Arts & Entertainment - The Durango Herald

Program aims to prepare actors for theater productions

FARMINGTON (AP) – Randy West has implemented an ambitious series of changes since taking over as supervisor of the Farmington Civic Center in summer 2019, namely the booking of dozens of mus...

DATE: Feb 26, 2022 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

March musical madness at FLC

College kicks off March with Tromba Mundi, FLC Jazz and student honors

DATE: Feb 25, 2022 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Birds of Play to roost in Durango

Band will perform at Indigo Room

DATE: Feb 25, 2022 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Fort Lewis College grads – and sisters – to screen debut film at Durango Independent Film Festival

17th annual fest kicks off Wednesday

DATE: Feb 24, 2022 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Check out what’s playing in Durango movie theaters

Movies playing Feb. 25-March 3

DATE: Feb 23, 2022 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Screaming Trees singer, Seattle icon Mark Lanegan dies at 57

Mark Lanegan, the singer whose raspy baritone and darkly poetic songwriting made Screaming Trees an essential part of the early Seattle grunge scene and brought him an acclaimed solo career,...

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

Durango Events Calendar

Highlight of the Week In partnership with the American SkiBike Association, Purgatory Resort will host its 19th annual SkiBike Rally on Saturday and Sunday. All ages and abilities can enjoy...

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

Durango Creative District leans on lodgers tax funds for 2022 projects

Arts and culture organization looking to improve diversity, equity and inclusion

DATE: Feb 22, 2022 | CATEGORY: Local News

Attention, creatives: White Rabbit wants you

Bookshop to launch new Micro Market

DATE: Feb 18, 2022 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Youthful art shines through winter days

Pine River Library displays works at annual student art show

DATE: Feb 17, 2022 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

‘Suite of Dances’: San Juan Symphony joins the Florence Price revival

Innovative music programming drives today’s major symphony orchestras. Aligning old and new, classic and contemporary, European and American music in concert, even recordings, seems to be a ...

DATE: Feb 17, 2022 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Durangoan’s book has international reach

Janet Jones’ ‘Horse Brain, Human Brain’ awarded Japan’s Equine Culture Award

DATE: Feb 17, 2022 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

150-200 demonstrators made their way from DHS to Buckley Park

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

Program aims to prepare actors for theater productions

March musical madness at FLC

Birds of Play to roost in Durango

Fort Lewis College grads – and sisters – to screen debut film at Durango Independent Film Festival

Check out what’s playing in Durango movie theaters

Screaming Trees singer, Seattle icon Mark Lanegan dies at 57

Durango Events Calendar

Durango Creative District leans on lodgers tax funds for 2022 projects

Attention, creatives: White Rabbit wants you

Youthful art shines through winter days

‘Suite of Dances’: San Juan Symphony joins the Florence Price revival

Durangoan’s book has international reach

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