Miami City Ballet mounts a re-imagined masterpiece, Boca hosts its last Night Market of the season, and jazz meets classic rock at the Black Box. Plus, Hozier and Allison Russell and more in your week ahead.
WEDNESDAY
What: Delray Jazz Collective
Where: Boca Black Box, 8221 Glades Road, Suite 10, Boca Raton
When: 8 p.m.
Cost: $43-$53
Contact: 561/483-9036, bocablackbox.com
Despite their band name, the four members at the core of the Delray Jazz Collective did not grow up in a musical silo in which Duke Ellington and Miles Davis were the be-all and end-all: From their listening preferences to their professional careers, they dip their toes in myriad sonic waters, which is part of what makes their oeuvre so unique. They’ll showcase their trademark diversity at this concert, which is subtitled “Classic Rock Meets Jazz.” In it, the quartet will interpret a Beatles favorite in the style of John Coltrane, a Rolling Stones tune with a tropical island flair, a cool-jazz take on an Allman Brothers epic, and a Pink Floyd mind-expander filtered through the improvisatory élan of Wayne Shorter, among other innovative mash-ups.
THURSDAY
What: Boca Night Market
Where: Sanborn Square, 72 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton
When: 6 to 9 p.m.
Cost: Free
Contact: myboca.us/2324/night-market
If you’ve missed the City of Boca Raton’s other 2024 Night Markets, this Thursday marks your last chance this season to experience what we hope continues to be a tradition in downtown Boca. The Samantha Russell Duo, featuring the eponymous singer backed by acoustic guitarist Eleni Skiba, will perform an eclectic set list that may include classics from Etta James to Stevie Nicks to Post Malone, as 23 local vendors will set up temporary shop offering everything from swimwear to skin care, art to jewelry, crystals to candles, granola to sourdough. Six food vendors will also be truckin’ it to Sanborn for this Thursday’s event, including SoFlo Sweets, Frios Gourmet Pops, Coffee Tempo, Heavenly Churros, Uptown Deli Café and Brasserie Food Truck.
FRIDAY
What: Art After Dark
Where: Norton Museum of Art, 1450 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach
When: 5 to 10 p.m.
Cost: $15-$18 museum admission
Contact: 561/832-5196, norton.org
Craft brews, feel-good soul music and a heady discussion of A.I. are all on the docket for this week’s eclectic Art After Dark evening at the Norton Museum, in which the West Palm Beach institution stays up late with a jam-packed schedule of special programming. This week’s Open Studio includes instruction in creating your own small clay figure with guest teaching artist Heather Couch (6 to 9 p.m.); a panel discussion on “The impact of Artificial Intelligence on Art, Culture and Education in Palm Beach County” with three experts on the present and future benefits and challenges of the AI revolution in various aspects of life (6 to 7 p.m.); and live music from the Palm Beach-by-way-of Texas soul singer J.M. and his band, the Sweets, who just released a groovy, slow-burning cover of Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” (7 to 9 p.m.). Craft beer from local breweries will be dispensed from 6 to 8 p.m. as part of the museum’s “Art on Tap” program.
What: Hozier with Allison Russell
Where: iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre at South Florida Fairgrounds, 601-7 Sansburys Way, West Palm Beach
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $61 and up
Contact: 561/795-8883, westpalmbeachamphitheatre.com
In late 2013, budding Irish singer-songwriter Andrew John Hozier-Byrne, who performs under the name Hozier, emerged out of the ether with a radio-perfect hit any tunesmith would be lucky to pen over the course of a lifetime—and he accomplished this feat in his early 20s. “Take Me to Church,” while critiquing the direction of the Catholic Church, felt like a gospel roof-raiser on steroids, and for at least a year, one couldn’t turn on a radio or browse a supermarket without hearing its bombastic chorus. In the 10-plus years following the song’s release, Hozier has never composed a smash this seismic, nor has he particularly attempted to: His two albums since have strayed from the typical demands of commercial rock, lingering in the various byways of folk, blues, soul, poetry and literature. His latest release, the eclectic Unreal Earth, was inspired by his time reading Dante’s Inferno during the pandemic and finding lyrical parallels to modern life.
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
What: Miami City Ballet: “Swan Lake”
Where: Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach
When: 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday
Cost: $45-$275
Contact: 561/832-7469, kravis.org
Sorcery, tragedy, romance, transfiguration from beast to human and back again—it’s all in a night’s exhaustive work for any company that dares to mount this most mesmerizing and challenging of all ballets. Tchaikovsky’s 1875 masterwork has enjoyed countless evolutions and revolutions in its reigning status as the Everest of dance, the latest from renowned choreographer Alexei Ratmansky, who premiered this version for Miami City Ballet in the company’s 2021-2022 season. Ratmansky’s reconstructionist approach was inspired by his discovery of notations by original choreographers Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov in Harvard University’s archives. The New York Times called his fresh yet reverent interpretation “A ‘Swan Lake’ That Blasts Off the Cobwebs.” By popular demand, Ratmansky and MCB are bringing the magic back for a season-ending extravaganza complete with 50 dancers, magisterial sets and Tchaikovsky’s iconic score performed live.
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