ERS members Mike Iveson and Lucy Taylor in rehearsal for The Sun Also Rises
Artists from every realm will come together again this year for the second annual Ringling International Arts Festival. Presented by the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art and the Baryshnikov Arts Center of New York, the festival will take place over five days, October 13-17, 2010. Dancers, musicians, actors and visual artists will present their contemporary work on the Ringling grounds along Sarasota Bay
The night of premieres kicks off at 6 p.m. with a champagne toast, followed by several options of RIAF premieres at 7 p.m.: Solos with Mikhail Bayshnikov and David Neumann, Tim Fain's Glass and Bach for Solo Violin, Nilo Cruz's Hurricane and Forman Brothers Theatre's Opera Baroque. Following the premieres, patrons and artists will come together to experience fireworks and a gourmet buffet and open bar in the Museum of Art Courtyard.
RIAF dance performances include the original and internationally acclaimed John Jaspere Company, presenting Magic, Mystery and Other Mundane Events, folk-inspired modern dancers Les Slovaks, hip-hop inspired Rubberbandance Group, presenting Loan Sharking, and solos by graceful Baryshnikov and Neumann.
Musicians performing at RIAF include violinist Tim Fain, premiering a piece by Phillip Glass and performing a piece by Bach, Sandra and the Takeishis, presenting Gypsy in a Tree, a mix of gypsy music, cabaret and jazz, and bassist, violinist and jazz singer Kate Davis.
Theatre performances includes a moving, Florida-inspired play, Hurricane, written by Nilo Cruz, the Theater Art Studio's The Boys, an intense Russian theatre production, Andrew Dawson's documentary Space Panorama and the Forman Brothers Theatre's Opera Baroque, a fusion of opera and theatre.
Visual arts presentations include Yinka Shonibare's Mother and Father Worked Hard so I Can Play, 20th Century Abstract Art from the Ringling Collection and Threads of Gold, Renaissance tapestries from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
RIAF will offer up 45 festival stage productions, several of which can be enjoyed on the same day. For $150 ($140 for Ringling Museum members), patrons will enjoy the pre-performance champagne toast, a festival premiere and the post-performance Courtyard Gala. Admission also includes daily entry to the Museum of Art, the Circus Museum and the Ca' d'Zan, as well as lectures, tours and other RIAF events, such as Jazz Sunsets.
For more information, tickets and the full schedule, visit www.ringlingartsfestival.org.
