While Sarasota always offers more events than any one person could possibly attend, here are a few specially selected this week by ArtsBeat editors Jay Handelman and Carrie Seidman. For a full calendar list of events and performances in the area, visit our friends at the Arts Alliance of Sarasota County

Through May 31

Jay and Carrie got a sneak peak of Selby Botanical Gardens’ new art exhibit “Alexander Calder: The Nature of Movement,” the 10th entry in the Jean and Alfred Goldstein Exhibition Series. It’s an impressive display with samplings of his paintings and one of his mobiles (on loan from the Ringling Museum) featured in the Museum of Botany and the Arts. But you also get to see how he was inspired by the Ringling Bros. Circus. And some of the best parts of these annual shows are the horticultural vignettes presented around the gardens. One of the best is a depiction of a passiflora (or passion vine), with large metal flowers and black metal bent to look like the vine, backing real plants in the ground.

The exhibition is on display through May 31 at Selby Botanical Gardens, 1534 Mound St., Sarasota. selby.org; 941-366-5731

— Jay Handelman

February 11-25

If you’re a ballet afficionado — or aspire to be —this week kicks off the first of three sessions of “Ballet: Beyond the Curtain,” a series presented by Osher Life Long Learning, with a former professional ballet dancer discussing the origins of ballet in opera, its evolving traditions and its present day realities, as well as sharing her own experiences and interviewing a current dancer.

Noon to 1:20 p.m. Sarasota Art Museum, 1001 S. Tamiami Trail. OLLIatRinglingCollege.org; 941-309-5111.

— Carrie Seidman

February 12-15

In just a few short months since he took over as music director, Giancarlo Guerrero has reinvigorated the Masterworks series concerts. This week, he leads the “Variations on America” program, which features guest piano soloist Clayton Stephenson, who will be playing George Gershwin’s Concerto in F. The program also includes Charles Ives’ “Variations on ‘America’,” William Dawson’s “Negro Folk Symphony” and Adolphus Hailstork’s “An American Port of Call.”

7:30 p.m. Feb. 12 at Neel Performing Arts Center, 5840 26th St., West, Bradenton. Tickets are $49-$79. Feb. 13-15 at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail. Tickets are $35-$95. sarasotaorchestra.org; 941-953-3434.

— Jay Handelman

February 13-15

If you’ve yet to check out the Sarasota Cuban Ballet school and its studio company, it’s time you took at look; they’re producing some terrific talent. This weekend the company presents “Romantic Night,” celebrating love through classical and contemporary works and featuring an interpretation of Mikel Fokine’s “Chopiniana.” What makes ballet Cuban? Look for mind-boggling pirouettes, soaring leaps and a flamboyant charisma.

7 p.m. and 2 p.m. in the intimate Sarasota Cuban Ballet Auditorium, 4740 Cattleman Road. Tickets $45. srqcubanballet.org; 941-365-8400.

— Carrie Seidman

February 14-March 28

The launch of Sarasota Opera’s 67th season next weekend will generate some extra attention. This is the last season for Artistic Director Victor DeRenzi, who has announced he will step down this spring after 44 years of building up and leading the company. He will be conducting the season-opening production of Puccini’s “La boheme,” one of the most popular operas in the world. His wife, Stephanie Sundine, is the stage director for the production that features several returning singers. It launches a four-show season that also includes “The Merry Widow,” “Il Trovatore” and “Susannah.”

“La boheme’ runs Feb. 14-March 28 at the Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota. Tickets are $32-$225. sarasotaopera.org; 941-328-1300

— Jay Handelman