Last month in London, when The Royal Ballet officially launched Ashton Worldwide, a five-year international celebration of the company’s famed founding choreographer, Sir Frederick Ashton, only one other ballet company in the world was invited to perform alongside them in the opening festival—The Sarasota Ballet. Now back from the company’s international debut—and with all the rave reviews to accompany—Sarasota Ballet Director Iain Webb and Assistant Director Margaret Barbieri look back on a once-in-a-lifetime experience and forward to a 2024-25 season to match it.

“It was an amazing gift for everybody involved,” Webb says, and Barbieri agrees. “But at moments, all a bit surreal,” she adds. Under the leadership of Webb and Barbieri, both former Royal Ballet dancers themselves, the Sarasota Ballet has become recognized worldwide as leading performers and preservers of Ashton’s legacy, often staging even the choreographer’s more obscure works and gaining a reputation for breathing new life into them for modern audiences. Still, an invite from the Royal Ballet came as something of a surprise. “It was enormous pressure,” Webb says with a laugh. “It was in the house of Sir Frederick Ashton!”

Pressure or no, Webb was determined to tackle the opportunity head on. “We need to let people see what we do here,” he remembers thinking. And when the Royal Ballet said that they wanted the Sarasota Ballet to perform six shows in the Linbury Theatre, Webb wrote three separate programs, incorporating seven Ashton pieces: Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, Dante Sonata, Sinfonietta, Façade, Dance of the Blessed Spirits, and Varri Capricci. The only catch? Barbieri had approximately three weeks to stage them all.

“More like two weeks,” Barbieri says. “I was in a bit of a frenzy.” Everyone worked around the clock, with Barbieri staging all seven works as fast as she could and dancers bouncing from studio to studio, practicing different choreography. “They all danced their hearts out,” Barbieri says, and it’s Webb’s turn to agree. “The talk of the town was the Sarasota Ballet,” he says, “and the ballets of Sir Frederick Ashton.” And before the festival was up, The Sarasota Ballet would join the Royal Ballet on the mainstage for a collaboration on Ashton’s The Walk in the Paradise Garden.

“We’re proud that we represented Sarasota, and America, on one of the most important stages in the world,” Webb says. “What an incredible gift. It’s something you remember for all of your life.”

Looking forward to the 2024-25 ballet season at home, audiences may have to wait until the company premiere of Romeo and Juliet in March for more Ashton choreography, but the season is full of old favorites and even world premieres so fresh they are as yet untitled.

“The company is known for the ballets of Sir Frederick Ashton and we preserve a lot of his works,” Webb says, “but we’re not just a museum company. There’s quite a lot coming.”

Pictured: The Sarasota Ballet performs Sacred Love Pas de Cinq from Ashton’s Illuminations at the Linbury Theatre. Photo by Foteini Christofilopoulou.

For more on Sarasota Ballet's 2024-25 season, click here.

Head to the beach and turn your head to the right and left. Upon scanning the sandy shores, you’ll quickly find a couple of things: sunburnt beachcombers, squealing kids and inevitably, families playing sports. Whether it’s a father and son tossing the pigskin, two siblings volleying a paddle ball or a family divided over a tense game of bocce, people are always engaging in some kind of recreational activity on the beach.

This weekend, a new summer tradition is making its way to Florida’s Gulf Coast. The Beach Soccer Florida Tournament, presented in conjunction with Beach Blitz Soccer Resort and Visit Sarasota County, is coming to Siesta Key beach for its first annual tournament. Beach Blitz Soccer Resort is a traveling beach soccer tournament, founded in 2002, that has hosted tournaments in beaches all over the country. Their goal is to provide a fun, approachable and affordable way to play soccer on the beach in an organized setting.

This weekend’s tournament, which takes place on Saturday and has a rain day on Sunday, offers something for everyone with U7 through U18 divisions. The games, which must be played barefoot or in sand socks, are played on a field 30 yards wide by 40 yards long and last 30 minutes, with two 15 minute halves. Each age group has three divisions–recreational, intermediate and competitive–with four games guaranteed and a possible fifth for a championship game. In this five on five tournament however, winning is not necessarily the goal–going out and having a great time on the beach playing the world’s sport is. Head on to Siesta Beach this weekend for an experience participants are sure to remember.

July 13-14, Siesta Key Beach, 948 Beach Rd, Sarasota. 

Pictured: Siesta Key Beach plays host to the Beach Soccer Florida Tournament this weekend.

I used to be a wimp when it came to true crime books. Reason being, with the news bombarding us with so much tragedy, why do I need to read more? But I’ve changed my tune after reading former New College Writer in Residence Sarah Gerard’s Carrie Carolyn Coco: My Friend, Her Murder, and an Obsession with the Unthinkable.

I loved reading Sarah’s previous fiction (Binary Star to name one) which usually focuses on messy dysfunctional relationships, and also liked Sunshine State, her book of nonfiction essays that weave her growing up in Florida with eccentric Floridian characters.

Carrie Carolyn Coco is far different in most aspects. True, she still does a deep dive into Carolyn’s teen years growing up in St. Petersburg and presents a beautiful tribute to a friend who she was just getting to know. But what I found most thrilling was the brilliance of Sarah’s organization and display of compelling facts about the college (Bard) that both the victim and her roommate/assailant attended. Revelations come slowly, but the reading in between is fascinating as she generates biographies of both sides.

Sarah’s book is informative and moving. The court case in search of justice is well told and again braided with Bard history and New York City anecdotes, where Carolyn lived and was murdered. Much like David Grann’s Killers of the Flower Moon, I was shocked and sincerely moved by what people with connections and finances can get away with in regards to the judicial system.

Carrie Carolyn Coco is available for pre-order at www.sarasotabooks.com and will be sold in store at BookStore1 117 S. Pineapple Ave, Sarasota. Publication Date 7/9/24  ISBN #: 9781638930464.   

Sarasota County has issued a precautionary statement regarding elevated Particulate Matter (PM2.5) levels due to impacts from Saharan Dust. Per the Environmental Protection Agency's national ambient air quality standards for public health, levels may reach the “unhealthy for sensitive groups” category. PM2.5 are inhalable particles of 2.5 micrometers or smaller.  The general public is not likely to be affected. Those sensitive to PM2.5 should consider limiting prolonged outdoor exertion. Any health-related questions should be directed to your personal healthcare provider. This air advisory is in effect through July 12, 2024. Saharan Dust is impacting air quality across Florida. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Saharan dust comes from the Sahara Desert in Northern Africa. Thunderstorms and cyclones produce high-speed winds that lift the dust and transport it thousands of miles. Saharan Dust usually impacts our area yearly during the summer months and continues until mid to late July. In the United States, the dust mainly affects Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and southern states, including Florida and Texas. The Sarasota County Air Program has monitored air quality since 1985. Currently, it reports it to the community through the Air Quality Index, alerting residents of current air quality conditions and pollutants in Sarasota County. With four monitoring stations throughout the county, data is collected in real-time for ozone levels and other particulate matter that can impact at-risk residents such as those with asthma or respiratory conditions. Sarasota County meets all national air quality standards and continues to improve due to local, state, and federal policies. For more information, dial 311 or visit scgov.net.  

Take advantage of the summer season to learn new culinary skills at Taste of Spain or Pineapple Kitchen, July/August 2024. 

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