No Sleep 'till 6 a.m.

By: Mariana Almeida


Salsa. Merengue. Samba. Jazz. Ballet. Acrobatics. Lights. Comedy. Fashion. Museums. Films. All types of art and entertainment together in one event on one night. Sleepless Night.

The city of Miami Beach welcomed for the first time a 13-hour event that delivers culture of all types and forms for free to those able to stay awake from 6 p.m. on November 3 to 6 a.m. on November 4th.

“The idea was to get people out to explore the night and the city and to experience free cultural events for every taste,” said Gary Farmer, Cultural Affairs Program Manager and organizer of Sleepless Night.

Sleepless night was based on a yearly European event called Nuit Blanche that happens in Paris, Madrid, Rome, Brussels, Toronto, Montreal and Riga. The idea came as the Miami Beach Cultural Arts Council began exploring ideas for a signature event for the city.



“The Carnival Center was opening, the Gleason was closing for renovation into the Fillmore, and our annual Invitation to the Arts event was being discontinued. One of the Council members at that time, Alfredo Richard, said ‘Too bad we can’t do something like Nuit Blanche,’ and I went on the internet and read all about it and suggested that it could indeed be done, and went to work to make it happen,” said Farmer.

The Council, then, invited all of the city’s cultural institutions to lunch. The project was explained and the planning started.

The city was divided in four zones: 1) North Beach neighborhood, 2) Collins Park neighborhood, 3) Lincoln Road neighborhood and 4) Ocean Drive to Washington Avenue neighborhoods, according to the institutions’ locations.

Each zone featured a variety of free attractions. In addition, free shuttle buses were available to move people from one zone to the other.

Although most aspects of this event were free for the public, with the exception of foods and drinks, all the artists that performed were paid. The city of Miami Beach spent around $400,000.00 raised from Flamingo South Beach, SpringBac, the Greater Miami Visitors and Convention Bureau and the Miami Visitors and Convention Authority.

ZONE 1

Of all four, North Beach was the one with fewer attractions. Farmer said that one of the plans for the next Sleepless Night is to make this zone more concentrated.

The Normandy Fountain welcomed “Dance Now! Dances at the Fountain,” while the Byron Calyle Theater featured Spanish movies from Mexico and Colombia.

ZONE 2

The “Levity III” Luminarium lighted up this zone on 21st Street and Collins Avenue. Not only the colored futuristic monument could be seen from far away, but also the line formed around it. The wait to get inside was of about an hour.

“The wait is totally worthwhile,” said Greg Harper as he walked out of the luminarium.

Inside, a labyrinth of colors and mystic music set the tone for what the outside looked like a bouncing house. Kids ran through the blue, red and green rooms amazed by the gray plastic structure colored by lights. Adults laid with their legs up and eyes closed enjoying the relaxing music.

The Levity III was built by hand. The project was sponsored by Flamingo South Beach.

Across from the Luminarium, a spectacle from the students of the Miami City Ballet took many breaths away. Applauds, screams of “lovely” and “perfect” were heard throughout their performance of “Aurora’s Wedding,” a scene from Sleeping Beauty.

“Ballets are usually expensive. It was great to see this for free because it gives all people an opportunity to experience this art,” said Clarice Lopez.

In the same zone a sneak preview of “Absinthe” by the Gazillionaire surprised the audience. The acrobats did not show up, and instead the stage was transformed into an adult rated comedy show.

The Gazillionaire, a producer with a lot of money, and his assistant Penny, who looked like a doll and spoke like a child, said it cost too much money to bring the acrobats from Europe. And so, the public was left to watch them “do absolutely nothing.”

He walked in the audience openly joking about gays, lesbians, sex, masturbation and drugs. Although some people ran away from the microphone, many were open to the subject and laughed.

Penny, on the stage, followed up to the jokes and often said “awesome” in a fine voice that made people giggle.

ZONE 3

The Lincoln Road neighborhood was the zone with most places to see, or listen, because most of its attractions were musical.

At 6 p.m. a Brazilian samba group opened one of the stages spread across the sidewalk. The rhythm invited people to dance and started the thirteen-hour marathon.

“This brings me good memories and melancholy of my country. To others, it’s a great way to discover other people’s culture,” said Daniel Bittencourt, from Brazil, while dancing samba.



The Lincoln Theatre opened its doors to the New World Symphony, while the Colony Theater showed classic films like “Casablanca” and “Annie Hall.”

Restaurants mixed their taste with live DJ performances and/or art exhibitions.

And the Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater opened a behind-the-scene tour of the renovated theater.


ZONE 4

Nobody that went in the Lummus Park, on ocean drive, walked out the same.

Of the attractions in this zone was a tent by designer Barbara Hulanicki. Hulanicki and friends dressed all those who dared in galactic plastic couture. It was easy to target who had and had not been there, as people walked around the city with their newly designed attires.

From futuristic to the past, this area concentrated many of the museum exhibitions of the night.

The Jewish Museum of Florida became the home of superheroes with “Comic-book Heroes.”

The center of the museum presented the first comic books in history. Visitors could read some of the displays or listen to the first comics made for TV.

They could interact with superman’s phone booth. The sign on the booth read: “Pick up the phone of it rings, it might be superman.” And once the phone rang, somebody on the line need help and was calling superman for help.

“When I was thinking about what to see tonight I knew I couldn’t miss the ‘Comic-book Heroes’ exhibition. It exceeded my expectations,” said Juliana Santos.

STAYING AWAKE

Café Bustelo and SpringBac distributed free drinks in all zones. But it wasn’t enough to keep some awake. With over 130 attractions to see in 13 night hours, it takes preparation.

“If I knew I would have this much to see, I would have slept all morning and come a little more prepared,” said Santos.

The number of attractions also left some disappointed.

“Many things happen that I wanted to see were happening at the same time. So I had to choose only one. I didn’t see most of the things I wanted to, like the Erotic Museum” said Lopez.

But regardless of lack of preparation and not enough chances to see everything, the city received a good feedback from visitors and local residents.

“Everyone was into it,” said Farmer.

Such was the success of the event that the city wants to make Sleepless Night an annual, ever-growing landmark cultural event, said Farmer. Next year’s is schedule for November 1.

“It’s a perfect event for Miami Beach, where people love to stay up all night anyway. Sleepless Night offered an alternative way to enjoy the night: to experience art in all its manifestations and in unexpected settings. We definitely achieved our goal,” said Farmer.