Are you ready for a seriously surreal, stunningly tragicomic and exhilarating performance featuring a cast of Miami’s most exciting and innovative break dance, modern dance, theater and drag performers? Well, come to the Arsht Center Jan. 28-30 for the Miami premiere of Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre’s performances of Various Stages of Drowning: A Cabaret and Pity Party. Herrera returns to the Arsht fresh from her performance at the American Dance Festival, where critics raved about her performance, calling it: “Stunning! Strange and adventurous! Bright and cheeky! A feast for the eyes and brain!”

With 10 dancers and an original underwater film by local hybrid visual artists Maker and the Made, Herrera’s choreography combines dance, theater, cabaret and opera to create a dance dreamscape replete with drama, humor, mystery, intrigue and cheekiness! “Rosie Herrera has created two incredibly imaginative dance works that have wowed audiences near and far,” said M. John Richard, president and CEO of the Adrienne Arsht Center.

Various Stages of Drowning: A Cabaret is framed by water. It is a metaphor for the unconscious where surrealist landscapes emerge and are woven into vignettes. The second performance, Pity Party, takes the audience on an emotional roller coaster or merry-go-round where the complexity of grief and loss are set in contrast to the glittery backdrop of a party. The work juxtaposes camp and piñata whacking against tragedy and loss.

The cast includes Lydia Bittner-Baird, Katie Stirman, Rachel Carroll, Luis Cuevas, Fernando Dughetti, Liony Garcia, Rudi Goblen, Ana Mendez, Gerardo “Geraldine” Pilatti and special guest artist Octavio Campos. Original lighting design is by David Ferri, with costume design/construction by Herrera, Pilatti and Gustavo Cassanova. The scores feature music by Earth Wind and Fire, Chavela Vargas, Marilyn Monroe and Lesley Gore, with sound editing by Rudi Goblen.

Event information: Jan. 28-30, 2011, Carnival Studio Theater, Ziff Ballet Opera House, Adrienne Arsht Center, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami, FL 33132, Tickets: $35. For reservations, visit www.arshtcenter.org or call the box office at (305) 949-6722.