Your Top 5 Things to Do: July 28-August 3
July 29
Friday Fest at the Van Wezel
If it’s reggae, soca, calypso and R&B you’re craving, then head to the Van Wezel bayfront lawn Friday night for a free Friday Fest concert with headliner Jah Movement and vocalist Shantel Norman. We dare you not to dance. The fun starts at 5 p.m., rain or shine. vanwezel.org
Image: Cliff Roles
Through July 30
Summer Circus Spectacular
Just a few more days to catch the dazzling Summer Circus Spectacular at the Ringling Museum’s Historic Asolo Theater; it closes Saturday with shows at 2 and 5 p.m. The fast-paced, one-hour show features Cuban speed juggler Rony Gomez, father-daughter hand balancing team Sergey and Sasha Korolev, world-famed aerialist Dolly Jacobs and lots more. ringling.org/events/summer-circus-spectacular
July 30
Sarasota Cuban National Ballet School On Stage
The remarkable Sarasota Cuban National Ballet School, whose founders Ariel Serrano and Wilmian Hernandez draw on the influence of the great master teachers in Cuba, is showing off the talents of its summer-intensive program students with performances at 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday at the Sarasota Opera House. The evening performance features the company’s Francisco Serrano in his final local performance before he joins London’s Royal Ballet. sarasotacubanballetschool.com
July 28
Hermitage Artist Retreat’s STARs on the beach
Each summer, the Hermitage Artist Retreat collaborates with the Florida Alliance for Arts Education to provide five public school teachers with residencies. Tonight, the Manasota Key beachfront artist retreat opens its campus to share the work created by these STAR teachers, first at 6:30 p.m. with open studio and historic campus tours, then at 7:15 on the beach for a reading of prose and poetry set to music. hermitageartistretreat.org
July 29-Aug. 20
SARTQ: Small Works
The 12 area artists who make up the contemporary art collective SARTQ open their show, Small Works, at [blank] Slate Gallery with an opening meet-the-artists reception Friday evening. Twenty-five pieces are on exhibit by Jeffery Cornwell, Elena De La Ville, Zachary Gilliland, Joni Younkins-Herzog, Tim Jaeger, Cassia Kite, Jenny Medved, Laine Nixon, Vicky Randall, Javier Rodriguez, Steven Strenk, and Jill Taffet. The show runs through Aug. 20. Shown here, a work by Cassia Kite. blankslategallery.com
