Ringling Museum Introduces Series Connecting Visual and Performing Arts at the Historic Asolo Theater
Sarasota, FL – August 30, 2007 – A unique new series of programs under the rubric Backstage Onstage at the Historic Asolo Theater debuts this fall at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. On select Tuesday mornings at 11:00 a.m., enlightening connections between the visual and performing arts are explored in a series of five 90-minutes lecture/demonstrations featuring dance, music, film, and comedy.
- Echoes of Cuba Through Dance, Oct. 9, 2007
Opening the series is Echoes of Cuba Through Dance. Inspired by the art exhibition, Cuba Avant-Garde: Contemporary Cuban Art from the Farber Collection, on display in the Searing Wing, the award-winning choreographer Leymis Bolaños Wilmott draws from her Cuban heritage to experiment with movement, ideas, and character as she merges performance art with visual art in new creations for her ensemble, Fuzíon Dance Artists.
This program is part of the Contemporary Cuba week in the Historic Asolo
Theater from Oct. 8 – 13, 2007. This series of films, lectures, and music is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Cuba Avant-Garde: Contemporary Art from the Farber Collection on exhibit in the Ulla R. and Arthur F. Searing Wing, Oct. 6 – Dec. 30, 2007.
- Red Death and Red-emption: An Ode to Poe and the Beyond, Oct. 23, 2007
The themes of death and redemption take center stage when popular music commentator June LeBell presents Red Death and Red-emption: An Ode to Poe and the Beyond. LeBell and her special guest, soprano Maria Zouves explore a wide variety of works ranging from André Caplet’s Mask of the Red Death (based on the chilling story by Edgar Alan Poe) to the classical Soul Music that sets guests on the road to redemption.
- The Art of the Recital, Nov. 6, 2007
Lee Dougherty Ross, Artistic Director of the Artist Series of Sarasota, will be joined by soprano Michelle Giglio for The Art of the Recital, a song-filled lecture/demonstration that explores the collaboration of artist, audience, and composer that makes up the inspiring and memorable solo performance known as the recital.
- Make’em Laugh: the Music of Classic Comedies, Nov. 20, 2007
June LeBell and friends return for Make’em Laugh: the Music of Classic Comedies. In this special presentation, LeBell presents live and recorded performances of hilarious music: songs from Broadway and the silver screen, as well as classical music that will leave guests laughing in the aisles.
- Ave Maria: The Nativity in Music and Art, Dec. 4, 2007
The Ringling Museum’s great masterworks of the nativity will come alive when soprano Kendra Colton and Artist Series of Sarasota Artistic Director Lee Dougherty Ross present Ave Maria: The Nativity in Music and Art. As a frequent soloist with the nation’s leading orchestras, Miss Colton was recently reported by the New York Times to have “carried herself like a goddess and sang radiantly and vividly.”
Tickets for each program are $20 and $18 for Ringling Museum Members. A series of tickets for all five programs may be purchased for $80 or $72 for Ringling Members. Tickets are available by calling the Historic Asolo Theater Box Office at 941.360.7399. For more information, please visit www.ringling.org
Regular Museum admission to the exhibition is not included in the theater program ticket price. Regular Museum admission is $19 for adults, $16 for seniors, $6 for children ages 6-17 and free for members and children age 5 and under. Call 941.359.5700 or visit www.ringling.org for more information.
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