click to view in larger format]

A show of new work by artist Meredith Nemirov opens October 1 at Telluride's Ah Haa School for the Arts.

"Leaps and Turns" is a departure for the artist, known for her impressionistic, representational paintings drawn from nature. These works on paper, completed over the last two years, are abstractions. But earlier paintings explain later ones.
The model for the relationship between the new and the old work is jazz: improvisation off a melody line.

30 September, 2009 /

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Jason Reitman

There is a lot of conversation about how much effect the Telluride Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival have on the Oscar nominating procedure. I don't pretend to have inside information on this subject, but TIO had the opportunity not only to view some great films at Telluride, but to witness audience reaction in the theaters and to converse with film buffs in the lines outside. Our take on the Oscar season? For an in depth look at what TIO said right after the festival see Susan's review from September 14.

We called out Jason Reitman's "Up in the Air", starring George Clooney, as a contender in several categories.

27 September, 2009 /
[click "Play" to hear Seth Cagin speak about film noir]

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Telluride Film Festival Cinematique, a collaboration between the Wilkinson Public Library and the Telluride Film Festival, is a film club catering to local cineastes, who want After-the-Festival to last year 'round. Each of the four-film series develops a theme. Last season's hot button was the French New Wave of Varda, Truffaut, Godard, and Chabrol. This season, the subject is film noir.

What is this thing called film noir? We all understand the word "film." Film is, according to Orson Welles, nothing more than "a ribbon of dreams." The word "noir" is French for "black." The defining characteristic of these "dark films" is fatalism and alienation, shady motives, and bleak prospects: one false move and you're out. Predatory "femmes fatales" populate this bleak landscape, sirens who lure hapless heroes into the world of illicit desires.

26 September, 2009 /