Miami City Ballet Announces 2013-2014 Season

Miami City Ballet, hailed by The New York Times as "one of America's most beloved dance companies" proudly announces its 2013-2014 season, featuring four Company premieres by four of the world's greatest ballet and contemporary dance choreographers. This exciting season of dance marks the debut season of Miami City Ballet's new Artistic Director Lourdes Lopez.

"I am thrilled to be back in the community where I grew up and can't wait to share with South Florida, the nation and the worldwide stage, a Miami City Ballet that celebrates our culture and its connection to the people of this special city and neighbors," said Lopez. "I am hoping that you will be with us to witness once again live music, the athleticism and grace of our dancers and the stories of this exhilarating news season

Program I: First Ventures, opens Friday, October 18, 2013 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami and continues at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale and the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach. It features the Company premiere of Christopher Wheeldon's breakthrough contemporary work, Polyphonia. The work, which features geometric-patterned movements and punctuated rhythms, was deemed by The New York Times as "the point at which Mr. Wheeldon moved from being a promising choreographer to a celebrated one." The program also features two ballets by George Balanchine: Serenade, the first masterpiece Balanchine created in America and Ballo della Regina, hailed by The New York Timesas a "bounding test of technique and endurance."

Program II: See the Music, which opens January 10, 2014 in Miami before continuing in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, features the Company premiere of the lyrical and soulful Jardí Tancat, Miami City Ballet's first work by Spanish contemporary dance choreographer Nacho Duato. Based on Catalan folk songs, the work is the story of strong-spirited people who pray to God for rain that never comes. Also featured is Balanchine's Concerto Barocco, a signature work set to Bach's Double Violin Concerto in D Minor.And back by popular demand, we feature the dramatic and fast-paced Symphonic Dances, a ballet created for Miami City Ballet by choreographer Alexei Ratmansky, who The New Yorker proclaimed as "the man who is remaking ballet." The music Ratmansky chose to work with is Sergei Rachmaninoff's final important work, his large-scale Symphonic Dances of 1941 - a work whose turbulent energy and deep emotion perfectly complement the dance qualities for which the company is famous.

Program III: Triple Threat -- features the company premiere of two works: Jerome Robbins's West Side Story Suite, the song and dance distillation of the world-famous Broadway classic (which debuts the vocal talents of Miami City Ballet's dancers) and George Balanchine's boldly modern Episodes, a dynamic work that is rarely ever performed. Another Balanchine work, the thrillingTschaikovsky Pas de Deux, completes the program. Set to the "lost music" from Swan Lake, Act III, features eight and a half minutes of Balanchine's signature traits: his surprises, his complexities, his challenging quirks and combinations.

Opening night is on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2014 in Miami and continues in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

Program IV: Don Quixote, is the joyous and entertaining full-length ballet that brings the audience into a Spain of so long ago where love and adventure were the rule of the day. It features macho bullfighters and sensual gypsies all performing to the world-famousMinkus score. Choreography is by Marius Petipa and Alexander Gorsky.

The Holiday season will once again feature George Balanchine's The Nutcracker in Miami, West Palm Beach and Fort LauderdaleDecember 19 through January 5, 2014. George Balanchine's The Nutcracker is a delightful treat for the entire family with beautiful Broadway-style sets, lavish costumes, dazzling special effects and Tchaikovsky's glorious music, featuring a cast of over 100 talented children from South Florida performing with MCB's international ballet stars.

The Opus One Orchestra, under the direction of Principal Conductor Gary Sheldon, returns once again, thanks to a generous grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation as part of its Knight Arts Challenge.

"From Nacho Duato to George Balanchine, Lourdes's debut season offers a mix of contemporary and classic works that reflect the spirit of Miami and the pulse of the dance world," said Miami City Ballet's Executive Director Dan Hagerty. "It's an exciting season that offers so much to devoted ballet lovers and to new audiences alike."

George Balanchine's The Nutcracker and Program I: See the Music will also be presented at the Philharmonic Center for the Arts in Naples, Florida. Tickets will be available by calling The Phil's box office toll-free at (800) 597-1900, ext. 2 or online athttp://tickets.thephil.org/.

The season runs October 2013 through April 2014 at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami, Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale and Kravis Center in West Palm Beach. Full and Mini Subscription Packages are now on sale by calling the Miami City Ballet Box Office at (305) 929-7010, toll-free (877) 929-7010 or download a subscription order form online at www.miamicityballet.org. Group Discounts (10 or more) are available by calling (305) 929-7001 or toll-free (877) 929-7001.

Full subscription prices range from $69 to $635 and renewals start February 25, 2013. All subscribers are offered the opportunity to purchase priority discount seating to George Balanchine's The Nutcracker before the general public.

Single tickets go on sale starting July 8, 2013 and range from $20 to $175. Order by calling (305) 929-7010, toll-free (877) 929-7010 or online at www.miamicityballet.org.

Miami City Ballet's 2013-2014 full season line-up is as follows:

PROGRAM I: FIRST VENTURES

Ballo della Regina (Balanchine/Verdi)

Polyphonia (Wheeldon/Ligeti) - Company Premiere

Serenade (Balanchine/Tchaikovsky)

Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami (Ziff Ballet Opera House)

Friday, October 18 at 8 pm

Saturday, October 19 at 8 pm

Sunday, October 20 at 2 pm

Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Fort Lauderdale (Au-Rene Theater)

Friday, October 25 at 8 pm

Saturday, October 26 at 2 pm & 8 pm

Sunday, October 27 at 2 pm

Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, West Palm Beach (Dreyfoos Hall)

Friday, November 15 at 8 pm

Saturday, November 16 2 pm & 8 pm

Sunday, November 17 at 1 pm

PROGRAM II: SEE THE MUSIC

Concerto Barocco (Balanchine/Bach)

Jardí Tancat (Duato/del Mar Bonet) - Company Premiere

Symphonic Dances (Ratmansky/Rachmaninoff)

Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami (Ziff Ballet Opera House)

Friday, January 10 at 8 pm

Saturday, January 11 at 8 pm

Sunday, January 12 at 2 pm

Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Fort Lauderdale (Au-Rene Theater)

Friday, January 24 18 at 8 pm

Saturday, January 25 at 2 pm & 8 pm

Sunday, January 26 at 2 pm

Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, West Palm Beach (Dreyfoos Hall)

Friday, January 31 at 8 pm

Saturday, February 1 at 2 pm & 8 pm

Sunday, February 2 at 1 pm

PROGRAM III: TRIPLE THREAT

Episodes (Balanchine/Webern) - Company Premiere

Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux (Balanchine/Tchaikovsky)

West Side Story Suite (Robbins, Genarro/Bernstein, Sondheim) - Company Premiere

Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami (Ziff Ballet Opera House)

Friday, February 14 at 8 pm (Valentine's Day!)

Saturday, February 15 at 8 pm

Sunday, February 16 at 2 pm

Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Fort Lauderdale (Au-Rene Theater)

Friday, February 21 18 at 8 pm

Saturday, February 22 at 2 pm & 8 pm

Sunday, February 23 at 2 pm

Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, West Palm Beach (Dreyfoos Hall)

Friday, February 28 at 8 pm

Saturday, March 1 at 2 pm & 8 pm

Sunday, March 2 at 1 pm

PROGRAM IV: DON QUIXIOTE

Don Quixote (Petipa-Gorksy/Minkus)

Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami (Ziff Ballet Opera House)

Friday, April 11 at 8 pm (Valentine's Day!)

Saturday, April 12 at 8 pm

Sunday, April 13 at 2 pm

Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Fort Lauderdale (Au-Rene Theater)

Friday, March 21 at 8 pm

Saturday, March 22 at 2 pm & 8 pm

Sunday, March 23 at 2 pm

Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, West Palm Beach (Dreyfoos Hall)

Friday, March 28 at 8 pm

Saturday, March 29 at 2 pm & 8 pm

Sunday, March 30 at 1 pm

George Balanchine's The Nutcracker TM

Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami (Ziff Ballet Opera House)

Thursday, December 19 at 7:30 pm

Friday, December 20 at 2 pm & 7:30 pm

Saturday, December 21 at 2 pm & 7:30 pm

Sunday, December 22 at 1 pm & 6:30 pm

Monday, December 23 at 7:30 pm

Tuesday, December 24 at 1 pm (Christmas Eve)

Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, West Palm Beach (Dreyfoos Hall)

Friday, December 27 at 7:30 pm

Saturday, December 28 at 2 pm & 7:30 pm

Sunday, December 29 at 1 pm & 6:30 pm

Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Fort Lauderdale (Au-Rene Theater)

Friday, January 3 at 7:30 pm

Saturday, January 4 at 2 pm & 7:30 pm

Sunday, January 5 at 1pm

Miami City Ballet Home Theater Addresses:

Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County

Ziff Ballet Opera House

1300 Biscayne Blvd.

Miami, FL 33132

Box office: (305) 949-6722

Broward Center for the Performing Arts

Au-Rene Theater

201 S.W. Fifth Avenue

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312

Box office: (954) 462-0222

Kravis Center for the Performing Arts

Alexander W. Dreyfoos, Jr. Concert Hall

701 Okeechobee Boulevard

West Palm Beach, FL 33401

Box office: (561) 832-7469