• Stuart Ruckman Photography

Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company: Synthesis (Young Artist Showcase)
Utah's rich dance tradition involves multiple levels, from the teachers of young dancers to the exceptional programs at local universities to the professional companies that provide amazing programs for audiences. This week's program at Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company serves to fold some of those levels together, as Synthesis offers not just the phenomenal work of the company's dancers, but a chance to celebrate young dancers from high schools around the valley.

Over the course of three nights, dancers from several high schools—including Cottonwood, Davis, Hillcrest, Kearns, Provo, Taylorsville and the Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts—take to the stage to present pieces choreographed by their teachers. The program also features choreography by company dancers created during high school choreographic residencies, as well as RWDC Artistic Director Daniel Charon's 2011 work Storm. "Utah's vibrant dance community is truly unique," says company Education Director Ai Fujii Nelson in a press release. "Within this close-knit artistic circle, the legacy of dance educators holds a special place as an invaluable heritage that continually serves to inspire, lead, and support the creative pursuits of emerging young dancers. ... Through events like Synthesis, a collaborative and multi-generational celebration of dance, you can witness that the legacy of Ririe-Woodbury is not a relic of the past."

Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company's Synthesis – Young Artist Showcase comes to the Rose Wagner Center's Leona Wagner Black Box Theater (138 W. 300 South) Dec. 13 – 15 at 7:30 p.m. nightly, with $35 general admission tickets. Individual schools perform only on select nights; visit ririewoodbury.com for schedule information and to purchase tickets. (Scott Renshaw)

• Courtesy HBO

Sam Jay
Comedian Sam Jay wants us to have empathy—but she'll push buttons to make the point that real empathy isn't easy. That's one of the delightfully off-color central notions in Jay's 2023 HBO special Salute Me or Shoot Me, in which the one-time Saturday Night Live writer addresses the complexities of being in a relationship, and dealing with people who are different. "Autism gets the worst rep," Jay says, "It's like, 'Oh, they don't understand social cues.' ... Oh, so they don't know how to lie? Because that's all 'social cues' are, it's this unwritten agreement we have to be liars with one another."

And she accepts the idea that "there's shittiness in all of us"—including herself. "I was watching a documentary about these, like, suicidal walruses. ... They climb up cliffs trying to get food, but they get up, then they can't get down. ... I watched this for like 30 minutes, and I was like, 'I don't give a shit.' ... I just don't have room in my life for suicidal walrus shit. I know it's bad, but I just don't fucking care. ... I don't think the average white person wakes up and thinks, 'How do I ruin n----rs' lives today?' I just think they wake up and ... be white. Black people are like, 'See my pain!' And white people are like, 'Mmm, I gotta get to Target, so ...'"

Sam Jay stops in at Wiseguys Jordan Landing (3763 W. Center Park Dr., West Jordan) on Dec. 15 – 16 at 7:30 p.m. nightly. Tickets are $25; visit wiseguyscomedy.com for tickets and additional event information. (SR)

• John Olshinski

Utopia Early Music: A Celtic Christmas
When Utopia Early Music co-founder Emily Nelson spoke to City Weekly earlier this year, she noted that a group performing music from centuries ago offers a unique opportunity for musicians. "It gives us a huge amount of freedom and creative agency," Nelson said. "We can shape it to sound how we want. There's not very much on the page, so I can almost be like a co-composer." Audiences can once again experience that sense of discovery as the group present its annual program of holiday-themed music.

The program is scheduled to feature songs and instrumentals in a solstice mode from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, the Isle of Man and Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Utopia co-founders Nelson (soprano) and Christopher LeCluyse (tenor) will be joined by local artists Monica Hymas (alto), Ricky Parkinson (bass), Bronwen Beecher (fiddle), Ben Spigle (Irish flute and whistle), Eleanor Christman Cox (cello) and Cindy Spigle (bodhrán); visiting artist Therese Honey (Celtic harp) joins Utopia from Houston. Selections will include chant from Medieval Ireland, Welsh Christmas carols, Scottish and Irish lullabies, Cape Breton fiddle tunes, and Robert Burns's original version of the venerable "Auld Lang Syne."

Utopia Early Music's presentation of A Celtic Christmas includes performances at the Cathedral Church of St. Mark (231 E. 100 South) on Friday, Dec. 16 and Saturday, Dec. 17 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 18 at 5 p.m. Admission is pay as you are able at the door, on a first-come/first-served basis, with a recommended donation of $20 general admission and $15 student/senior. Visit utopiaearlymusic.org for additional event information. (SR)