Culture Shock Miami Presents Rhythmic Circus's Feet Don't Fail Me Now
Miami, FL (PRWEB) May 07, 2014 -- Following its success last summer presenting Street Beat, Culture Shock Miami (http://CultureShockMiami.com) again brings great summertime, student entertainment to Miami-Dade County. This June, Culture Shock Miami presents Rhythmic Circus, a company of home-grown hoofers from the Minneapolis arts scene. The troupe makes its Miami-Dade premiere on the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center stage in a show called Feet Don't Fail Me Now!, a dynamic tap and music performance that mixes hard-hitting percussive dance and a live rock band. The performance is on Saturday, June 28, 2014 at 8:00 PM.
Tickets for Rhythmic Circus are $5 to students 13-22 years old, exclusively through http://Cultureshockmiami.com. Full price tickets are $15-$25 at the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center Box office, 786-573-5300 or online at SMDCAC.org.
See the trailer for Rhythmic Circus's Feet Don’t Fail Me Now! http://youtu.be/riupQGCF5a8.
Three guys and a gal combine rapid-fire tap talent with the funky styling and original lyrics of Root City, a seven-piece band with a big, brass sound; add vocal percussionist Aaron "Heatbox" Heaton, the human beatbox, for a third layer of rhythmic percussion and it's easy to see why this show earned a 2012 Edinburgh Festival Fringe Mervyn Stutter's Spirit of the Fringe Award.
From an a cappella singing and tap number to a percussive chair routine, Feet Don't Fail Me Now! is a genre-hopping program of rock, blues and soul. Highlights include the stripped down "Dream Song," an acoustic number inspired by a front porch jam session back home in Minneapolis, and the brilliant staging and integrated choreography of "Circus," a crowd-pleaser in which the dancers, decked out in colorful marching band attire, join the musicians in an intense, fast-paced number that features a tuba solo, original vocal lines and tap breakdowns.
"They bring the furious funk ... and tap their way into everyone's hearts!" - Star Tribune "Fast, furious footwork!" - New York Times
"A family-friendly tap extravaganza!" - New York Post
Although the company's official inception was in 2007, the troupe's core members have been collectively choreographing and performing together since 2000. Feet Don't Fail Me Now! premiered in August 2008 at the Ritz Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and went on to tour both nationally and internationally, including a recent six-week tour throughout China. The ensemble was awarded in two categories of the Minnesota SAGE Awards for Outstanding Performance and Outstanding Ensemble and was also named the "Best Dance Performance" by the Minneapolis/St. Paul City Pages.
According to Culture Shock Miami Manager Christina Tassy-Beauvoir, “We are continuing to build on the extremely positive response we have been receiving from our young audiences who expect top-quality performances all year long. Because June through September is the off-season for most of Miami-Dade’s performing arts companies, we feel our summer presentations fill the cultural break that teens and college age youth experience during these long hot months. Rhythmic Circus is a great choice.”
Under the Artistic Direction of Ricci Milan and Executive Direction of Nick Bowman, Rhythmic Circus includes dancers Nick Bowman, Galen Higgins, Ricci Milan and Kaleena Miller. The musicians of Root City include guitarist Alex Rossi, beatboxer Aaron Heaton, keys player Cornell Blanchard, drummer Patrick Nelson, bassist Dan Ristrom, saxophonist Peter Vircks and trumpeter Aaron Wiener.
About the Rhythmic Circus
Rhythmic Circus is a troupe of internationally renowned artists. Since their early start at a small theatre in northeast Minneapolis, they have grown into an international sensation touring to over 100 cities worldwide.
Although the company's official inception was in 2007, the troupe's core members have been choreographing and performing together since 2000. No stranger to the spotlight, they were featured on Twin City Public Television's MN Original, collaborated with Vocal Essence in Witness: A Tribute to Duke Ellington at the Ordway Performing Arts Center and appeared in the Crash Bang Boom! Festival at the Minnesota Orchestra Hall. The company's repute goes well beyond the sum of the dancer's talents; themed pieces include costume changes and musical segues that highlight the funky styling of a seven-piece band. With their combined and highly integrated talents, the dancers and musicians are known for leaving audiences on their feet and dancing in the aisles.
About the Building
South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center serves as a showcase for the performing and media arts, welcoming people from all backgrounds and economic means. The facility includes 961 seat state-of-the- art theater, which features a fly tower, orchestra pit, front of house spaces (box office, lobby, concessions, etc.) and back of house support spaces (dressing rooms, storage and work areas, administrative offices, etc.). The site also includes an activities building which houses lab / experimental theaters, and may be used for classrooms, rehearsals, and small-scale performances. A beautiful outdoor plaza allows for festivals, art shows, and other outdoor activities. The concert lawn “back yard” slopes to the Black Creek Canal, and can host outdoor concerts, performances and events.
About Culture Shock Miami and http://www.cultureshockmiami.com
Culture Shock Miami was inaugurated in 2005-06 by the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, with a generous grant from The John S. & James L. Knight Foundation. Since then, it has more than 41,000 tickets through its website http://www.cultureshockmiami.com. A core group of arts organizations participate regularly in the program, including Actors' Playhouse, Adrienne Arsht Center, Cleveland Orchestra Miami, Dranoff 2 Piano Foundation, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Florida Grand Opera, Miami City Ballet, New World Symphony, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, and ZooMiami. The Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council develop cultural excellence, diversity and participation throughout Miami-Dade County by strategically creating and promoting opportunities for artists and cultural organizations, and our residents and visitors who are their audiences. The Department directs the Art in Public Places program and serves its board, the Art in Public Places Trust, commissioning, curating, maintaining and promoting the County’s art collection. The Department also manages, programs and operates the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center, a campus of state-of-the-art cultural facilities in Cutler Bay, as well as Miami-Dade County Auditorium, Joseph Caleb Auditorium and the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center, all dedicated to presenting and supporting excellence in the arts for the entire community. Through staff, board and programmatic resources, the Department, the Council and the Trust promote, coordinate and support Miami-Dade County’s more than 1,000 not-for-profit cultural organizations as well as thousands of resident artists through grants, technical assistance, public information and interactive community planning. The Department receives funding through the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners, The Children’s Trust, the National Endowment for the Arts, the State of Florida through the Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Other support and services are provided by TicketWeb for the Culture Shock Miami program, the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, the South Florida Cultural Consortium and the Tourist Development Council.
Stephen Belth, Arts Marketing Network, http://artsmarketing.net, +1 (516) 359-2548, [email protected]
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