Weekend art events in San Diego: “Ragtime”, dance, jazz and tutorials

The Rosin Box Project: ‘Debuts’

dance music
The concert features four new works of contemporary ballet – two by guest choreographers Katarzyna Skarpetowska and Myles Thatcher and two by Katie Spagnolletti and Jeremy Zapanta, resident choreographers of The Rosin Box Project. I have seen parts of some of these works; They are powerful, expressive and beautiful. Here is a clip on Instagram of Zapanta’s work, including an example of an original score by San Diego-based composer and musician Zane Alexander.

This is the finale for their current season, and there are four ways to watch it – plus a virtual option.

details: 7:30pm Thursday to Sunday 1st to 4th September 2022. Virtual stream on September 3rd at 7pm. Mingei International Museum, La Atalaya Foundation Theatre, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park. $40-45 for live performances, $25 for virtual performances.

May-ling Martinez: “Shining Emergence”

visual art
This weekend feels like the calm before the (visual arts) storm set to sweep the region in September (San Diego Art Prize! Alexis Smith at MCASD! Design Week! And more!). But there’s still plenty of art to see — including new work by Puerto Rico-born, San Diego-based artist May-ling Martinez, currently on view at Quint ONE, her Bread and Salt location in Logan Heights.

Courtesy of Quint Gallery

Luminous Emergence is a single multimedia work installed in the tiny gallery. It’s a projection screen suspended in space, dotted with a collection of illustrations that sit somewhere between petroglyphs and borrowed medical textbooks or illustrations from survival manuals/guides – intricate knots alongside crystal-like objects and vague hints of fantastical organs and sinewy muscles, tendons and veins. It’s easy to get a little lost in the details of this misleadingly unassuming piece.

details: On view through September 11, 2022. Gallery hours: Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., 1955 Julian Ave., Logan Heights. Free.

“Ragtime” at the Moonlight Amphitheatre

theatre
The popular, award-winning musical “Ragtime” – based on the 1975 novel by EL Doctorow – follows three characters who lead very different lives in early 20th-century America. Coalhouse Walker Jr. is a black musician in Harlem, “Mother” is an upper-class housewife in Westchester, and Tateh is a Jewish immigrant. The soundtrack is of course full of ragtime and jazz songs as well as klezmer and contemporary styles.

Moonlight’s outdoor production closes this weekend, so it’s your last chance. It is directed by John Vaughan and stars Bets Malone as Mother, Charl Brown as Coalhouse and Geno Carr as Tateh, alongside a full cast and orchestra. Note that “Ragtime” contains strong language, including racial slurs.

details: On stage until September 3, 2022. Remaining performances are Thursday to Saturday, September 1 to 3, 2022 at 8pm. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The Moonlight, 1250 Vale Terrace Dr., Vista. $8-$61.

“Fandango for Butterflies (and Coyotes)” at the La Jolla Playhouse

theatre
This is a New York-based theater company En Garde Arts production at the La Jolla Playhouse.

The new play, written by playwright Andrea Thome with music by Sinuhé Padilla, is set in a community fandango. The term means a specific dance, but it’s also a joyful gathering and celebration with storytelling, music, and dancing common in Latin American immigrant communities. In the play, this particular fandango is just before Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids take over the city.

details: On stage until September 25, 2022. This weekend’s performances are Thursday through Saturday, September 1 through 4, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, September 4, 2022 at 7 p.m. La Jolla Playhouse, 2910 La Jolla Village Dr., UC San Diego. $25-$60.

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis

Music, jazz, outdoor concerts
This world-renowned group of 15 jazz instrumentalists is the resident jazz ensemble at Lincoln Center in New York and is conducted by jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. Expect a wide range of jazz works, from classics to new works by orchestra members, at a JLCO show. This performance at The Shell does not include the San Diego Symphony, but it does include a special pre-show set from the Young Lions Jazz Conservatory, so get there by 6:15 p.m. to catch some great up-and-coming San Diego talent.

details: 7:30 p.m. (before the show: 6:15 p.m.) on Sunday, September 4, 2022. The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, 222 Marina Park Way, downtown. $50-$110.

Visionary dance theater: “Cradle”

Dance
Throughout the summer, the Mojalet Dance Collective (“Mojalet” is a portmanteau of modern, jazz and ballet dance styles) has invited dance companies from across the county to perform and showcase some of their own work.

The conclusion of this summer series is the Visionary Dance Theater, which presents three performances of the work “Cradle” by choreographer Tanya Lewis. The piece blends Western dance styles with traditional Middle Eastern dance—reflecting Lewis’ heritage and upbringing.

details: 7pm on Saturday 3 September; Sunday, September 4, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Vine Arts Village Theater, 12540 Oaks North Dr., Rancho Bernardo. $16-$21.

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