Dance auditions: National middle-school tour

Here’s an audition notice from John Peros Casting for dancers for a national tour going to middle schools:

Enzian to show opera and ballet on screen this summer

Enzian has lots in store this summer for fans of opera and ballet, with six filmed operas and ballets beginning this weekend. Here’s the rundown:

Orlando invites public to ground-breaking festivities for arts center

Well, we never thought we’d see it, but next week the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts is finally breaking ground.

And you’re invited. Here’s info from the Dr. Phillips Center office about what’s going on. My buddy Davis Gaines will be there — will you?

Dance auditions: Emotions Dance

An audition notice from Emotions Dance:

Architect’s hand to be lopped from arts center?

Barton Myers plan for the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts

Interesting little snippet of a story today by Mark Schlueb in the Sentinel, in which Barton Myers, architect of the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, worried that his design will be screwed up if it’s built the way planners are talking about it now.

Memorial service planned for Kip Watson

A memorial service for Orlando dance pioneer Kip Watson, who died yesterday morning of cancer, will be at 4 p.m. Friday April 15 at the First Congregational Church in Winter Park.The church is at 225 S. Interlachen Ave., Winter Park.

Kip’s family and friends are in the process of establishing a memorial fund in his name. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear more details.

In memoriam: Kip Watson

Kip Watson

I’m sorry to have to say that Kip Watson, one of the forefathers of dance in Central Florida, died this morning of cancer.

Dance auditions: Drip

Here’s an audition notice from the dance/performance art group Drip:

Arts-education center puts on talent contest for kids

Here’s a way for kids to win some bucks from the Orange County Arts Education Center — if they’ve got a talent to display:

DPAC gets another $1.5 million

Orlando’s performing-arts center project has just announced a new $1.5 million gift from Marc and Sharon Hagle, who already gave DPAC $1 million in 2007.

Best thing about the gift? It’s dedicated toward the acoustic theater, meant to be home to the Orlando Philharmonic and the Orlando Ballet. That’s good news to members of the Orlando arts community, who have fretted that their needs were not being met with the planned construction first of an amplified hall for touring Broadway shows and popular music.

Learn to dance like Lizzy Bennet

Here’s an appealing notion: To celebrate its upcoming production of Pride and Prejudice, Orlando Shakespeare Theater is offering a  dance party in which choreographer W. Robert Sherry will teach you to dance Regency-style, just like Elizabeth Bennet and her as-yet-to-be-determined future swain.

GOAT’s Cherry Street home is no more

Greater Orlando Actors’ Theatre has given up on moving back into its onetime home at 669 Cherry St. in Winter Park, board member Paul Castaneda says.

The group did about half a dozen shows at the Cherry Street building in 2009 but had to leave it early this year because of problems with Winter Park city codes. Both the landlord and GOAT itself put in money to bring the building up to code. (Bathrooms and egress were among the problems.) But Castaneda says the cost kept rising and eventually it just became too much.

Yow Dance at Trinity this weekend

There’s a whole lot of entertainment going on this weekend, but here’s one event you might have missed — Yow Dance’s inaugural concert of the season at Trinity Prep in Winter Park. The facts:

Oct. 8-10, 2010
8 p.m. Friday and Saturday
2 p.m. Sunday
Trinity Preparatory School
5700 Trinity Prep Lane
Winter Park, FL 32792
Admission: $10 ($8 for seniors, students and hospitality)

Dance auditions: Emotions Dance Company

Here’s an audition announcement from Emotions Dance Company:

Yow Dance to hold benefit this weekend

It’s fundraising season, and Yow Dance is holding its third annual gala fundraiser Saturday night at Tim’s Wine Market, 1223 N. Orange Ave., Orlando.

Here are all the facts:

Get tickets to 9 arts events for $99

OK, so the arts season is beginning, and now’s the time to indulge yourselves. Here’s a good way to do it — buy the Orlando Arts Sampler package for $99, which will give you one admission each to nine different shows, concerts and museums at these places:

Dance auditions: ‘Guys and Dolls’

An audition notice for the Orlando Philharmonic/Mad Cow concert staging of Guys and Dolls:

Dance auditions: Empty Spaces’ ‘Phantasmagoria’

Here’s an audition notice for dancers for Empty Spaces Theatre Co.’s October show:

A little more on Red Chair

Image via Wikipedia

It was fun to read my former colleague and friend Matt Palm’s take on Saturday night’s Red Chair Affair: He and I had a lot of the same reactions to an evening that was full of artistic surprises.

Used to be that Red Chair was full of exactly what we expected — little bits and pieces of the tried and true. Not so much this time around — not with spoken wordsmithing from my buddy Tod Caviness and a Jersey Boys re-creation from the Orlando Gay Chorus. And not with some real thrills from a bunch of familiar faces:

Yow Dance offers buy-1-get-1 for Red Chair

Want to go to the Red Chair Affair, the pretty-much official opening of Central Florida’s arts season, which is set for Saturday night at Bob Carr? Yow Dance is offering a buy-one-get-one-free ticket deal. Here’s how it works: