Jasmine Guy explores Harlem Renaissance in ‘Raisin’ Cane’
Jasmine Guy, the singer-actress-dancer who starred in the TV series A Different World, on Broadway and in several movies, will perform Raisin’ Cane at 8 p.m. Saturday at the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center in celebration of Black History Month. Sharing the words of Harlem Renaissance figures Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Zora Neale Hurston, W.E.B. DuBois and others, Guy will be accompanied by the Avery Sharpe Trio in an evening of song, dance, spoken word and imagery assembled by playwright Harry Clark.
At 8 p.m. Friday, Guy and the musicians will talk about Raisin’ Cane in a free discussion at Books and Books, 265 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables, and Sharpe’s trio will perform.
Tickets to the Saturday show are $25-$45. The center is at 10950 SW 211th St., Cutler Bay. For information, call 786-573-5300 or visit www.smdcac.org.
DANCE PREMIERE
Miami Contemporary Dance Company will perform two works and premiere a third, all choreographed by artistic director Ray Sullivan, when it performs at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Miami Beach’s Colony Theatre. The world premiere piece is Luz x 3, focusing on light as it illuminates abstract paths as the dancers move through it. Set to music by Kevin Keller, the other two pieces are Shadow Light and Not in My Name, which had its Miami premiere at the Lyric Theater in November.
Tickets to the performances at the Colony, 1040 Lincoln Rd., are $25-$40. For information, call 305-434-7091 or visit www.miamicontemporarydance.net.
PLAYING ALONG
An ensemble of students involved in the Miami Music Project Youth Orchestra will get some high-profile concert experience at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday when they perform with The Piano Guys at the Knight Concert Hall at Miami’s Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. Appearing with John Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, Paul Anderson and Al van der Beek, whose videos have become a YouTube sensation, are students Daniel Guevara, Aspen Baker, Analisa DeVoe, Juan Luis Florez, Andrea Guariguata, Joshiba Jean-Charles, Kelsey Milian and Relyn Myrthil.
On the program are a mixture of pop and classical music. Tickets are $35-$75, and the Knight Concert Hall is at 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami. For information, call 305-949-6722, or visit www.arshtcenter.org or www.miamimusicproject.org.
AÑOS DIFÍCILES
Miami’s Teatro Avante is bringing its production of Roberto Cossa‘s Años difíciles (Difficult Years) to the On.Stage Black Box at Miami-Dade County Auditorium for a four-performance run. Directed by company founder Mario Ernesto Sánchez, the play centers on three isolated, retired teachers in Buenos Aires. Their lives are shaken with the arrival of a mysterious young man claiming to be the son of one of them. Isabel Moreno, Gerardo Riverón, Julio Rodríguez and Luis Martínez appear in the play, which is performed in Spanish with English supertitles.
Performances are 8:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 5 p.m. Feb. 8 at the Black Box, 2901 W. Flagler St., Miami. Tickets are $30 (discounts for seniors, students, groups and disabled theatergoers). Call 305-445-8877 or visit www.teatroavante.org.
ISLAND SHORTS
Miami’s City Theatre is taking its act on the road during its 20th anniversary celebration with Island Shorts, a collection of seven “best of the fest” plays from the company’s popular Summer Shorts festival. A new play from the recent Swamp Shorts play-reading showcase is also part of the program at the Key Biscayne Community Center Friday through Feb. 8.
On the bill are Feel the Tango by City co-founder Susan Westfall, DMV Tyrant by Christopher Durang, The Crocodile’s Bite by Vanessa Garcia, Please Report Any Suspicious Activity by Rick Park, Controlling Interest by Wayne S. Rawley, Plan Day by Leslie Ayvazian and Parent Interview by Justin Warner. Gail Garrisan is staging the plays, which feature Elizabeth Price, Andres Maldonado, Vanessa Elise, Marquis Rogers, Marcela Paguaga, Alekzander Sayers and Michael Uribe.
Performances in the Island Room of the center, 10 Village Green Way, Key Biscayne, are 7:30 p.m. Friday (preshow reception at 6:30 p.m.), 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Feb. 8. Advance tickets are $25 ($20 for Key Biscayne residents and seniors), $30 day of show. Call 305-365-8900 or visit www.islandshorts.org.
DRANOFF CONCERT
Italian twin pianists Davide and Daniele Trivella, winners of the gold prize at the seventh Murray Dranoff International 2 Piano Competition, will perform a program titled New World of Classical Music at 5 p.m. Feb. 8 at the New World Center on Miami Beach. The Trivella Piano Duo will perform two-piano works by John Adams, John Corigliano, Gabriela Lena Frank, Lowell Liebermann, Alice Ho and Giovanni Sollima.
Tickets to the concert are $35 ($50 for gallery seating, $5 for students). The New World Center is at 500 17th St., Miami Beach. For information, call 305-572-9900 or visit www.dranoff2piano.org.
VISUAL ARTS
▪ Galleria Ca’ D’ora presents an installation with works by the Cracking Art Group and Belgium-based artist William Sweetlove at Miami Ironside, 7610 NE Fourth Ct., Miami. Large-scale animal sculptures in the form of a crocodile, wolves, turtles and bulldogs are part of a series by the artists, who first introduced their huge pink snails to Art Basel Miami Beach in 2010. The works are on view through Feb. 11. For more information, email info@ca-doro.com or visit www.miamiironside.com.
▪ The Edge on Brickell, a new condo-tower at 55 SW Miami Avenue Rd., plans to exhibit a 600-foot-high glass mural. Artist Jan Hendrix is designing the record-setting mural for the 130-residence boutique art building on the Miami River. Groundbreaking is set for spring, with an anticipated completion date in 2017. For details, call 305-775-0277 or visit www.theedgeonbrickell.com.
▪ Colombian conceptual artist Federico Uribe is the guest speaker at the Business for the Arts Broward’s “Arts Means Business” breakfast, a free event from 7:30 to 9 a.m. Friday. The event is at the NSU Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale, 1 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale. To RSVP for the breakfast, call 954-940-5344 or email rvegas@bfabroward.org. Complimentary tours of the museum will follow the presentation.
▪ A collection of 10 pieces sketched by Nelson Mandela during his 27 years in prison will be displayed for the first time in the United States in an exhibit titled Mandela Legacy at the Ansin Art Gallery inside the Miramar Cultural Center. Works by prominent local artists who were inspired by Mandela will also be included in the show curated by ArtServe, the Broward-based arts advocacy group. The work is on exhibit from Monday through Feb. 27, and entry is free. The center is at 2400 Civic Center Place, Miramar. Call 954-602-4528 or visit www.miramarculturalcenter.org.
Christine Dolen and Galena Mosovich contributed to this report. Send news to cdolen@MiamiHerald.com (theater), jlevin@MiamiHerald.com (dance, pop and Latin music), jwooldridge@MiamiHerald.com (visual arts) or khamersly@MiamiHerald.com (jazz, classical music).
This story was originally published January 30, 2015 at 5:21 PM with the headline "Jasmine Guy explores Harlem Renaissance in ‘Raisin’ Cane’."