Performance Saturdays

Miami Design District supports the performing arts

By Aaron Glickman

October’s Gallery Walk in the Miami Design District launches the incorporation of performance with some of Miami’s most innovative arts groups. Performance Saturdays will extend Second Saturdays beyond the contemporary visual arts and into performance-based programs.

On Saturday, October 12 from 7:00 to 11:30 p.m., this inaugural event is free to the public and will include four 20 minute acts, each in a different Design District location. Miami Cocktail Company will be supplying drinks throughout the night, and following the final performance in the rooftop garden, DJ Ben Wash will jam electronic beats while an eclectic mix of performance artists and patrons party the night away.

Performance Saturdays is presented by the Miami Design District with partners Miami Theater Center (MTC), Green Room Society, Miami Cocktail Company and SocialMiami.com. Special thanks to Stephanie Ansin and Octavio Campos from MTC for their assistance in booking the performers.

Photography by Manny Hernandez.


 

PROGRAM
Act One
7:00 to 7:20 – 4141 Building AtriumBelaxis Buil is a dancer/performance artist who will be presenting what she describes as a hybrid work called Blacked Out. Her concept is designed to be a retort against mob thinking and encourages audience members to be more than a number in society. Through a recreation of an installation made of duct tape and a collaboration with several other performance artists, Buil will shed light on how the growing trend toward urbanism strips individuals of their identities and cultural histories.

Buil first trained as a visual artist and later modeled in New York. Presented with the choice to model in Europe or go back to her artistic roots, Buil chose the latter and attended New World School of the Arts where she experimented with different disciplines. She eventually married those disciplines to create a unique conceptual art aesthetic that combines her visual art and performance art training.


Act Two

7:40 to 8:00 – Moore Building Atrium

Playwright Theo Reyna will be joined by cast members of his original play Knowledge and Noise to perform an interactive “lost scene” from the play. Knowledge and Noise is currently being developed as a part of the Miami Theater Center’s (MTC) SandBox Series, an MTC initiative, supported in part by a Knight Arts Challenge grant, designed to supply emerging performing artists the needed resources to mount an original performance for an extended run.

Knowledge and Noise takes place in a society where it is against the law not to know the purpose of your life. The penalty is exile. For the Performance Saturdays “lost scene”, audience members will have the opportunity to interrogate the actors and determine if they know their life’s purpose. Reyna wants people to question the seriousness in which they approach their lives and believes there can be points in anyone’s life where they are adrift.

Pictured: Beata Rihkter, Theo Reyna and Giordan Diaz


Act Three
8:20 to 8:40 – Moore Building’s 2nd floor event space

The Project [theatre] will present Pop Art. Described as a pop up performance, or flash play, Pop Art consists of two short plays set within imaginary art galleries. According to The Project’s David Hemphill, their plays are essentially “performances in a box” that can be picked up and easily taken to different venues.

The Project [theatre] started a little over three years ago and allows its company members a chance to create rather than just being a part of something else. Started by New World School of the Arts graduates (three of four founding members), the group loves seeing people who don’t normally attend theater coming to their shows.

Pictured: The Project [theatre] members Elayne Bryan, Stephen Kaiser and David Hemphill


Act Four

9:00 to 9:20 – Rooftop Garden

A hidden gem that is underground by design, SpeakFridays is freedom, creativity, love, inclusion and expression.

For the last seven years, host Robert Lee has produced this music, spoken word poetry, comedy infused variety show in the Bird Road Arts District, and now he brings his act to the Miami Design District for Performance Saturdays.

Check out SocialMiami’s feature on SpeakFridays.

 

 


Denouement
Moore Building’s Rooftop Garden

Ben Wash is a DJ and producer working under the South Beach-based music label Kings Head Records.

Originally from South Carolina, Wash is motivated by what’s happening in the Miami Design District and south thru downtown. He’s observed a good underground vibe that differs from Miami Beach.

Wash is excited to perform for the Performance Saturdays audience and proud to be working with the innovative arts groups that the Miami Design District is bringing together.


DJ Ben Wash, Belaxis Buil, David Hemphill, Stephen Kaiser, Elayne Bryan, Robert Lee, Beata Rihkter, Theo Reyna and Giordan Diaz in the Rooftop Garden
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