How Do You Choreograph a Life? Vanessa Cook and Her Ballet Premiere

Choreographer Vanessa Cook discusses her newest work, A Brief Collection of Moments, premiering at the Utah Metropolitan Ballet. Cook explores how dance combines with music, text, and visual art into this ambitious new piece, winner of the 2025 Ariel Bybee Endowment Prize. The conversation ranges from philosophy and choreography to the power of a single voice, echoing Bybee's own, growing into something much larger.What begins with a single voice becomes a duet, then a group, then something larger than any one artist. In this episode, choreographer Vanessa Cook takes us inside the making of a new work blending dance, with LDS collaborators in music, text, and visual art. Along the way, she reflects on curiosity, creative processes, and why movement can sometimes say what words cannot.Music: "Please Only Tell Me Good News” by Stephen Anderson; used with permission.Send us a text about the podcast.