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Wiggle your belly

There wasn't an empty seat at the Thursday night performance of the Steamboat Dance Theatre. As we had been in the past, the audience members were impressed by the choreography and lighting in Penny Hamilton and Michael David's piece, "Torque." The piece was modern, experimental and completely original (with a nod to Cirque du Soleil), and I look forward to more of the same in our local dance scene.

While sitting in awe of "Torque," I also found myself comparing this year's performance to years past. I remember Molly Mintun announcing she was going to bring "something different" to the stage with a belly dance. She and one other dancer performed that year. Two years later, belly dance is a fixture in the Steamboat dance scene, and Mintun is a respected instructor. This year's belly-dance performance featured a full stage.

After the applause ended, two pre-adolescent girls in the row in front of me stood up and started to imitate the undulations. The tradition will continue.

Brace yourself for Cog

What does Cog stand for? That was the unanswered question swirling around the Rio Grande on Saturday night. The audience congregated toward the back of the room, pressed against the wall by the sheer volume of Steamboat's newest local band.

Marvel at these humans

It was a strange show if you were tall enough to see the two people on stage -- tattooed from the top of their skull to the bottom of their feet. The reality of just how much The Enigma and Katzen, of The Human Marvels, have set themselves apart from the rest of society really hits you when you see them in person. The music was borderline terrible, but it was worth the $5 just to watch them stick a variety of objects up their noses.

She's back

Artist Pat Walsh stood at the back of the TEI Modern Contemporary Gallery on Saturday night, gathering something of a crowd. Everyone was there for an opening reception for an exhibit of new work by Rob Williams, but it was Walsh who had everyone's attention.

For the better part of a year, Walsh has been away from the Steamboat art and social scene creating a new body of work and growing her hair out.

She looks great, and now that we've seen her and her new work, art lovers are clamoring for a show.

-- Autumn Phillips