Miami City Ballet is grateful to Baptist Health, the official healthcare partner for our company dancers.

We are so glad you’re here. I am thrilled to present a season that celebrates ballet’s past, present, and future. As I dive into my 11th season as your artistic director, I am in awe of this extraordinary company and all its infinite possibilities. 

This season we share Shakespeare’s most famous love story as told through John Cranko’s masterpiece Romeo and Juliet, and will once again this April through Jerome Robbins’ ever-popular West Side Story Suite.

We bring you two examples of Modern dance pioneers, Martha Graham and José Limón, while ushering in diverse, boundary-breaking choreographic voices such as Pontus Lidberg and Amy Hall Garner.

Then, we connect visionary young artists like choreographer Durante Verzola and designer Esteban Cortázar to the past through the music of Ernesto Lecuona. 

And finally, we reimagine George Balanchine’s Square Dance, giving it a decidedly Miami twist.

Thank you for being with us and sharing in these stories that we hope will emotionally transport, inspire, and most of all, entertain you.

Love,

Lourdes Lopez
Artistic Director

I am so excited to welcome you to Miami City Ballet, and am deeply grateful for the warm welcome the South Florida community has given me. It is an honor to return home to Miami, and to join this remarkable team of talented professionals who are committed to delivering the mission of MCB every day. The opportunity to support the exceptional artistic vision of Lourdes at the organization that supported me in the early days of my career is extraordinary. I can’t wait to see the places we’ll go together.

I am thrilled my journey as Executive Director coincides with the opening of our Modern Masters program, which features one of José Limón’s most renowned works, The Moor’s Pavane. I spent nine wonderful years as Executive Director of the José Limón Dance Foundation, so the timing couldn’t be more kismet. Limón used to say, “there is a dance for every single human experience”, and I feel that this diverse program exemplifies that sentiment.

It is an absolute joy to be here with you for the first program of 2023. May Modern Masters inspire you to seek the dance in your life, explore what moves you, and let MCB be your partner on the dance floor.

With Gratitude,

Juan José Escalante
Executive Director

Diversion of Angels

Choreography and Costume Design by Martha Graham 

Staged by Peggy Lyman Hayes and Peter Sparling

Music by Norman Dello Joio* 

Original Lighting Design by Jean Rosenthal

Lighting by Les Dickert

"It is the place of the Rock and the Ladder, the raven, the blessing, the tempter, the rose. It is the wish of the single-hearted, the undivided: play after spirit's labor: games, flights, fancies, configurations of the lover's intention: the beloved Possibility, at once strenuous and tender: humors of innocence, garlands, evangels, Joy on the Wilderness Stair; diversion of angels." - Ben Belitt 

Premiere: August 13, 1948, Palmer Auditorium, New London, CT 

*By arrangement with Theodore Presser company, agents for Carl Fischer LLC, publisher and copyright representative.

Presented by arrangement with Martha Graham Resources, a division of the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance. 

MARTHA GRAHAM CENTER OF CONTEMPORARY DANCE 
The MARTHA GRAHAM CENTER OF CONTEMPORARY DANCE keeps vital and builds upon the unique work of Martha Graham, the principal originator of American modern dance. The MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY, founded by Martha Graham in 1926, is the first and most celebrated modem dance company in the world and features an international roster of the most talented modem dancers in the world today. Students come from around the world to study at the MARTHA GRAHAM SCHOOL OF CONTEMPORARY DANCE, the only school primarily focused upon teaching the Martha Graham technique and repertory. The course structure culminates in the pre-professional training of young dancers, who perform at public schools, colleges, and other venues as the Martha Graham Dance Ensemble. The MARTHA GRAHAM RESOURCES shares the works of Martha Graham with other arts organizations and performers and preserves and makes available to the public the assets of one of the world's most extensive collections of dance history: sets, costumes, audio and video recordings, photographs and correspondence. 

For more information, go to www.marthagrahamdance.org. Call 212.229-9200 for information about school programs and the Martha Graham Dance Company and Martha Graham Resources. Email info@marthagrahamdance.org to be added to our mailing list. 

The Moor’s Pavane

VARIATIONS ON THE THEME OF OTHELLO

Choreography by José Limón

Music by Henry Purcell*

Staging & Direction by Kurt Douglas

Original Lighting by Tom Skelton

Lighting by John D. Hall

Though subtitled "Variations on the theme of Othello", this dance is not intended as a choreographic version of Shakespeare's play. In the form of a pavane and other dances of the high Renaissance, the legend is told of the hapless Moor, his wrongfully suspected wife, the Moor's treacherous friend and his wife. The four characters portray the tragedy of Everyman, and the ballet is, therefore, timeless in its implications. This work has been cited by critics the world over as José Limón's "masterpiece.”

©1996, José Limón Dance Foundation, Inc. These performances of The Moor’s Pavane, a Limón^sm Dance, are presented by arrangement with the José Limón Dance Foundation, Inc. and has been produced in accordance with the Limón Style^sm and Limón Technique^sm service standards established by The José Limón Dance Foundation, Inc. Limón^sm, Limón Style^sm and Limón Technique^sm are trade and service marks of The José Limón Dance Foundation, Inc. (All rights reserved).

These performances of The Moor’s Pavane are part of the José Limón Dance Foundation’s 75th Anniversary Celebration.

*By arrangement with Boosey & Hawkes, Inc., o/b/o G. Ricordi & Co.. Bühnen- und Musikverlag GmbH.

First performed August 17,1949 at the Connecticut College American Dance Festival by the José Limón Dance Company

Resplendent Fantasy

Choreography by Amy Hall Garner

Piano Quintet: 3rd Movement by Jonathan Dove*

Krunk by Komitas

Infinite Ocean: VI by Oliver Davis**

Lighting Design by Brandon Stirling Baker

Costume Design by Susan Roemer

Resplendent Fantasy honors the satisfying simplicity of the marriage of movement and music. It is a sumptuous celebration. The dance pulls from classical forms, melding the tradition of ballet with the expression of modern dance and uses the nuance of the musical score to push stylistic boundaries. It is the music that moves us, both physically and emotionally. Resplendent Fantasy is inspired by the shared, embodied experience of music’s unique ability to evoke powerful emotion. We “see the music” and “hear the dance” (George Balanchine).

*Licensed by arrangement with C. F. Peters Corporation, New York

**Presented under license from G. Schirmer Inc. and Associated Music Publishers, copyright owners.

Petrichor

The Smell of Earth After Rain

Choreography by Pontus Lidberg

Concerto for Violin and Orchestra by Philip Glass © Dunvagen Music Publishers Inc.

Set Design by Pontus Lidberg

Lighting Design by Brandon Stirling Baker

Projections Design by Jason Carpenter

Costume Design by Spiridonakou

Projections Assistant Michael Commendatore

It’s the ephemeral, yet enveloping and transportive smell we all know: The smell of rain on a summer afternoon, the smell of wet shimmering asphalt, thunder hanging in the air. 

I love creating works in response to the artists and people that take part in the creative process. Petrichor—the smell of earth after rain, is the product of a lightning strike between myself, the dancers of Miami City Ballet, and the transportive first violin concerto of Philip Glass. The costumes by Andrea Spiridonakos evoke birds of paradise, caught in an abstract wet urban jungle, suggested by visual artist Jason Carpenter.

Production support for the World Premiere of Petrichor generously provided by Dr. Margaret and Mike Eidson.

Artistic Director Lourdes Lopez

Executive Director Juan José Escalante

Chair, Board of Trustees Jeff Davis

Founder Toby Lerner Ansin

Founding Artistic Director Edward Villella

Production and Lighting Director John D. Hall

Principal Conductor Gary Sheldon

Principal Rehearsal Director Roma Sosenko

Rehearsal Directors Joan Latham, Arnold Quintane

Company Pianist Francisco Rennó

General Press Representation Billy Zavelson/Richard Kornberg & Associates

* indicates Miami City Ballet School Alumni

Jeff Davis, Board Chair

Major funding for Miami City Ballet is provided by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Ford Foundation.

Miami-Dade County support provided by the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners. Performances and programming in Miami Beach provided by the generous support of the City of Miami Beach and the Cultural Arts Council. Support for Miami City Ballet in the Palm Beaches generously sponsored in part by the Board of County Commissioners, the Tourist Development Council and the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County. Broward County funding provided in part by the Broward County Board of County Commissioners of Broward County, Florida, as recommended by the Broward Cultural Council. Sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture, the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Miami City Ballet is grateful to Baptist Health South Florida, the Official Healthcare Partner for our company dancers.

Miami City Ballet is grateful to Baptist Health, the official healthcare partner for our company dancers.

Photo Credits: Cover Page:  Nicole Stalker, Adrienne Carter and Mayumi Enokibara in Diversion of Angels. Choreography by Martha Graham. Photo © Gary James.