Sleeplessly Waiting for Sleepless Night 2009

Ok, so Miami Beach's Sleepless Night is still over two months away, but I'm really excited about this year's line up. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about: Sleepless Night is a yearly event hosted by the city of Miami Beach that boasts of, more or less, 24 hours of FREE art, music, film, theater, live dance performances and more. That's right folks, FREE! But, best of all, the performances and artwork displayed are often risky and thought provoking.

According to Sleepless Night's Web site, there will be over 130 events this year and about 13 hours of entertainment spread throughout four different areas: North Beach, Collins Park, Lincoln Road and Ocean Drive to Washington Avenue.

I've been studying the this year's schedule of events and have spotted several that I don't want to miss. Here are a couple of them to pique your interest:

Edouard Duval-Carrie’s UNDER THE CONGO MOON moving sculptures and Ra Ra Parade
Internationally reknown Haitian artist Eduoard Duval Carrié promises to create quite a
show with the performance he is calling “Under the Congo Moon.” Duval Carrié explores
the theme of migration in his artwork; for Sleepless Night, he will create several large
sculptures of voodoo gods and have them “migrate” down the streets of Miami Beach in
an exciting parade with music from a live band. The motorized parade begins with a
preview at Ocean Terrace and proceeds to Ocean Drive.

NIGHT SHIFT: 9 Installations curated by Jerome Sans
Jerome Sans will act as both a curator and DJ for the Night Shift exhibition commissioned
by the Bass Museum of Art and the Miami Beach Cultural Arts Council. Nine prominent
South Florida artists present site-specific installations on the Collins Park lawn around the
museum and east of Collins Avenue. Pieces range from the giant Earth sphere that visitors
can view from the inside-out to a live, outdoor soap opera.

Ray Lee’s “Siren” performance/installation
Ray Lee is an artist, performer, and composer who works with electro-magnetic radiation to
build large scale sound installations. Siren is a fascinating 45-minute show combining
theater, sculpture, light and sound into a suspenseful, one-of-a-kind experience. Audience
members move around the room, sit or stand, and lose themselves to their changing visual
and aural perceptions.

Miami Light Project presents Julie Dossavi
Miami Light Project is excited to introduce South Florida to
dancer/choreographer/musician Julie Dossavi. The French performer’s style is a unique
blend of contemporary African dance and street culture. In a series of solos and duets,
Dossavi plays with dance and music in an abstract yet seamless way.

Animate Objects Physical Theater “Bounce Theory”
Animate Objects Physical Theater’s new show “Bounce Theory” combines aerial dance
and athletic aerobics with Ocean Drive as the backdrop. With an electrifying pulse,
Bounce Theory takes dancers to the sky in aerial hoops, trampolines, pulleys and stretchy
elastic bungee cords forty feet above the sands of South Beach for a truly mesmerizing
spectacle. Bounce Theory’s cast of scientists conduct gutsy experiments with disregard to
gravity in an oversized physical laboratory/playground. Animate Objects Physical Theater
stopped traffic at the 2007 Sleepless Night event and promises to provide an equally
entertaining show this year.

The Dream Engine “Heliosphere”
Spiraling and spinning and seemingly weightless, an acrobat suspended beneath a giant
color-changing helium balloon explores the uncharted space between the beach and the
sky.

See a full schedule of events here.