Under Review: Gold Butte

Released on Earth Day, April 22, 2019 - Under Review: Gold Butte is the first film in an environmental dance film series that showcases the American National Monuments that are threatened to be opened for industrial development. By drawing attention to public lands that are under review by President Trump, the series aims to increase public awareness of the threatened lands and promote protection of our nation's disappearing wild lands. On December 4, 2017, the President drastically reduced the size of two national monuments in Utah to allow for oil and gas development: Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante. This reduction puts 25 other national monuments and 40 national parks at risk for oil and gas extraction, mining, logging and commercial development, destroying the already limited untouched wildlife and nature in this country. 

Under Review: Gold Butte, takes place in Gold Butte National Monument outside of Mesquite, Nevada. The story uses mythology from the Paiute tribe to convey the dichotomy between governmental corruption and the earth's natural purity. Gold Butte's choreography explores three underlying schematics for movement - geological events, Paiute folklore of the wolf and coyote, and the oscillating dynamics of a symbiotic relationship.

Director/Creator/Producer/Choreographer: Kelly Todd
Executive Producer: Ernest Revia
Director of Photography: Derrick Belcham
Dancers: Evelyn Chen and Jenna Saccurato
Sound Design: Marc Cardarelli
Voice Over: Tori Sparks