Dancing with Dolphins Island Party

NEWS & VIEWS > COASTING

Plus the Cole Bros. Circus, the Album of the Week and Drew Toonz

By AC Weekly Staff

Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Jul. 25, 2012

Dancing with Dolphins Island Party 

On Sunday, Aug. 5 (7-10pm), a fundraiser like never before will be held for the Marine Mammal Stranding Center (MMSC) — the Dancing with Dolphins Island Party. This island-style gala event will take place at One Atlantic inside the Pier Shops at Caesars and will include light fare, cocktails, steel drum musical entertainment, a MMSC membership and up-close encounters with the graceful, energetic, and serene dolphins — the stars of the event. For only $50, attendees get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to relax and enjoy a beautiful summer night overlooking the sea and Atlantic City with dolphins as their companions. Raffles and silent auctions will be available along with a cash bar. All proceeds will go toward the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine, the only facility in New Jersey committed to rescuing and rehabilitating injured marine life, ranging from five-pound sea turtles to 25-ton humpback whales. Officials at MMSC hope the event will ensure their organization can continue to help and preserve marine life, their primary mission, as this fall they will be suffering from severe budget cuts. This fundraising gala gives the community the opportunity to enjoy dancing with the dolphins while also helping to ensure the aid and safety of the marine life of New Jersey. For sponsorship, tickets and other information, contact Sheila Dean at the MMSC at 266-0538, or visit marinemammalstrandingcenter.org for event and ticket information. — Lindsey Appleton 

Cole Bros. Circus of the Stars 

Tigers and elephants and poodles, oh my! The great tradition of a classic big top circus returns to Mays Landing at the Atlantic City Racetrack grounds, Seaville, near the Cedar Square Shopping Center, and in Rio Grande at the Robert Wisting Rec Complex on Route 47 this August with the annual appearance of the Cole Bros. Circus of the Stars. The schedules are Wed.-Fri., Aug. 8-10, in Mays Landing; Mon.-Tues. Aug. 20-21, in Seaville and Wed.-Thurs., Aug. 22-23, in Rio Grande. Showtimes for all the locations are 4:30 and 7:30pm. Tickets are adults, $21, child, $16. For reserved seat, add $4 and for VIP seating , add $7. Get free tickets for kids at gotothecircus.com. The 2012 edition of the “Worlds Largest Circus Under the Big Top,” continues the tradition of entertaining American families for more than a century. The animal acts in the Cole Bros. circus include Baby Val, the elephant star, the royal Bengal tigers and their trainers Judit And Jurgen Nerger, and the Cartoon Poodles, trained and presented by The Abuhadba Family. Hailing from six generations of animal trainers, Rafael and Isabel Abuhadba feel passionate about working with poodles and have more than a dozen. Other stars of the show include the Human Cannonball, José Bermudez, the Cole Bros. Circus 2012 Corps de Ballet Salute To America with artistic aerial choreography, and Maestros Of Mirth, the Bermudez Family Clowns. — Lori Hoffman 

Bobby Womack 

‘The Bravest Man in the Universe’ (XL) 

With beats firmly planted in 2012, courtesy of XL Records’ Richard Russell (who produced the late Gil Scott-Heron’s final album, I’m New Here), and a sonic landscape painted by Damon Albarn (Gorillaz) Bobby Womack has made one of the best albums of his career. The Bravest Man in the Universe is a soul-tingling, startling and often moving collection of material. Lana Del Ray sings on Sam Cooke’s “Dayglo Reflection,” which Womack, 68, dedicates to the late soul singer whose life intertwined with his before and after Cooke’s death in 1964. Sometimes mournful, other times hopeful and worldly, the 11 songs are sung with a spiritual conviction that could only come from Womack’s own roller-coaster ride of a life — playing with and/or writing songs for Cooke, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, the Rolling Stones, Ron Wood, Janis Joplin and Sly & the Family Stone, among many others, and living through and experiencing first hand the evolution of modern music. Songs such as “Whatever Happened to the Times,” the title cut, and “Nothin’ Can Save Ya” (featuring the haunting singing of Fatoumata Diawara) stand out, but there is not a weak track on the 11-song album. — Jeff Schwachter

Drew Toonz