World-renowned dancers Antonio Douthit-Boyd (a St. Louis native and COCA alum) and Kirvin Douthit-Boyd have been announced as the new co-artistic directors of dance at COCA. After retiring from their current role as principal dancers with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the two will manage all aspects of the pre-professional dance division, as well as teach various classes. (Pictured above: Kirvin and Antonio Douthit-Boyd; Photo: Jacob Blickenstaff Photography)
Opera singer Gina Galati, general director of Winter Opera St. Louis, has been nominated for a prestigious Miami Life Award as Best Lyric Singer for her recent performance as Norina in Don Pasquale at the Miami Lyric Opera. Nominees were selected by an expert committee, and winners will be chosen through online voting.
Academy Award-winning actor Kevin Costner recently visited St. Louis to promote Black or White, a film he both produced and starred in that opens nationwide Jan. 30. Wehrenberg’s Ronnie 20 Cine rolled out a red carpet for the star prior to the screening, and afterward, audience members were treated to a Q&A that covered everything from Costner’s career to his interest in funding the film. Costner also attended a luncheon downtown at the Four Seasons with city officials, local VIPs and members of the media to discuss the film.
The Sheldon Arts Foundation received the Hartenberger World Music Collection, more than 2,500 historic and classical musical instruments from around the world estimated to be worth more than $2 million, from St. Louisans Aurelia and Jeff Hartenberger. The collection will be shown at The Sheldon during ongoing exhibit rotations curated by Aurelia Hartenberger, an associate professor of music at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Webster University and Maryville University.
Left Bank Books is one of hundreds of bookstores that benefited from the generosity of James Patterson, author of the Alex Cross series. By the end of 2014, Patterson had donated more than $1 million to independent bookstores with children’s sections in an effort to support youth literacy in America.
