Arts & Culture

Born in Pennsylvania, jazz pianist Michael Orta went to Miami-Dade College in the mid-Eighties and then to the University of Miami. Which means, of course, a heavy Latin influence. In fact in 1991 Orta toured and recorded with Arturo Sandoval; in 1994 he worked with Paquito D’Rivera. One of his…

Ganglandnews.com Paciello, with Madonna and Lourdes Chris Paciello’s life is a rags-to-riches-back-to-rags story. Now it’s an A & E movie. Paciello, once a New York thug, moved to Miami and became the prince of South Beach nightlife (and a pal of club impressario/Madonna friend Ingrid Casares). But his past came…

This is the question posed today by a Reuters wire story. It says that three TV shows that are supposedly set in Miami — Dexter, Nip/Tuck and CSI Miami — all routinely film in Long Beach. So keep this in mind tonight when you’re watching Horatio Caine do his thing…

Will there be moonlight over Miami? Will the weather gods smile on us this weekend? After a week of bizarre wind events and hail as far south as Hollywood, our fingers are crossed for a calm, clear-skied two day respite. The rain can recommence on Monday, so long as we…

Step inside the freshly hatched Center for Visual Communication in Wynwood, and you might find yourself transported from the tangle of building sites and boom cranes honeycombing the area to a pristine vision of Florida far from the construction din. The space has popped its cork with “Majestic Florida,” an…

“Merce Cunningham: Dancing on the Cutting Edge Part I”: MoCA’s institutional toast to the legendary choreographer’s career marks the first U.S. museum show since 1997 to focus on Cunningham’s collaborations with visual artists, and features costumes and decor actually used in his company’s productions. The exhibit includes works by Sandra…

Neil LaBute has a reputation for deliberate misogyny. His edgy dramas like In the Company of Men and Your Friends and Neighbors didn’t win him any friends among his fellow worshipers in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. After courting controversy with Bash: Latter-Day Plays, LaBute got the…

Ever been to a Dade Heritage Days event? We know, it sounds like boring museum lectures on the history of orange groves and Fidel Castro. But there is so much more! The annual event, sponsored by the Dade Heritage Trust, brings interested locals and visitors through some of the lesser-known…

Back in the Twenties, when the Harlem Globetrotters were based in Chicago, the tall, strapping members of the stunt basketball team were seen as heroes. In the era before the civil rights movement, the all-black ballers demonstrated their skills before a vast variety of audiences and helped to change prejudiced…

Thomas the Tank Engine is the man. Kids love him. He smokes but won’t give you second-hand sickness. He has a “cheeky” attitude, and Ringo Starr himself once narrated his story. This blue icon has been described as “a little engine with a long tongue.” Other than the Smurfs, what…

During festival season, Miami hosts celebrations for all kinds of delicious edibles. From Andalusian cuisine to white zinfandel wine, they all get a moment in the sun. So it’s kind of surprising that our city has never before hosted a fete for everyone’s favorite plant-derived sweet treat. Fairchild Tropical Botanic…

Set the time machine to 1512, and you’ll find people were stressed back then too, but over food and disease. Their solace: classical music. “The music brought heaven to the earth, helping them get away from it all,” says the Miami Bach Society’s executive director, Kathy Gaubatz. The organization is…

In America, youngsters grow up on the heavy beats of hip-hop, and the music culturally influences fashion and dance. In India, the big sound is bhangra, and the infectious rhythms and lively dancing have a rabid following worldwide. Bhangra beats have emerged from the Punjab region to become the soundtrack…

So around this time last year, we wrote an article about the annual Bob Marley Movement Caribbean Fest that was heartfelt, but apparently aroused the displeasure of the event’s organizers. Could it be that the awkward interview struck a chord? Possibly so — this year’s event lineup is ten times…

Trinidad’s carnival is an extremely visual celebration — everywhere you look, scantily clad women are drenched in glitter and sweat, while grown men are wearing bright feathered headdresses. But what propels the unflagging festivity ever forward is the music. Soca music’s speeded-up, syncopated beats require a minute of adjustment for…

In a world gone mad with celebrity-chasing, there is no need to hide in your closet to escape. The Miami City Ballet and the Florida International University dance department are offering respite from the Britney/Paris/Anna Nicole madness with a needed dose of class and culture. The 1936 ballet Lilac Garden…

Stuffed into one of the few buildings left on South Beach that doesn’t house a nightclub is the country’s finest collection of twentieth-century design. The Wolfsonian Museum’s bounty isn’t acquired cheaply, so the annual A Very Wolfsonian Weekend strives to raise money and awareness for its programs. Three public events…

For those who left theaters moaning that the recent Edie Sedgwick biopic Factory Girl had fleas, Andy Warhol: Motion Pictures at the Miami Art Museum (MAM) promises a time capsule throwback to the superstar Sixties as captured through the Pop Art provocateur’s lens. After earning fame for his iconic paintings…

If you once dreamed of having a green thumb (before you realized that it often comes along with a brown fingernail), perhaps it’s best to leave the horticulture to the pros and observe from afar. There’s a lot for constantly aspiring gardners to admire this weekend at the 62nd Miami…

Guess what? The only attendees to that little pity party you’re throwing are gonna be you, the dart board, and a bottle of Bacardi. The stage play Issues: We All Got ‘Em is coming to town, and this is one play that’s going to show that you’re not the only…

Mmmm, mmm. Everyone loves a clambake. No, not one of those parties with more chicks than, um, sausages; we’re talking about an outdoor extravaganza of fresh-cooked seafood and open fires. But this ain’t your Bostonian cousin’s clambake. This is a real, live South Beach shindig, so you should leave your…