Miami City Ballet Blog

You may have seen sisters Leigh-Ann and Sara Esty gracing the pages of various dance magazines this season. Why? Earlier this year, they became the official spokesmodels for Suffolk Pointe’s new leotard line! We caught up with Leigh-Ann to hear about their amazing experience. Here is what she had to say!

Leigh-Ann Esty

When my sister and I received an email from our PR manager about being the new Suffolk Pointe leotard models, we went absolutely nuts! To model for the company that makes our pointe shoes would be the coolest thing ever. After a few weeks of planning, we found ourselves in a stretch limo to the airport after one of our shows in West Palm Beach. Talk about movie star treatment! We flew out at about 5pm to Dallas.

Welcome to Texas!

When we arrived, Keri Suffolk (married to Marc Suffolk, creator of Suffolk pointe shoes) and her assistant Deb greeted us with excitement. We drove over to Spotlight Dance wear, Keri’s store, where we tried on a multitude of Suffolk shoes for the photo shoot.

A girl can't have enough shoes!

Cavanaugh Flight Museum

Sara and I each had about 10 looks to model. I felt like a superstar...the team was so attentive and supportive of what we were doing. I had never modeled before, so I was a little nervous. After each picture, we got to see the preview on the computer, and fix what we didn’t like. It was a lot of work, but so much fun!

Striking a pose

The whole day of shooting took about seven hours. A highlight was meeting Marc ….he was so nice! He actually got to look at our feet and suggested different shoes for us. It was an honor to meet the brains behind it all. Without his creativity, dancing would be very difficult!

We finished the day with a nice dinner with the Suffolks before heading back to the airport. We arrived in Miami at midnight. It was a whirlwind 24 hours! The experience was a gratifying one, and we would do it again in a heartbeat.

Official ad from Suffolk Pointe's catalog

While most dancers are taking full advantage of their one week off before final performances of Program IV: Broadway and Ballet at the Broward Center and Adrienne Arsht Center, corps dancer Adriana Pierce is taking over our Instagram feed as this week’s guest photographer. Not only will Adriana be snapping pics, but she is also creating a new work on dancers Leigh-Ann Esty, Sara Esty and Nicole Stalker , in collaboration with poet Barbara Lisette Anderson, for the month-long  O, Miami Poetry Festival.  Check out how Adriana bridges the worlds of ballet and poetry when our MCB ladies perform Poetic Fusion on Friday, April 12, at The LAB Miami. Follow her #AdrianaMCBPhotos.

Adriana Pierce

We caught up with Adriana to learn more about her upcoming work.  Here is what she said!

My choreography is usually derived from images, and so I often find inspiration from text. Barbara Anderson’s poetry has rich descriptive narratives and conjures up a lot of thoughtful imagery for the reader or listener. I’m having a lot of fun in the studio infusing my movement quality with her writing style, and, of course, working with any of the MCB dancers is always a dream.

Check out Poetic Fusion this Friday at The LAB Miami, and don’t miss our multi-talented dancers’  final performance of the 2012-2013 Season during Program IV: Broadway and Ballet.

Broward Center: April 26-28
Adrienne Arsht Center: May 3-5

We are thrilled for tonight’s opening of Program II: Tradition and Innovation.  We caught up with some of the dancers before the curtain so that they could share their excitement about the ballets they are performing with you!

Michael Breeden

Michael Breeden, Corps de Ballet, on George Balanchine’s Divertimento No. 15 — “Dancing to Mozart is what I love most about Divertimento No. 15. Balanchine rarely choreographed to Mozart, but the marriage of these two geniuses in the ballet provides a wonderful experience for audience and dancer alike.”

Tricia Albertson

Tricia Albertson, Principal, on George Balanchine’s Divertimento No. 15 — “I love dancing Divertimento No. 15 because there are so many opportunities to interact with my friends and colleagues.  I have at least one special moment with each principal!”

Patricia Delgado

Patricia Delgado, Principal, on George Balanchine’s Duo Concertant — “To be able to share the stage so intimately not only with my wonderful partner Renan, but with with our incredible Pianist and Violinist is what I look forward to most tonight.  It is a dream for me to be able to dance this ballet and I can’t wait!”

Renato Penteado

Renato Penteado, Principal, on Don Quixote Pas de Deux after Marius Petipa — “What I like most about dancing this ballet is that Don Q is a very strong male character with a lot of powerful moments like jumps and turns that are very exciting.”

Mary Carmen Catoya

Mary Carmen Catoya, Principal, on Don Quixote Pas de Deux after Marius Petipa – “When I dance Don Quixote I feel like I’m connected to my spanish family — I can feel it in my blood.”

Jeanette Delgado

Jeanette Delgado, Principal, on Liam Scarlett’s Euphotic — “Dancing Euphotic feels like an intimate journey. The movement Liam has created along with the mesmerizing music has taken on a life of its own. I am so excited to share this special work with the audience!”

Sara Esty

Sara Esty, Soloist, on Liam Scarlett’s Euphotic — “I cannot believe opening night is here! I thought this day would never come and I can’t wait to show the world our hard work. Being apart of this ballet means the world to me and I’ve loved watching it grow into a masterpiece. Working with Liam has been a dream come true.  I hope everyone enjoys it as much as we enjoy dancing it!! I’m so excited!”

Soloist Sara Esty returns from the holidays to take over our Instagram feed this week!  As one of the leading ladies in Liam Scarlett’s new work Euphotic, Sara will catch Liam making his final preparations on the ballet when he returns to Miami tomorrow before his big world premiere on January 11 at the Arsht Center.

© Gio Alma

Can anyone remember Sara’s fun fact?  She is a social media guru and Instagram pro! Follow her on Twitter @estygrl!

Here is a shot of Sara rehearsing with Liam Scarlett!

© Daniel Azoulay

Soloist Sara Esty takes over Instagram this week!
Sara is no stranger to MCB Blog and has live tweeted for us during opening nights — so you are in for a treat!

© Gio Alma

Fun fact about Sara: she is very active on social media!
Sara is a fantastic follow on Twitter and, in our opinion, an Instagramer extraordinaire! Follow Sara on Twitter @estygrl.

Soloist Sara Esty is featured in the August/September issue of Pointe Magazine!

In an article titled “It Can Happen In An Instant,” Sara discusses being an understudy and how to be ready to perform at a moment’s notice.

“What began as a routine company class a few years ago for Miami City Ballet’s Sara Esty turned into anything but when a principal ballerina landed badly from a tour jeté. Then in the corps de ballet, Esty felt all eyes turn to her as people realized that she – the dancer’s understudy – would now be starring in both Twyla Tharp’s The Golden Section and George Balanchine’s Valse Fantaisie. Opening night was less than 24 hours away. It was a terrifying, and an exhilarating, moment.

Two years later and one glowing New York Times review later, Esty is a soloist.”

To read the entire article, click here.

The 2011-2012 season opens with Program I on October 21 at Adrienne Arsht Center! With a world premiere by Liam Scarlett, two full-length classics, and the return of Opus One Orchestra, this season promises to be one of the best in MCB history! We’d like to congratulate our newly promoted dancers and welcome new faces to the troupe for this very exciting season.

Promoted to Soloist:

Sara Esty (Photo © Leigh-Ann Esty)

Kleber Rebello (Photo © Kyle Froman)

Promoted to Corps de Ballet:

Andrei Chagas

Suzette Logue

Promoted to Company Apprentice:
Chloe Freytag
Lexie Overholt
Kara White

Welcome back Jeremy Cox!

Jeremy returns for Programs I and II as a principal dancer after performing in Paris with MCB.

New to MCB:

Shimon Ito joined the Corps de Ballet and danced with MCB in Paris. He joins us from Ballet San Jose.

Jonathan Batista – School Scholarship Apprentice
Jovani Furlan – School Scholarship Apprentice
Sara McCahill – School Scholarship Apprentice

Liam Scarlett of The Royal Ballet spent the last three weeks with MCB working on the World Premiere, which premieres in January 2012. Enthusiasm filled the building, and dancers and staff alike were thrilled with the developments coming from the studios. Sara Esty, newly-promoted soloist, collected some thoughts on what is was like to work with Britain’s hottest choreographer, Liam Scarlett.

Post by Sara Esty, Corps de Ballet

Hi everyone! Well I am happy to report that Miami City Ballet had a successful and fun trip to NYC for City Center’s Fall for Dance festival. It was an honor to share the stage with so many different and amazing companies. Merce Cunningham Dance Company opened the evening with an interesting and powerful piece, which was eye opening for all. A personal and crowd favorite was a company called Gallim. Their dancers were not only incredible and gave off the most amazing energy, but they were really nice and genuine people!

The whole experience of being back in New York was special for all of us. There is just something about that city – the sparkle and excitement presents a magical feeling that we all felt and made for really special performances. Here is a video of our journey. Enjoy! I hope you have had fun coming along with me for the past few weeks on The Road to City Center. 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.