Beginning on April 29, George Balanchine‘s Prodigal Son headlines Miami City Ballet’s closing program of the season which also features two company premieres and a world premiere.
Making its customary Florida tour around its home city along with West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Miami City Ballet presents a diverse program. Along with Balanchine’s representation of this renowned parable, the company will dance in Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain and William Forsythe’s Herman Schmerman Pas de Deux for the first time, as well as Claudia Schreier’s world premiere of The Source.
Prodigal Son Headlines Miami City Ballet's Program
For Prodigal Son, Balanchine borrowed from the worlds of gymnastics and circus. Daring acrobatics, soaring leaps and feats of strength punctuate the story’s powerful themes.
A tale of sin and redemption, it tells the story of a young man’s hunger for adventure. It features two legendary roles – the rebellious Son and the beautiful Siren. Their partnership culminates in one of the most sensual pas de deux ever to be seen on stage.
Herman Schmerman marks the first time the company has entered a work by renowned choreographer William Forsythe into its repertory. Forsythe perhaps says it best when he reminds us,
“Isn’t ballet delightful?”
The playful romp features daring choreography that shows us just how much fun two dancers can have on stage.
Wheeldon uses his gift of mesmerizing, geometrical lifts to create After the Rain, a work that is incredibly intimate, tender, and soft. It is as though you are peering into the window of a relationship filled with tenderness and love.
Claudia Schreier’s second world premiere for MCB after 2020s Places, The Source is an original, human story about relativity. A conscientious choreographer, Schreier and director Adam Barish work to propel ballet into the future by using state-of-the-art technology and have enlisted an array of diverse composers from the past and present in creating the work.
The score is comprised of multiple noteworthy musicians and includes Riley Mulherkar, 2020 recipient of Lincoln Center’s Emerging Artist Award; boundary-breaking, virtuosic music maker and composer Frank Zappa; William Grant Still, the first African American to have a symphony performed by a professional orchestra in the U.S.; esteemed Canadian composer Alexina Louie; and Julius Eastman, the visionary late musician.
Featured Photo of Jordan-Elizabeth Long and Alexander Peters in George Balanchine’s Prodigal Son. Photo courtesy of Miami City Ballet.
