Miami City Ballet wows Wynwood crowd with flash mob

Whatever the crowds streaming through Wynwood Walls at Saturday’s art walk were expecting — colorful murals, free wine — they didn’t expect this: a phalanx of sultry dancers moving in taut unison to seductive tango music, a sensual dance fantasy emerging suddenly from the mass of shuffling art viewers.

“Wow, they’re good,” asked one woman, eyeing a line of lean men over her cellphone camera. “Who are they?”

They were members of Miami City Ballet, in their first flash mob performance. Their surprise show, an excerpt from Paul Taylor’s Piazzolla Caldera, aimed to promote the ballet’s season-opening program at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts this weekend.

MCB dancers Rebecca King and Callie Manning brought the idea to new artistic director Lourdes Lopez, who enthusiastically signed on last week. The company scrambled to pull together the event, which became part of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s Random Acts of Culture program.

Dressed in denim shorts, T-shirts and tank tops, sneakers and sandals, the dancers seemed to enjoy themselves and the sensation they created. They mingled with the crowd beforehand, and afterward rushed out among the startled onlookers, handing out cards offering half-price discounts to the Arsht Center performances.

They’ll dance Piazzolla Caldera as well as Frederick Ashton’s Les Patineurs and George Balanchine’s Apollo at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday; miamicityballet.org.

The director’s new film is an exhilarating ode to love, parenthood and music.

The week ahead at the movies and on TV

Before there was a George Benson — a phenomenal jazz instrumentalist who found mainstream success as a smooth-voiced pop singer — there was a Nat King Cole. So it seems almost inevitable that Benson would headline Unforgettable: A Tribute to Nat King Cole, the show that opens the fifth Jazz Roots season at Miami’s Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. He’ll share the stage Friday with singer-pianist Freddy Cole, Nat’s youngest brother, and the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra.

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Fire rages in Wynwood art warehouse

Firefighters worked all day Wednesday to tame a stubborn, smoky blaze at a Wynwood art warehouse and protect surrounding buildings.

The storage building, 60 NE 27th St., belongs to Art by God, a family-owned business known for its decorative fossils and nature-inspired furniture. The fire broke out at about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday in the packing and shipping area where inventory was waiting to be sent to retail stores across the country.

Miami Fire Rescue Lt. Ignatius Carroll said several factors made this a particularly difficult fire to control.

“The warehouse had what we call a large fire load — basically with wood and stuff stacked up pretty high,” Carroll said. “Because there were no windows, it was hard to get ventilation going, and it was difficult to stay in the building once conditions got worse.”

After battling flames for about four hours, Carroll said, the team switched to a containment strategy and pulled the firefighters out of the building. Part of the roof collapsed at 3 p.m., but no one was inside at the time.

Two firefighters were taken to the hospital for dehydration and minor injuries. About 80 firefighters were on the scene during the peak of the crisis.

Ingrid Harris, whose parents started the home décor business 25 years ago, said about half the inventory in the warehouse was destroyed.

“We’re just thankful for the fire department and glad no one got hurt,” Harris said. “Hopefully we’ll come back from this.”

Jolt Radio, a local online radio station, is throwing a Dia de los Muertos celebration featuring local bands at Churchill’s on Friday.

French Week Miami is a month-long event that showcases French culture and its prevalence in South Florida, including French films, discussions and deals at restaurants and boulangeries.

At 6 p.m. on Nov. 8, hundreds of local residents will commemorate the 74th anniversary of "Kristallnacht," or the Night of Broken Glass, which was considered to be a major turning point in Hitler's campaign to annihilate Jewish people in the early days of World War II.Sponsored by the Holocaust Memorial of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, participants will gather at the Holocaust Memorial at1933-1945 Meridian Ave. in Miami Beach for a program of inspirational addresses, poetry readings and musical performances. Speakers willinclude an eyewitness to "Kristallnacht," as well as Andrew C. Hall, Esq., the first child survivor of the Holocaust to serve as chairmanof the Holocaust Memorial.

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Guide to the first Wynwood Art Walk of the high season

After a sluggish summer, and with Art Basel Miami Beach not far off, Miami’s cultural scene promises to swing back into high gear this Saturday with the first Wynwood Art Walk of the fall. It is also another, more somber first: the first edition of this open gallery night since the death of pioneering developer Tony Goldman.

With that in mind, toast your glass of gallery-provided wine to his memory as you check out these choice openings on Saturday.

1989-2012: Fotografias de Juan Carlos Alom @ Buzzart

Buzzart is a new gallery founded by a Spanish collective and focused on contemporary Latin-American and Spanish photography. For its inaugural show, it presents a retrospective by Cuban photographer Juan Carlos Alom, with more than 50 black-and-white and color photos reflecting his particular take on life on the island.

To view the full guide for the Saturday's Wynwood Art Walk, visit beachedmiami.com.

Jolt Radio, a local online radio station, is throwing a Dia de los Muertos celebration featuring local bands at Churchill’s on Friday.

French Week Miami is a month-long event that showcases French culture and its prevalence in South Florida, including French films, discussions and deals at restaurants and boulangeries.

At 6 p.m. on Nov. 8, hundreds of local residents will commemorate the 74th anniversary of "Kristallnacht," or the Night of Broken Glass, which was considered to be a major turning point in Hitler's campaign to annihilate Jewish people in the early days of World War II.Sponsored by the Holocaust Memorial of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, participants will gather at the Holocaust Memorial at1933-1945 Meridian Ave. in Miami Beach for a program of inspirational addresses, poetry readings and musical performances. Speakers willinclude an eyewitness to "Kristallnacht," as well as Andrew C. Hall, Esq., the first child survivor of the Holocaust to serve as chairmanof the Holocaust Memorial.

View the original article here