Grace in motion
For the last two weeks, while the rest of us were out tubing the river, riding bikes and trying to beat the summer heat, 25 young dancers were spending six hours a day nearly every day training in ballet, modern dance and en pointe techniques at Fort Lewis College. The dancers, ages 12 to 18, were participating in the State Street Ballet of Santa Barbara’s Colorado Summer Intensive – a rigorous, audition-only program taught by high-level State Street instructors. The program, a collaboration with the Community Concert Hall, will culminate with a public performance at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Concert Hall, 1000 Rim Drive. The performance will highlight the skills the students have learned in the intensive, said Community Concert Hall Director Charles Leslie, and should be an impressive showcase of local and visiting dancers. “They tend to be really good dancers,” Leslie said. “By the time they hit Saturday, they are pretty amazing.” Tickets are $10. For more information, visit www.durangoconcerts.com.
Fiery fiddle
Irish-American fiddle sensation Eileen Ivers has amassed a mountain of wide-ranging achievements in her career, from touring with The Chieftains to winning a Grammy, guesting with dozens of orchestras, being crowned the All-Ireland Fiddle Champion a whopping nine times and performing for royalty. To top that off, she was the original musical star of “Riverdance.” Now, the fiddle sensation and her band are bringing their prodigious talents to Durango for a special Music in the Mountains performance. Eileen Ivers and Immigrant Soul will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Music in the Mountains Festival Tent at Durango Mountain Resort, 1 Skier Place. Expect everything from traditional jigs and reels to progressive Americana, bluegrass, Cajun and Appalachian music. Tickets are $49/$39 and are available at www.musicinthemountains.com.
Perfect pairing
He’s one of country music’s most respected songwriters. She’s a successful songbird known for her honky-tonk vibe. Together, country power couple Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis pool their talents for an alt-country sound filled with tuneful harmonies, fiddle and banjo-driven instrumentation and melodies that roll like Texas hill country. The couple, who released their second album as a couple in May with “Our Year,” will perform at 7 p.m. today at the Music in the Mountains Festival Tent at Durango Mountain Resort, 1 Skier Place. Tickets are $49/$39, and are available at www.musicinthemountains.com.
An evening with Hazel
For music fans with a hankering to head out of town this weekend, Denver gospel and blues siren Hazel Miller will headline a summer jam concert at 7:30 tonight at the Ross Aragon Community Center, 451 Hot Springs Blvd. in Pagosa Springs. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. Miller has played with the likes of Leo Kottke, Herbie Hankcock and John Hammond Jr. in her career and has appeared at many Colorado festivals in recent years.
