2022 was the year SB Dance went all in on Curbside Theater, which was seen by 2,000 people from around State (see the action on the IG feed) in a pretty fun outdoor season.

Who’d-a-thunk we’d be playing Cedar City 20 years ago when SB Dance was known as the “naked dance company”? (One show in birthday suits and you’re labeled a nudist forever).

But in case you think we’re getting soft with old age, the company still managed to be booted from its home of 24 years. In head-in-the-sand, bureaucratic mode, the County Division of Arts couldn’t handle SB Dance taking a few years to concentrate on Curbside. I could have fought to stay, or made some concessions, but, as this unread blog has described, it ain’t the future. In August, the day before a celebration of the facility’s 25th anniversary, marked by a performance that included SB Dance, the County peeled SB Dance’s logo off the windows and didn’t include us in exhibits about the facility’s history. In my imagination, it was an act of petty vindictiveness that I earned by being a thorn in their ass for so many years. But they probably didn’t think much about it at all.

Another 2022 highlight: Eat Drink SLC, which started as a SB Dance fundraiser called WTF! (uh, Wine Theater Food), roared back to life as a big deal culinary arts event. The majority of proceeds– $21K– are donated to a community nonprofit not named SB Dance.

Finally, some very nice icing on the cake: a NEA grant for a new Curbside piece. The application process was straight outa Kafka’s Castle. Kudos to the co-creators who made it easy to negotiate the maze– Ischa and Raf, Annie, Bashaun, Ari, Jorji, Nathan, Christine, Josh and Lucas, and Tosha.

Now for 2023. At SB Dance Central Command, it’s a new Curbside show and season. For our colleague organizations in theaters, it’s a test if the audience will ever come back. In the world of dance, I’m following a bunch of IG artists (like super talented Mike Tyus) who appear to use the small social screen as both income and lure for work. Their screen creations split the difference between portentous artsy fartsy and commercial butt wiggling.

Have a love- and fun-filled 2023.