“If the evening’s three pieces share anything in common, it is the intense difficulty and pin-point precision required of the dancers. And they really deliver. ”

“The opening gala began with “Serenade,” Balanchine’s windswept embodiment of Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade in C Major for String Orchestra,” …Miami City Ballet did the honors impressively, with Simone Messmer being carried off for the elegiac ending of the 4-part suite keenly framed by the center’s intimate space.”

“Miami City Ballet proved that it belongs in the festival. An offshoot of City Ballet, the Miami company understands what Balanchine discovered and taught: how exactitude needn’t sacrifice warmth; how even in Romanticism, rhythmic accuracy allows momentum to build.”

“Without the complex musicality, Balanchine seems wooden, pointless. No surprise, then, that the companies on the first two programmes most steeped in his work were the ones that most illuminated it. “

“The Miami dancers pushed through the air almost hungrily. City Ballet is assertive, stylish, and sharp; the Miamians dance with drive.  It’s fascinating to see the two companies side by side, like siblings with different temperaments.”