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…
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!!!
Preparing for The Neighborhood Ballroom with the Esty twins.
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 25th 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.
As the Siren in Prodigal Son. Choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust.
With my husband Carlos Guerra
Post by Rebecca King, Corps de Ballet
The dancers of Miami City Ballet are very excited to be preparing for the 25th Anniversary season, which kicks off in just a few days. Among the exciting elements of this opening weekend is the return of the Opus One Orchestra. Miami City Ballet has been without an orchestra for two years now, so we are bringing them back in style.
Leading off Program I is Jerome Robbins’ Fanfare, which was created especially to “introduce you to the instruments of the orchestra,” as the narrator explains before the ballet begins. The orchestra has four different sections: the strings, the woodwinds, the brass, and percussion. As you can imagine, the ballet has a large cast that fills the stage with bright colored costumes as the curtain rises. Former New York City Ballet dancer Ben Huys set this ballet on the company in April, at the end of our 2009-2010 season. When we were learning the ballet, the premiere seem so very far away, and here we are, already in October with opening night just around the corner. Mr. Huys returned last week to put some final touches on the ballet before we debut it for our Miami audience.
I really enjoy this ballet; not only do I find it fun to dance, but I love the choreography and the picture it creates for the audience. In my opinion, the best part is the last section of the piece. One may call it a finale, but because this piece is all about the orchestra, we call it “the fugue”. In terms of music, a fugue is when two or more instruments play based on a theme. The theme is introduced at the beginning and reoccurs throughout. In our fugue, the instrument to introduce the theme is the piccolo. One by one, the instruments join in, building upon that theme. All the dancers enter the stage, at the same time as their instrument does in the pit, and dance a variation on the theme steps. After every section has entered, the stage becomes split among the men and the women. Now, the orchestra plays one slow melody underneath a fast, spritely melody. The men dance to the slower melody with completely different steps from the women, who are quickly and precisely dancing to the other melody. All the dancers again split into their different sections to create a final picture as the curtain comes in.
I am happy that MCB has again asked me to bring you a behind the curtain view of opening weekend. I will be taking the Flip camera with me to bring you some footage as this exciting night approaches. Stay tuned for more about Fanfare as Miami City Ballet continues to prepare for this exciting company premiere!
As opening night rapidly approaches, the wardrobe department has been hard at work for months. This week, we visited the shop while they were working on the costumes for the company premiere of Fanfare. As many companies often do, MCB sometimes rents costumes from other companies, but not in the case of Fanfare! The wardrobe ladies are making them from start to finish.
We snapped a few shots during our visit. Although we tried our very best to capture the magic, these photos do not do the amazing costumes justice. Don’t miss them onstage when Program I opens on October 15 at Adrienne Arsht Center, November 12 at Broward Center and November 19 at Kravis Center.
the piccolo
peg crowns in the making
crown patterns
french horn pattern
creating tutus
This harp was hand stitched!
the harp
In Divertimento #15 as Solo #3 girl. Choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust. Photo © Leigh-Ann Esty.
With former MCB dancer Kristin D'Addario getting ready for Company B.