The Underline Arrives (In My Life)

The Culture Edit, February 16th-March 1st

Author

Susan Bannon
February 15, 2026

The Underline’s Hammock Trail opened in 2024. Photo courtesy of The Underline.

Back in 2013, local resident Meg Daly had an aha! moment while strolling in the shade of the Metrorail tracks, realizing that this 10-mile stretch of unused, shaded Miami property would make a great public park. Unlike most people, she actually committed to her big, crazy idea, pulling together the people and resources to make The Underline a reality.

The first phase opened in Brickell five years ago, but it has now arrived in my part of town, and suddenly people I know are walking or biking to places they would normally drive, and throngs of kids on scooters and parents pushing strollers are seeming to enjoy spending time on US 1. (Crazy!)

Hats off to Meg and The Underline team for making such a huge impact on quality of life in our city. You can see what The Underline is bringing to your neighborhood here or join their next community garden installation here.

Headlining the cultural scene this week, Miami City Ballet presents four performances of a stacked winter program, featuring a world premiere ballet by possibly the world’s top ballet maker, Alexei Ratmansky. If this Saltburn-esque trailer is any indication, it’s certainly going to be interesting.

And it’s your last week to catch two critically acclaimed local productions: Miami New Drama’s English Only and City Theatre’s How to Break in a Glove. So get those tickets!

Let’s get planning…

Jump to: Music, Theater, Indie Cinema, Dance, Art Events, or Planning Ahead

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Dance

Miami City Ballet: Into the Magic City

Back in 1985, seminal Miami arts patron Toby Lerner Ansin scraped together the funding to found Miami City Ballet, forever altering the cultural landscape of our city. To celebrate her 85th birthday, the company presents Into the Magic City, a program that celebrates Ansin’s pioneering spirit, featuring a World Premiere by perhaps the world’s leading ballet choreographer, Alexei Ratmansky, entitled Roses from the South, Three Waltzes for Toby.

February 20th-22nd, 7:30 evenings, 2pm matinees, Ziff Ballet Opera House at the Arsht, $35-$309

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

Nearby Eats: Mignonette, Yamashiro, Casadonna | Drinks: Klaw, ViceVersa

Sara Baras: Vuela

Celebrating the 25th year of her namesake dance company, Flamenco superstar Sara Baras returns to the Arsht Center to headline the 17th edition of Flamenco Festival Miami. Leading an ensemble of 13 dancers and musicians, Baras will showcase her lightning-fast footwork, alongside stunning costumes and visuals, in a new dance work in four acts, arranged around the themes of “wood,” “sea,” “death,” and “flight.”

February 28th-March 1st, 7:30 Saturday, 3pm Sunday, Ziff Ballet Opera House at the Arsht, $35-$205

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

Nearby Eats: Mignonette, Eight Bar, Casadonna | Drinks: Klaw, ViceVersa

More Dance Events:

  • Thursday, February 19th: Dance NOW! Miami presents Dance & Romance, a free performance at the Normandy Fountain, from 6:30-8:30pm.

  • Saturday, February 21st: Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami presents Endless Love, an evening of classical pas de deux, at the Fillmore Miami Beach at 8pm.

  • February 26th-28th: Miami Light Project presents a live performance by five of its Here & Now recipients, it’s annual commission project that supports new work from mid-career performance artists, at 8pm at Miami Theater Center.

  • Saturday, February 28th: Dance NOW! Miami welcomes back New York’s Jon Lehrer Dance Company for their second annual collaborative performance, at Sanctuary of the Arts at 8pm.

Theater

Dear Evan Hansen

Actors’ Playhouse presents the South Florida regional premiere of Dear Evan Hansen, the show that took Broadway (and musical theater kids nationwide) by storm in 2017. Songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (La La Land, Greatest Showman) knocked it out of the park with the score, setting up numbers that shred the heartstrings, but require serious vocal power. Fortunately, AP has pulled together an impressive cast of regional and national actor/singers to deliver the goods.

Through March 8th, 8pm evenings, 3pm matinees, Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre, $50-$100

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

Miami New Drama: English Only

Following the success of last year’s Dangerous Days, journalist and author Nicholas Griffin returns with another brand new work for Miami New Drama, English Only. Set in Miami in 1980, English Only unfolds in the wake of the Mariel Boatlift, when 125,000 new arrivals to South Florida ignited a fierce grassroots campaign to make English the county’s sole language - sparking a showdown with activists determined to keep Miami-Dade bilingual.

Through February 22nd, Miami New Drama at the Colony Theatre, $40-$85

Neighborhood: Lincoln Road

More Ongoing Theater:

  • Through February 22nd: City Theatre presents How to Break in a Glove, a story of one Cuban-American family’s struggle to fit in and hold tight to each other in 1990’s Miami, at the Carnival Studio Theater at the Arsht Center.

Music

Davóne Tines: Anthem

Up-and-coming bass baritone Davóne Tines has been shaking up the opera world with his innovative concerts, and his Recital No. 1: MASS with the New World Symphony was one of the coolest things I saw last year - a blend of poetry, visuals, and song that brought down the house. So I’ll be in the seats for his return visit to New World this February, when he’ll be performing his Concerto No. 2: ANTHEM, which weaves spirituals, popular music, and spoken word poetry into “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

February 21st-22nd, 7:30pm Saturday, 2pm Sunday, New World Center, $25-$140

Neighborhood: Lincoln Road

Nearby Eats: Casa Tua, Blue Ribbon Sushi, Pauline | Drinks: Little Torch, Water Lion at the Sagamore

Montreux Jazz Festival Miami

Since 1967, the Montreux Jazz Festival has taken place for two weeks every summer in Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Geneva, now drawing 250,000 music lovers each year. Two years ago, they chose Miami and the Hangar in Coconut Grove as the site of their first stateside festival, and it was a smashing success, selling out weeks in advance (which is pretty impressive given the ticket prices). Now the MJT is back for a third year, adding two nights at the Miami Beach Bandshell, with a star-studded lineup including Jon Batiste, Toto, and Bomba Estéreo.

February 25th-March 1st, 5pm until late, The Hangar in Coconut Grove, tickets from $154 (single day) to $611 (five day) for general admission

Neighborhood: Coconut Grove

Nearby Eats: AVA, Krüs Kitchen, Bayshore Club | Drinks: pretty sure the festival will have you covered here, but if you want something different, head to Regatta Grove or Sipsip rooftop at the Mayfair.

More Upcoming Music Events:

  • Tuesday, February 17th: Maestra Sebrina Alfonso leads the South Florida Symphony Orchestra in a Florida premiere of Nathalie Joachim’s Had to Be, with guest cellist Seth Parker Woods, at New World Center at 7:30pm.

  • Thursday, February 19th: Davóne Tines and soprano Kristin Renee Young headline I, Too, Sing America, an intimate evening of poetry and song at the Historic Lyric Theater in Overtown, at 7:30pm.

  • Thursday, February 19th: the world-renowned Philadelphia Orchestra returns to the Arsht Center for an evening of Brahms, led by artistic director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, at 8pm.

  • February 20th & 22nd: Seraphic Fire, our own world-class vocal ensemble, presents American Folk, featuring classics like Simple Gifts and Farther Along, at Coral Gables’ Church of the Little Flower and the Miami Beach Community Church.

  • Friday, February 20th: Composer and NEA Jazz Master Terence Blanchard leads his band and the Grammy-winning Turtle Island Quintet for a performance of his Malcolm X Suite, at the Arsht Center at 8pm.

  • Saturday, February 21st: 70’s disco supergroup Sister Sledge, still together and still touring, graces us with their presence, at ZeyZey, with opening sets starting at 8pm.

  • Thursday, February 26th: Music at McBride Plaza presents a free outdoor concert by Miami Latin duo Laura & Josias, playing a mix of traditional and contemporary Latin sounds at downtown Coral Gables’ McBride Plaza, at 5:30pm.

  • Friday, February 27th: The Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami presents the latest installment of Jazz at MOCA, Miami’s longest-running free outdoor jazz concert series, featuring Kendall “King” Friday, at 8pm.

Art Events

Progressive Art Brunch

The Progressive Art Brunch is one of my favorite art events in town: part bar crawl, part art crash course, part scavenger hunt. You have five hours (11am-4pm) to see the current exhibits at fourteen local galleries sprinkled throughout Allapattah, Little River and Little Haiti. Typically, some type of sparkling wine is available at each stop, which can get a bit messy if you don’t take time to stop for lunch. Galleries usually aren’t open on the weekends, and the PAB isn’t a monthly event (it comes around when the galleries decide it’s time), so you don’t want to miss it.

Sunday, February 22nd, 11am-4pm, Various Galleries, Free

Neighborhoods: Allapattah, Little River, Little Haiti

Nearby Eats: Hometown BBQ (Allapattah), the Citadel (Little River), Bar Bucce (Little River) | Drinks: Imperial Moto (Coffee), Off Site Nano Brewery 

More Upcoming Art Events:

  • Thursday, February 19th: As part of its free Third Thursdays series, the Bass Museum welcomes artist Lawrence Lek for a conversation about his newly commissioned multimedia work on the dissolving boundaries between man and machine, at 6:30pm.

  • Saturday, February 21st: Join artist April Bey, The Underline’s first artist-in-residence, for a discussion and tour of her work at The Underline Plaza, followed by traditional Bahamian johnny cake, from 11am-1pm.

  • Wednesday, February 25th: Oolite Arts celebrates the opening of Crossing the Bridge, a group show curated by Claire Breukel and Lauryn Lawrence, with an open studios event and reception from 6-9pm.

  • Saturday, February 28th: ICA Miami welcomes poet and educator Simone Zapata for a workshop on ekphrastic poetry (Word of the Day: ekphrasis is the practice of writing poetry inspired by visual art), from 2-5pm.

  • Saturday, February 28th: Homework Gallery celebrates the opening of Fragments of Disappearance, an installation by Miami-based collage and audio-visual artist Richard Vergez, with an opening reception at 5pm.

Indie Cinema

One Night in Miami: Screening & Panel Discussion

Film Still: “One Night in Miami…,” distributed by Amazon MGM Studios

Coral Gables Art Cinema hosts a special screening of One Night in Miami…, a fictional imagining of the actual night Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and actor Jim Brown spent with Cassius Clay (soon to be Muhammad Ali) to celebrate his first heavyweight title win in a Jim Crow-era Miami motel. The film will be followed by a panel discussion with historian Dr. Martin Dunn and Historic Hampton House CEO Curb Gardner.

Monday, February 23rd, 6pm, Coral Gables Art Cinema, $22

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

More Upcoming Cinema:

  • Wednesday, February 25th: FilmGate Miami presents Untold Stories, a festival of Florida-made short films that spotlight narratives often left in the shadows, at Silverspot Cinema at 6:30pm.

  • Saturday, February 28th: Coral Gables Art Cinema hosts a special screening of The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975, followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Dudley Alexis and journalist Nadege Green, at 12pm.

Planning Ahead

Miami's most anticipated events sell out and those restaurants you want to try book up. Here are a couple of upcoming events to get on your calendar now…

Monday, March 9th

Lauren Groff at Books & Books

Books & Books welcomes three-time National Book Award Finalist and New York Times bestselling author Lauren Groff to discuss Brawler, her just-released collection of short stories. One of PEOPLE Magazine’s most anticipated books of 2026, Brawler’s stories follow protagonists wrestling with their darker angels and “trying to do the right thing for as long as they can.” Groff will be in conversation with author and UM Creative Writing professor Patricia Engel, whose collection of short stories, The Faraway World, won numerous awards in 2023.

7pm, Books & Books Coral Gables, $34 for two, incl. one book copy

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

Saturday, March 14th

St. Martin in the Fields with Joshua Bell

The Arsht Center welcomes back superstar violinist Joshua Bell and the world-famous Academy of St. Martin in the Fields chamber orchestra for a one-night-only performance. Bell will take center stage as conductor and soloist for Saint-Saëns’ Violin Concerto No. 3, a beloved repertoire piece for the orchestra that he’s played to appreciative audiences worldwide.

Knight Concert Hall at the Arsht Center, 7:30pm, $48-$206

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

Nearby Eats: Brasserie Laurel, Casadonna, Klaw | Drinks: Klaw rooftop, ViceVersa

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