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Culture

In China, acrobats are revered as much as opera singers in the West.

The ancient art form dates back well over 2,000 years. Historical records provide evidence for the development of Chinese acrobats as far back as the Xia Dynasty 4,000 years ago. Records also suggest acrobatics did not become wildly popular, however, until the emperor embraced the discipline as court entertainment, about 2,500 years ago.

During the Han Dynasty (207 B.C. – 220 A.D.), acrobatics flourished and the wide variety of juggling, tumbling and magic acts came to be known as the “Hundred Entertainments.” Legend has it that when the Emperor Wu Di invited a group of foreign dignitaries to witness a performance, his guests were so impressed they agreed to enter into military alliances with their august host.

26 December, 2008 /

A man performs a headstand atop a very tall tower of chairs, and a woman balances a lamp as she twists upside down on a pedestal, her body bending like hot pizza dough, limbs merging.This is not Ripley’s “Believe It or Not.” It is the...

26 December, 2008 /

[ click play button to hear] Telluride Mountainfilm is the annual gathering of the tribe over Memorial weekend. What began as an adrenaline rush has evolved into Ground Zero for the survival of the planet through...

26 December, 2008 /
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BHeinrich Head Shot_for print Her ice is nice and Barbara Heinrich’s award-winning baubles, bangles and beads are masterpieces of quiet elegance, not “statement pieces” that shout for attention. Bottom line: Barbara is all about enhancing the beauty of the wearer with jewelry that goes ‘round the clock and lasts for generations.

Barbara has owned and operated a workshop in upstate New York since the 1980s, where she and her assistant produce signature lines such as aspen series, inspired by Telluride and designed for the Telluride Gallery of Fine Art, her local patron for the past 15 years.

Barbara returns to town for a show of her latest collection at the TGFA on December 29, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. On December 30, locals and guests are invited by appointment only to consult with the artist about a makeover for tired and heirloom pieces.

22 December, 2008 /

[Click the play button to hear] When Dickens wrote his “ghostly little tale,” he could not know that A Christmas Carol would become one of the most beloved holiday traditions of all time. The Nebraska Theatre Caravan is...

20 December, 2008 /

In the following video clip, Jesse James Martin, Ashley Boling, and Paul Jones talk about the crazy characters they play in director Jeb Berrier’s Christmas romp “Bob’s Holiday Office Party,” based on a warped trinity of spilled cheeseballs, sublimated lust, and frustrated longing. In addition,...

19 December, 2008 /

Scrooge. Tiny Tim. Bah -- humbug! The words from Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol hang in the frosty holiday air like our chilled breath. More than a century and a half after its publication in 1843, the story of the miser-turned-humanitarian remains a fixture in the tinsel-strewn landscape of the season.

Peter Ackroyd is the foremost living biographer of Dickens and chief literary critic of The Times of London. He also wrote the Foreword to the most recent Christmas gift book put out by Red Rock Press, A Christmas Dinner. Ackroyd weighs in on the enduring popularity of Dickens tale and its grizzled protagonist.

17 December, 2008 /

[Click the play button to hear]

Jeb Berrier is Robin Williams on skis: a deranged lunatic with exhibitionist leanings and talent to burn.

During the Christmas season, the actor/director likes to hang with a few of his close friends, fellow actors, and put on a holiday play at the historic Sheridan Opera House. In general, we are talking tour de farce.

Case in point, this years romp: Bob's Holiday Office Party.

Office Party is a lewd, crude alternative to standard holiday treacle such as Frank Capra's It's A Wonderful Life.

Showtime is 8 p.m., December 18-22, at the Opera House.

In this irreverent, crude, fast-paced, ferociously funny production an insurance ace Bob Finhead (Jeb) prepares to host yet another annual holiday boozefest. His guests are his neighbors, the genetically challenged denizens of Neuterberg, Iowa, a paean to small-town America, where life happens. And all is not well.

17 December, 2008 /