The Miami City Ballet will perform George Balanchine's Square Dance as part of its upcoming Program I, kicking off the 2011-2012 season. It's a beautifully symmetric choice: Edward Villella, the founder and director of MCB, was a star protégée of Balanchine. The MCB first performed this quintessentially American dance in 1987, and when they later danced it to great reviews in New York City and most recently in Paris this summer, it has become a signature piece. And now, just last month, Villella announced his retirement. What better performance to take us out of his era.

Principal ballerina Jeanette Delgado, who will be dancing to the score partially from Antonio Vivaldi when MCB takes the stage at the Arsht Center this weekend, recalls what it was like to debut in France this past summer, with this same dance. "It was nerve wracking at first," she says during a break from practice.