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Sarasota’s arts scene has been damn exciting of late, from international DJ events to Ringling College of Art and Design aums starting artistic co-ops to promote less traditional works. Ringling Museum, however, has always been the anchor of art in the area, acting as the one classic institution to give the area some national cred with the tried and true museum crowd, using its formidable collection and a parade of international traveling exhibit. Ringling may not be cutting edge,  but it is serious.

Thankfully, that bedrock institution is blurring the lines this fall with its Ringling International Arts Festival, in conjunction with the Baryshnikov Arts Center of New York. Ringling’s the host, while Baryshnikov is curating the talent, largely using artists presented by or given residencies at it’s art center.  The five-day festival will feature a marathon of dance, theater and musical performances, the artists ranging from the FSU Symphony Orchestra to”post-modern cabaret diva” Meow Meow. Those two should probably get together and jam.

The festival — likened to the 30-year old Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina — was the brainchild of Ringling board member John McKay. “He’s talked to me about this idea for probably four years,” says Dwight Currie, Ringling’s Associate Director for Museum Programs, and the man behind the scenes for the festival. One of McKay’s acquaintances is friends with Mikhail Baryshnikov, so once the museum finished a round of construction projects two years ago, they brought the acclaimed dancer and his staff in for a confab.

With a plan in place and Baryshnikov’s name attached, Ringling was able to secure a grant from the Florida Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development to fund the festival. According to Currie, it’s seed money. “Starting a new product or company takes more money than continuing it,” he says, when I ask him about the festival’s future prospects in an age of drastically tightened purse strings at the museum and its parent, FSU. The museum plans to repeat the festival in 2011, using fundraising and revenue generated during this year’s events.

Besides the big name acts brought in by the Baryshnikov Arts Center, there will also be a series of subsidiary events presented on the stage in the festival’s giant food and drink tent. “We’re a part of FSU, and one of the goals was to give the university students a venue to perform,” says Currie. Students of the dance, theater and music programs will put on shows in the festival cafe three times a day. “We wanted a fringe component to the festival,” explains Currie, “but we wanted it to grow organically.” He expects that side of the event to expand in 2011.

Ticket sales are brisk, thanks in part  to accessible pricing that ranges from $10-30 per show. However, Currie also mentioned that one of his more avant-garde moves for the festival — at least as far as Sarasota is concerned — hasn’t garnered as much support as he’d like: “late night” shows scheduled for 10:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, featuring Meow Meow and the critically acclaimed Eight. “It’s always a problem, trying to engage Sarasota’s younger crowd,” he says. “Of course, they’ll probably wait until the day of the show to buy tickets.”

RECOMMENDED ACTS

Meow Meow
Billed as “kamikaze cabaret kitsch and performance art exotica”, Meow Meow has been a force to be reckoned with in the recent cabaret resurgence across the globe. Her act is an intense display of drama, performance art and soulful singing that both glorifies and deconstructs the genre, like Pussycat Dolls filtered through Bertolt Brecht. She’s a must see.

Eight
Fresh from Edinburgh University, Ella Hickson debuted Eight — her first play — at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2008, winning awards and accolades for the series of insightful monologues. Covering a wide range of characters in a variety of emotional states, it’s the kind of piece that causes critics to bandy about words like “turthful” or “honest”. Better yet, Hickson is using a few local FSU student actors in this presentation of Eight.

Elevator Repair Service, The Sun Also Rises
It’s theater, but likely not as you know it. Elevator Repair Service creates their innovative performances through an extended bout of collaboration, like improv comedy given theme and structure. The result — seen in this new adaptation of the Hemingway novel — is energetic, moving and impressive.

Ringling International Arts Festival, Oct, 7-11 (check website for individual performance times), Ringling Museum and Theaters, 5401 Bay Shore Road, Sarasota, 360-7399 or ringlingartsfestival.org.

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