Miami City Ballet is an American ballet company based in Miami Beach, Florida, led by artistic director Gonzalo Garcia.
MCB was founded in 1985 by Toby Lerner Ansin, a Miami philanthropist.The Miami Herald Wednesday, May 21, 1997, Page 1 D, Living & Arts Section, A Woman of Vision Ansin and the founding board hired Edward Villella, former New York City Ballet principal dancer to be the founding artistic director.
A bulk of the company's repertoire is made up of the work of George Balanchine, though the company also performs works by Jerome Robbins, Martha Graham, José Limón, Twyla Tharp, Trey McIntyre, Mark Morris, Jimmy Gamonet, who was the company's founding Resident Choreographer and Ballet Master from 1986 to 1999, Christopher Wheeldon, Justin Peck, and others, in addition to traditional full-length works including Giselle, Don Quixote, and Swan Lake.
In 2012, Lourdes Lopez was chosen to replace founding artistic director Edward Villella. Much like Villella, Lopez was a soloist and principal dancer at NYCB. Lopez is greatly influenced by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. Gonzalo Garcia was named the artistic director in 2025 after Lopez announced that the 2024-25 season would be her last with the company.
Miami City Ballet features an international ensemble of over 50 dancers. The company has an active repertoire of 88 ballets, including 9 world premiers, and performs over 75 times annually. Miami City Ballet serves as the resident ballet company in theaters in the Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and West Palm Beach areas. In addition, the company regularly tours both domestically and internationally. Its North American appearances include the Kennedy Center, the 1996 Olympic Arts Festival, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, the Los Angeles Music Center, Spoleto Festival USA, Harris Theater (Chicago), the New York City Center, and the Lincoln Center; while theaters and festivals in Europe, Central America, and South America have hosted the company.
Along with the ballet company, Miami City Ballet hosts a ballet school for students aging between 3 and 18. The school is split into three divisions: Children's division (ages 3 to 7), Student division (ages 8 to 13), and Pre-Professional division (ages 14 to 18). Students must audition to be placed in a division. Like the company, the school focuses on the Balanchine method (or Balanchine technique). MCB school students have the opportunity to perform in the yearly Nutcracker performance that the Miami City Ballet company puts together, and there are a number of intensive summer programs that students are eligible to attend.
Dancers As of February 2024, the Miami City Ballet Dancers are:
Principals NameNationalityTrainingJoined MCBPromoted to PrincipalOther CompaniesNathalia ArjaEscola de Dance Alica Arja Miami City Ballet School20112020Compania de Ballet do Rio de JaneiroDawn AtkinsThe School of Richmond Ballet Boston Ballet School20212022Boston BalletKatia CarranzaEscuela Superior de Musica de Danza de Monterrey1998, 20172004, 2017Ballet de MonterreyRenan CerdeiroEscola de Danca Alice ArjaMiami City Ballet School20102013Hannah FischerCanada's National Ballet School20202023The National Ballet of CanadaSamantha Hope GallerThe Ballet Academy, Inc.Boston Ballet SchoolCentral Pennsylvania Youth BalletBoston Conservatory20142022Alabama BalletAshley KnoxAnn Parsley's School of DanceThe Rochester School of DanceSchool of American BalletMiami City Ballet School20032021Steven LochBallet Conservatory (Texas)Harid ConservatoryPacific Northwest Ballet School2021N/A, Joined as PrincipalPacific Northwest BalletYulia MoskalenkoKyiv State Ballet College2022N/A, joined as PrincipalNational Opera of UkraineStanislav OlshanskyiKyiv State Choreographic School2022N/A, Joined as PrincipalNational Opera of UkraineAlexander PetersAllegheny Ballet Academy School of American Ballet Royal Danish Ballet20172019Kansas City BalletPennsylvania BalletChase SwatoshRetter's Academy of DanceJoffrey Ballet SchoolSchool of American Ballet20102023
Soloists NameNationalityTrainingJoined MCBPromoted to SoloistSoloist RankJordan-Elizabeth LongSouthwest Virginia Ballet2014N/A, Joined as SoloistPrincipal SoloistTaylor NaturkasCrooked Tree Arts Center School of BalletMiami City Ballet School20202022Principal SoloistDamian ZamoranoProvincial School of Ballet "Alejo Carpentier"Escuela Nacional De Danza Clasica y ContemporaneaMiami City Ballet School20132021Principal SoloistAdrienne CarterImpact Dance of AtlantaMiami City Ballet School20102022SoloistCameron CatazaroSchool of Canton BalletBallet Academy EastMiami City Ballet School20192023SoloistSatoki HabuchiNaomi Funatsuki Ballet StudioTazuru Ichiyanagi Ballet SchoolMiami City Ballet School20172024SoloistBrooks LandeggerSchool of American Ballet20222024SoloistAriel RoseBallet Academy EastJacqueline Kennedy Onassis School20132022SoloistNicole StalkerCheryl Lee Studio of DanceThe Chautauqua InstituteThe Rock School for Dance Education20082023Soloist
Corps de ballet SarahAnne Perel
Former dancers Patricia Delgado Jovani Furlan Jennifer Lauren Kathryn Morgan Daniel Sarabia Rolando Sarabia
References
External links
Archival footage of Balanchine's Square Dance performed by Miami City Ballet in 1989 at Jacob's Pillow Archival footage of Christopher Wheeldon's Polyphonia performed by Miami City Ballet in 2017 at Jacob's Pillow