Catch the first glimpse of the newest performances being made in the Sarasota-Manatee area. Now in its third year, the HAT’s MicroWIP (Micro Works-in-Progress) presentations provide local creatives with a platform to advance new work. This evening features ten-minute max excerpts of freshly made performances and represents the museum’s commitment to supporting artists based in Sarasota and Manatee Counties. By presenting works-in-progress, we offer a semiformal way for artists to experiment with new ideas in front of live audiences. For artists, this important step is key in the creative cycle and provides space for experimentation and feedback.

Tangled Roots by Yoleidy Rosario-Hernandez

Through evocative poetic vignettes and multimedia storytelling, Tangled Roots takes audiences into the mind of Jagun, a queer Afro-Dominican and Taino trans person caught in the liminal space between coma, dream, and the spirit world. As Jagun navigates this intertwined realm, they embark on a powerful journey of survival, revisiting childhood memories and exploring ancestral kinship, dichotomous spirituality, and the search for identity, belonging, and home. Blending spoken word poetry, video installations, and photography, Tangled Roots offers a transformative exploration of culture, identity, and family.

I am Yoleidy Rosario-Hernandez, an Afro-Dominican and Tainx trans artist, educator, and scholar whose work spans film, photography, theater, and activism. I have over a decade of experience using art as a tool for transformative justice, creating spaces that honor complexity and foster dialogue across cultural and identity-based differences. As the founder of Mosaic Movements, I have led projects like Warriors of Sarasota, a documentary series and photography exhibition highlighting the stories of women of color as educators and cultural leaders. My artistic foundation began at Fashion Industries High School in illustration and graphic design, and I pursued theater at Dickinson College. I further developed my interdisciplinary practice at Arizona State University’s Performance of the Americas program, where I began creating Tangled Roots, a multidisciplinary play exploring queer Afro-Dominican and Tainx identity through poetic vignettes and multimedia performance.

Three artists will be performing alongside Yoleidy in Tangled Roots:

Amanda Manez is an award winning actress who cannot remember a time when acting wasn't her passion. Raised as an "Air Force Brat" Amanda is not "from" anywhere and moved nearly every three years growing up, but has fallen in love with the Tampa Bay Area in her adulthood. She recalls her first time acting in front of an audience while performing for her church on Maxwell AFB in Montgomery, AL when she was in middle school; followed by stage plays while in high school in Hampton, VA. Amanda is now in several independent films, both local and national commercials, and booking shows as a standup comedian. When she isn't performing you can find her volunteering for Feeding Tampa Bay, spending quality time with her son, Eden or at her sales job acting like she wants to be there. Amanda looks forward to continuously building her resume as an actress and filmmaker while continuing to make a positive impact in her community and in the lives of others.

Tania Vergara Pérez, a Dance Arts graduate from Cuba's Higher Institute of Art (ISA), is the Artistic Director of Endedans Contemporary Ballet USA, recognized as the Best New Dance Company by Sarasota Magazine. She is the founder and former director of Cuba’s Contemporary Ballet Endedans and a recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the Ibero-American Choreography Award (2008) and UNEAC Choreography Award (2009). Her choreography has been showcased in countries such as Germany, Mexico, South Africa, Costa Rica, and the United States. As a guest choreographer, she has collaborated with renowned companies like the National Ballet of Cuba, Milwaukee Ballet II, and Sarasota Contemporary Dance. Vergara Pérez has taught at esteemed institutions, including the National School of Ballet in Havana, Princeton Ballet School, and The Sarasota Cuban Ballet School, where she is Master Teacher and Resident Choreographer. Her work with Sarasota Opera includes Carmen, La Traviata, Rigoletto, and Romeo & Juliet, exemplifying her versatility and artistry. She continues to inspire through her innovative contributions to the world of dance.

Sandra was born in Cali, Colombia, where she had the opportunity to start acting at the age of 7 in second grade. She played a beautiful character as the Lady for Mother’s Day in a play called The Lady and the Tramp. After this memorable performance, she discovered her love and passion for being on stage. Motivated to continue improving, she began taking art classes in school, including dance and music, performing many times and falling in love with the stage. Sandra holds a business degree and is the proud mother of three wonderful, intelligent adult children. She is also a joyful grandmother to an 8-year-old handsome grandson. Sandra has lived in the Sunshine State of Florida for 21 years. Her most recent performance was in a heartfelt play called Voices of Immigration, where she had the honor of sharing the true stories of two different women seeking a better future and the realization of the American Dream.

One With The Gardens by Marsi Burns

The new piece will incorporate a cinematic video, created for a museum exhibition by artist Nicholas Riggs and myself, where I perform a site responsive improvisational dance interwoven with the beauty of Sarasota’s local gardens. I was inspired by the power and beauty of Richard Powers’ novel, “The Overstory,” which explores the deep relationship between humans and the social network of trees, and how we miraculously share much of our DNA with organic life. In light of the devastation caused by the recent hurricanes, I believe this work is a stark reminder of how our symbiotic relationship is more vital than ever, as we use our healing power to help restore and nourish nature’s fragile beauty.

I am an improvisational dance artist, choreographer, teacher and mentor originally based in NYC, and now residing in Sarasota Fl. I hold an M.A in dance from Columbia University. For over 50 years, I have created works for dance festivals, theatres, museums, galleries, parks, and iconic venues in NYC and the Northeast. I am a teaching artist for Sarasota Contemporary Dance, and artistic director of DITM, Dancing in the Moment, a multigenerational improvisational group of dancers and non-dancers, which I founded in 2019. Some past projects include: site specific group works in NYC Parks, commissioned by Dancing in the Streets, duets with Bessie Award winner Alice Teirstein at Movement Research at Judson Church, collaborations with musicians and visual artists in a variety of museums and solos at BAAD! In Sarasota, I directed DITM in SCD’s studio series in 2019 and 2022. The following year we brought Dance For the People to Sarasota Parks. I am honored to be chosen as one of the MicroWIP participants as I celebrate my 75th birthday.

Marsi be collaborating with two very gifted artists in this production:

Nicholas Riggs, 29, based in Sarasota, Florida is an aspiring, self-taught cinematographer and videographer who has small but broad experiences in different creative avenues such as: directing, writing and acting in short films, shooting music videos, and filming cinematic art pieces. His Florida based company is called: Just Works Media.

Courtney Prokopas first connected with Marsi Burns during Jess Pope’s Devising Movement workshop last spring at the Ringling. With a background in contemporary circus, she specializes in object manipulation, tightwire, and circus and dance for the camera. Courtney has been an invited performer at circus and aerial dance festivals across the U.S., Mexico, Costa Rica, Columbia, Canada, France and the UK. She completed a directorial apprenticeship with the London-based Gandini Juggling (2017-2018) and has contributed to the company as a trailer and feature-length video editor. Now based in Gulfport, FL. She works as a community organizer with the citizens’ collective Gulfportlandia.

Mamá Mala by Ivonne Batanero

English version: Mamá Mala is a one woman dance theater piece that pays homage to all the mothers who felt like they could do better, and to all children that wished they had a better mother. It is the recognition of feminine identity beyond the social role we fulfill whether as mothers, wives or daughters.

Spanish version: Mamá Mala es una obra de danza-teatro unipersonal que rinde homenaje a todas las madres que alguna vez sintieron que no podían hacer lo suficiente y a todos los niños que desearon tener una madre mejor. Es el reconocimiento a la identidad femenina más allá del rol social que cumplimos sea como madres, esposas o hijas.

I am a latina artist, mother, wife, dancer and choreographer. My work speaks of stories that I feel are important and necessary to be told. I like storytelling or better yet said, I like a good telenovela (soap opera). Like a good telenovela my work is exaggerated, humorous, and sprinkled with darkness. I use this aesthetic to tell stories about humanity. I make work that challenges the status quo. I don't subscribe to normalcy. I like to flip things on their heads, challenge current perspectives, brew up memories, and connect the audience in a personal and intimate way. Past projects include: collaborations with Haitian visual artist Adler Guerrier - Attendre, Esperar, Wait (Here and Now - Miami 2019), Agapanthus Turn - Various Sketches (Fat Village - Ft. Lauderdale 2019), I think it's in my Belly - (Girls Club Collective - 2014), 528 Days - (Dance Film - Lima, Perú 2015).

Dance with the Devil: a Burlesque by Amanda Heisey (Karma Kandlewick)

A one-woman burlesque telling a Faustian tale of yearning to be seen and loved by any means necessary. How far are we willing to go to get what we want and what are we really willing to do? Exploring the age-old struggle between achieving your dreams, and the cost, this burlesque celebrates sensuality and the human body using elements of pantomime, dance and vaudevillian strip tease.

Amanda Heisey, also known as Karma Kandlewick, is a local performance and theatre artist. She produces a burlesque show in Sarasota and performs around the state of Florida and the country, most recently performing in New York City with Broadway Brassy and the Kansas City Burlesque Festival. In 2020 she was named Master of Comedy in Florida Burlypicks. She is a director and playwright, as well as a burlesque and theatre educator. Kandlewick has written and performed in two burlesque-style shows over the past two years at the Squeaky Wheel Fringe Festival. Her goal is to empower those around her and to encourage everyone to accept their own sensuality.

Now Closed! MicroWIP Call will reopen in Fall 2025

Calling all Culture Coast performance makers! The Ringling’s Art of Performance program @theHAT (Historic Asolo Theater) is producing a work-in-progress (WIP) performance showing. MicroWIP is Sarasota’s experimental new performance micro-show. Four local creatives will be chosen to present 10-minute-max works-in-progress for a live audience of performance lovers. Application available August 1st.

Be a part of our MicroWIP cohort and apply today!

WHAT: MicroWIP is an open, interdisciplinary work-in-progress (WIP) showcase for emerging and established performance artists in the Sarasota, Manatee County areas. Selected artists will receive a $1,000 stipend, and a low-tech presentation of your WIP @theHAT.

WHO: We encourage working performing artists of different disciplines to apply. Lead artists must reside in Sarasota or Manatee Counties and cannot be students.

WHY: Presenting a WIP is an informal outward facing way for artists to experiment with new ideas. Getting emerging performance in front of an audience is an important part of the creative cycle and gives audiences a rare insight into the creative process.

WHEN:

• August 1- call opens
• September 11th - deadline to request feedback
• September 18th – application deadline
• October 21st - selected candidates notified
• January 23rd - tech rehearsals
• January 24th – MicroWIP performances @theHAT

HOW:

All applicants must:

• Complete the application process by September 18th .
• Be available to show work live on January 24th and attend tech rehearsal on the 23rd
• Be at least 18 years of age and currently reside in Sarasota or Manatee Counties
• Must not be a student

Selection Process

Applications are evaluated based on articulation of artistic goals, need and curating a balanced evening that highlights a range of disciplines and artistic voices. Applications will be reviewed by local artists and Ringling staff.

Questions? Feedback on applications is available before September 11th. Please email [email protected] with the subject line “MicroWIP: Questions enclosed”.