Miami City Ballet Blog

Although snow is unusual in our part of the country, MCB has the ability to make magical things happen! That’s why every Nutcracker season, it snows on the stage of four special theaters in South Florida.

Patricia Delgado, principal dancer and snow alumni, breaks through the blizzard to uncover all the secrets of George Balanchine’s snow scene in The Nutcracker. You don’t want to miss the first of this two-part snow series!

One of the best parts of MCB’s production of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker™ is that the children in the cast are students at Miami City Ballet School! Every year these talented young dancers take on the roles of the Party Children, Soldiers, Angels, Candy Canes, Tea, and of course the Little Prince and Little Princess (Marie). They all work extremely hard during their rehearsal period and at the end of it all get to perform onstage with the company during this loved family tradition.

We talked to a few of the cast members to find out their thoughts about The Nutcracker.

MCB will perform George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker™ at Adrienne Arsht Center from December 17-19 and 21-23.

We are two weeks into our Nutcracker run, which started off in Naples on November 26. Leigh-Ann Esty took the Flip camera with her across Alligator Alley and gave us a glimpse into the backstage happening at the Naples Philharmonic Center.

MCB will perform George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker™ this weekend at Broward Center and December 17-19 & 21-23 at Adrienne Arsht Center.

Post by Rebecca King, Corps de Ballet

Half an hour before the curtain rises on a Miami City Ballet performance, the audience members are probably just arriving at the theater, or in route. But what are the dancers up to? As I continue to bring you behind-the-scenes of Fanfare, this week I bring you backstage at Broward Center for the Performing Arts, at half hour call on Friday night.

Post by Rebecca King, Corps de Ballet

Since opening weekend of the 25th Anniversary Season, Miami City Ballet has not again hit the stage, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been busy! Although we are focused on other up-coming ballets, Program I is always in the back of our minds. Many nights when I am trying to fall asleep, choreography is running through my head like a broken record. Often, I take this time to review steps in order to challenge myself by remembering ballets we haven’t worked on in awhile, or to re-enforce something I learned recently. What has been my choreography playlist recently? Fanfare. As we prepare to take this ballet to Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, one thing I am always thinking about is the orchestra.

Dancing with a live orchestra is such a great pleasure and a welcome treat, but along with our newly-revived luxury comes a few challenges. When rehearsing and performing to a recording, we have become accustomed to hearing the exact same notes, with the exact same tempo every time. With live music, that all changes. The dancers really need to be on their toes (no pun intended) by listening closely to the music, as the tempo is never exactly the same. Also, with the orchestra in the pit, many times we hear different notes played by different instruments that we never noticed in the recording. Recordings can never completely capture the full effect of live music, which is why it is so important for us, as dancers, to understand the musicality of the choreography and constantly count the music. Dance is an illustration of the music; in order for us to represent the music as the choreographer intended, we need to hear each and every element of the music.

If you haven’t seen Miami City Ballet’s company premiere of Fanfare, accompanied by the Opus One Orchestra, you still have two weekends to choose from: Program I is showing November 12-14 at the Broward Center for Performing Arts, or November 19-21 at Kravis Center for the Performing Arts.

The first program of the Open Barre Dance Series is almost here! On Friday and Saturday you’ll get the chance to sip on complimentary wine and then watch the dancers perform in our intimate 200-seat studio theater. Paul Taylor’s Company B and Twyla Tharp’s “The Golden Section” will be the featured ballets this weekend.

Zoe Zien recently chatted with us about her role in Company B, “Rum and Coke,” and about dancing in the intimate setting that is Open Barre.

If you haven’t been to an Open Barre performance, you don’t know what you’re missing! Click here for tickets.

Post by Rebecca King, Corps de Ballet

Opening weekend was a huge success as everyone anticipated. I took some footage on the Flip camera to bring you behind the scenes of Fanfare. Hearing the orchestra in the pit again for the first time in two years was an exhilarating experience that was felt by every person on stage and in the audience. I hope you enjoy. Until next time…

Wigs, robes, tutus, and bikinis in a dressing room can only mean one thing: Bugaku! The Company is performing this George Balanchine piece in Program I of the 25^th Anniversary Season which opens today! Sara Esty, Zoe Zien, Ashley Knox, and Leigh-Ann Esty had a chat about what it’s like to dance in the corps of this erotic ballet, and who was present during rehearsals.

Don’t miss the first program of the most exciting season yet, which also includes Jerome Robbins’ Fanfare and George Balanchine’s Theme and Variations.

Post by Rebecca King, Corps de Ballet

Here we are! Day one in Adrienne Arsht Center, kicking off our 25th Anniversary Season! We just completed our first, of two, dress rehearsals. It is taking a little bit of time to get back into the swing of things; like not having a mirror, wearing costumes, and having stage lights shining down on us. The Fanfare costumes are so beautiful and full of color! We are looking forward to debuting this ballet for our Miami fans tomorrow night!

I took a few photos to bring you behind the curtain on our rehearsal day.

Looking out on the house from the stage.

It has been so long since we have seen seats in the pit! The orchestra will be here tonight!

The dancers practicing choreography after class, before rehearsal.

Stay tuned for some video footage I have taken, coming soon!

We are so fortunate to have the very person on whom George Balanchine choreographed many ballets as our artistic director — Edward Villella.  The dancers often talk about how amazing it is to learn and rehearse a ballet with him because of all the insight he has and, of course, because he is the original! For Bugaku, the company had a double wami! Not only did they rehearse with Edward, but also with Allegra Kent, who was Edward’s partner when Mr. Balanchine choreographed the piece.

The original principal dancers in Bugaku, Edward and Allegra, sat down for a chat and reminisced about being a part of history.

Miami City Ballet will perform Bugaku in Program I of the 25th Anniversary Season – October 15-17 at Adrienne Arsht Center, November 12-14 at Broward Center, and November 19-21 at Kravis Center. For ticket information click here.