Little Haiti Rock City
Anyone who has ever gone to Churchill’s Pub has a unique story to tell about such special moments, most likely along with some amateur cell-phone footage. With seven days a week of live music spanning various genres and entertainment ranging from burlesque to poetry open mic, no two days at the two-stage pub are ever the same. And, Churchill’s Pub, also known as the CBGB of the South, boasts over 35 years of such fun in an unbridled, raw, and creative environment, where musicians and artists express themselves without pretense, intimately, to an open audience that has suspended their better judgment for an inebriated moment in time. This is definitely a place that needs to be documented, and there are as many stories to tell, as there are faces in the audience at a show.
Bare Bones
Bare Bones, an experimental dance performance, incorporates visual installations and live abstract sound. The production filled the SandBox Studio at Miami Theater Center (MTC). Although I was initially skeptical, quite skeptical to watch this contemporary dance performance, when I first walked into the quaint black box theater, I was swept away by the ambiance created by the set: props in place and dancers in movement.
Curious VaultCoral Collaboration 001
Though many may see art and science at odds, they are actually both means for human creativity and exploration. The Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science formerly the Miami Science Museum, is interested in developing this concept and has created the Curious Vault Collaborations, inviting artists to collaborate with scientists in order to discover ways to integrate art and science in a non-conventional manner.
We Bought the Wrong Damn Chickens
“We bought the wrong damn chickens…” Brandon Payne, Ti Laurent’s Production Manager, sighed as one of our Haitian colleagues, Widline made an unsuccessful attempt to shoo off a chicken that was supposed to be used in a key scene of the film. In it, the chicken needed to run comically fast, like in a Rocky training for a fight scene and be tackled by our main actor, Pedro. But our chicken calmly took two steps and continued to peck at the dirt. Brandon and Wildine had purchased the chickens from La Savanne, a crowded and depressing slum at the edge of La Cayes, where we were shooting some of the film. Bazil, the Haitian producer on the team, shook his head, “they must be Dominican chickens, Haitian chickens run,” laughter ensued. Producing in Haiti was like this, buying 10 chickens was relatively easy and cheap, but making the chickens run, difficult. Finding a hospital operating room to use was easy and free! But, finding a sausage to use as a prop proved impossible, as we found out after wasting two days navigating the intricacies of Haitian offerings, to finally end up with hot dogs.
Ernesto Kunde Symbiotic Promise
Brazilian-born Miami-based artist Ernesto Kunde has found inspiration in the architecture, energy, sunshine and art of Miami since he first relocated to the city just over seven years ago. His paintings have paid homage to Miami ever since. Recently, Kunde has become interested in mangroves and root systems. His first mangrove painting was more of an accident. Kunde paints from photographs he takes when out and about exploring his surroundings and one happened to include mangroves.
