A+E Year in Review: 2017

The end of December is always a nostalgic time of year. And looking back, the Sarasota arts and entertainment community has a great deal of memorable moments and milestones to cherish from the past 12 months. From an iconic circus performance on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to a TV show filming, here are some of the highlights from 2017.

Stepping into the limelight

One of the most popular search phrases on YourObserver.com this year was Siesta Key, and something tells us it wasn’t because of our news stories about parking problems and arguments over Beach Road.

After following the success of MTV’s reality shows on the west coast, it’s no surprise the network headed out of California and across the country to document the glamorous lifestyle of young people along the shores of America’s No. 1 beach.

Many Sarasota residents took to Facebook to express their concern after it was announced May 7 during the MTV Movie & TV Awards that “Siesta Key” would become MTV’s latest reality series.

Locals feared the cast members, six of the seven who were born and raised in Sarasota, would inaccurately depict the barrier island as a party destination. But what happened before the July 31 premiere attracted a whole new type of attention.

A video surfaced a week before the premiere that showed at least four young men dragging a shark behind a speeding boat. Lead cast member Alex Kompothecras was soon linked to one of the men in the video, whom he later admitted to being friends with, but condemned his actions.

This led to the canceling of the ticketed premiere party planned for July 31 at CineBistro, which was the perfect foreshadow for the dramatic season that followed.

Audiences watched this group of local young people navigate through breakups, new relationships, a parents’ divorce, a shaky job interview, a law school rejection and perhaps most importantly, a failure of a rap performance mainly caused by being too inebriated to hold a microphone correctly.

Who’s ready for the winter premiere Jan. 15?

Beachside birthday

There’s one bar on Siesta Key that has truly seen it all, and it has a seven-decade history to prove it.

Employees at The Beach Club celebrated the bar/nightclub’s 70th birthday Sept. 2 with a full day of festivities, including a performance by The Instigators, a reggae and blues band that used to play the club in the ’80s.

In its 70 years of providing a boisterous hangout to locals and tourists alike, The Beach Club’s customers have included members of The Allman Brothers Band and even one daring resident who once drove in on his motorcycle.

In 2006, Chris Brown bought The Beach Club from Richard Dear. He and business partner, Mike Granthon, added pool tables, TVs and a VIP area to what Granthon calls the Siesta Key Village's original live music venue.

The Beach Club is no longer the cozy one-room watering hole with a few tables that it was in 1947, but it’s maintained its reputation as an icon of the village that offers live music every night.

Cheers to many more decades of the same.

Expanding excellence

Ringling College of Art and Design had quite a year. The campus opened several new buildings, hosted Golden Globe winner Dylan McDermott for the second year in a row and got national attention for more than one accomplishment.

Here’s a quick recap.

On Jan. 25, the school formally dedicated the new Alfred R. Goldstein Library, which President Larry Thompson calls a library of the future. March 10 honored the completion of the first phase of the Richard & Barbara Basch Visual Arts Center, and the second phase completion celebration was held Dec. 9. On April 4, the college opened Sound Stage A, the first of two sound stages for Ringling’s film program, rated the 16th best in the country.

Dylan McDermott came back to Florida for the April 27 premiere of his web series, “Sugar,” at Sunscreen Film Festival in St. Petersburg — but not without a trip to the college he partnered with to make it happen.

Ringling alumni Beth David and Esteban Bravo earned a Student Academy Award for “In a Heartbeat,” a four-minute, digitally animated film that now has more than 30 million views on YouTube.

In October, Ringling became the first art and design college to offer students the opportunity to major in virtual reality through a four-year bachelor’s in fine arts program.

Big announcement

Sarasota Orchestra Music Director Anu Tali announced Oct. 25 that she will step down from her position at the close of the 2018-2019 season.

Tali cited the desire to focus on her international career and guest conducting as her reason for leaving, which will be effective at the end of her contract in spring 2019. She will have served as director for six seasons by the time she leaves.

“I am very grateful to have been provided the privilege and opportunity to work with my incredible colleagues in the Sarasota Orchestra and to perform for the passionate audiences of this very special community,” Tali said in a release.

Performance of a lifetime

After nearly two-and-a-half years of research and planning, it finally happened.

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival included the circus arts in its programming, and Sarasota’s own Circus Arts Conservatory was right at the center — literally and figuratively.

The Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage runs the annual event, which “honors contemporary living cultural traditions and celebrates those who practice and sustain them,” according to its website.

This year, after 50 years, the organization decided the circus arts is one of those traditions. The Smithsonian invited seven youth circus groups to Washington, D.C., to perform and give public demonstrations, and Sailor Circus was one of them.

From June 29 to July 4 and July 6-9, the 31 Sailor Circus members who traveled to Washington, interacted with students and coaches from circus schools across the U.S. and performed on both the National Mall and under the Big Top. Circus Sarasota also performed.

Preston Scott, curator for the circus arts section of the festival, turned to Circus Arts Conservatory CEO Pedro Reis in 2015 to help plan the circus events, and Reis ended up managing the big top for the entire 10-day festival — which showed that even in light of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus closing, the circus is here to stay.

“The Smithsonian helped Circus Arts Conservatory and other organizations show that the circus is vibrant and it’s growing and it’s adapting,” CAC Managing Director Jennifer Mitchell says.