Category: Dance

Photographs by Bob Quesada of The 13th Annual Rotary Key Biscayne Wine and Food Fest

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The Rotary Club of Key Biscayne Foundation recently completed its XIII Annual Wine and Food fund raiser on Friday, January 26th. The event sold out quickly and turned into another resounding success with the help and support from the Rotary Club of Key Biscayne, The Nobis Foundation, The ARC of South Florida, our long standing partner Manos del Sur and community members at large.

Thirteen participating restaurants from our community prepared food delicacies to match the wines. Twenty four wineries competed for the recognition of Best in Show White and Red.

According to five independent judges, the winning white wine was B de Chanzy, a Rose from Provence, France, a delightful blend of Grenache and Syrah.

The winning red wine was a Merlot from Deerfield Ranch in Sonoma Valley, CA.

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Photographs of Tale of 2 Nations at Big Night Little Haiti at Little Haiti Cultural Center on 8/16/13

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Tale of 2 Nations at Big Night Little Haiti at Little Haiti Cultural Center on Friday, August 16, 2013.  This was the first time  that a traditional maracatu group from Recife, Brazil tours the the USA. Estrelha Brilante is visiting the US for a groundbreaking tour, joined by New York City based Brazilian group Nation Beat and Rasin Lakay brings the percussion and horns.

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Photographs of Zumbathon to Raise Awareness and Funds for Autism by Mr Q 305

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On Saturday, May 4th more than two hundred parents, community leaders and supporters participated in a ZUMBATHON at the Jorge Mas Canosa Youth Center, the event was organized by the D Amor Foundation to help raise awareness, and funds, for autism. The money raised from the event will go directly to local families in Miami, to fund activities such as taekwondo, soccer, music, art and also speech and occupational therapies for children or others.

The dancing was led by Zumba Jammer Meli Kirkwood who came from California for this event.

The D Amor Foundation was founded by Maria and Jose Montalvo in honor of their son, Diego, who was diagnosed with autism at age 2. The goal is to help families affected by autism in South Florida and Puerto Rico find resources and access to therapies, which can be costly. Here are some images of the event:

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The Zumba Dream Team.

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Havana Fusion Underground at PAX by Bob Quesada

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The sound is flawless. The melody emanating from the twelve musicians known as: Charanga Tipica Tropical is as good as good will ever get. This is a cohesiveness which can only be achieved after nearly forty years of playing together. It is the fusion that we know as “salsa”, being played the way it was meant to be played; with violins, flute, piano, trombones, bass, and of course: percussion, plenty of percussion.

On the dance floor some of the best dancers anywhere are going all out. Now, this is not the watered down stuff that you see on some tv shows, nobody here is dancing for ratings, they are dancing for the sheer enjoyment of moving their bodies to the rhythm of the music, and the moves are simply amazing. The dance floor is big enough to accommodate pros and amateurs alike, everybody has a smile on their face.

“Havana Fusion Underground” is the brainchild of Rene Gueits, a salsa dancing master himself and owner of “Salsa Lovers”, Miami’s premier salsa dancing school (98,000 students so far…and counting). Gueits has brought together the band, cigar rollers, a dance art exhibit, a dance showcase by the salsa lovers student team and even a latin food truck to make this an unforgettable event in what could easily be described as the most eclectic place to party.

We are at the Performing Arts Exchange or “PAX”, a venue preferred by some of the best known international artists such as Ricardo Arjona, Chino y Nacho and Gaby Moreno just to name a few. There’s reason for these artists to want to perform here. Roxanne Scalia, one of the founders explains it this way: “PAX is about finding the authenticity in art…everything we book at PAX is very scrutinized…we are an independent performing arts center…we focus on latin and world music …we have over 740 yards of acoustic sound” she adds: “My whole intention of opening this place is I want every customer to walk out with something more… when you give good art, you walk out that much smarter”.

 

To find out about Salsa Lovers:  www.salsalovers.com

To find out about events at PAX:  www.paxmiami.com

If you cannot see the images click on post title.

Alcazaba Pre Thanksgiving Party by Bob Quesada

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They are dancing everywhere, in the hotel lobby, in the courtyard, in the restaurant bar, in the halls and of course on the dance floor which is “cheek to cheek” room only. The party, which is known as “The Alcazaba Pre-Thanksgiving Reunion” packs about two thousand people in the Hyatt Regency Coral Gables Hotel on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving.

The crowd is enjoying disco, freestyle and latin music, DJ Alex Gutierrez is in control, every flawlessly matched mix brings a roar of approval from the forty to fifty something crowd which has waited a whole year for this. With the number of year round clubs that litter the landscape, one wonders: Why wait? Why this place?. As Gutierrez puts it: “…they get the sound of Miami here…Alcazaba has never changed…these people met the people they married here…they divorced because they would escape here on happy hour…this is built into the fabric of their life…”

Alcazaba opened in 1988 it stayed open for twenty one years. That longevity is almost unheard of for a club. The biggest night of the year for the club was always the night before Thanksgiving.

After closing in 2009 a funny thing happened… the patrons refused to let go. Slowly… via word of mouth and of course… social media, they demanded to have a party just like they had had every year for the past twenty one years, on the Wednesday night… before Thanksgiving. Hotel management complied and the rest, as they say, is history.

The party has now become a tradition, “This is the Cuban St. Patrick’s” says Gutierrez laughing, and to judge by the heavy hitters he’s got on the dj roster: Frank Banderas, Kiwi Mario and Mike in the Night, he is determined to make this the hottest spot south of Dublin. Even Billboard songwriter of the year Lewis Martinee drops by and mixes a couple of tunes to the crowd’s delight.

As the night progresses, Mike in the Night’s unique voice announces: “Ladies and gentlemen…we are going to be doing this once a month”…the crowd goes wild…the wait’s been reduced…from 364 to 29 days…

If you can’t see images below, please click on post title.

 

 

The 17th Annual Ballet Fest of Miami guests enjoyed a pre-VIP cocktail reception for the Etoiles Grand Classical Gala By Betty Alvarez

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The 17th Annual Ballet Fest of Miami held the Etoiles Grand Classical Gala on Sept. 15. Guests enjoyed a VIP cocktail reception with Cuban delicacies and specialty wine.

A Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to world-renowned swiss dancer, choreographer and former artistic director Heinz Spoerti. The performance featured worldwide ballet companies and their greatest stars.

Miami Hispanic Ballet is the umbrella company for the annual International Ballet Festival of Miami (IBFM), founded in 1996 and considered one of the most important Festivals of its kind in the US. Its mission is to introduce the South Florida audience to a stunning array of national and international ballet companies of artistic excellence from Europe, Latin America, and the USA. The magnitude of the program and prestige of the participating companies have captured the attention of the most demanding audiences. The IBMF has received rave reviews and earned the utmost respect from local and international media.

For more information please visit www.internationalballetfestival.org.

Photographs by Anthony Jordon of The Virginia key Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance on 2/10/12

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Photographs taken by Anthony Jordon of The Virginia Key Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance at The Historic Virginia Key Beach Park on Friday, February 10, 2012. They had Chaka Khan performing who is a 10 time Grammy Award winning singer and composer.  She was the lead singer for the band Rufus with hits throughout their career, including “Tell Me Something Good”, “Sweet Thing” and “Ain’t Nobody”.

Photographs taken by Anthony Jordon to see more of his work go to his flickr page or his facebook page.

Photographs by Anthony Jordon of The Virgina Key Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance on 2/11/12

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Photographs taken by Anthony Jordon of The Virginia Key Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance at The Historic Virginia Key Beach Park on Saturday, February 11, 2012.

Photographs taken by Anthony Jordon to see more of his work go to his flickr page or his facebook page.

Photographs of Peter London Global Dance Theater Premiere Showcase on 10/30/11

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Peter London Global Dance Theater Premiere Showcase at The Little Haiti Cultural Center on Sunday, October 30, 2011.  What a wonderful performance and I am so looking forward to attending more performance by this wonderful dance group.  Beautiful!!! They also offer a variety of dance classes.

The Peter London Global Dance Theater exists to promote the creative expressions of its founder and artistic director, Peter London, through his choreographic creations, training of aspiring and professional dancers. PLGDT will aim to undertake numerous performances and educational workshops for local, national and global audiences with an emphasis on the inclusion of underserved artists and audiences as well as the collaboration for new choreographic works with local and global artists in the visual arts and other creative media.

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Miami City Ballet in Paris by Rebecca King

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{A Guest Article by Dancer and Blogger Rebecca King.}

Miami City Ballet In Paris
by Rebecca King

This July, Miami City Ballet embarked on a three week tour to Paris where we performed 17 shows to sold-out audiences at the historical Théâtre du Châtelet. The experience was unforgettable for everyone involved and an experience we were so lucky to have. I am Rebecca King, a Corps de Ballet dancer with the Company, and today I bring you behind-the-scene photos from the City of Lights.


Miami City Ballet posters were all over the city! Dancers pose in front of the first one we saw on our first day in Paris.


We examine maps as we decide where we want to go next in the Louvre.


Checking the map, looking only slightly touristy.


The Eiffel Tower sparkling at night.


The Théâtre du Châtelet curtain from the audience.


Bowing after George Balanchine’s “Ballet Imperial” on opening night.


Enjoying fabulous French cuisine on a day off.


Ladurée macaroons became a quick favorite among the company members.


Bowing after George Balanchine’s “La Valse”.


Celebrating backstage after the last show of Twyla Tharp’s “In The Upper Room”.


A view of the Théâtre du Châtelet house from the stage.


A group photo taken after the final curtain fell on our first Parisian tour. The dance festival presenters lowered a banner from above the stage inviting us back to Paris.


Celebrating after the last show with the entire cast, including the orchestra.

We all feel so lucky to have had this exceptional experience in Paris. This was a once in a life-time opportunity. The success that we had was overwhelming; we never could have asked for a better reception from the Parisian audiences. We cannot wait to return and once again show Paris what we are made of.
For more on what is to come in Miami City Ballet’s 2011-2012 season, visit my blog, tendusunderapalmtree.com. To purchase tickets to upcoming Miami City Ballet performances, visit miamicityballet.org.

Photographs of Live Love Park at Grand Central on 2/11/11

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Live Love Park at Grand Central on on Friday, February 11, 2011.

PARK Project’s mission is to Perform Acts of Random Kindness and LIVE THE CAUSE in hopes of creating a powerful ripple effect of LOVE found in the genuine SERVICE of others. This short and humble message aims to inspire and empower by unlocking the potential of people of all ages, capabilities and resources to BE THE CHANGE we all wish to see in the world. This grassroots effort began with one PARK Project; a birthday party, 9/10/10, that united over 200 people and raised $1,500 to benefit the Miami VA Fisher House and the American Cancer Society. This one act of random kindness resulted in a powerful ripple effect that has united thousands of people and dozens of Community PARKners in just a few months!

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Photographs of Temptation Cabaret at Passion Nightclub at Hard Rock on 4/24/10

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Temptation Cabaret at Passion Nightclub at Seminole Hard Rock on Saturday, April 24, 2010.  Temptation brings modern french-style cabaret to the South Florida stage, renowned choreographer Kalyn James, producer Rico James, executive producer Dean Kronacher and professional trained dancers from around the world.

The show awesome, when it was over, I still wanted to see more.  The choreography was great and the dancers where fantastic  and the staff was awesome.  They used  several different style of music from the classic cabaret to modern music.  It was so worth the trip up to the Seminole Hard Rock and I would go see it again.

{Additional comments from James: I have to say, this program was surprisingly good. Being at a casino in Hollywood, we did not really know what to expect. However, the show is excellent.The choreography is interesting and creative, as well as being much broader than one might anticipate. Many current cabaret shows are either just kind of classic in format or completely cheesy and over the top. The choreography here combined classic elements with modern styles. It is extremely sexy without being overtly tawdry.The dancers are stunning. Real beautiful girls, not the kind of plastic, ghetto-style that you see in some of these shows. Their skill and panache in the numbers shows a real dedication to the show. Combining the dance numbers with narration and tying it together with a loose storyline really takes it to the next level.This is not the kind of show you see in one of the over-the-top clubs, nor is it the kind of semi-amateur show you see at various events around town. Though they do not have the massive budget of the Vegas shows, the creativity and skill in this show could stand beside those. This is definitely the kind of show we need more of in south Florida.It may sound like I am overplaying this description, but honestly, we were very, very surprised by the quality of the show. The photos here do not begin to properly represent what you get. Highly recommended. Go see for yourself!}

Photographs of a Dance Performance at The Cando Arts Coop on 4/11/10

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A dance presentation inspired by the space and work of the CANDO Arts Co-op on Sunday, April 11, 2010.  It’s Happening… was a collage of experiences and interpretations, reflecting on the work of Miami artists: Deborah Weed, Dena & Stewart Stewart, Lucinda Linderman, Paula Turk, AnneFaye Poole, and James Broderick. 7 young international and local choreographers, all students and alumni of the New World School of the Arts dance program, came together to create a physical second look at art. They explore the textures, perceptions of, and reactions to the ideas and images presented at the CANDO Arts Co-op. For the better gallery, click here.