Who was dancing with brilliant ease with Miami City Ballet at Kravis Center for the Performing Arts a couple weekends ago? Why, it was Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth gliding across the stage in a sweeping waltz. Projected larger-than-life on a huge screen, they introduced I’m Old-Fashioned, Jerome Robbins’ tribute to the silver screen and the glamorous, bygone golden age … [Read more...]
Beautiful, visually lavish ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ ends MCB season
The visually lavish production of George Balanchine’s evening-length ballet A Midsummer Night’s Dream closed out Miami City Ballet’s 2018-19 season in the Palm Beaches last week. This revisit of the $2.1 million reimagining of the original work was something to behold. The spectacular set and costumes were by artist Michele Oka Doner, who looked to the Miami waterways for … [Read more...]
MCB sparkles in Peck’s ‘Heatscape,’ Balanchine
It’s hard to believe the season is almost over. This past weekend, Miami City Ballet presented its Program Three at the Kravis Center and fast on its heels will be its final program, the full-length A Midsummer Night’s Dream by George Balanchine with music by Felix Mendelssohn, which will close out the company’s season in the Palm Beaches on April 4 and 5. Program Three was … [Read more...]
Plenty of energy, middling payoff at MCB’s Program Two
Though there were some kernels of wonderfulness in the Jan. 19 presentation of Miami City Ballet’s Program Two at the Kravis Center, the overall takeaway was that this program was not up to par with past shows. Presenting two works instead of the usual three or four, the program had some clear flaws. Dances at a Gathering, which opened the performance, was a pastel mosaic … [Read more...]
Lovely, lustrous ‘Jewels’ opens MCB’s season
Seeing the Miami City Ballet’s opening program of the season Nov. 18, which featured George Balanchine’s Jewels, was very much like opening a box and finding an array of precious gems inside, beautifully crafted in elegant and intricate settings. Each section of Balanchine’s acclaimed triptych was distinctly different but all were polished, multi-faceted and brought to … [Read more...]