Ballet BC
Miami City Ballet’s Balanchine

Dates and Venue February 19 - 21, 2015, 8pm (Saturday, Feb 21 matinee at 2pm) | Queen Elizabeth Theatre

Music Giuseppe Verdi, Igor Stravinsky & Peter Tchaikovsky Costume Design Ben Benson (Ballo della Regina); Karinska (Symphony in Three Movements and Serenade) Lighting Design John Hall Artistic Director, Miami City Ballet Lourdes Lopez

Reviewer Nancie Ottem


Miami City Ballet stole the heart of the audience tonight. The evening, entitled Balanchine, offered three ballets choreographed by the legendary George Balanchine. Ballo della Regina with music by Verdi from the opera Don Carlos; Symphony in Three Movements with music by Stravinsky from Symphony in Three Movements and Serenade with music by Tchaikovsky from Serenade in C Major for String Orchestra.

Ballo della Regina opened the program with dancers sheathed in blue pastel diaphanous garments against a backdrop of blue clouded sky. The effect was magical and visually stunning. As the piece developed one appreciated the incredible strength and versatility of these dancers. The sequencing of the arm movements, the agility and grace of the pas de deux and the clever juxtaposition in the choreography exposed the talent and training this beautiful ballet offers the audience.

Symphony in Three Movements is the second ballet on the program. A very fast paced construction set against Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements, it pulses with energy. The sheer physicality of the high jumps, where the dancers seem to hover in the air, the weaving movement as they work through the sequencing and the contrast of the white and black costuming with the odd splash of red or tangerine compels the audience to engage. One is again, patently aware of the tremendous talent that infuses Miami City Ballet.

Serenade is the final ballet on the program. This is a piece of outstanding visual beauty and precision of timing. The choreography is timeless, highly innovative and must have been viewed as very avant garde when it was first presented in 1934 in New York. George Balanchine’s signature arm movements and constructed posing of groups of dancers within the ballet elevate Serenade to a realm of its own.

This is a superlative program that should not be missed.

© 2015 Nancie Ottem