Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company in Tandy Beal’s Flabbergast
Growing up in Fargo, North Dakota, Daniel Charon didn’t discover dance until middle school, when a friend convinced him to audition for the musical Oliver! Now as artistic director of the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company in Salt Lake City, Utah, Charon thanks his first dance teachers, Eddie and Kathy Gasper, for letting him get a dose of professional life as part of their Red River Dance & Performing Company.
“The company did shows with the university in town. These were highly produced and professional-feeling experiences, working alongside the town’s working artists. Kathy and Eddie didn’t treat us like we were in junior high and high school. They treated us like professionals, and I think that really trained my mind-set.”
RWDC opens its fall season on Thursday, September 25, at 7:30 pm in Salt Lake City’s Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center.
Photo by Stuart Ruckman, courtesy of RWDC