SRQ DAILY May 28, 2021
Friday Weekend Edition
"There's an experiential part of learning in the circus arts that can build confidence in students and that confidence can apply to any future opportunity."
When circus arts performer Lila Watkins tore her ACL earlier this year, the injury could very well have derailed her dreams. The stresses put on a body while flying through the air are extreme even for highly trained acrobats with no injuries, so Watkins had an uphill battle to get back in the air, one that would see her power through grueling rehab and the disappointment of staying earthbound while healing. “I’ve definitely made some sacrifices for my dream,” Watkins says.
And that was on top of finishing her senior year of high school, most of which happened during a pandemic.
“It was difficult at times to balance everything,” she says, “but if you want to have a good circus career, you have to have an education to support it.” But along with her graduating class of budding performers who themselves are college bound, she found more than just a balance.
This month, she graduates from Sarasota High’s Sailor Circus Academy magnet program, the program’s second graduating class, with the goal of applying to École Nationale de Cirque in Montréal. The 3-year program would allow Watkins to build on her repertoire and skillset while also learning the ins and outs of keeping her body in tip-top shape, all in an academic setting that gives her access to an extensive library of scholarly literature from the profession.
To help bolster her chances of getting into the program, the Circus Arts Conservatory (CAC) managed to secure the expertise of instructors and former Cirque de Soleil performers. That support comes largely from the CAC’s connections in the industry as well as its world-class facility, which attracts performers from around the world looking for a place to train.
“Some of what we’re looking at doing is developing the magnet program into a sort of feeder program like [École Nationale de Cirque],” says CAC’s Jennifer Mitchell. The Montréal program boasts a 95% placement rate for its graduates, with many joining Cirque de Soleil or The Seven Fingers.
But for now, Mitchell is glad to see the aims of the program expressed so fully by Watkins. “There’s an experiential part of learning in the circus arts that can build confidence in students,” says Mitchell, “and that confidence can apply to any future opportunity.”
And it’s that same confidence and dedication that helped Watkins get through a circus of a year. “More than anything, I’m glad that COVID-19 didn’t stop us from inspiring other people,” says Watkins, “and showing them that, no matter what, the show will go on.” 
Lila Watkins strikes a pose inside Circus Arts Conservatory's performance and training space.
Rachel Cusk’s new novel Second Place will leave you speechless, mute in the way a truly extraordinary meal of voluptuously healthy food would leave you.
Ideas all richly layered on a sprawling piece of English countryside, set in modern day. Inhabitants include the married owners, their twenty something daughter and boyfriend between college semesters, and the artist and gal pal the wife offers a spring sojourn in their carriage house, known as the second place, the book’s title.
The isolation of the environment and vast array of personalities spin interesting dynamics, much like alliances formed on shows like Survivors. Cusk establishes foreboding suspense from the get go, as she relays the story of this life period in past tense almost as a cautionary tale to a friend with tremendous listening skills named Jeffers.
Concepts of what the role of a parent to an adult should be, and how parental authority or lack thereof affects both parent and child’s life course. How romantic relationships may require a forced suspension of reality, while the people involved crave mysterious figures who demand objectivity. Heady issues woven in genius storytelling that while super thought provoking, ironically promote a pensive calm.
Second Place is the perfect lazy hazy days of summer book, perfect for a languid poolside week. Available now at BookStoreOne Sarasota 12 S. Palm Avenue or at their online store www.sarasotabooks.com.
This week’s #SafeArtsSarasota spotlight features Florida Studio Theatre’s managing director, Rebecca Hopkins.
Rebecca Hopkins, Managing Director, Florida Studio Theatre
“This conversation actually started last March after we all shut down. We knew we were going to have to deal with a period where people needed guidance for coming back in. It’s essential that we have a unified message. That stops the confusion before it starts and prevents guests from saying, ‘well such-and-such venue didn’t require masks, so why are you?’ But the overwhelming majority of people have been very supportive of our protocols and understand that it’s just not 100% safe quite yet.”
The Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall announces the following change to the 2020-2021 season: Audra McDonald’s performance on February 13, 2021 has been rescheduled to February 11, 2022 at 8pm.
Florida Studio Theatre (FST) kicks off its Summer Cabaret Series with Great Balls of Fire, a high-energy musical revue bringing the music of Jerry Lee Lewis to life. An electrifying tribute to the original bad boy of Rock & Roll, Great Balls of Fire features over 20 hits from the 1950s and beyond including “Good Golly, Miss Molly,” “Shake, Rattle, and Roll,” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On.” Created by Jason Cohen and Michael Schiralli, Great Balls of Fire begins playing June 15 in FST’s Court Cabaret. Tickets are now on sale at FloridaStudioTheatre.org or at 941.366.9000.
The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art is pleased to announce that Skyway 20/21: A Contemporary Collaboration will open June 20, 2021. The exhibition is a celebration of artistic practices in the Tampa Bay region and highlights the diversity of art being made in Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas and Sarasota counties.
The Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall and the Van Wezel Foundation today announced that the first-of-its-kind, year-long “virtual” residency with Latinx Hip-hop Artist, Kennedy Center Citizen and Scholar Olmeca will culminate with a free in-person live community performance on Saturday, June 12, 2021, at 11am, outdoors on the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall’s lawn.
Don’t miss your chance to register your young musicians for Sarasota Orchestra’s Summer Music Camp! Students are accepted into our fun and educational instrument training program on a first-come, first-served basis. No auditions required, and scholarships are available. Three sessions will run in June and July for beginner through advanced students.
The music of HuDost has a folk quality yet is quite post-modern; offering new takes on ancient words and melodies, cross-cultural hybrid transcendental chill-out music with an edge. HuDost’s core musicians are Moksha Sommer and Jemal Wade Hines. HuDost will perform on Saturday, May 29 at 8pm at the Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center. Tickets are $15 for members, $20 for the general public. Advance tickets are available at www.wslr.org.
The Child Protection Center, Inc. (CPC) has been awarded a $20,000 grant through the generosity of The Jerome & Mildred Paddock Foundation to support the intervention of child abuse through CPC’s Child Protection Team (CPT).
On Tuesday, July 13 at 7pm from the Grammy-nominated folk singer and songwriter, an inspiring exploration of creativity and the redemptive power of song. Award-winning songwriter Mary Gauthier presents Saved by a Song: The Art and Healing Power of Songwriting. This program is part of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) Reader Meet Writer Author Series. The ticket price is $35. This includes a copy of Saved by a Song: The Art and Healing Power of Songwriting and the Zoom special event. A ticket is $40.50 to have the book shipped via USMail. In Saved by a Song, Mary Gauthier pulls the curtain back on the artistry of songwriting. Part memoir, part philosophy of art, part nuts and bolts of songwriting, her book celebrates the redemptive power of song to inspire and bring seemingly different kinds of people together. More event info at https://www.sarasotabooks.com/events or 941-365-7900.
On Tuesday, July 13 at 2pm The Mysteries to Die For Zoom Book Club will be led by Elsie Souza. This month we are discussing When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain. A fee of $35 is required for participation. This includes a copy of When the Stars Go Dark to be picked up at Bookstore1 and the book club meeting. The fee is $40.50 to have the book shipped via USMail. From the bestselling author of The Paris Wife comes an atmospheric novel of intertwined destinies and heart-wrenching suspense: A detective hiding away from the world. A series of disappearances that reach into her past. Can solving them help her heal? Weaving together actual cases of missing persons, trauma theory, and a hint of the metaphysical, this propulsive and deeply affecting novel tells a story of fate, necessary redemption, and what it takes, when the worst happens, to reclaim our lives--and our faith in one another. Ticket purchase required for Zoom link. More event info at https://www.sarasotabooks.com/bookclubs or 941-365-7900.
On Wednesday, July 14 at 2pm The Poetry Zoom Book Club will be led by Doug Knowlton. This month we are discussing Stranger by Night by Edward Hirsch. A fee of $34 is required for participation. This includes a copy of Stranger by Night to be picked up at Bookstore1 and the book club meeting. The fee is $39.50 to have the book shipped via USMail. In his seventieth year, the award-winning poet looks back on what was and accepts what is, in a deeply moving and beautiful sequence about what sustains him. As the poet ages and begins to lose his peripheral vision, the world is “stranger by night,” but these elegant, heart-stirring poems shed light on a lifetime that inevitably contains both sorrow and joy. Ticket purchase required for Zoom link. More event info at https://www.sarasotabooks.com/bookclubs or 941-365-7900.
GFA winner Johan Smith kicks off Guitar Sarasota’s 15th season on Saturday, January 8, 2022 at Riverview Performing Arts Center at 7:30pm. Winner of the prestigious Guitar Foundation of America (GFA) competition in 2019 and defined as the “Classical Guitar Revelation 2017” by the french magazine Guitar Classical Magazine, Johan Smith has been invited to perform in renowned festivals, as concert and soloist, with orchestras such as the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, the Budapest Symphony Orchestra and the Verbier Festival Orchestra. He is currently preparing the recording of his second album (Naxos, 2020), as well as a tour that will bring him to perform in the United States, Canada, Mexico and in the Carnegie Hall in New York.
Rene Izquierdo will play at Riverview Performing Arts Center on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at 7:30pm. Rene Izquierdo graduated from the Guillermo Tomas, Amadeo Roldan Conservatory and Superior Institute of Art in Havana. In the United States, Mr. Izquierdo earned a Master of Music and an Artist Diploma degrees from the Yale University School of Music, where he studied with Benjamin Verdery. While at Yale he represented the university in an exchange program with the Conservatoire National de Musique et de Danse du Paris and worked with guitarists Olivie Chassain and Roland Dyens.
Classical guitar legend David Russell returns to the Guitar Sarasota stage on Saturday, March 5, 2022 at Riverview Performing Arts Center at 7:30pm. GRAMMY award winner in 2005 for his CD AIRE LATINO, in the category of best instrumental soloist in classical music. Honorary Doctorate in Music by the University of Arizona in Tucson in 2014. Classical guitarist David Russell is world renowned for his superb musicianship and inspired artistry, having earned the highest praise from audiences and critics alike. In recognition of his great talent and his international career, he was named a Fellow of The Royal Academy of Music in London in 1997.
Join Laura Snowden on Saturday, April 2, 2022 at Riverview Performing Arts Center at 7:30pm. British-French guitarist and composer Laura Snowden is acclaimed for her “poise and intensity” (The Guardian) and playing of “extraordinary dept” (Strings, Classical Music Magazine). The first guitarist to graduate from the Yehudi Menuhin School, made possible by the Rolling Stones, she is currently teaching there. After she was invited by guitarist Julian Bream to premiere his latest commissions at Wigmore Hall, her international appearances have since built rapidly, with festival debuts across Europe, China and the US, as well as concerto debuts with Norrköping Symphony Orchestra and Münchener Kammerorchester, and a recording of Lisa Streich’s guitar concerto Augenlider with the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester.
The Solo is an ongoing series of adult education workshops, coaching, consultation, and master classes, lead by Ann Morrison and Blake Walton. The Solo springs from a desire by individual artists to grow a solo theatre project from early stages to performance. Each of these initial 8 artists approached Ann and Blake with an idea, a revision, or a nearly complete piece in need of a professional eye and an audience. We invite you to watch a part of the ongoing development of 8 multi-media solo theatre pieces on Friday, May 28 and Saturday, May 29 at 7pm live streamed through Accidental Jacket with talk-backs. Tickets are $10 and buyers can view a recording of the event any time after it streams for a full week after.
The Bazaar on Apricot & Lime is celebrating their 3rd Birthday on May 28 from 4pm to 8pm. Join the fun and be entered to win a Sarasota Staycation ($1,000 value). Meet the 25+ vendors and artisans, enjoy live music by Sean Adam Walsh, and have dinner at Hamlet’s Eatery. Guest vendors will be joining outside in the courtyard. There will be free beer, wine, and other surprises. Admission is free.
In The Round is an opportunity for emerging choreographers from Sarasota Contemporary Dance members and selected choreographers chosen by SCD’s Artistic Staff to set a work in progress during the Sarasota Contemporary Dance Summer Intensive. The choreographers are given feedback during the performance from audience members using the Liz Lerman Critical Response Process (CRP). Each In the Round will be its own unique experience, offering works choreographed on SCD summer participants by a variety of emerging choreographers and SCD Company dancers. In-Person Dates: May 28, June 25 & July 16 at 7pm. Masks are required. Seating is limited at half capacity. Please book in advance to secure a spot. Tickets are $20. Ticket purchases close 30 minutes before the show. Virtual Dates: May 29, June 26 & July 17, 7pm Virtual Broadcast Recording. Tickets are Choose what you pay, $5, $10, $15. Ticket purchases close 30 minutes before the show.
This exhibition showcases the legendary Pop artist's screen prints based on Monet's world-famous paintings of waterlilies and haystacks from February 13 until June 27, 10am to 5pm. Lichtenstein's rarely seen Water Lilies and Haystacks provide an unexpected homage to a staple of the public imagination - Monet's paintings of his garden and home at Giverny that inspired them. The display of Lichtenstein's art in the midst of a horticultural evocation of Giverny creates a unique experience for more than 100,000 garden visitors. Selby Gardens, transformed into Monet's famed gardens at Giverny through the Pop Art lens of Roy Lichtenstein, includes iconic elements of Monet's garden such as the green Japanese bridge, trellises, and benches. This conjuring of Lichtenstein's world also serves as the dynamic backdrop to the lush plantings and mixed borders for which Monet's paintings were renowned. An avid gardener, Monet once said, "My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece." Marie Selby Botanical Gardens evokes this crowning achievement with a surprising Pop Art twist.
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