Miami City Ballet

{{Short description|Non-profit organization in the USA}}

Miami City Ballet is an American ballet company based in Miami Beach, Florida, led by artistic director Gonzalo Garcia.

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2012}}

{{Infobox ballet company

| name = Miami City Ballet

| logo = File:Miami_City_Ballet_Logo.jpg

| local_name =

| previous_names =

| predecessor =

| founded = {{start date and age|1986}}

| founder = Toby Lerner Ansin

| founders =

| founding_director =Edward Villella

| founding_choreographers =

| founding_person_type =

| founding_person_name =

| closed =

| venue = Ophelia & Juan Js. Roca Center
2200 Liberty Avenue, Miami Beach, FL 33139

| website = {{URL|www.miamicityballet.org}}

| chief_executive =

| executive_director =

| director =

| assistant_director =

| coordinator =

| company_manager =

| ballet_staff_type =

| ballet_staff_name =

| artistic_director = Gonzalo Garcia

| associate_artistic_director =

| deputy_director =

| ballet_master_in_chief =

| ballet_masters = Roma Sosenko (Principal), Joan Latham, Arnold Quintane

| music_director =

| principal_conductor = Gary Sheldon

| choreographers =

| artistic_staff_type =

| artistic_staff_name =

| parent_company =

| sister_company =

| orchestra =

| official_school = Miami City Ballet School

| associated_schools =

| formation =

}}

File:MiamiCityBallet.jpg

MCB was founded in 1985 by Toby Lerner Ansin, a Miami philanthropist.The Miami Herald Wednesday, May 21, 1997, Page 1 D, Living & Arts Section, A Woman of Vision Ansin and the founding board hired Edward Villella,{{cite web |url=http://barbaramyers.weebly.com/uploads/1/0/3/6/10365571/miami_city_ballet_.pdf |title=Moving Art at the Miami City Ballet | last = Myers | first = Barbara |access-date=2015-07-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722111502/http://barbaramyers.weebly.com/uploads/1/0/3/6/10365571/miami_city_ballet_.pdf |archive-date=July 22, 2015 |df=mdy-all }} former New York City Ballet principal dancer to be the founding artistic director.{{cite news|url=https://nytimes.com/1986/10/16/arts/debut-set-for-villella-s-miami-ballet.html|title=DEBUT SET FOR VILLELLA'S MIAMI BALLET|author=George Volsky |work=The New York Times |date=October 16, 1986 }}

A bulk of the company's repertoire is made up of the work of George Balanchine, though the company also performs works by Jerome Robbins, Martha Graham, José Limón, Twyla Tharp, Trey McIntyre, Mark Morris, Jimmy Gamonet, who was the company's founding Resident Choreographer and Ballet Master from 1986 to 1999, Christopher Wheeldon, Justin Peck, and others, in addition to traditional full-length works including Giselle, Don Quixote, and Swan Lake.{{Cite book |last1=Craine |first1=Debra |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Dance |last2=Mackrell |first2=Judith |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2010 |isbn=9780199563449|edition=2nd }}{{Cite web |last=Murray |first=Donna |title=Review: Miami City Ballet shows it understands 'Modern Masters' in West Palm Beach show |url=https://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/story/entertainment/dance/2023/02/18/miami-city-ballet-performs-second-show-of-season-modern-masters-at-kravis/69918650007/ |access-date=2023-04-12 |website=Palm Beach Daily News |language=en-US}}

In 2012, Lourdes Lopez was chosen to replace founding artistic director Edward Villella. Much like Villella, Lopez was a soloist and principal dancer at NYCB. Lopez is greatly influenced by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins.{{Cite web |title=Lourdes Lopez:A Lifetime in the Ballet {{!}} Inspicio |url=https://inspicio.fiu.edu/interviews/lourdes-lopez/ |access-date=2023-04-12 |language=en-US}} Gonzalo Garcia was named the artistic director in 2025 after Lopez announced that the 2024-25 season would be her last with the company.{{cite web | url=https://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/performing-arts/article308738065.html | title=Meet Miami City Ballet’s new artistic director, the third in the company’s history }}

Miami City Ballet features an international ensemble of over 50 dancers. The company has an active repertoire of 88 ballets, including 9 world premiers, and performs over 75 times annually. Miami City Ballet serves as the resident ballet company in theaters in the Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and West Palm Beach areas. In addition, the company regularly tours both domestically and internationally. Its North American appearances include the Kennedy Center, the 1996 Olympic Arts Festival, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, the Los Angeles Music Center, Spoleto Festival USA, Harris Theater (Chicago), the New York City Center, and the Lincoln Center; while theaters and festivals in Europe, Central America, and South America have hosted the company.{{Cite news |last=Catton |first=Pia |date=April 16, 2016 |title=Miami City Ballet's Night in New York |pages=1 |work=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/miami-city-ballets-night-in-new-york-1460753922 |access-date=April 12, 2023}}{{Cite web |title=Miami City Ballet |url=https://www.miamibeachfl.gov/city-hall/office-of-organizational-development/resident-resources/youth-arts-culture/miami-city-ballet/ |access-date=2023-04-12 |website=City of Miami Beach |language=en-US}}

Along with the ballet company, Miami City Ballet hosts a ballet school for students aging between 3 and 18. The school is split into three divisions: Children's division (ages 3 to 7), Student division (ages 8 to 13), and Pre-Professional division (ages 14 to 18).{{cite web|url=https://www.miamicityballet.org/school|title=Miami City Ballet School|website=miamicityballet.org}} Students must audition to be placed in a division. Like the company, the school focuses on the Balanchine method (or Balanchine technique). MCB school students have the opportunity to perform in the yearly Nutcracker performance that the Miami City Ballet company puts together, and there are a number of intensive summer programs that students are eligible to attend.

File:MiamiCityBallet2019.jpg