Miami City Ballet dancers in Viscera. Photo © Kyle Froman.

Miami City Ballet opens its 30th anniversary season with a program that celebrates its history while embracing its future.

It includes company premieres (such as Peter Martin’s “Barber Violin Concerto” and Justin Peck’s “Year of the Rabbit”) as well as revivals, such as British choreographer Liam Scarlett’s “Viscera,” a Miami City Ballet commission, and George Balanchine’s “Swan Lake.” But perhaps the centerpiece of the season is the reimagining of Balanchine’s rendering of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” featuring the work of two Miami natives: artist Michele Oka Doner and playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney. Notably, it is the first time The George Balanchine Trust agreed to have one of his pieces reimagined.

Miami City Ballet dancer Lexie Overholt in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Photo © George Kamper.

“I find it exciting looking for a choreographer or a designer or the right musician and putting them together to create something for the ballet,” said Lourdes Lopez, artistic director of the Miami City Ballet. “I’m not a choreographer, so that´s my way of being creative.”

Born in Cuba and raised in Miami, Lopez studied at the School of American Ballet, the training academy of New York City Ballet, joining the company, which was then directed by Balanchine, shortly after her 16th birthday. She rose to soloist and then principal before retiring in 1997. She joined the Miami City Ballet as artistic director in 2012.

Patricia Delgado and Renan Cerdeiro in Year of the Rabbit. Choreographyby Justin Peck. Photo © Alberto Oviedo.

 “I’ve always found working with other artists exciting,” said Lopez. “I remember when we had the American Music Festival under Peter Martins [at New York City Ballet in 1988]. We were working with so many choreographers, so many musicians, so many designers. It was a thrilling moment for us. I remember as a dancer learning and growing so much during that time. I remember how my own conception of being a dancer changed by being in touch with people outside my world. It opens possibilities. But also, when you work with an artist such as Justin [Peck] or Liam Scarlett, it also opens up so many avenues.” 

Bowing to tradition but moving forward

Peck created “Chutes and Ladders” (2013), a collaboration of Miami City Ballet and the New World Symphony, and last season’s “Heatscape,” in which, inspired by the colorful walks of Wynwood, he worked with visual artist Shepard Fairey, of Obama Hope poster fame. Modern tradition updated, meaningful, daring collaborations and a deeper connection with its home community also reads like a statement about Miami City Ballet moving forward.

“Lourdes is very focused on creating a balance between classic Balanchine and high-quality new work, which keeps dancers and audiences invigorated, and also this deeper engagement with our community,” said Susan Kronick, chair of the board at Miami City Ballet. Such efforts to engage the community are also reflected in outreach programs such as Ballet for Young People, which offers free performances and educational activities for children and their families and, especially, the Ballet Bus, a partnership with Miami-Dade County Public Schools, noted Kronick.

Ballet Bus offers after-school classes and scholarships of up to 10 years to children in underserved communities. “We are prepared to make a long-term commitment to support every child who is a part of this program,” said Kronick. 

In April, Knight Foundation pledged $2.5 million over three years to support Miami City Ballet, which has received several grants from the foundation over the years. Kronick, who serves as a trustee of Knight Foundation, recuses herself from foundation decisions regarding Miami City Ballet.

“Knight Foundation’s approach to the arts has been to support major cultural institutions as well as the bubbling that comes from the ground up,” said Kronick. “Miami City Ballet, 30 years ago, was the institution that gave the city the confidence that it could have world-class art. A lot springs from that. I think it’s one of the reasons that we have such a vital artistic community.”

As it turns out, the history of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and the artistic ambition of this production may be read as a celebration of the end of a cycle: a nod to the company’s history, as it makes a statement about its future. After all, in 1962 Balanchine created Oberon, the main role of “Dream,” for Edward Villella who, in 1985, joined philanthropist Toby Lerner Ansin to become the founding artistic director of Miami City Ballet.

That, said Lopez with a chuckle, “was actually the furthest thing from my mind. Of course, I’m well aware that it was a work that was created with the role of Oberon with Edward in mind — and he was unbelievable in it. But this idea of “A Midsummer’s Night Dream” started four years ago when I was still in New York. I’ve been always curious about why more reimagining of the old masterworks didn’t happen in ballet the same way it happened in opera or theater.”

Connecting with the community

The departure of Villella was difficult and abrupt and Lopez had to take over earlier than anticipated. It was, she said, like “dropping in a parachute in the middle of a revolution.”

And yet, of all the issues demanding her attention, what immediately caught her eye was the connection, or lack of it, between ballet and community. Here was a major company with a national and international reputation, having toured Europe and throughout the Americas, that, she felt, was not fully appreciated at home.

“There were many things that were right and others that, through no one’s fault, were not,” she said. “But the one thing that really struck me as very odd was that the company was not more connected with the community. I would tell people I was with Miami City Ballet and as a response, I would get crickets or blank looks. When you think we are the largest cultural institution in the state of Florida; the most important ballet company south of New York; when you think that we are the sixth or seventh largest company in the country … [such lack of recognition] just didn’t make sense to me. So one of the things I wanted was to make sure that both Miami and the state of Florida take tremendous pride in what we have built. I wanted the community to understand, and I wanted to dancers to feel appreciated.”

So far, the response has been encouraging, as new subscriptions, “up 26 percent this season,” said Kronick, have bucked a national trend.

“If you look around the country in the world of ticket sales,” Kronick said. “The artistic institutions with the strongest repertoire, artistic excellence and community connection are the ones that are growing faster.”

Miami City Ballet dancers in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker™. Choreography by GeorgeBalanchine © The George Balanchine Trust. Photo © Gene Schiavone.

Meanwhile, to Lopez, the task at hand is a constant reminder of the words of her master teacher.

 “In class, Mr. Balanchine would always look at us and say: ‘We are selling ice in the winter. Nobody needs us.’ That was his way of saying that is how hard you have to try; that’s how good you have to be. I always keep that in mind.”

Fernando González is a Miami-based arts and culture writer. He can be reached via email at [email protected].

Miami City Ballet opened its 30th anniversary season in October 2015. For performance times and ticket information, visit miamicityballet.org.