Sarasota Contemporary Dance and Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe are teaming up next week, with the opening of “SCD + WBTT'' this coming Thursday at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts. A collaboration long in the works between SCD Artistic Director Leymis Bolaños Wilmott and WBTT Artistic Director Nate Jacobs, the one-hour show promises to take audiences on a musical adventure through blues classics, Motown favorites, and even some a cappella gospel, all while exploring a range of modern dance and original choreography, including SCD’s first tap routines. “It’s such a rich show,” says Wilmott. “People are going to be snapping their fingers and moving their hips.”

The show opens with a group performance from SCD, set to an a cappella medley of older hymns and modern gospel by the singers of WBTT, marrying the human body to the pure musicality of its voice. “And I really wanted to highlight dance and song coming together in that way,” Wilmott says. From there, it’s a nonstop parade of music and dance, as “SCD + WBTT” crams a full 14 dance routines and musical performances into that one-hour show.

With the WBTT band taking the stage in full, audiences will recognize favorites such as Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, The Thrill Is Gone, and more, including a whole trio of Temptations hits in Get Ready, Cloud Nine, and Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone. Accompanying each, original choreography composed by Wilmott and performed by the dancers of SCD. Largely solo performances—such as Monessa Salley’s solo to The Supremes’ Stop In The Name Of Love—or duets, the choreography is practically bespoke, says Wilmott, crafted to showcase the dancers chosen to perform them. “They’re smaller pieces that really highlight the dancers,” she says, “but also highlight the company’s range.” To that end, the show will also feature the company’s first tap choreography, including a tap quartet, as several of SCD’s dancers are now trained in the art. Melissa Rummel, Samantha Miller and returning SCD dancer Jahrel Thompson also have solos in the show.

Opening Thursday, November 30, in the Cooke Theatre of the FSU Center for the Performing Arts, the performance will be for four nights only, closing after the final show on Sunday, December 3. Opening night is in-person only, but a live-stream of the performance will be available for the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday shows. Tickets are currently available.

“It’s a celebration of coming together,” says Wilmott, “and it’s pure fun.”  

Pictured: SCD dancers Samantha Miller and Monessa Salley flank WBTT's Nate Jacobs (left) and singer Zion Thompson. Photo by Sorcha Augustine.

https://www.sarasotacontemporarydance.org/in-theater

“I’ve been blessed with a career where now I don’t have to get invited to perform,” says Nik Wallenda, internationally acclaimed aerialist, 7th-generation member of the Flying Wallendas family and Sarasota native. “I’ve said many times that I’ve done the television specials and walked across Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon, so that I can be back in the big top doing what I love. Now, I get to create these shows that are used to inspire and motivate others by doing what I love which is just a huge blessing.”

Wallenda, widely known as The King of the Wire, is back home in Sarasota to collaborate with the Circus Arts Conservatory on his latest show, A Brave New Wonderland. Wonderland, which premiered on November 18 and will last through December 31, is a holiday spectacle that will feature a blend of unique circus acts capped off with a high-wire act from the Wallenda family. “This is our playground – we get in the ring and this is our passion. This is what we love doing,” says Wallenda. “And it’s not just me, Johnny Rocket, our main comedian, his family has been performing for generations and my wife, Erendira, she comes from seven generations of performers on one side and eight on the other.”

The inspiration for Wonderland originates from Wallenda’s wife, Erendira, who came to him three years ago with the idea of a holiday show that could include all three of the major wintertime holidays: Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. Through the use of multiple circus acts, the show follows the journey of a young orphan who “sneaks” into the circus and learns about the various holidays and cultures that celebrate them. Wonderland is meant to invoke the spirit of inclusivity, which to Wallenda, is what the circus is all about. “The circus has always been about welcoming everybody, no matter what your differences were,” says Wallenda. “It’s meant to bring everybody together and show the world that we can all love each other, no matter what we look like or act like, what we eat or how we think, we don’t have to agree with each other but we can still love each other. To be able to show that, in my hometown, with my family and friends through what I love, there’s no better feeling than that.”

November 18 through December 31, 195 University Town Drive, Sarasota, 941-355-9805. 

Pictured: Ermiyas Muluken performing in the show, A Brave New Wonderland.

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 Soundbox Ventures opens its season of the “Listen Hear” Salon Concerts at St. Boniface Episcopal Church with “Preludes with Marisa,” Saturday, December 16, 7 p.m. The program features the world premiere of the young Catalan composer Marc Migó’s “L’illa deserta,” a collection of 12 preludes for solo piano performed by the Paris-based American pianist Marisa Gupta. The concert also showcases Stravinsky’s “Divertimento” for violin and piano, an arrangement of “The Fairy’s Kiss” ballet, to be performed by Marisa Gupta and Soundbox’s artistic director Max Tan. The musical performances will be preceded by a fireside-styled chat hosted by Tan with Gupta and Migó on the question: Why do composers dedicate music to other people? A light reception with the artists follows the performance. The program is free; registration is required. Register at www.soundboxventures.org/events. St. Boniface Episcopal Church is located at 5615 Midnight Pass Road on Siesta Key.  

Art Center Sarasota’s 2023-2024 exhibition season continues with four exhibits, November 27-January 13. “Of Mementos and Fetishes” features oil paintings and quirky wood “vessels” by Aimee Jones that investigate the history of collecting objects and question the status quo. (An Artist Talk is scheduled for Friday, January 5, 5:30-7 p.m.) Ethan Fielder’s “Beyond the Sidewalk” showcases a new body of ceramic sculptures and vessels inspired by urban decay, with an emphasis on fire hydrants. (An Artist Talk is scheduled for Thursday, January 11, 5:30-7 p.m.) Tom Casmer’s “ges•talt” displays abstract, assembled wood sculptures inspired by the human figure, nature, and machine-made elements. (An Artist Talk is scheduled for Thursday, December 14, 5:30-7 p.m.) “Still Life” is a group show juried by Mara Torres. This exhibit invites artists to present their formal and conceptual notions of the contemporary still life format. (A juror critique with Mara Torres is scheduled for Tuesday, December 12, 4 p.m.) The opening reception for all four exhibits is Thursday, December 7, 6-8 p.m. Works on display will be available for purchase. Art Center Sarasota, 707 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. For information, visit www.artsarasota.org or call 941-365-2032. 

SRQ Magazine is calling home builders, architects, landscape architects and interior designers to submit their projects from the past year. The winning entries are awarded Home of the Year Platinum, Gold, and Silver Awards and the winning entries are published in the March 2024 awards edition of SRQ Magazine. 

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