MCB Insider | Miami City Ballet

Crista Villella – Ballroom Ballet Mistress

Since the summer she’s been spotted watching videos of The Neighborhood Ballroom and taking notes. Finally the time came when Crista Villella, Ballet Mistress, began rehearsing the Company for the ballet which will be performed as Program III. Originally choreographed by her father, Edward Villella, Ballroom became one of her projects for this season. We caught up with Crista at Adrienne Arsht Center to talk about her experience with Ballroom.

Miami City Ballet will present The Neighborhood Ballroom this weekend (February 5-7) at Adrienne Arsht Center, on February 12-14 at Broward Center, and on February 19-21 at Kravis Center.

Getting Ready for Ballroom – Part 2

Now that you’ve seen the costume bibles, take a look at the costumes the dancers will be wearing on stage during The Neighborhood Ballroom! Haydee actually went to the vintage shops of Miami and found amazing attire for the ballet. But not all the pieces were purchased – some were made by the wardrobe department. See if you can tell the difference.

In this installment of the costume series, Haydee shows us what the dancers will be wearing in the first two acts of the ballet.

The Poet returns to the Ballroom

Yann Trividic is back to dance the principal role of The Poet in Edward Villella’s The Neighborhood Ballroom. We caught up with the former principal dancer earlier in the season to see how it felt to be back. But now it’s almost show time! In a couple days, Yann will take the stage to reprise the role that was created on him. We sat down with Yann to talk about taking the stage again.

Don’t miss your chance to see Yann dance this weekend (February 5-7) at Adrienne Arsht Center, at Broward Center on February 12-14, and at Kravis Center on February 19-21.

Getting Ready for Ballroom

This weekend, the dancers will hang up their tutus and tights and suit up in dresses and jackets — The Neighborhood Ballroom opens Friday night at Adrienne Arsht Center! Haydee Morales, MCB Costume Designer and Director of Wardrobe, designed the costumes for this full evening ballet. It took lots of hard work and long hours, but with the help of her team, Haydee created an entire wardrobe for this piece.

Here’s a sneak peek at what went into designing the costumes for The Neighborhood Ballroom.

Stay tuned for more of our costume series.

Enraptured in two major Balanchine roles

Post by Michael Sean Breeden

When I was a young dancer at the School of American Ballet, I became enraptured with the world of Balanchine. I had always known that it was music that made me want to dance, but the steps in his ballets seemed to pour forth directly from the music in ways that sparked my imagination like never before. Each new ballet I saw or learned revealed different facets of his genius to me. I knew that I wanted to make dancing these ballets my life.

The majority of the repertoire we dance at Miami City Ballet is George Balanchine’s work and being in this Company has given me many wonderful opportunities to dance corps and demi-soloist roles in his ballets. In ballets like “Diamonds” and Square Dance there is nothing like sharing the greatness of the stage, music and choreography with your peers who, in this Company, we are lucky to say are also our closest friends. While I have relished these opportunities, I was very excited to have the chance to perform two major roles in ballets by Balanchine done in Program II: Divertimento No. 15 and Valse Fantaisie (1953).

Divertimento No. 15 is a Balanchine classic danced by many companies around the world, and the only major work he ever made to music by Mozart. Balanchine said it was the greatest divertimento ever written and he paid homage to Mozart by accompanying it with some of his finest choreography. The ballet is a classical dancer’s dream, with each step perfectly blending Balanchine’s own choreographic innovations with tributes to past masterwork by Petipa. After navigating through typical opening weekend jitters, I find myself presently comfortable enough to find ways to make each show unique. Trying to fill the music differently or find new moments to relate to your partners onstage is a wonderful way to make the ballet come alive for you and the audience. Getting to perform a lead role in a classic like “Divert”, as the dancers call the ballet, is one of the most rewarding onstage experiences I have had yet.

While “Divert” is a revered classic, the 1953 version of Valse Fantaisie we perform is a gem that is little seen and would be all but extinct if it were not for Miami City Ballet. Having danced the 1967 version of Valse Fantaisie as a member of Boston Ballet II, it has been a particularly interesting experience for me to perform the earlier version. While both have many merits, they are similar only in sweep and lightness; little links the two choreographically. Being able to compare two very different perspectives by George Balanchine on a single piece of music has proven fascinating.

Both ballets have provided me with great challenges and pleasures. “Divert” is a masterful exercise in classical simplicity and elegance, while Valse Fantaisie (1953) challenges its dancer’s stamina and requires them to devour space. While it is bittersweet to be nearing my final performances of these ballets, I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience and hope that one day I will find myself performing in them once more.

Michael Sean Breeden and Tricia Albertson in Divertimento No. 15. Choreography by George Balanchine. Copyright The George Balanchine Trust. Photo © Sayre Berman of the Miami New Times.

Don’t miss your final chance to see Michael in Program II this weekend.

Amanda is now officially a Soloist!

Amanda Weingarten, from Palm Harbor, Florida, joined Miami City Ballet in 2004 as a Company Apprentice and has since been promoted to Soloist (as of January 1). She trained at SAB, Classical Ballet Training Program in Tampa Bay, Florida, and Florida Ballet School. We sat with Amanda to talk about her recent promotion and her time with MCB.

We’ve shared pictures of Amanda at the Vail International Dance Festival in a previous post.

Come see Amanda dance this weekend at Broward Center. Don’t miss your last chance to see Program II.