When Haitian-born choreographer and dancer Rhodnie Desir embarked on her “Bow’t Trail” journey in 2015, she hoped to capture something elusive but of vital importance. The journey took her all over the Americas to explore the way Afro-descendent peoples salvaged their histories from the annihilating forces of the slave trade. Participating in long, grueling workshops with local dancers and musicians in Mexico, Canada, Martinique, Brazil, and the U.S., Desir hoped to adapt her Bow’t Trail choreography into different versions that could ensure the posterity of these histories and practices. “I really wanted to discover the ingenuity of my sisters and how they resisted the destruction of their culture,” says Desir.

Each visit would begin with two weeks of intensive workshops with elders within the community, including long conversations and choreography sessions that would begin at 6 in the morning and sometimes bleed into the next day. After working through the stories and dances, a documentary crew would arrive and shoot on location for another two weeks, capturing the movements and ideas explored as well as a performance of each city’s unique version of Desir’s “Bow’t Trail” choreography. “It seems exotic, but I would barely sleep or eat,” says Desir, “and at the end of all that research, drama, trauma and celebration, my body had over 130 stories preserved within it.”

Those stories are the center of “Conversations,” her first-ever visual art exhibition commissioned by and hosted at The Ringling Museum. In it, Desir attempts to transfer the sanctity of the Bow’t Trail project’s academic and spiritual vigor into an immersive installation designed to draw the viewer’s eye inward and, Desir hopes, get them to experience a sliver of her own deeply transformative experience.

The exhibition, located inside Monda Gallery, makes use of draped fabrics, projections, lighting design, and sound design to accentuate a visitor’s journey through the installation. A projection of handwritten text at the installation’s entrance primes the visitor for the desired emotional approach for the exhibition. The path through the installation continues through a hallway of sheer black fabric and winds around the gallery towards a meditative hut and a boat-making station, where visitors are encouraged to fold a paper boat and add it to a big net of other boats that spill over into a pile. Another area in the installation includes footage from her documentary projected on a series of sheer white drapes that visitors are encouraged to walk through.

By the end of the journey through the installation, the impression is that something of grave importance has transpired, an unspoken feeling that exists not beyond words, but beneath them in a more elemental space. The lighting, the polyrhythms, textures and projections of “Conversations” swirl and immerse the viewer in a feeling.

“I want it to feel like they’ve gone to a temple. Everything is so explicit now in the digital age, and I don’t want them to come out and say, ‘I need to post this on social media,’” says Desir, “I want them to sit with the conversation internally.”

“Conversations” runs through April 3rd.

Photo by Manuel Chantre.

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Siesta Key Chapel welcomes Dr. Martha Stiehl as Interim Music Director. She is a professional harpsichordist and organist, specializing in music of the Baroque. A native of Illinois, she earned her degrees from Millikin University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She also studied organ at Northwestern University with Wolfgang Rubsam, in Paris with Marie Claire Alain, and with Viennese organist/composer Anton Heiller. Her harpsichord studies were with Arthur Haas at Eastman and Yale, and with Charlotte Moersch at Illinois. Martha has been a featured soloist as well as continuo member of orchestras and ensembles throughout the USA and Europe. The New York Times reviewed her performance of the Bach Brandenburg Concertos as “an utter joy.” She is a former faculty member at University of  Wisconsin-Milwaukee and was founder and director of the all-women Baroque ensemble, The Bach Babes. She has had the privilege of working with noted traditional and baroque musicians such as Helmuth Rilling, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zucherman, Kathleen Battle, Nic McGegan, Elizabeth Blumenstock, and Phoebe Carrai. Martha’s goals for the music program at Siesta Key Chapel include coordination of Sunday music with the lessons, assembling programs for adults and children (choral and bells), introducing and training musicians for liturgical work, as well as presenting recitals/concerts. 

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The popular Say 'I Do' Again vow renewal event returns to Sarasota County area beaches 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 14. Sarasota County Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources (PRNR) has hosted this Valentine's Day sunset ceremony for more than three decades. Couples can register for a non-denominational vow renewal ceremony, officiated by Judge Riva at Siesta Beach and Judge Ruhl at Nokomis Beach. Before the ceremony, enjoy light refreshments, music, and photo opportunities. Registered couples will also receive a flower and renewal certificate. On-site registration opens at 4:30 p.m. with the ceremony commencing promptly at 6 p.m. Register online or by phone at 941-861-7275 by Feb. 7. The cost is $15 per couple. Registration will also be available the day of the event while supplies last for $25 per couple, credit card only. Siesta Beach is located at 948 Beach Road on Siesta Key; Nokomis Beach is located at 100 Casey Key Road on Casey Key. Additional information is available by calling the Sarasota County Contact Center at 941-861-5000 or by visiting scgov.net. 

The Southwest Florida Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP-SWFL) is one of the most active chapters of professional fundraisers in the nation, offering members the opportunity to obtain continuing education, connect with colleagues, and engage in creative thinking for the betterment of the nonprofit sector. AFP-SWFL focuses on delivering innovative educational programs and events to help members reach their professional goals in the fundraising field. The Southwest Florida Chapter is committed to growing professionalism and diversity among its membership, increasing the opportunities and resources provided to its members and celebrating the philanthropic heritage of the Sarasota/Manatee Community.

AFP-SWFL is proud to announce its 2022 Board of Directors: Executive Board: Amy Towery, CFRE, ACFRE, Meals on Wheels Plus of Manatee, President; Lee Ann Rodriguez, MA, MBA, DBA, Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast, President-Elect; Kevin Hughes, New College Foundation, Secretary; Scott Hinckley, CFRE, Allegiance Fundraising, Treasurer; Janet Ginn, CFRE, Pines of Sarasota Foundation, Immediate Past President. Board Members At-Large: Debra Flynt-Garrett, Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe; Morgan Gerhart, Players Centre for Performing Arts; Lisa Intagliata, CFRE, Resilient Retreat, Inc.; Terri Medina, MPA, The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature; Andria Piekarz, Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium; Sara Curtis Robinson, CFRE, The Sarasota Ballet; Rafael Robles, Sarasota Military Academy Foundation; Linda Watterworth, Children First; Sarah Wertheimer, Embracing Our Differences; Kim Noyes, AFP Southwest Florida, Chapter Administrator. 

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DoodyCalls, a nationwide leader in pet waste removal services, is growing its footprint in the pooper scooper industry with the opening of an office on The Suncoast in Manatee County, Florida. DoodyCalls currently operates in over 57 territories, across 23 states, and has been named the #1 pet waste removal franchise in the United States by Entrepreneur Magazine's annual Franchise 500 list. Making business a family affair, Marla Moran and her children Colton and Kara wanted to create a family legacy and establish something for future generations. A family of dog lovers, the Morans were drawn to the potential for success and capability to serve their community with DoodyCalls. Blending their background in customer service and business, the group plans to open two separate DoodyCalls franchise locations in 2022. The franchises offer the group an opportunity to give back to the community while building the family legacy they originally set out for. The Suncoast DoodyCalls franchise will service the following areas: Bradenton, Anna Maria, Lakewood Ranch, Parrish, Palmetto, Ellenton, Myakka City, and other areas of Manatee County. For residential dog owners, DoodyCalls provides dog waste pickup, brown spot treatment and deodorizing services. For communities and parks, DoodyCalls designs, sells, installs, services and maintains common areas, pet waste stations, equipment and supplies.

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