Arts & Entertainment - The Durango Herald

Barbara Walters, dead at 93, was cultural fixture, TV icon

NEW YORK – Barbara Walters was that rarest of TV personalities: a cultural fixture. For more than a half-century, she was on the air, placing in front of her audience world figures, big shot...

DATE: Dec 31, 2022 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Looking back at 2022: A most artistic year

From theater to galleries to ‘Unsolved Mysteries,’ A&E in Durango was anything but dull

DATE: Dec 29, 2022 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Top 3 reasons why you need to embrace your inner artist in 2023

I’ve heard this from countless art students over the years, “My parents said my sister Becky was the creative one.” Sound familiar? Did your folks say something like that to you? Or maybe yo...

DATE: Dec 29, 2022 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Vivienne Westwood, influential fashion maverick, dies at 81

LONDON – Vivienne Westwood, an influential fashion maverick who played a key role in the punk movement, died Thursday at 81. Westwood’s eponymous fashion house announced her death on social ...

DATE: Dec 29, 2022 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Check out what’s playing in Durango movie theaters

Movies playing Dec. 30-Jan. 5

DATE: Dec 28, 2022 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Durango Events Calendar

Highlight of the week if it’s time for you to get your COVID-19 shots updated or to get a flu shot, here’s your chance. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, the Vaccine Bus will be parked at La Pl...

DATE: Dec 27, 2022 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

The DAC has what you need to lighten up during these dark winter days

There’s a fresh art exhibit coming your way in the new year, and all community artists are welcome to participate. The submission deadline is Jan. 20, so artists, start creating. The Durang...

DATE: Dec 22, 2022 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

New book examines Bears Ears

When the debate raged over whether then President Barack Obama should establish the Bears Ears National Monument in southeastern Utah, some people worried it could have an unintended effect ...

DATE: Dec 22, 2022 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Check out what’s playing in Durango movie theaters

Gaslight Twin Cinema 102 E. Fifth St., Durango, 247-8133, www.allentheatresinc.com Avatar: The Way of Water Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, “Avatar: The Way o...

DATE: Dec 21, 2022 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Durango Events Calendar

Highlight of the week Father’s Daughters, located at 640 Main Ave., is hosting a New Year’s Eve 2023 Party, complete with music, dancing, blackjack and Texas Hold ‘em table games, a sparklin...

DATE: Dec 20, 2022 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Top 3 reasons to give to the arts this season that will make you feel warm and fuzzy

Now more than ever the arts hold communities together. As you consider your year-end charitable giving, I’d like to challenge you to reassess your giving philosophy and consider the role of ...

DATE: Dec 15, 2022 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Civic Winds brings big band for Christmas

Jazz orchestra presents ‘Ike’s America Holiday Show’ at VFW

DATE: Dec 15, 2022 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Colorado history gets weird, wild, wacky at Fashion Do’s and Don’tsAnnual Snowdown event has become so popular, auditions are now required

Cowboys. Fancy ladies. Gold miners. Even-toed ungulates that some in Durango might consider more like rats.Where can you find a runway show that takes you on a whirlwind tour through the weird, wacky and wildly exaggerated 150 years of Colorado history? Only at Durango’s annual Fashion Do’s and Don’ts, held Wednesday, where models and audience members wore costumes celebrating Colorado’s sesquicentennial – the theme of this year’s two-week Snowdown celebration.Standout acts included the Ghosts of Durango, which featured four of Durango’s most famous ghosts: a Rochester hotel ghost in a Victorian get-up of a more “modern” variation; the Strater Hotel’s head of housekeeping, also head of more discreet services; a young girl haunting El Rancho’s bathroom; and Sheriff Bob Thompson, killed in a 1906 gunfight. according to emcee Suzan Lane. A Another act was the Secret Circus Society, featuring Rubi Starr, Jeni Gross, Tabatha Joy Bettin, Adrienne Young and Ethan Deffenbaugh dressed as a car and the roadside pests better known as deer. Group members said the inspiration for the costume came from lived experiences driving Durango roads. The two-person Cantine Couture act starred Leslie Ponce and Tyler Frakes in an homage to the plentiful variety of Mexican restaurants found in any Colorado town. Ponce, dressed in comically large Mexican pointy cowboy boots, ambled down the runway as if taking a stroll under the hot, dusty, high-altitude sun, while Frakes flitted about the stage in a bright yellow salsa dress. Ponce said this year’s costume had been tough to decide, but the final decision was inspired by TikTok videos of Mexican cowboys in pointy boots. This was the duo’s third year strutting down the runway. Why they keep coming back for more, Frakes said laughing, was, “for the fame, the glory and the attention.”

Fashion Do’s and Don’ts has been one of the most highly anticipated Snowdown events since its inception in the 1990s. It has more than doubled in size over the past several decades. Last year, there were a record number of models, and in order to keep the event at a manageable size, this year’s fashion show was the first one to require the acts to audition. But many of the models were unfazed by the change. “It was actually easy,” said Jodi Zuber, one part of the two-person duo that made up the 1950s Texas Invader Ski Couple. Her partner-in-costume, Danny Jaques, said they had been doing this for several years, and it’s good with everything going on in the world to “get some levity and let your hair down.” The performers were not the only ones in costume. Audience members also dressed in a wide variety of unique takes on what makes Colorado, Colorado. JonBenet Ramsey made a miraculous appearance, being played by an 82-year-old woman, as did Casa Bonita, an ensemble that included a taco, sopaipilla and gorilla in chains – to name some of the characters. By the end of the show, people were in high spirits, as usual. “It was just delightful,” said a first-time audience member. If blessed with the chance to get the much coveted tickets – he said he would jump on it. jbowman@durangoherald.com

Annual Snowdown event has become so popular, auditions are now required

Photos: Snowdown 2026 Fashion Do’s and Don’ts

Photos: Durango High School basketball teams lose to Montrose High School

Photos: Local girls high school wrestling at La Plata TriDurango girls wrestling went 2-0 to win Tri on Thursday night at Bayfield

Durango girls wrestling went 2-0 to win Tri on Thursday night at Bayfield

Photos: Fort Lewis College women’s and men’s basketball take on Westminster UniversityBoth Skyhawks teams were victorious on Saturday afternoon

Both Skyhawks teams were victorious on Saturday afternoon

Photos: An afternoon in 2004 with the late Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell as he works on Capitol HillDurango Herald Photo Editor Jerry McBride had the chance to spend an afternoon with the late Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell in 2004, photographing him during meetings and around the Capitol.

Durango Herald Photo Editor Jerry McBride had the chance to spend an afternoon with the late Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell in 2004, photographing him during meetings and around the Capitol.

Photos and video: ICE protests return to DurangoAbout a dozen protesters tried to block federal agents from leaving with a detainee on Thursday

About a dozen protesters tried to block federal agents from leaving with a detainee on Thursday

The Durango Herald’s year in photos 2025

Photos: Chapman Hill fires up the snow guns

Barbara Walters, dead at 93, was cultural fixture, TV icon

Looking back at 2022: A most artistic year

Top 3 reasons why you need to embrace your inner artist in 2023

Vivienne Westwood, influential fashion maverick, dies at 81

Check out what’s playing in Durango movie theaters

Durango Events Calendar

The DAC has what you need to lighten up during these dark winter days

New book examines Bears Ears

Check out what’s playing in Durango movie theaters

Durango Events Calendar

Top 3 reasons to give to the arts this season that will make you feel warm and fuzzy

Civic Winds brings big band for Christmas

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