What dedicated ski bum would even think of starting another season of sliding without prepping for it at Warren Miller’s annual screen paean to the sport? That’s right. None, and zero. The Hollywood-born Miller’s been slapping out his high-energy ski-adventure flicks like hockey pucks for nearly sixty years, and the…

In the independent nation of Boulder, the foodies take all things raw, slow, organic, free-range and homegrown just a little too seriously. But if you brush away all the posturing about where your salad came from and what the cow ate before it became a steak, there is some sense…

What’s up with this? Can it be that Scotch-sipper, actor and satirical humorist Joel McHale, host of the E! network’s The Soup and star of screens large and small, is the opening act at one of Colorado’s biggest and most complete organized motorcycle rallies? That’s the plan: McHale kicks off…

Longtime local runners Alan Lind and Maureen Roben, who already provide the brains and the brawn behind the Platte River Trail Half Marathon in April, fantasized about organizing a run that took side trips through the neighborhoods of Denver, but they learned that it could be a costly endeavor to…

Every decade or so boasts a local scene with bands to watch and a camaraderie heated by bouts of drinking, smoking, dancing and shouting in one another’s ears about social change and that girl sitting next to you, isn’t she hot? A rite of passage for every generation, the scene…

Ancient roots run deep under Boulderite Betsy Tobin’s multi-layered performance works, which unfold in an eerie, non-linear combination of shadow play and silhouette, puppetry and superimposed video imagery. And despite the use of modern technology, it’s not hard to imagine such works being acted out around campfires thousands of years…

In the ten years that Russian emigré Masha Surprena has been in the United States, she’s noticed how little Americans really seem to know about her native Russian culture: The rich food, the dances and music, the fashion sense and the very heart of the Russian people all seem to…

One of my favorite First Friday diversions is the monthly mini-shop hosted by clay sculptor Marie Ev.B Gibbons at her cozy EvB Studio Collection, nestled next door to the Oriental Theater, at 4343 West 44th Avenue. Gibbons invites art strollers to stop in and create a different miniature clay work…

Milan Records operates in a niche, yet its diverse boundaries seem endless: Specializing in film soundtracks, along with Latin, electronic and generally uncategorizable musical varieties, Milan embraces the ambient nature of music like no other label. Accordingly, a Milan-inspired film festival is a complete no-brainer: Such a purveyor of music…

Shoppers with an international flair can’t possibly miss today’s Global Market hosted by local Lutheran Family Services refugee and asylum programs. The market features an astounding outlay of exotic fair-trade goods that come from every corner of the earth, including the horn of Africa, southeast Asia, Central America and the…

Brit-turned-Boulderite Gemma Wilcox takes character morphing to a whole new level in her one-woman shows. Far more than a quick-change artist, or even a Sybil-esque multiple-personalitied solo performance virtuoso, she bleeds seamlessly from male to female, flora to fauna, portraying everything from her main everywoman protagonist, Sandra, to a saxophone…

The art of Butoh is anything but self-explanatory: A post-war Japanese phenomenon, the discipline is neither traditional in nature nor definable by set rules, although its intent tends to run deep and, sometimes, dark. It’s a constantly morphing, expressionistic dance form that’s often, but not always, performed in whiteface. Butoh…

At last year’s Fringe Festival, Boulder-based TinHouse Experimental Dance Theatre’s site-specific experiential Pick of the Fringe performance in a parking lot, Under the Hood, could’ve been subtitled “Dances with Cars.” This year, the troupe is fixated on Eating and Dreaming. Conceived and choreographed by TinHouse artistic director Joanna Rotkin, the…

A cornerstone of New York City’s bohemian world in the mid-twentieth century, leftist painter and portraitist Alice Neel left behind a scrapbook of her cultural milieu in the form of insightful depictions of the famous (among them, poet Frank O’Hara, theater entrepreneur Joseph Papp, composer Virgil Thompson, New York Mayor…

I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time imagining myself breaking out into a song and dance every time a guy looks at me funny. But that’s what happens in East Indian popular cinema, better known as Bollywood, where the production numbers are one way for the…

Best-selling author Lisa See admits she’s obsessive, but in this case it’s her ace in the hole: A scholar who calls herself a “research fiend,” See has always been a master at weaving fascinating fact into fluid prose, beginning with her 1995 family memoir On Gold Mountain and continuing on…

At the Crested Butte Reel Fest, small really is better. Set in one of Colorado’s sweetest little resort towns, the five-day juried showcase of one-reel films is a cozy affair, where everyone knows everyone else by the time it’s all over. And it’s fun, too, offering such programs as Films…

It’s no secret that wine and food become more potent at a high altitude: The buzz goes straight to your head, while the flavors mingle more heavily. That’s possibly why attending the ultra-luxe Steamboat Wine Festival, held at 6,728 feet, leaves you feeling something like a bee drunk on rum…

American-born flamenco expert Pablo Rodarte spent nearly 25 years in Spain, studying and perfecting every nuance of the fiery Spanish dance. And now that he’s settled here, you don’t expect the man to cool his heels, do you? In hopes of encouraging dance enthusiasts to learn flamenco, Rodarte is offering…

I’m a terrible vacation planner. Deep in winter, I’ll turn to my husband and say, “Hey, let’s drive to Taos this fall.” Or one fine, rainy spring day, he’ll turn to me and ask, “When was the last time we went to San Francisco?” Yes, yes, yes! We’re both all…

As always, the Vail International Dance Festival offers a delicious grab bag of premiere performances and choreographic styles to Colorado dance lovers, delivered with grace in the pristine fresh air of Vail’s Ford Amphitheater, 530 South Frontage Road East, or on the Vilar Center stage in Beaver Creek, 68 Avondale…

I don’t understand how my nine-year-old daughter became fixated on the overly cheerful tunes of ABBA, the sound of which has never, in all my lifetime, been wanted or even allowed in my house. She brought it home from school like a virus, I guess. Day after day she sits…