MCB Insider | Miami City Ballet

MCB Shares the Art of Costume Creation

Last Friday Miami City Ballet headed to NSU’s Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale to spend some time with students at the Auto Nation Academy of Art + Design Creative Summer Art Academy.

MCB’s Costume Designer & Director Haydee Morales, along with Costume Artist Maria Morales took a group of 60 students on a creative journey through costume and wardrobe design -from how long takes to create wardrobe for a ballet, to where they get their materials—even noting the Wardrobe team’s frequent trips to New York City since supplies can be hard to find locally.

MCB Dancers Take Italy

It’s been a couple of weeks since our dancers wrapped up rehearsals with choreographer Justin Peck. Since then, they’ve all been enjoying some additional time off this summer, getting plenty of much-needed rest and relaxation. But as we’ve learned quite well, it’s rarely all play and no work for our dancers. In fact, we recently caught up with principal dancers Tricia Albertson and Renan Cerdeiro, who, earlier this month, performed at the Florence Dance Festival at the National Museum of Bargello in Italy–the same museum that houses Donatello’s famous Statue of David.

The show, titled Stars of American Ballet, featured Tricia and Renan, along with principal couples from New York City Ballet and Boston Ballet.

Summer at Miami City Ballet School

Summer is in full swing at Miami City Ballet; and while our company dancers may be off for the next five weeks, our school is abuzz with activity, from summer intensives to a full lineup of community classes.

It’s All About Summer Intensive
Last week we kicked off our 5-week Summer Intensive, welcoming over 200 students. The program, which will conclude with a Summer Repertory Performance on Friday, July 25^th, is designed for serious dancers ages 12-19. Students here take classes such as Ballet Technique, Pointe, Pas de Deux, Floor Barre, Jazz and others, and are taught by Miami City Ballet School faculty, Miami City Ballet artistic staff, including Ballet Masters and Lourdes Lopez, Artistic Director, and Company dancers.

This Week at MCB—YoungArts Salon Series & Justin Peck in Studio

It’s been an exciting week at Miami City Ballet. Our dancers are wrapping up an intense few weeks in the studio rehearsing with choreographer Justin Peck, where they’ve been learning a brand-new ballet that will premiere during the final program of the 2014-2015 Season in March.

After getting a sneak peek into yesterday’s rehearsal, our team headed over to watch Justin speak at the YoungArts Salon Series in downtown Miami. During the discussion, titled, “The Art of Collaboration,” Justin, along with singer-songwriter and musician Sufjan Stevens, talked about their most recent partnership on the ballet, Everywhere We Go, which premiered earlier this year at New York City Ballet and featured a nine-movement orchestral score.

Dancers Are Back!

Our dancers have returned to the studios after their 5-week break to start learning a brand new ballet by choreographer Justin Peck. This is Justin’s second ballet for MCB, which will premiere during our final program of the 2014-2015 Season in March. His new work calls for a large cast of dancers and scenery by the popular street artist Shepard Fairey — best known for his work on the Obama Hope poster and also for his large murals adorning local streets and establishments such as the Wynwood Walls and Wynwood Kitchen & Bar.

To capture the creation process behind his new work on our Instagram feed is corps de ballet dancer Emily Bromberg! Follow her at #EmilyMCBphotos to get an intimate look at Justin making choreographic magic!

(Under)Water Ballet!

Not only have our dancers been getting back in shape for three weeks of rehearsals ahead with choreographer Justin Peck starting on Monday, but they have also been learning how to hold their breath! Why? For tomorrow’s underwater photo shoot with Fort Lauderdale’s new glossy, high-society magazine Venice!

Interestingly, one of our dancers has a leg up over the others! Corps de ballet dancer Chase Swatosh tells us about his life before dance as a semi-professional swimmer and diver below!