On Jan. 3, Alya’s New Year Salon will take place at The Launchpad at 6:30pm. This event — curated by local artist Alya Howe and sponsored by Dance Initiative, Carbondale Arts, Connie Calaway, Alex Yajko and her partner, Don, as well as a myriad of “angel” donors — will include seven artists presenting pieces in their respective mediums, ranging from music and dance to spoken word and even stand-up comedy.
Howe said this year’s Salon lineup is full of extraordinary voices, sure to inspire aspirations to foster in 2026, particularly any having to do with community.
“The only through line of this year’s Salon is inspired by the more classic senses of a Salon,” Howe told The Sopris Sun. “Traditional Salons date back to 17th and 18th century Europe, where artists, writers, philosophers, musicians met in an intimate room to exchange ideas, challenge the status quo and expand the cultural imagination.”
“We have such extraordinary and unique voices of artists here in the Valley,” she continued. “The artists will share what they’re imagining, and maybe that will also inspire the audience to imagine the most magnificent solutions to our community.”
She suspects that the setting, created by locally renowned set designer Sean Jeffries, will be interpreted as a collaborative space, opposed to that of a traditional performance.
“The space is intimate. Some of the performers will share what they’re doing and why. Others will just give the experience. It’s a very tender, intimate space,” she explained. “The artists are so close at The Launchpad that it feels more like a conversation.”
One of the artists to appear is local filmmaker, movement teacher and writer Lilly Bright, who will be joining Howe for a dance segment titled “Disappeared.”
“‘Disappeared’ is a community-based project [that] came from artists in residence through Dance Initiative,” Howe said. “The project asks the community, my artists and myself: What’s disappeared that you value? What do you want to have appear? What might be the steps to make that appear? It also presses what we can make disappear, which is no longer serving us in our communities, our love lives, our work and our lives in general.”
Lydia Bain will bring an immersive sound experience, blending electronic soundscapes, vocals and the violin; Gabriela Mejia will share cultural songs she has learned traveling over the years; Sarah Uhl will illustrate a piece live; “Ms. Snowmass,” Sarah Sanders, will indulge the audience with a stand-up routine; Paonia-based musician David Alderdice will play a selection of his works; and local fulfillment coach and ayurvedic counselor Kyle Jason Leitzke tell a spoken-word story.
Leitzke said that he looks forward to connecting with the audience and conveying a range of emotions through a telling of his life experiences.
“From tears to laughter to inspiration, through a rollercoaster journey of some of the trials and triumphs that I’ve gone through in my own personal life, I’ll be sharing different catalysts in my life that shaped my identity,” he said. One of the main themes, he explained, is learning to live through moments of immense loss and grief and how the emotions that follow can be a meaningful teacher.
For tickets to Alya’s New Year Salon, visit www.tinyurl.com/NewYearSalon