On the morning of May 1, Miriam Barbosa posted a photo of her daughter, Itzkan, on Facebook. The image itself is striking—Itzkan stands smiling on pointe in front of Miami City Ballet, where she has spent the last year as a pre-professional student, perched atop a mountain of old pointe shoes of all different sizes. […]

New York City Ballet announced on Facebook earlier this week that current Miami City Ballet principal Jovani Furlan will be joining the company as a soloist this fall. Furlan, a native of Joinville, Brazil, left Brazil’s Bolshoi Theater School in 2011 to train at the MCB School; he joined the company as an apprentice in […]

Audition classes may not differ much from any other class—but directors have ways of sussing out who has what they’re looking for. We spoke to three artistic directors to get their perspective from the front of the room. Show You’re Adaptable Lopez says that dancers must have a clean, classical foundation. Alexander Iziliaev, Courtesy Miami […]

It’s the second week of Miami City Ballet School’s Choreographic Intensive, and the students stand in a light-drenched studio watching as choreographer Durante Verzola sets a pas de trois. “Don’t be afraid to look at the ceiling—look that high,” Verzola shows one student as she holds an arabesque. “That gives so much more dimension to […]

If one of your New Year’s resolutions was “See more dance” (and really, shouldn’t that be everyone’s?), never fear. We picked five shows certain to get 2019 off to a brilliant start. Twyla’s Greens and Jerry’s Blues Miami City Ballet in Brahms/Handel. Photo by Alexander Iziliaev, Courtesy Miami City Ballet FLORIDA It’s rare that two […]

I want to make an apology because, in my opening speech at the Dance Magazine Awards on Monday, I inadvertently left out one awardee. I said, “Tonight we are honoring four outstanding dance artists who have contributed to the dance field over time.” But then I named only three. How could I have forgotten Lourdes […]

What does it mean to be human? Well, many things. But if you were at the Dance Magazine Awards last night, you could argue that to be human is to dance. Speeches about the powerful humanity of our art form were backed up with performances by incredible dancers hailing from everywhere from Hubbard Street Dance […]

No, she isn’t like other artistic directors, and that’s not just because she’s a woman. Lourdes Lopez, who’s led Miami City Ballet since 2012, doesn’t want this to be taken the wrong way, but as for her vision? She doesn’t really have one. “I just want good dancers and a good company and good rep […]