Dear Friends,
As the season draws to a close, everyone at Miami City Ballet is filled with renewed energy and revived spirits. This season was triumphant in unimaginable ways. Because of you, we were able to share the power that ballet has to transport us through time and place and tell stories that touch upon themes of the human condition, relatable to us all.
Our final program, Prodigal Son, continues this journey.
We begin with The Source, a world premiere by Claudia Schreier, a thoughtful young choreographer armed with a Harvard degree and an insatiable appetite to explore what has yet to be considered. She presents her first narrative work, set to an incredible score featuring several celebrated composers, including a special musical arrangement of Julius Eastman’s Feminine by Gary Sheldon.
In Christopher Wheeldon’s melting After the Rain Pas de Deux we experience the intimacy of love performed to Arvo Pärt’s stirring, minimalist composition.
It is a thrill to present a William Forsythe work for the first time with Herman Schmerman Duet. A ballet that reminds us just how fun ballet can be.
And finally, George Balanchine’s masterpiece, Prodigal Son, based on a biblical parable returns to our stages. This is the ultimate tale of sin and redemption, but at its core, it is about the healing power of forgiveness. Told through Balanchine’s riveting storytelling and choreography, our dancers have an opportunity to elicit these emotions while showcasing their athleticism and grace.
With gratitude in our hearts, we look brightly towards tomorrow.
See you next season,
Lourdes Lopez
Artistic Director
Miami City Ballet
CREDITS
Choreography by Claudia Schreier
Direction by Adam Barish
Music by Riley Mulherkar, Frank Zappa, William Grant Still, Alexina Louie and Julius Eastman*/arr. by Gary Sheldon
Scenic Design by Jason Ardizzone-West
Costume Design by Abigail Dupree-Polston
Lighting Design by Mark Stanley
Projection Design by Alex Basco Koch
*A Nearer Sun by Riley Mulherkar Used with permission of The Westerlies
Outrage at Valdez 
by Frank Zappa Used by arrangement with European American Music Distributors Company, U.S. and Canadian agent for the Zappa Trust, publisher and copyright owner.
3 Visions: No. 2. Summerland by William Grant Still Used in accordance with William Grant Still Music
IV. Quicksilver Light from Music from Night’s Edge by Alexina Louie
Femenine Suite from Femenine by Julius Eastman Arranged by Gary Sheldon (World Premiere), licensed by Music Sales Corp., Eastman Music Publishing co., and Music Sales Corp.
Scenic Credits:
Associate Scenic Designers, Ethan Brown and Teresa Williams
Associate Projection Designer, Stephanie Beattie
Projection Programmer, Michael Commendatore
Animators, Michael Glen and Katerina Vitaly
Scenic Construction by I Weiss, Scenic Arts Studios, Prop and Paint Creative
Costumes Credits:
Costume Textile Artist, Caitlyn Alderfer Landon
PROGRAM NOTE
On a foggy, cold morning in a remote harbor, eight strangers burdened by grief seek to rid themselves of their pain. Holding their anguish in the palms of their hands, they launch it into the distance — and the world suddenly rips in two. The strangers meet at the fracture, a spellbinding void that provides more questions than answers. Driven by longing and curiosity, the strangers cross the threshold into a universe that holds the roots of their grief. Together, they embark on an adventure to find and destroy these roots, hoping to bring an end to the source of their sorrow.
At every turn, they are met by formidable, shapeshifting figures that seem to know the strangers better than they know themselves. Each of the figures communicates the same message: the only viable path is acceptance. The strangers fail to heed these warnings, and the consequences for continuing on their quest are severe. Drawn closer by their shared journey, this group of broken strangers becomes whole and, together, accepts their fate. They return to the harbor to move forward with their lives — and the cycle begins anew.
CREATIVE TEAM
Claudia Schreier has choreographed, directed, and produced for dance, opera, and film across the U.S. and internationally. She is the Choreographer in Residence at Atlanta Ballet and has been commissioned by Boston Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Vail Dance Festival, Juilliard Opera, and Guggenheim Works & Process, among others. Her first commission for Miami City Ballet, Places (2020), was named a standout performance by the New York Times and awarded Dancers’ Choice at the PNB Dance Film Festival. Force of Habit (2021), her first collaboration with filmmaker Adam Barish, was commissioned by Guggenheim Works & Process and co-presented by Atlanta Ballet. Schreier is a recipient of the Princess Grace Award for Choreography, Dance/NYC Dance Advancement Fund Grant, Lotos Foundation Prize for Dance, and Suzanne Farrell Dance Prize, and she was the 2017 Virginia B. Toulmin Fellow for Women Choreographers at the Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU. Her live performance and film collaboration with visual artist Rashid Johnson, The Hikers, has been presented at the Aspen Art Museum, Hauser & Wirth NY, Storm King Art Center, and Museo Tamayo in Mexico City. She has contributed to programs at the White House, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center, including the Kennedy Center Honors. Her work is the subject of two documentaries, most recently PBS’s Emmy Award-winning "Dancing on the Shoulders of Giants" (Capital Region). Schreier presented her TEDx talk, “Thinking On Your Feet,” at Columbia University in 2018.
Adam Barish is a storyteller and filmmaker based in New York. His first collaboration with Claudia Schreier, the short film Force of Habit (2021), was commissioned by Guggenheim Works & Process and co-presented by Atlanta Ballet. Barish wrote and directed his debut feature film, Progress (and Unrelated Things), in 2016. His recent commercial work includes direction for Bonhams’s campaign for Torse nu dans les nuages by René Magritte. The Source is his second collaboration with Miami City Ballet; he also served as Artistic Consultant for Schreier’s 2020 short film, Places. Barish is a former Coro Fellow in Public Affairs and an award-winning alumnus of Teach For America. His work has been featured by NPR, Barron’s, New York Times, Broadway World, Financial Times, and Dance Magazine.
Jardon Ardizzone-West (scenic designer) is an Emmy award winning scenic and production designer whose work spans the genres of live theater, tv/film, concert design, dance and architecture. Jason has collaborated with creative teams and theaters across the country including: Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, The Geffen, The Old Globe, Miami City Ballet, The Ballet Collective, The 5th Avenue Theatre, Ford’s Theatre, The Huntington, Berkeley Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse, Cleveland Playhouse, The Vineyard Theatre, The Public Theatre, and more. Notable and recent projects include Jesus Christ Superstar Live (NBC), Blue Man Group (tour), The Bluest Eye (Huntington), Grace (world premiere, Ford’s Theatre), and Wedding Band (Theatre for a New Audience). More
Abigail Dupree-Polston graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design and embarked on a career in fashion design for some years before shifting to costume, first in opera and then in ballet. She has worked as a technician and designer for the stage, most recently for the Atlanta Ballet, and this will be her third collaboration with Claudia Schreier.
Mark Stanley, Resident Lighting Designer for New York City Ballet, has designed over 225 premieres for their repertoire including Paul McCartney’s Ocean’s Kingdom. For Miami City Ballet, he recently designed the premiere of Alexei Ratmansky’s Swan Lake. He has worked with choreographers around the world including additional works by Ratmansky, Peter Martins, Susan Stroman, Christopher Wheeldon, Justin Peck, William Forsythe, Kevin O’Day, Susan Marshall, and many others.
His designs are in the repertoire of nearly every major ballet company in North America and Europe. He has also worked extensively in opera, previously serving as Resident Designer for New York City Opera, and designing for opera companies across the US. His opera and ballet designs have been seen nationally on Great Performances and Live from Lincoln Center.
Mr. Stanley heads the Lighting Design Program at Boston University’s School of Theatre, is co-founder of the Studio School of Design and is on the Board of Directors of the Hemsley Lighting Programs.
Alex Basco Koch is a Drama Desk and Lortel nominated projection & media designer for plays, musicals, films, and immersive art events. His work can be seen on Broadway, Off-Broadway, across the US, and in Central and South America and Europe. He created four hours of original video and animation to play alongside the Magnetic Fields' international tour 50 Song Memoir and released a dozen of the works as official music videos through Nonesuch Records. Alex's projection design work was featured in two films that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival: Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You, directed by Academy Award nominated filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady; and Miles Ahead, directed by and starring Don Cheadle. He is a founding member of and produces Staging Film, an experimental film and theater project that has featured original work from Leigh Silverman, Heidi Rodewald, and Chisa Hutchinson among many others. He has led the creative direction of video for brands such as Tyra Banks’ Modelland, Benjamin Moore, and Target.
CREDITS
Choreography by Christopher Wheeldon©
Music by Arvo Pärt*
Staged by Jason Fowler
Costume Design by Holly Hynes
Lighting Design by Mark Stanley
* Spiegel Im Spiegel (1978) Used by arrangement with European American Music Distributors Company, U.S. and Canadian agent for Universal Edition Vienna, publisher, and copyright owner.
PROGRAM NOTE
Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain Pas de Deux is eight minutes of hypnotic beauty. A couple slowly drifts apart and together, and at that moment, one becomes transfixed.
The ballet was created in 2005 for New York City Ballet, originally as a two-part ballet. The pas de deux is the second half of the original work. The music for the pas de deux is set to Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel Im Spiegel, a mesmerizing, minimalist piece written in 1978 and performed with just two instruments, piano and violin. Here the music is a perfect vestibule for the dancers.
Wheeldon is known for his intricate lifts and shapeshifting partnering. There is a heightened sense of intimacy and immediacy in After the Rain. The female, in a simple pink leotard, and the man bare-chested in pale gray pants, dance with immense tenderness and connectedness. As he lifts and turns her gently and oh so sweetly, you don’t feel that this is a work created for an audience; this is a look at love in motion.
CHRISTOPHER WHEELDON, OBE (Director & Choreographer) trained at The Royal Ballet School and joined The Royal Ballet in 1991. In 1993, he joined New York City Ballet and was promoted to Soloist in 1998. He was named NYCB’s first Resident Choreographer in July 2001. Since then, Mr. Wheeldon has created and staged productions for many of the world’s major ballet companies.
In 2007, Mr. Wheeldon founded Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company and was appointed an Associate Artist for Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London. Mr. Wheeldon now serves as Artistic Associate of The Royal Ballet. As Artistic Associate, Mr. Wheeldon has created many works for the company, including the full-length Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and The Winter’s Tale, both of which were co-productions with The National Ballet of Canada. In 2012, his ballet Cinderella premiered at Het Nationale Ballet and is making its way to worldwide audiences.
For the Metropolitan Opera, he choreographed Dance of the Hours for Ponchielli’s La Gioconda (2006) and Richard Eyre’s production of Carmen (2012) as well as ballet sequences for the feature film Center Stage (2000) and Sweet Smell of Success on Broadway (2002).
Mr. Wheeldon created a special excerpt for the Closing Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics. In April 2016, he was the Artistic Director for the Fashion Forward exhibition in Paris at La Musee Arts et Decoratif.
In 2014, Mr. Wheeldon directed and choreographed the musical version of An American in Paris, which had productions in Paris, on Broadway, and in London. 2016 was The Joffrey Ballet’s world premiere of The Nutcracker reimagined by Mr. Wheeldon and he directed and choreographed the gala presentation of Lerner & Loewe’s Brigadoon starring Kelli O’Hara and Patrick Wilson at New York City Center in 2017. In 2018, Mr. Wheeldon staged two pieces in Tokyo: An American in Paris and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland while in 2019, Wheeldon’s The Winter’s Tale was performed by The Bolshoi Ballet. 2019 was also the premiere for Corybantic Games at The Royal Ballet and a re-staged version of Cinderella for the English National Ballet at Royal Albert Hall. In 2022, MJ The Musical opened on Broadway and a new full length ballet version of Like Water for Chocolate will have its world premiere at The Royal Ballet in June.
Among Mr. Wheeldon’s awards are a Tony Award for Best Choreography for An American in Paris, an Outer Critics Award for Best Choreography and Direction for An American in Paris, the Martin E. Segal Award from Lincoln Center, the American Choreography Award, the Dance Magazine Award, multiple London Critics’ Circle Awards, and the Léonide Massine Prize for new choreography. Mr. Wheeldon’s productions of Cinderella and The Winter’s Tale received the Benois de la Danse, and he is an Olivier Award winner for his ballets Aeternum for The Royal Ballet and Polyphonia for Morphoses.
In 2016, Mr. Wheeldon was named an O.B.E. and was made an Honorary Fellow of American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
CREDITS
Choreography, Stage and Light by William Forsythe
Music by Thom Willems*
Staged by Noah Gelber
Costume Design by Gianni Versace and William Forsythe
Lighting Design and Production Supervision by Mark Stanley
Technical sound installation and acoustics by Ben Young
*Just Ducky By arrangement with Boosey & Hawkes, Inc., publisher, and copyright owner.
PROGRAM NOTE
"Isn’t ballet delightful?" William Forsythe exclaimed in a New York Times article. These words ring evermore true in Herman Schmerman Duet. A 10-minute romp that pokes fun at the conventions of ballet, is said by Forsythe to mean nothing. The title itself is from an obscure line echoed by Steve Martin in the film noir spoof Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid.
Maybe that’s what this work is; an entertaining spoof that gives the dancers something cool and enjoyable to dance to, and something just as “delightful” for the audience to watch.
The original work was created for five dancers in 1992 for New York City Ballet’s Diamond Project. In 1993, Forsythe added the pas de deux. When the ballet was revived in 1999, only the pas de deux remained.
The gender-blurring couple, dressed in matching mini-skirts by Gianni Versace, perform a cheeky duet set to Thom Willems’s quirky electro tune, Just Ducky. Known for his subtle, electronic compositions, the Dutch composer has collaborated with Forsythe on more than 60 works.
CREDITS
Choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust
Music by Sergei Prokofiev*
Staged by Colleen Neary
Scenic and Costume Designs by Georges Rouault
Lighting Design by Mark Stanley
* Le Fils Prodigue Op. 46 by arrangement with Boosey & Hawkes, Inc., publisher and copyright owner.
PROGRAM NOTE
Prodigal Son, the second oldest of George Balanchine’s surviving dances, is a one-act retelling of the Biblical parable, designed by Georges Rouault and set to a commissioned score by Sergei Prokofiev. The repertory of Serge Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes, for which Balanchine made Prodigal Son in 1929, was full of such collaborations, but after Diaghilev’s death, Balanchine increasingly favored plotless ballets danced without decor and set to pre-existing pieces of music. In later years, he would make only four other major ballets that break all of these self-imposed “rules” (La Sonnambula, Orpheus, Don Quixote, and The Nutcracker).
Perhaps, for this reason, Balanchine showed comparatively little interest in Prodigal Son. New York City Ballet’s 1950 revival, the first time the ballet had been seen in two decades, was undertaken mainly in order to supply Jerome Robbins with a starring vehicle, and Balanchine actually had difficulty recalling important choreographic details; he spent scarcely more than an hour teaching the title role to Edward Villella when the dance was revived again in 1960. “This is your ballet,” he told Villella. “I stage it this time, next time you stage. I’m never going to stage it again.” In fact, he did stage it once more -- for Mikhail Baryshnikov, in 1978 -- but it was Villella’s magnetic performance that established Prodigal Son as a permanent part of the NYCB repertory, and it has been danced by that company ever since.
Yet for all Balanchine's seeming lack of interest in Prodigal Son, it remains one of his key works, not merely for its historical significance (it is one of only a half-dozen Ballet Russes dances that continue to be performed regularly), but also because of its narrative clarity and choreographic boldness. Indeed, Balanchine never made a more effective showpiece for a male dancer, or a more compelling story ballet: seventy years later, the sexual explicitness of the pas de deux has not yet lost its power to startle, and Prokofiev’s radiant score remains one of the finest pieces of ballet music composed in this century.
Note by Terry Teachout
“The performance of Prodigal Son, a BalanchineR Ballet, is presented by arrangement with The George Balanchine Trust and has been produced in accordance with the Balanchine StyleR and Balanchine TechniqueR , Service Standards established and provided by The Trust.”
Miami City Ballet first premiered Prodigal Son on October 15, 1987 at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts; Miami, Florida.
Miami City Ballet has a diverse roster of 54 dancers and a repertoire of more than 130 works. As one of the most renowned ballet companies in the country, Miami City Ballet performs for nearly 125,000 patrons annually during its South Florida home season in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and tours to major cities domestically and internationally, including recent visits to New York City, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris.
Miami City Ballet School, the official school of Miami City Ballet, is one of the most respected ballet training academies in America. The School trains students, ages 3-18 year-round, and grants more than $650,000 in scholarships annually.
Miami City Ballet’s Community Engagement programs, serving more than 12,000 people annually in schools and communities; our free programs use the power of dance to uplift, teach and bring joy.
Miami City Ballet was founded in 1985 by Miami philanthropist Toby Lerner Ansin and Founding Artistic Director Edward Villella. It is headquartered in Miami Beach, FL, at the Ophelia & Juan Js. Roca Center, a facility designed by renowned architectural firm, Arquitectonica.
Lourdes Lopez has become one of the ballet world’s most prominent and accomplished contributors. Dance Magazine named her a 2018 recipient of its prestigious Dance Magazine Awards, choosing Lopez for her “…admirable stewardship of Miami City Ballet, building upon the company’s Balanchine legacy while also embracing the local culture and community of Miami,” and as “…an exemplary leader, someone whom dancers look up to and are inspired by.” In 2017, the magazine also named her one of “The Most Influential People in Dance Today”.
She became Artistic Director of Miami City Ballet in 2012, bringing with her a nearly 40-year career in dance, television, teaching and arts management. As a Soloist and Principal Dancer with New York City Ballet, Lopez danced for two legends of the art form, George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. Under Lopez’s direction, Miami City Ballet has become one of the country’s premier ballet companies. According to The New York Times, “This troupe [is] at the forefront of all those dancing choreography by George Balanchine today…. Bold, light, immediate, intensely musical, the dancing of Miami City Ballet flies straight to the heart.”
Born in Havana, Cuba in 1958 and raised in Miami, Lopez began taking ballet lessons at the age of five, on the recommendation of a doctor. At the age of 11 she received a full scholarship to the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, splitting the year between Miami and New York City. At fourteen, she moved to New York permanently to devote herself to full-time studies at SAB, and shortly after her sixteenth birthday, joined the corps de ballet of New York City Ballet.
Under the direction of George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, her star rose quickly at New York City Ballet. In 1984, she was promoted to Soloist, performing countless featured roles including Balanchine’s Violin Concerto, Liebeslieder Walzer, Firebird, Serenade, Symphony in C, Agon, The Four Temperaments; and Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering, Glass Pieces, Fancy Free, In the Night, Four Seasons and Brandenburg.
Upon retirement, Lopez joined WNBC-TV in New York as a Cultural Arts reporter, writing and producing feature segments on the arts, artists and arts education. She was also a full-time senior faculty member and Director of Student Placement, Student Evaluation and Curriculum Planning at New York’s Ballet Academy East. She served on the dance faculty of Barnard College and guest taught at numerous dance institutions and festivals in the United States.
In 2002, Lopez became the Executive Director of The George Balanchine Foundation, which works to educate the public about dance and to further the art of ballet, with a special emphasis on the work and achievements of George Balanchine. In this position, she oversaw the 2004 Balanchine Centennial Celebration, a worldwide festival honoring the choreographer and his legacy. Lopez co-founded The Cuban Artists Fund, which supports Cuban and Cuban-American artists in their endeavors.
In 2014, Lopez was elected to serve on the Ford Foundation’s Board of Trustees and is presently starting her second term, marking the first time an artist was elected to serve on its board. In 2014, Lopez was elected to serve on the Ford Foundation’s Board of Trustees and is presently starting her second term, marking the first time an artist was elected to serve on its board. In 2011, she received the prestigious Jerome Robbins Award for her years in dance. She has served as a dance panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts.
In 2017, she received an award from the American Immigration Law Foundation honoring Cuban Americans for their accomplishments and contributions to American society. She also co-founded Morphoses with Christopher Wheeldon in 2007—a New York-based dance company aiming to revitalize dance through innovative collaborations with important artists from the worlds of music, visual arts, design, film and fashion; and by inviting younger and broader audiences to engage in and actively experience dance.
In 2019 she was honored with Ballet Hispánico’s “Toda Una Vida” Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2021 she was awarded the prestigious “Una Vida para la Danza (A Life for Dance)” by the International Ballet Festival of Miami.
Lopez is married and is the mother of two daughters, Adriel and Calliste.
When she was 5 years old, at the suggestion of an orthopedist, Toby Lerner Ansin’s parents enrolled her in a beginning ballet class to help counteract a condition known as pronation, which occurs when one’s ankles turn in. That class was the beginning of a passionate love affair Toby has had with ballet that continues to this day. Until she was fourteen, determined to become a professional ballet dancer, Toby took classes six days a week. But one day she looked in the mirror at some of the other students in her class and then at herself and that evening calmly told her parents she was no longer going to pursue a career in ballet because while she had the drive, she didn’t have the body or talent to be a dancer. “I look like a limping giraffe,” she said, with finality. Nevertheless, she continued to regularly take class and whenever American Ballet Theatre made its annual appearance in her hometown of Boston, she attended every one of its performances.
In 1985, Toby became involved in the dance scene of Miami and realized that the reason no professional ballet company had been able to sustain itself in South Florida was because it lacked a “luminary,” a credible star who could attract creative talent as well as the money to support it. About that time, a friend, introduced her to Edward Villella. Toby arranged a meeting at her house with Villella that lasted four hours. By the time he left that day, she had convinced him that Miami was about to launch a professional ballet company. That evening she called 6 friends. Each gave her a check for a thousand dollars. She added her own check for a thousand dollars and shortly afterwards, invited Villella, a former star of New York City Ballet to be Founding Artistic Director. Then she relentlessly went to work raising more funds and recruiting prominent and influential members of the community to share her vision and join the Board of Directors of the fledgling company. Toby’s dream of a professional ballet company soon became Miami’s dream. And about a year later Miami City Ballet gave its first performance. Years later, the company appeared at the Kennedy Center and Edward Villella wrote to her, “Our engagement was the culmination of the vision you had ten years ago, and I am so grateful it was me with whom you shared the dream.”
In 2010, in honor of her 70th birthday and MCB’s 25th anniversary, the Ansin Foundation established the Toby Lerner Ansin Scholarship fund. Each year, Toby sponsors a scholarship for a talented young dancer, which has helped numerous dancers become part of the company. Because of her vision, leadership, and unceasing efforts, Miami City Ballet today is an internationally acclaimed company with a growing reputation as a cradle of creativity for young dancers and choreographers. And Toby has received wide recognition for her accomplishments. Among the awards she has received are: the George Abbott Carbonell Award for Achievement in the Arts, the National Red Cross Spectrum Award for Women, the Florida Arts Recognition Award, the Arts Hero Award from the Arts & Business Council of Miami, the Florida International Press Club Imprint Award, the Woman of Style and Substance Award, and Dance/USA's Champion Award.
But the recognition she takes greatest pride in doesn’t even mention her name. In 2016, MCB received an invitation to dance in Lincoln Center for a week in April. The New York Times dance critic wrote three rave reviews about the company’s performance. Here’s a quote from his reviews, “…the dancing of Miami City Ballet flies straight to the heart…What can be done to bring this company here more often?”
BOARD CHAIR & INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Jeff Davis
PRODUCTION AND LIGHTING DIRECTOR John D. Hall
MUSIC DIRECTOR AND PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR Gary Sheldon
PRINCIPAL REHEARSAL DIRECTOR Roma Sosenko
REHEARSAL DIRECTORS Joan Latham, Arnold Quintane
COMPANY PIANIST Francisco Rennó
FOUNDING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Edward Villella
Kravis Center | West Palm Beach
Fri, Apr 29 at 7:30pm
Sat, Apr 30 at 2pm
Sat, Apr 30 at 7:30pm
Sun, May 1 at 1pm
Arsht Center | Miami
Fri, May 6 at 7:30pm
Sat, May 7 at 7:30pm
Sun, May 8 at 2pm
Broward Center | Ft. Lauderdale
Sat, May 21 at 7:30pm
Sun, May 22 at 2pm
FIRST VIOLINS
Mei Mei Luo, Concertmaster
Erika Venable, Assistant concertmaster
Victoria Stepanenko
Anthony Seepersad
Michael O’Gieblyn
Ericmar Perez
SECOND VIOLINS
Geremy Miller *
Sheena Gutierrez
Akiko Rivera
Eduardo Martinez
VIOLAS
Richard Fleischman *
Valerie Judd
Modesto Marcano
CELLOS
Ashley Garritson *
Angela Maleh
Elizabeth Aron
BASSES
Janet Clippard *
Susan Friend
FLUTE / ALTO FLUTE / PICCOLO
Karen Fuller *
Elizabeth Lu
OBOE
Erin Gittelsohn *
Marco Navarrete
ENGLISH HORN
Erin Gittelsohn
Kendra Hawley
CLARINET
Richard Hancock *
Amalie Wyrick-Flax
BASS CLARINET
Amalie Wyrick-Flax
Ciprian Stancioi
ALTO SAXOPHONE
Richard Hancock
BASSOON / CONTRA BASSOON
Christina Bonatakis *
Carlos Garcia
FRENCH HORNS
Hector J Rod *
Raul Rodriguez
Stan Spinola
Sharon Janezic
TRUMPET / CORNET / FLUGEL HORN
Craig Morris *
Robert Gallagher
TROMBONE
Juan Zuniga *
Karla Rojas
BASS TROMBONE
Hugh Harbison
TUBA
Calvin Jenkins *
TIMPANI
Faye Kokkeler *
PERCUSSION
Mikhail Mikhelson *
Doug Friend
HARP
Deborah Fleisher *
PIANO
Francisco Renno (“After The Rain”)
Ciro Fodere (“The Source”)
CELESTA
Anthony Seepersad
SYNTHESIZER
Eduardo Martinez
* Principal
Susan Dirgins-Friend, Orchestra Librarian
Kristina Goldson, Orchestra Assistant
Geremy Miller, Orchestra Contractor
Miami-Dade County support provided by the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners. Performances and programming in Miami Beach provided by the generous support of the City of Miami Beach Department of Tourism and Culture, Cultural Arts Council, and the Miami Beach Mayor and City Commissioners. Support for Miami City Ballet in the Palm Beaches generously sponsored in part by the Board of County Commissioners, the Tourist Development Council and the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County. Sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture, and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture.
The Source is supported by a grant from the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.
Foundation and Government
Corporate Council
Donors and Supporters
This performance of Prodigal Son is performed in honor of Kristi Jernigan. Kristi has spent the entirety of her relationship with Miami City Ballet as the ultimate friend, supporter, and advocate. In 2018, Miami City Ballet embarked on an ambitious $55 million Transforming Lives Campaign, a campaign that would strengthen and shape the future of our Company. After Kristi served as Chair of the Board of Trustees, she took on the role as Chair of the Campaign, ensuring we would not only reach but surpass the goal. She has led the charge in ensuring that our Company is a great place to create art, make a difference, and strengthen our community.
We are so grateful for Kristi and the entire Jernigan family for their love, support, and guidance!
Over the past 37 years, Miami City Ballet has risen to become a leading light in the nation's cultural landscape. We are proud to reflect on stage the warmth and vitality of our community and our South Florida home.
We are thrilled to share with you our 37th season, abounding with works that will emotionally transport, inspire and entertain you. From the heart-breaking streets of Verona, where the tragic romance of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet recalls the intensity of young love, to a rumble on the streets of 1950’s New York City in Jerome Robbins’ West Side Story Suite. We hope you’ll join us for another season of not-to-be-missed blockbusters, iconic masterworks and never before seen premieres.
Ignite your imagination and escape with us into the beauty of ballet.
Miami City Ballet School fosters artistry, love of dance and respect for one another, while preparing students to be versatile 21st century dancers with the necessary technique and physical strength to perform ballets in the Balanchine repertory as well as other choreographic styles. Through the School’s affiliation to the world-renowned Miami City ballet, students are offered unique performance opportunities alongside Miami City Ballet dancers and more.
