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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.

05 June, 2010 /
[click "Play" for Luci Reeve's and Sue Hobby's conversation with Susan]

Let's play a game of free association: I say "Telluride couture" and you say what?

Friends of Fluff - StrongHouse Telluride locals most likely would answer with two names: Sue Hobby and Luci Reeve. Fabric confections created by these two talented ladies have shown up everywhere you've wanted to be over the years: in way too many local theatrical productions to name, as well as on the stage of the Telluride AIDS Benefit and at countless other nonprofit auctions.

For the first First Thursday Art Walk of the summer season, this coming Thursday, June 3, 5 – 8:30 p.m., the dynamic designing duo are up to their old tricks. Which is to say, fashioning something completely new and different – and off the wall.
03 June, 2010 /
[To listen to Ally Crilly speaking with Susan, click "Play"]

Crillysapsucker Here's a question for Telluride locals, guests too: What do a dead bird and elephants have in common? Give up? OK, here it is. Amy Jean Boebel of Sapsucker Studios named her gallery for a dead bird found outside her door at 299 South Spruce, where she is showing the latest in a series of elephants – The Elephants III – by local artist Ally Crilly. And it's a perfect fit: all summer long Sapsucker is featuring strong women artists who refuse to pull their punches. (More on that in the weeks to come.)


The exhibition is part of  The Telluride Council for the Arts & Humanities' First Thursday Art Walk, a very popular walkabout, a time when locals and guests meander down Main Street chatting about Telluride's robust art scene. First Thursday is also an opportunity to shop: retail stores stay open late until eight.
03 June, 2010 /


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:

03 June, 2010 /
[click "Play", Susie Billings speaks to Susan from Baja]

E1274393861 Susie X. Billings is a well established mixed media artist, who shows her work locally at the Telluride Gallery of Fine Art. A protean talent (has to do with change, not meat), Susie is intent on proving all life is art, daily to herself, and on magical occasions, to her students.

Susie runs international workshops, but she returns to town this month to her regular stomping grounds, Telluride's Ah Haa School for the Arts, to teach a three-day intensive, Friday – Sunday, June 11 – June 13, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. The subject is Mixed Media Collage & Watercolor. The starting point for the workshop is a love of summer alpine landscapes. Duh. All levels of student are welcome, from never-evers to accomplished professionals.
02 June, 2010 /

by Mountainfilm staff

Mountainfilm in Telluride announces a new granting program, the Mountainfilm Commitment. The initiative provides up to five grants of $5,000 each year to filmmakers, photographers, artists and adventurers whose projects are intended to move audiences to action on issues that matter. Individuals who are producing film, video, photography, book, art, and multimedia projects that can be presented in theaters and galleries or, more broadly, on television and online, are eligible. Mountainfilm will also work with grantees to ensure that their stories are heard as widely as possible. Grants will be awarded in the inaugural cycle of the program to individuals who have either participated in a Mountainfilm in Telluride festival as a filmmaker or special guest presenter or have been recommended by participating filmmakers or presenters.

30 May, 2010 /

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.”

29 May, 2010 /



"The moment when one thing turns into another is the most beautiful moment," Vik Muniz

Mountainfilm in Telluride selected director Lucy Walker's latest film to be included in its program line-up from among more than 600 submissions. "Waste Land," which has already garnered a small bucket of awards including World Cinema Documentary Audience Award at Sundance, will be screened over the long Memorial Day weekend, May 28 – May 30, at the 32nd annual gathering of the tribe.

The "Waste Land" in question is not that of poet T.S. Eliot. Eliot's "Wasteland" is a metaphor (for the disillusionment of the generation post WWI). Although poetic transformations happen there as a result of the film project, Walker's wasteland is a real place, Jardim Gramacho, the world's largest garbage dump, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.
28 May, 2010 /