The city we live in – Knight Foundation
Arts

The city we live in

… is bursting at the coastline with an almost overwhelming supply of art and cultural events to experience. This is a great thing, so long as one has a plan. Here are a few tips on what to see around town this weekend and the coming week.

This Friday, make sure you head over to the Little Haiti Cultural Center to experience its monthly Big Night in Little Haiti, featuring Papaloko and Loray Mistik, a Haitian vodou pop band that will set the vibe for the evening. Big Night in Little Haiti will also feature performances by a variety of musicians and dancers throughout the night, art exhibition in the gallery and, of course, great food. Also, District 5 Wheels of Hope/Christmas in Haiti Toy Drive will be collecting unwrapped toy donations for children in Haiti. The Little Haiti Cultural Center is located at 212 N.E. 59th Terrace in Miami. The cost is free. Contact 305-960-2969, or visit BigNightLittleHaiti.com for more info.

Thursday, Nov. 17 and Friday, Nov. 18, the Afro-Brazilian dance company Brazz Dance Theater will perform “Cordel,” a work developed during a month-long residency at the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center. “Cordel” will be performed in the intimate South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center Lab Theater. Read my interview with Brazz Dance Artistic Director Augusto Soledade here. For ticket information, visit http://www.smdcac.org/brazz-dance.html. Cost $15. Located at 10950 S.W. 211 St. in Cutler Bay.

If you’re a fan of Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, then his latest film, “The Skin I Live In,” is required viewing. Held over for one more week at the Coral Gables Art Cinema, “The Skin I Live In” is, by most accounts, Almodóvar’s first psychological horror. It cuts and gets under your skin. “The Skin I Live In” is a radical shift from classic Almodóvar’s tragicomic films, such as “All About My Mother,” “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” and “Law of Desire.” Quintessential Almodóvar, maybe not, but “The Skin I Live In” stars Antonio Banderas, one of Almodóvar’s most adorable and quintessential stars from the ’80s and ’90s.

“The Skin I Live In” runs from Nov. 18 through Nov. 24. A free panel discussion, “All About Almodóvar,” will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. at the Coral Gables Art Cinema, 260 Aragon Ave. in Coral Gables. For movie times and ticket information, visit http://gablescinema.com/.

Oh, and I almost forgot the Miami International Book Fair. I suggest a visit on Sunday to hear a little poetry from Florida poets and writers Michael Hettich, Les Standiford, Henry Cole and Patricia Engle. For a full listing of events, visit: http://www.miamibookfair.com/.