SRQ DAILY Dec 25, 2020
Friday Weekend Edition
"When I go to these places, I don't just want to take something with me and not leave anything."
To say that Du Yun works at the intersection of opera, orchestral music, theatre, cabaret, and any number of musical styles makes it seem as though she is a passive observer of these forms. In actuality, she is the intersection—a nexus of creativity that dives deep into traditional forms to deconstruct their rules, find the universality of their meaning, adapt them to modern audiences and reflect her profound social conscience. Her work has garnered her a Pulitzer Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Grammy nomination and, more recently, a grant from The Hermitage Artist Retreat, which hosted a virtual program last Friday in which Du Yun introduced her work with her Future Tradition initiative.
Du Yun was born in Shanghai and began playing the piano at four years old. By eleven, she was learning to compose. By the time she moved to the U.S. at 20, she had been exposed to the music of Bach and Mozart in her formal training, but also brought to the states her experience with Chinese pop music and folk opera. Today, she continues to push the boundaries of musical forms by bringing the rigors of classical training to her various musical projects, of which Future Tradition represents the most emblematic of her propensity for socially conscious, cross-cultural creative work.
The initiative sees Du Yun travel the world in search of folk music and performance art traditions on the verge of extinction. “Many young musicians in China, for example, don’t even know that there are over 360 regional styles of opera,” she says during her Zoom presentation. Until 2017, Du Yun herself knew nothing about the Zinchang style of opera still being produced by the Diaoqiang Opera Troupe. “Chinese opera is very much based on dialects,” she says, “and as dialects disappear, so do their corresponding styles.” Many of these opera companies get financial support from the government, but that hardly ensures the forms will survive as anything more than a curiosity. “The real question is how do we help them make new works?”
As Du Yun works with these regional groups, which span the globe from Pakistan to Navajo Nation, she helps them produce new work at the same time that she studies their forms closely to respectfully adapt the style to her own new works. In lending her expertise and clout to these groups, Du Yun is able to leave a lasting legacy rather than simply appropriate the style and feed her own ego. “When I go to these places, I don’t just want to take something with me and not leave anything,” she says.
And 2020 has seen her produce work that has pushed even her own boundaries and in many ways represents the current culmination of her entire approach to music and performance art. In the absence of live performance in 2020, Du Yun made use of augmented reality to produce a virtual performance of an aria in the Kunqu style. The performance by 90-year-old Shen Shihua was superimposed over The Met’s Astor Chinese Garden Court. The production blended modern technology with an ancient art form and brought it to new audiences. “The whole idea for Future Tradition is to break down the barrier between ‘contemporary’ and ‘traditional,’” she says, “and I think technology should not be the entire future of performance art, but definitely a big part.” 
The Hermitage Artist Retreat, 6630 Manasota Key Road. Photo courtesy of Du Yun.
Janet Mishner, Art Uptown Gallery’s January solo artist, ushers in the New Year with a thought-provoking show exploring, in abstract visual terms, her response to the current pandemic. Janet’s series probes contradiction – the tension between our essential social nature and the imperative to separate in order to stay safe. Janet explains, “Human beings are naturally social creatures and need physical and emotional connection. But during this pandemic, close affectionate behavior – our ‘normal’ intuitive behavior – is high risk.” Janet’s inventive visuals impart nuance to this conflict. She often employs a compositional grid to represent isolation, while at the same time, colors bleed in and out of the boundaries emphasizing the instinctive and strong need to connect.
Doctors Hospital of Sarasota treated the first hospitalized COVID-19 patient in the state of Florida. The respiratory therapy team who treated that patient will be among the first to receive the vaccine. These caregivers will be receiving the vaccine almost 10 months to the day the first patient was diagnosed.
Manatee Memorial Hospital has received the first shipment of the Emergency Use Authorization of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and Joanne Nipper, RN, Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit, was the first frontline health care worker to receive the immunization. She was followed by Jerry Larona, RN, Medical/Surgical Unit, and Ralph Gonzalez, MD, Neurology/Chief of Staff and Jay Dominguez, MD, Internal Medicine, Chief Resident. The first four frontline health care workers received the immunization .
Every other Saturday a group of about 70 people gather at Benderson Park or Siesta Key Beach and dance Latin rhythms, burn calories, and create lasting friendships in a one hour outdoors Zumba® class. Under the guidance of Yael Campbell, we utilize outdoor spaces and practice social distancing respecting everyone’s safety. Yael and the animated group of participants (called “The Rockstars”) are getting together again at Nathan Benderson Park on December 26th & January 16th at 10am. On January 30th they will all gather at Siesta Key Public Beach for Zumba® on Siesta Key Beach.
Transformations in philanthropic ventures in our region on a hyper-local scale.
Click here to read the full article from SRQ's December 2020 edition.
This exhibit features twenty Gallery Artists, some using traditional subject matter expressed with a contemporary flair, others creating abstraction with underlying traditional realism. Explore this exhibit during gallery hours from Tuesday through Saturday between 11am and 5pm or by appointment.
Political Themed Artwork Online All Media Juried Exhibition on display from October 29 until December 31, 2020. First Place Award went to Dan Remmel with Once Upon A Time in Siberia, Second Place Award went to Peter Watrous with Separate, Third Place Award went to Julie Trigg with Remembering Sarasota, and Merit Awards went to Ellen Kantro with Headlong and Patricia Turner with Gunned Down Grandsons.
Featuring original paintings and drawings by renowned illustrator and long-time Ringling College Faculty member, Regan Dunnick (Class of 1976). The Patricia Thompson Gallery features rotating exhibitions by Ringling College Alumni from all majors on the first floor of the historic Keating Center. BIO: Regan Dunnick is an internationally known illustrator. He has won numerous awards and his works are in the permanent collection of the Library of Congress. He has been selected to such major exhibitions as the United Nations Environmental Show, The New Pop Show which toured Europe and chronicled innovators, American Illustration, and The Hiroshima Memorial Design Show (Hiroshima, Japan). This exhibition is open by appointment only. Please email galleries@ringling.edu to request an appointment. The exhibit began at the Keating Center on October 19, 2020 and will end on February 12, 2021, during museum hours.
Keating Center, 2621 Bradenton Rd, Sarasota, FL
As this difficult year comes to an end, enjoy a full body hot stone massage, hot towel treatment, foot scrub and aromatherapy at Modern Technique Massage in downtown Sarasota. This package also includes Dr. Teal's Soothe & Sleep foaming bath and Dr. Teal's Relax & Relief foaming bath, 7th Heaven Tea Tree Peel Off Mask, Cucumber Peel Off Mask, and Dead Sea Mud, and Nature Love Footspa Detoxifying Foot Pads. Tickets are one for $3, three for $5, 7 for $10, and 15 for $20. Raffle drawing will be held and the winner will be notified on December 30, 2020.
Join us for free yoga in the beautiful setting of Bob Gardner Community Park just off of White Eagle Boulevard. The Yoga Shack Florida will host the morning flows starting at 9am. Please bring your own mat and water bottle. Mats must be placed at least 6-feet apart from others and we ask all participants to closely follow all social-distancing guidelines. Parking is extremely limited. If you live in close proximity to Bob Gardner Park, we encourage biking or walking to the event.
This year, Salute to Vienna is streaming directly into your living room. Celebrate the New Year with this never-before-seen performance, filmed in Europe. Filled to the brim with the same joyful singing, dancing, and full orchestra that live audiences all across North America have celebrated with since 1995, this concert will be available to stream on-demand after its premiere on Sunday, December 27 until Sunday, January 3 from the comfort of home. Multiple prices are available for purchase, to allow you to select the ticket price that feels right for you. When choosing your ticket, you might consider how many people in your household will be watching concert. Choose the price that you wish to pay for this online stream. Ring in the New Year with the Blue Danube Waltz and excerpts from beloved operettas.
After a year like this one, Blase Southern Style is stepping into some revelry to toast the end of 2020 and ring in 2021, including a special New Year's Eve Vaudeville style Party. As a show of appreciation to diners who have supported the restaurant over the past year and to add some holiday cheer to the New Year, Blase Southern Style is offering a new winter menu and a drink on us, a late happy hour from 4pm to 8pm, and all-inclusive New Year's Eve Party from 9pm to 2am including 4-course dinner, open bar, champagne toast, Vaudeville Show, live entertainment and dancing.
All three Mattison’s Restaurants will be open on New Year’s Eve featuring special holiday menus, festive drinks, live music, and spectacular giveaways at midnight with each restaurant offering its own unique dining and party experience. The newly renovated Mattison’s Forty-One offers an elegant atmosphere with both inside and expanded patio seating. Live entertainment at Forty-One will feature The Randy Stephens and Jonathon Elgart Review. Chef Paul Mattison has created a special a’la carte holiday menu of delectable appetizers, entrees, salads, and desserts along with an extensive wine list and festive cocktails that will make your New Year’s Eve extraordinary. Mattison’s Forty-One is also offering a special pre-fixe, 4-course dinner priced at $129 per couple. If Bradenton is your locale, reserve a spot at Mattison’s Riverwalk Grille. With plenty of parking and seating on the heated, outdoor patio, Riverwalk Grille is the perfect New Year’s Eve spot in Bradenton. Entertainment is provided by Doug Deming and The Jewel Tones. Three reserved seating times are available at Mattison’s Riverwalk Grille. Mattison’s City Grille, in the heart of Downtown Sarasota, will feature seating in front of the restaurant will ample space inside to dance to the music of The Shift Change Band. All three restaurants will host a raffle for giveaways just before midnight. There is no cost to enter. You must be present to win. Each guest will receive a complimentary raffle entry. No matter which restaurant you choose to attend, Mattison’s has the night covered for you and your special someone. Join us to say farewell to what has been a difficult year and bring in 2021 with style.
Purchase now through December 31 and have access to watch the movie until July 31, 2021. You are cordially invited to experience the musical phenomenon of 2020, in a soon-to-be-released movie format, just in time for the holidays! This will be an opportunity for fans who saw the film before to go deeper with additional content and cut scenes, and for those who missed the boat the first time around to see this hilarious, brand-new musical. A Killer Party - The Movie has bonus content not seen in the original series, including never-before-seen bloopers, and an entire additional scene and new song performed by Miguel Cervantes from Hamilton. A Killer Party - A Murder Mystery Musical features Broadway theater favorites Jeremy Jordan, Laura Osnes, Alex Newell, Carolee Carmello, Miguel Cervantes, Drew Gehling, Jarrod Spector, Jessica Keenan Wynn, Michael James Scott, Krystina Alabado and Jackie Burns. Seen in more than 70 countries and with over 100K streams of the Original Cast Album, A Killer Party - The Movie is the must see hit of the season, and just in time for the holidays.
We are excited to announce that Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium will open its doors an hour early exclusively for individuals who have sensory processing differences or those with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) on January 2, 2021. Individuals with disabilities who would benefit from a calmer sensory experience are also welcome. Mote will foster an inclusive environment for these aquarium guests. Our exhibits may be enjoyed under soft lighting without heavy crowds, and with decreased noise level and visual stimulation wherever possible. Sensory Saturday will open at 8:30am. Groups will be allowed time entry to minimize crowding and in accordance with Mote’s Safety Guidelines. Regular Aquarium hours begin at 9:30am.
Haven't made those New Year's resolutions yet? It’s time to leave 2020 behind and look at art that can provide motivation for a healthy, happy, and productive 2021 at 1pm on January 5, 2021. $5 / Free for Members.
Online
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