Performing Arts

HistoricalPoster_WESTFEST Telluride is crazy about Squids. And not just breaded and served with a side of marinara or aioli sauce. We like ours on stage.

Saturday, June 12, is the first day of the second annual Heritage Fest, which continues through Sunday, June 13.

Heritage Fest is a celebration of the history of the Telluride region. The family fun includes lots of activities especially for the young and young at heart: Galloping Goose Railcar Rides at the Ah Ha School, Stagecoach rides down Main Street, demonstrations of sheep sheering, blacksmithing, double and single jack drilling and gold panning, a Nickel Grab at the county courthouse, face painting at Ah Haa, more contests in Elks Park, and a reenactment of the Butch Cassidy bank robbery. The five-star Wilkinson Public Library is showing films in keeping with the historical theme: "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and "We Skied It."

[click "Play" to listen to Paulie's conversation with Susan] The Telluride Dance Academy is holding its Spring Recital, Fresh Twists on Dance this afternoon, Sunday, June 6. Susan did a podcast interview with Paulie Distefano that was supposed to be...

1Paulie
Paulie Distefano

The Telluride Dance Academy presents its annual recital on Sunday, June 6, 3 p.m. on the stage of the Michael D. Palm Theatre. The theme, "Fresh Twists," suggests a program that reflects new ways of looking at dusty notions about dance and what dance academies teach: students who participated in the Academy's spring session, ages 3 – 18, are scheduled to perform dance forms ranging from classical ballet to hip hop, with all the stops in between.One of those students is the handsome young man in charge of all heavy lifting: Paulie Distefano. And "Fresh Twists"  is great way of summarizing exactly what's happening in his life.

After dancing only six months under the tutelage of the Academy's artistic director/former prima ballerina Valerie Madonia, Paulie, who was born and raised in Telluride, was accepted on full scholarship in to the Joffrey School of Ballet's summer intensive. He leaves just days after his performance. That's the kind of magic even Paulie, a trained magician, could not have conjured.


The Freelance Whales, appearing in concert at Telluride's historic Sheridan Opera House starting at 9 p.m., Friday night, June 4, plays everything from guitars, banjos, tambourines, harmonium, glockenspiels, and watering cans to the occasional keyboard and laptop assist. Besides instruments, the band favors ghosts and dream-logs. Their first release, Weathervanes, has lots to do with ghosts. And dreams.

Freelance Whales met via Craigslist, went on to play on street corners and in subways, where busy New Yorkers, wanting more of their indie sound, chose to miss their trains. Drilling down in to the sound, well, it ranges far and wide from electronic indie booty-shaking riffs to what one critic described as "overalls on a front porch." And another summed up this way:

Image003, cropped This weekend, Mountainfilm in Telluride and SquidShow Theatre present "War of the Words: A Murder Trial, Endangered Language vs. English. The dramatic event takes place Saturday, May 29, 9:15 p.m. @ The Masons.

After bringing Howard Zinn's Voices of a People's History to life last year, SquidShow Theatre is excited to pair up with Mountainfilm again, this time creating an original play based on the Festival's theme: extinction.

“Festival Director David Holbrooke approached us about creating an original play, because he wanted to incorporate theatre and live performance in this year’s Festival again," said Sasha Cucciniello. "After several conversations about what we might write about, David mentioned language extinction. After doing some research, the choice was made. Being a writer, I was blown away by the subject, the impact language extinction is having on our world and the implications for the future of language.”

Sam Bush Tuesday is a rather new feature on Telluride Inside... and Out, an opportunity to see an old Telluride friend in different circumstances. Last week's submission told of the CD release party of Sam's recent recording, "Circles Around Me." That event was also Sam and Lynn Bush's 25th wedding anniversary. We'll let Sam's people tell the story.

"As the release of Circles Around Me and Sam and Lynn's 25th wedding anniversary were celebrated on the same night, this week’s episode of Sam Bush TV gives additional  insight into the 25th wedding anniversary portion of the celebration at Sound Emporium Studio, in Nashville, TN.