[NEohioPAL]Berko review: Miami City Ballet

[Roy Berko]

MIAMI CITY BALLET CAPTIVATES STATE THEATRE  AUDIENCE

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	

Miami City Ballet is among the largest ballet
companies in the United States.  It has 48 dancers and
a yearly budget of just under $10 million.  Anyone
seeing the program they presented at the State Theatre
from October 21-24 would immediate know why MCB is
also noted as being a world class production company. 


MCB has four home counties in South Florida: Broward,
Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, and Collier (on Florida's west
coast).  

Edward Villella, the company’s founding Artistic
Director  was the first American-born male star of the
New York City Ballet .  He is credited with
establishing the male's role in classical dance in the
U.S.  Villella’s influence permeates the
company...creativity, discipline, fine training and a
balanced company which features dancers, not stars.  
Anyone seeing the company will be awed by the quality
of the male dancers.  Most companies are happy to have
one or two fine males.  Their local showing reflects
the high quality of their large stable of male dancers
.

Mr. Villella's vision and style for the company is
based on the techniques established by choreographer
George Balanchine who believed all the attention
should be placed on the dancers and not on sets and
other visually distractions.  Two of the selections
danced in MCB’s Cleveland program were Balanchine
inspired. 

The program opened with ‘BALLO DELLA REGINA’ a slight
tale of a fisherman’s (Mikhail Ilyin) search for the
perfect pearl (Mary Carmen Catoya).    The corps of
females, dressed in short aqua flowing dresses, were
beautifully framed against an aqua-lit backdrop.  The
flowing movements and the light and airy music by
Verdi were a perfect match.  The piece was highlighted
by a well-disciplined female corps whose timing was
impeccable.  Ilyin was light on his feet and his
unusual bent knee leaps were done effortlessly.  
Catoya moved with grace and accomplished the difficult
double toed point work with competence.  The couple
partnered beautifully, giving the illusion of a true
emotional bonding.   Demi-solos by Kristen Kramer,
Callie Manning, Tricia Albertson and Patricia Delgado
were well performed.

‘NINE SINATRA SONGS,’ the second offering, was
choreographed by Twyla Tharp.  Anyone who has seen a
production of ‘MOVING OUT,’ which is soon to be seen
in Cleveland as part of the Broadway Series,  will
again become aware of Tharp’s genius for blending pop
music and modern ballet movements into a delectable
dance experience.  Be aware, as with ‘MOVING OUT,’
that the words to the song are not being interpreted
in the movements.  It’s the attitude of the music that
holds court.  Highlight segments of ‘NINE SINATRA
SONGS,’ are “Somethin’ Stupid,” which featured Tricia
Albertson and Luis Serrano (who is not only a
wonderful dancer, but a rubber-faced comedian); “My
Way” in both its renditions; and “All the Way”
featuring Deanna Seay and Mikhail Nikitine.   The
segment’s conclusion evoked bravos from the audience.

“STRAVINSKY VIOLIN CONCERTO” was a hit on two levels. 
Gabriel Bolkosky’s violin solo rendition of “Violin
Concerto in D” by Igor Stravinsky was superb. 
Balanchine’s choreography, as restaged by Bart Cook
and Maria Calegari, was perfectly executed. 
Balanchine’s signature flipped wrists, angled heads,
hip moves and pronounced gestures were all in place. 
The duet sections as performed by Deanna Seay, Isanusi
Garcia-Rodriguez, Jennifer Kronenberg and Carlos
Guerra showed clearly what happens when finely trained
and talented dancers and quality choreography combine.
 As was the case the entire evening, the male dancers,
as well as the female performers, were excellent,
especially in their execution of some very difficult
leaps.  

The only weakness of the program was pickup orchestra
under the direction of Akira Endo.  They were ragged
in places, especially at the very start of the program
when the players entered at different times, throwing
off the timing of the dancers.  There were also some
jarring gaffs by individual instruments throughout the
evening, especially by the brass and strings.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  “BALANCHINE AND SINATRA TRIBUTE,’
as executed by the Miami City Ballet was a total
audience pleaser.   It would be wonderful if the
company added our fair city as its fifth home.  We
could use such consistently wonderful programs as MCB
stages.   Or, at the least, it would be nice to know
that MCB would become a permanent part of the
Playhouse Square Center’s Ballet Series.

For information about the rest of the Ballet Series
call 216-241-6000 or 800-766-6048 or go on line to
www.playhousesquare.com.


=====
Roy Berko's web page can be found at royberko.info.  His theatre and dance reviews appear on NeOHIOpal, a free on-line source, which can be subscribed to at neohiopal at lists.fredsternfeld.com.


		
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