Miami City Ballet

Cool spot next to bass museum! Great spot to watch the ballerinas practice for gratis!

Took a couple of open ballet classes here. $ 12 with student ID made it really affordable. Kris is a wonderful instructor. My only complaint was the amount of people in the evening beg. class. There were too many for the instructor to make more than superficial corrections. Fyi, parking for about 2 hours is about $ 4 and the «beginner» classes are for intermediate dancers while the advanced classes are for professionals.

Usually, I write about restaurants, food, festivals, art and theater. However, I am out of my element when it comes to writing about dance. So, for the sake of growth and trying new things, I attended the Broward Center for the Performing Arts last week to bare witness to an astounding repertoire of Tradition and Innovation performed by the Miami City Ballet. This assortment of dance featured Divertimento No. 15 (Balanchine/​Mozart), a Duo Concertant (Balanchine/​Stravinsky), Don Quixote Pas de Deux (after Petipa/​Minkus) and Euphotic (Scarlett/​Liebermann).
«Divertimento No. 15» was reminiscent of an ideal time when courtesy, chivalry and tranquility coexisted. The usage of space, patterns and groupings was brilliant. In addition, the women’s classical tutus and the men’s Shakespearian tunics gave the piece an air of formality. It was classical ballet at its best.
During «Duo Concertant», a talented duo danced onstage to both piano and violin accompaniment. The dancers reminded me of cats performing gymnastics as they contorted their bodies through an array of sequence maneuverings. Their dancing, romantic and organic to the stage, also reminded me of the electrifying dance patterns found in West Side Story. This piece was a challenging test for both the musicians and dancers. They performed incredibly well.
True to the program book, Don Quixote Pas de Deux was dangerously fast and exceedingly demanding. This act celebrated the wedding of the enthralling young lovers Kitri and Basilio. While watching the Caballerismatic male dancer, I was enthralled by his old-​world chivalric masculine code of honor and strength. It was a dance-​packed feast, full of romance and bravado. The dancers must have been high on «Red Bull» or have just trained for a marathon as their physical endurance was impeccable.
I was very much looking forward to seeing EUPHOTIC, directed by the 25-​year-​old Liam Scarlett, the most successful young choreographer at Britain’s Royal Ballet. I was trying to see his vision of wanting something very subliminal, like the two opposing extremes of the ocean and sky, something like when you are underwater and you open your eyes and you get this wonderful play of light in the water. Indeed, what he created was in sync with his vision. If we are lucky, fairies from the otherworld may appear to us. Like seeing a fairy, I felt like I was transported to a different kind of otherworld. This world was one where I could view light, water, color, harmony and chaos come together to create life. I was brought deep into an uninterrupted, ancient underworld where this ritual called «life creation» and photosynthesis occurs every day, but our eyes just don’t see it… as unfortunately, we can only see less than one-​percent of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Tradition and Innovation explored the relationship between traditional ballet and innovative ballet. When these two themes are brought together, they help the audience formulate a better collective understanding of our culture and who we are. Indeed, «How can we know who we are and where we are going if we don’t know anything about where we have come from and what we have been through, the courage shown, the costs paid, to be where we are?» David McCullough

Took beginner here and miss it so much, haven’t found anything close to it in Palm Beach county, Attention Adult Ballet Teachers! your needed in PBC!

Superb performances. The students are so talented and very professional. Every seat is good here regardless of where it is. The location is fabulous as well.

I have been taking the beginner ballet open-​classes for over a month now and can say that these classes are really great. They are not your typical beginner classes, some ballet knowledge and expertise is recommended, but not required. The instructors are wonderful and tailor instruction to meet your level, but you really must keep up. These classes will keep you on your toes!

Apart from the breakthrough concept of neo-​classical ballet from the school of Balanchine, Miami City has always been that whimsical place in my heart. I’m an experienced dancer and have always had the pleasure and luck of attending open classes and workshops at the ballet. The open classes are great to keep up with my training and the facilities are luxurious (if you’re from the dance world, luxury is non existent). Go to a show or take class one day, you won’t regret immersing yourself in true local art flavor.