A wealth of dance choices are on tap in Miami this season, from the lyrical grandeur of classical ballet to adventurous multidisciplinary experiments by uniquely Miami artists. Luckily, we’re here to help you choose – not just what appeals to you, but also, perhaps, to tempt you to try something new.
Classical
One of this country’s premier classical dance troupes, Miami City Ballet is known for its dynamic energy and fabulously diverse repertory. Sample it all with its Winter Mix program featuring “Firebird,” a dazzling rendition of a Russian folk tale from revolutionary 20th-century ballet genius George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, the Broadway innovator behind “West Side Story” and a compatriot of Balanchine’s at New York City Ballet.
(© by Alexander Iziliaev)
Miami City Ballet dancer Nathalia Arja in “Firebird,” an electrifying vision of a Russian folk tale. Choreography by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. © George Balanchine Trust.
Also on stage will be “Concerto DSCH,” a breakthrough work from Ukrainian-born choreographer Alexei Ratmansky, the artist-in-residence at NYCB widely regarded as this century’s most important classical dancemaker, who’s created and staged multiple ballets for MCB. Program II also includes commissioned world premieres from Miami native Margarita Armas and rising choreographic star Durante Verzola. Catch the show at Miami’s Adrienne Arsht Center Feb. 9-11 and at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale Feb. 17-18.
If lavish, traditional ballet drama is your thing, don’t miss Ratmansky’s version of “Swan Lake,” when MCB brings back his marvelous reconstruction of the tragic romance of an enchanted swan princess, which brings the original glory of the 19th-century Russian classic to new life. Danced to a live orchestra playing Tchaikovsky’s lushly melodic score. See it April 18-21 at the Arsht, or April 25-28 at the Broward Center. Visit MiamiCityBallet.org for tickets.
Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami, a vital young troupe led by former MCB stars Jennifer Kronenberg and Carlos Guerra, centers on new work, frequently showcasing Latin American artists and music or Miami-based artists, wonderfully danced by their fiery, devoted company. Dimensions’ Nov. 11 show at South Dade’s Dennis C. Moss Cultural Arts Center features a new tango-inspired piece by Argentine choreographer Leonardo Reale, set to music by master tango composer Mariano Mores. Also on tap is the premiere of “Voyager,” from company member and choreographic protégé Yanis Eric Pikieris. Get tickets at MossCenter.org.
(Courtesy of BalletX)
Cutting-edge troupe BalletX will dance at the Dennis C. Moss Cultural Arts Center.
Speaking of South Dade’s Dennis C. Moss Cultural Arts Center, it’s definitely worth the trip there to see some of this country’s best dance troupes. Jan. 19-20 they present a gorgeous neoclassical and contemporary ballet from Dance Theatre of Harlem. March 9-10 is the Paul Taylor Dance Company, dedicated to the powerful humanist work of this founding father of modern dance, performing Taylor’s 9/11-inspired masterpiece “Promethean Fire.”
And on April 6, don’t miss Philadelphia’s sexy, cutting-edge BalletX, praised for “choreographic innovation” by The New Yorker, performing works from dancemaker/filmmaker Justin Peck, who choreographed Spielberg’s “West Side Story,” and Miami-raised Jamar Roberts, acclaimed former company star and resident choreographer for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Tickets for all shows are at MossCenter.org.
Modern/Contemporary
(Simon Soong)
Dance NOW! members Benicka J. Grant and Deja Darbonne. The troupe will re-create one of Dickens most famous characters in “Havisham!” at the Ancient Spanish Monastery in North Miami Beach.
Count on compelling art and entertainment from Dance NOW! Miami’s superb dancers, beautifully crafted pieces and compelling theatricality. Standout shows in its jampacked season include “Havisham!,” a re-imagining of the Gothic villainess of Dickens’ “Great Expectations,” in a site-specific performance Feb 7-8 at the Ancient Spanish Monastery, accompanied by the South Beach Chamber Ensemble.
There will also be a shared program with Italy’s Opus Ballet March 17 at Miami Theater Center in Miami Shores, and a season closer featuring a playful coming-of-age journey set to 1980s and ’90s pop hits with the sexy romp “House of Fire,” May 17 at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale and May 18 at the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center. For tickets and info go to DanceNowMiami.org.
(Photo by Dario Calmese.)
Some of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s magnificent dancers in Alvin Ailey's “For 'Bird' With Love.” The troupe performs at the Adrienne Arsht Center in February.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s annual performances at the Arsht’s Ziff Ballet Opera House, this year on Feb. 2 and 3, have become a Miami dance ritual. An American institution and global dance standard-bearer led by Liberty City-raised Robert Battle, the Ailey troupe has riveted 25 million people around the world with electrifyingly virtuoso dancers, soulful performances and powerful, deeply human dances. Its Arsht shows always include founder Ailey’s blues and spiritual inspired masterpiece “Revelations,” guaranteed to make your heart and spirit soar. Get tickets at ArshtCenter.org.
(Photo by Gregory Reed.)
Peter London Global Dance Theater's Leon Cobb will be part of the troupe’s performances at the Adrienne Arsht Center in December.
Miami’s own Peter London Global Dance Company, at the Arsht’s Carnival Studio Theater Dec. 28-31, showcases the vision of its founder, a Trinidadian-born former dancer with modern dance godmother Martha Graham, and master teacher at New World School of the Arts, who’s done so much to foster Miami and multicultural dance artists. The program, “Edge of Tomorrow,” features a world premiere from Miami-raised Jamar Roberts, former star dancer and resident choreographer at the Ailey company, set to a new score by Etienne Charles, a brilliant, multi award-winning Afro-Caribbean jazz trumpeter, composer and associate professor at University of Miami’s Frost School of Music.
Charles also supplies the music for a new piece by Lloyd Knight, a New World trained principal dancer at the Martha Graham Dance Company; new works by London and hip-hop artist David Milome, and more. Get tickets at ArshtCenter.org.
Mixed/Multidisciplinary
The latest from brigid baker wholeproject’s yearslong series of luminous pieces blending Baker’s lyrical, hypnotic choreography with gorgeous, enormous images by video projection artist Justin Trieger, and Baker’s own collages of nature and pop culture video and wildly imaginative set and costume designs. “Cloud9” is a tribute to what Baker calls “light leakers,” or visionaries from Josephine Baker to Buckminster Fuller, who bring us illumination and hope, extending Baker’s ongoing focus on the beauty and centrality of cultural and natural ecology.
The score ranges from musical minimalist Simeon ten Holt to Prince and The Staple Singers, Nov. 16-19 at Miami-Dade County Auditorium’s On.Stage Black.Box Theater. More information is available on Instagram. Get tickets at Ticketmaster.com.
Miami Light Project’s Screendance Miami, an annual celebration of dance on film, is a dazzling global showcase of a flourishing multimedia art form that blends dance’s exhilarating physicality with startling new visions and gorgeous visuals that can see dancers soaring on rooftops, merging with the forest or lighting up city streets. The films include documentaries, virtual reality and more from local, national and international artists.
ScreenDance, celebrating its 10th anniversary, takes place Jan. 20-27 at multiple venues: Pérez Art Museum Miami, the New World Center on Miami Beach, Miami Theater Center in Miami Shores and the Miami Beach Bandshell in North Beach. Visit MiamiLightProject.com for info.
Miami Dade College’s Live Arts Miami gives us a rare chance to see the ancient art form of Indian classical dance with Bijayini Satpathy, a renowned 25-year veteran of Nrityagram, India’s internationally famed exponent of the country’s classical dance.
Satpathy has earned exceptional accolades: “Exquisite grace and technique … extraordinarily vivid” (The New Yorker) and “deeply alive, urgent and universal” (Dance Tabs). She merges the profound storytelling and intricate sculptural grace of her lifelong practice of her tradition with a more contemporary personal journey of physical, emotional and spiritual discovery in the solo “ABHIPSSA – a seeking.” On March 9 at the Koubek Center MDC in Little Havana; get tickets at LiveArtsMiami.org.
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(Maria Baranova)
Live Arts Miami will present renowned Indian classical dancer Bijayini Satpathy in March.
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(Justin Trieger)
Dancers Isaiah Gonzalez, Amy Trieger and Meredith Barton (L-R) from brigid baker wholeproject; the company’s latest multimedia production is “Cloud9.”
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(Photo © by Alexander Iziliaev)
Miami City Ballet dancers Yuliia Moskalenko and Cameron Catazaro in Alexei Ratmansky’s re-creation of “Swan Lake.” Choreography by Alexei Ratmansky.
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(John McCoy)
Paul Taylor Dance Company will perform Taylor’s masterful 9/11 tribute, “Promethean Fire,” at the Dennis C. Moss Cultural Arts Center.
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Miami Light Project’s ScreenDance Miami shows dance films like Heidi Duckler and Katherine Helen Fisher’s “Play WhereWe’re Going.”