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Two yogis, both alike in dignity, in fair YogAngeles, where we lay our scene. From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean . . .
It sounds like Shakespeare (sort of) but it's really SB Dance's newest production, "Yoga the Musical."
"It's kind of like 'Romeo and Juliet' meets 'Star Wars,' " said Stephen Brown, the company's namesake and founder. "It's about a boy and girl and a yoga mat, and they're caught in the middle of battling gurus."
The production, seven months in the making, debuts Saturday in the Black Box at the Rose Wagner Center for Performing Arts. And yes, there is dancing, but this is a full-blown musical with an original story, lyrics and choreography by Brown and an original score by Ricklen Nobis and Jimmy Fassler.
"It was an undertaking because a production of this magnitude with original everything is a rare event here in Utah," Brown said. "We've been wanting to take on a musical for some time, you know, because [musicals are] American opera. It's something everyone knows."
The story, set in "YogAngeles," follows Frankie, played by Paul Mulder, who is running a yoga black market and still in love with his ex-wife, Sheila (Kim Lynn), who is now on the side of "good" yoga. The two are caught in the middle of an evil corporate plan to commercialize yoga, while gurus Danny (James Dale), and Jackti (Natosha Washington), fight for the right to practice "good" yoga.
"I love [Brown's] work," said Janet Gray, a former professor of dance at the University of Utah who has operated a private studio in Salt Lake County for 37 years. "His pieces are really full of theatrics and he uses his intelligence to make them witty, dark and exciting."
Since forming SB Dance in 1997, Brown has tried to make modern dance and theater more accessible by focusing on themes, subjects and music "that [are] more in tune with mainstream culture," he said. And like most missions, his was influenced by 20 years of experience dancing with more traditional companies.
"I just got bored with modern dance, because it speaks in this secret code and like five people in the Salt Lake Valley understand it. But it was the only thing I knew how to make, so I've tried to moved closer and closer to pop work," Brown said.
"I've always been a little controversial. I don't think what I do is 'avant-garde,' in the sense that it is not way outside of mainstream culture. And this musical is right in there. Rap, hip-hop, pop, stuff you'd hear just around town and on the radio," he said.
Call it what you will, Brown's work addresses the how and why of many cultural phenomena.
Case in point: the widespread practice of yoga, a discipline that is ultimately about reaching a place where we do not need to consume anything, is embraced by a culture that does nothing but consume, Brown said.
And as for the musical. . . .
"Musicals are so American," Brown said. " 'Yoga the Musical,' you know, is a bit of a joke. What does yoga have to do with a musical? But, you know, we poke fun at how yoga is sold today, and really [the story] is about America's ability to absorb anything."
So whether you like musicals or yoga, or both, SB Dance's production is sure to be full of surprises.
"You can't go to one of Stephen's pieces without realizing that as humans we're part of the process; we're all part of the ridiculousness that is reflected in his pieces," Gray said.
SB Dance takes it to the mat
* "YOGA THE MUSICAL" plays Saturday at 8 p.m.; June 10 at 4 p.m.; June 15-16 at 8 p.m.; and June 17 at 4 p.m., at the Rose Wagner Center for Performing Arts, 138 W. 300 South, Salt Lake City.
* TICKETS ARE $17, available by calling 801-355-ARTS or online at http://www.arttix.org.
* LIMITED TICKETS are still available for an opening night performance and after party on Friday at 8 p.m. Reservations can be made online at http://www.sbdance.com.