Whether hauntingly strange, erotic, surreal, or sublime, true art, when it happens to us, reinvigorates and challenges our preconceived notions of the contemporary world. It confronts us and offers us more than just cheap entertainment, unlike the flippant antics carried out by today’s reality television ‘stars’. True artistry is…
Last year around this time, I complained that the Arsht Center programming was playing it too safe. Today, tickets go on sale for the performing arts center’s fifth season with a slate of shows at the Carnival Studio Theater that takes a few more chances. Most important, this season features more new work from Miami [...]
The Conjunto Folklórico Nacional, Cuba’s national folkloric dance troupe, was founded in 1962. And for nearly that long, Miami has enjoyed performances by troupe members who have defected to our stages: most notably choreographer Elena Garcia, who for many years ran the Iroko Afro-Cuban Dance Theater Company and dancer Yofvani Gonzalez, who arrived in United [...]
MAM is out to dispel the myth that culture goes on hiatus during the summer in Miami. Tonight the museum will showcase experimental sound and movement with “Walking Spell” from Psychic Youth Inc. (a collaboration between dancer/choreographer Ana Mendez and sound sculptor Federico Nessi). Meanwhile dancer/choreographer Carlota Pradera will be weaving her way from a [...]
Last week I was lamenting that we need to do a better job of documenting and archiving the performing arts in South Florida. As though in answer to my prayers, I met with Dr. Lilian Manzor, associate professor of foreign languages and literature at the University of Miami and — more to my point — [...]
Ever since I saw a brief performance by the Peruvian dance troupe Afro conTempo the other week, I’ve been itching to know more about this group. I’d never heard of conTempo or Marcela Díaz before, yet here they were on stage, fully formed. I’d scoured the city for an Afro-Peruvian troupe last year — how [...]
Last week I sat for a spell with Mary Luft, founder and director of Miami’s indispensable presenting organization Tigertail. Luft founded Tigertail more than 30 years ago, so she seemed like a great person to talk to about the history of the performing arts in Miami. Sure enough, as we sat in the dining room [...]
In dance improvisation, a structure is often established to give a shape to spontaneous movement. Choreographer Heather Maloney has expanded that idea this week by establishing a structure for the continuous improvisation that is contemporary dance in Miami: the Inkub8 Summer Movement Lab.
Many scholars have studied the dance forms transplanted from Africa to the Americas, but there was no need to read a heavy book to see what the dances of the African diaspora have in common: Saturday night’s shared bill at the Byron Carlyle — featuring Ife Ile, Afro Contempo, and Afua Hall Dances — was [...]
For 12 years, Neri Torres has been commemorating the African roots of Cuban culture with the annual Ife-Ile Afro-Cuban Dance Festival. The festival draws dancers, drummers, scholars, and fans from across the country to celebrate the dance and drum traditions of Cuba, as well as the related traditions of Senegal, Haiti, Jamaica, and Trinidad.
