Arts Ballet Pays Tribute to Sensuous Work of Legendary Venezuelan

Vladimir Issaev’s dance company, the Arts Ballet Theater of Florida, is about to begin its 2013-2014 season, and “there will be surprises,” Issaev says. He is referring as much to the digital animation woven through his “Firebird,” as the presentation of “Pentimento,” a work by Vicente Nebrada, a legendary Venezuelan…

Sons of the Prophet at GableStage: Laughter in Suffering

According to Carol Burnett’s oft-quoted epigram, comedy is tragedy plus time. That witticism has held up for more than 20 years, though today I would excise the “plus time” part. In the age of Twitter, tragedy instantaneously becomes comedy. “Too soon” is too quaint a complaint: Comedy and tragedy always…

Sons of the Prophet at GableStage: Surprising Humor in Human Suffering

According to Carol Burnett’s oft-quoted epigram, comedy is tragedy plus time. That witticism has held up for more than 20 years, though today I would excise the “plus time” part. In the age of Twitter, tragedy instantaneously becomes comedy. “Too soon” is too quaint a complaint: Comedy and tragedy always…

Venus Rising: An African Roots Rhythmic Journey

About 20 women strong, the Venus Rising Drum and Dance Ensemble is the local cultural dance scene’s female empowerment movement expressed through West African movement and rhythms. The group will headline this year’s Miami World Music Festival, held from Sept. 19 to 22 at Florida International University’s Wertheim Center for…

Circo Hermanos Vazquez at the Arsht Center Through September 15

The name might not be familiar to circus laymen, but Mexican’s Vazquez brothers are like the Ringlings of Mexico, founding a circus in 1969 with nothing but a handmade tarp and rented equipment and emerging as one of the most powerful entertainment brands in their country. After nearly four decades…

Greater Tuna at the Pelican Playhouse Through September 15

The Pelican Playhouse has made a point to single out its current production as a “PG-rated” play — a lurch toward somewhat adult material for a family-friendly community theater that prides itself on its all-ages productions. The work in question is a caustically funny satire of backward culture that has…

Blow Me at Mad Cat: Meandering Fashionista Madness

In Mad Cat Theatre Company’s new bio-play about late British fashion muse Isabella Blow, all the world’s a stage, but not a very glamorous one. The intimate theater-in-the-round set design is a harsh runway that juts out from tattered curtains. It’s framed by an antlered mannequin, a worn speaker, and…

Coconut Grove Playhouse Restoration Plan Gets State Approval

For supporters of a plan to reopen the Coconut Grove Playhouse, the countdown has begun. On Tuesday, Florida Governor Rick Scott and his cabinet approved a proposal by FIU and Miami-Dade County to lease the playhouse from the state. But the property is still mired in debt, and Tuesday’s decision…

Blow Me: Mad Cat Theatre Company’s Fashion-Focused Festival Revamp

This past April, South Beach Comedy Festival-goers were treated to an eccentric tragicomedy about an eccentric celebrity, Isabella Blow, the British fashion muse and magazine editor known for her keen eye (she discovered Alexander McQueen) and ostentatious headwear. Exploring Issi’s wit, style, and death wish – she attempted suicide six…

Slava’s Snowshow Through August 25 at the Arsht Center

When he’s not performing, Slava Polunin looks like an off-season Santa Claus or an aging wizard from a fantasy-movie franchise. Onstage, in his yellow parka, oversize red shoes, giant strawberry nose, and electrified white hair, he is no less fantastical. A versatile performance artist who once organized a street march…