12 Minutes Max

12 Minutes Max is a curated monthly performance series featuring short works by local artists in many disciplines.

One Sunday a month, we present three original pieces in a varied mix, chosen from music, dance, film, theater, performance art, writing, and the like — each 12 minutes or less with a short Q&A after each piece. The whole event is short and sweet, taking about an hour.

The City Library will present a live stream 12 Minutes Max on Sunday, May 16 at 2pm. Please join us using this link. The program is archived on Vimeo after the broadcast and can be viewed later as well.

Haviar Tuitama Hafoka, Artistic Director of Malialole Polynesian Music & Arts will present a Cultural Fusion dance using elements of Ura Kuki Airani, Siva Samoa, Faiva Tonga, Kapahaka Maori, Hip Hop, Vogue, and Whacking. Holani Olive of HKFlim is the Videographer and Artistic Director. “Rolling in with the tide, waves of change- the preservation and evolution of Pasifika Cultural and Performing Arts. The importance of dance and music in our culture is reflected in every lyrical hand motion carrying the traditions of our Ancestors, continuing the art of Polynesian storytelling in a modern context.”

Neon Nativez will bring a “sunset set” from the first ever “Virtual Pow Wow Festival” for Indigenous DJs all across “turtle island”, made when the pandemic first hit the United States.  “The location is a few blocks from my house by the river where my grandma used to have her garden right next to the “Echo House/18 Room” ruins.” Neon Nativez is a one member group with this mindset: “If one of us rises, we all do”.  “I am San Carlos Apache, Diné(Navajo) and part Pueblo.  I reside within the 4 corners area on the reservation in the middle of a canyon with my mom, animals and garden.  I do all of my own sound design when I’m creating music, it’s my favorite thing to do.  I can get lost for hours playing with sound in the landscape where I live.  I like bridging the gap between genres of music.  I guess you can say I’m a genre bender?.  I like to infuse Indigenous sounds with my various styles of music production.  I’m more than just a beat maker and DJ, I create stories to send a message.”

Zey Renée will present a film she directed for Salt Lake Capoeira called Capoeiristas for Black Lives Matter. It is a short concept dance film about “racial inequality, awareness of police brutality, and how capoeira is used as a tool of resistance in the community.” It was created and organized by students of the local Salt Lake Capoeira group under the supervision of their teacher, Mestre Jamaika. The video project brought the capoeira community together to showcase this unique Afro-Brazilian martial art form through traditional music, song, and choreographed dance. It was made with the intent “to give light to challenges that we face locally and globally around social and racial injustice”. Zey Renée is a visual artist that promotes and inspires positive change through being engaged in communities such as the local Salt Lake Capoeira group as well as the Mobile Moon Co-op.

This program is modeled after 12 Minutes Max, a performance laboratory originated by On the Boards in Seattle.