Miami City Ballet | |
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General information | |
Name | Miami City Ballet |
Year founded | 1986 |
Founders | Toby Ansin, Edward Villella |
Principal venue | 2200 Liberty Avenue, Miami Beach, FL 33139 |
Website | www |
Artistic staff | |
Artistic Director | Lourdes Lopez |
Other | |
Official school | Miami City Ballet School |
Formation |
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Miami City Ballet is an American ballet company based in Miami Beach, Florida, led by artistic director Lourdes Lopez. MCB was founded in 1985 by Toby Lerner Ansin a Miami philanthropist. She and the founding board hired Edward Villella, former New York City Ballet principal dancer to be the founding artistic director.
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, 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" and "Don Quixote".
In 2012, Lourdes Lopez was chosen to replace founding artistic director Edward Villella.
Miami City Ballet features an international ensemble of over 45 dancers. The company has an active repertoire of 88 ballets and performs over 100 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 Orange County Performing Arts Center, and the New York City Center; while theaters and festivals in Europe, Central America, South America, and Israel have hosted the company.