# Miami City Ballet

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. Ansin 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, Martha Graham, José Limón, 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, Don Quixote, and Swan Lake.
In 2012, Lourdes Lopez was chosen to replace founding artistic director Edward Villella. Much like Villella, Lopez was a soloist and principal dancer at NYCB. Lopez is greatly influenced by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins.
Miami City Ballet features an international ensemble of over 50 dancers. The company has an active repertoire of 88 ballets, including 9 world premiers, and performs over 75 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 Los Angeles Music Center, Spoleto Festival USA, Harris Theater (Chicago), the New York City Center, and the Lincoln Center; while theaters and festivals in Europe, Central America, and South America have hosted the company.
Along with the ballet company, Miami City Ballet hosts a ballet school for students aging between 3 and 18. The school is split into three divisions: Children's division (ages 3 to 7), Student division (ages 8 to 13), and Pre-Professional division (ages 14 to 18). Students must audition to be placed in a division. Like the company, the school focuses on the Balanchine method (or Balanchine technique). MCB school students have the opportunity to perform in the yearly Nutcracker performance that the Miami City Ballet company puts together, and there are a number of intensive summer programs that students are eligible to attend.

## Dancers

As of February 2024, the Miami City Ballet Dancers are:

### Principals

| Name | Nationality | Training | Joined MCB | Promoted to Principal | Other Companies |
| Nathalia Arja | Brazil | Escola de Dance Alica Arja Miami City Ballet School | 2011 | 2020 | Compania de Ballet do Rio de Janeiro |
| Dawn Atkins | United States | The School of Richmond Ballet Boston Ballet School | 2021 | 2022 | Boston Ballet |
| Katia Carranza | Mexico | Escuela Superior de Musica de Danza de Monterrey | 1998, 2017 | 2004, 2017 | Ballet de Monterrey |
| Renan Cerdeiro | Brazil | Escola de Danca Alice Arja Miami City Ballet School | 2010 | 2013 | |
| Hannah Fischer | United States | Canada's National Ballet School | 2020 | 2023 | The National Ballet of Canada |
| Samantha Hope Galler | United States | The Ballet Academy, Inc. Boston Ballet School Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet Boston Conservatory | 2014 | 2022 | Alabama Ballet |
| Ashley Knox | United States | Ann Parsley's School of Dance The Rochester School of Dance School of American Ballet Miami City Ballet School | 2003 | 2021 | |
| Steven Loch | United States | Ballet Conservatory (Texas) Harid Conservatory Pacific Northwest Ballet School | 2021 | N/A, Joined as Principal | Pacific Northwest Ballet |
| Yulia Moskalenko | United States | Ukraine | Kyiv State Ballet College | 2022 | N/A, joined as Principal | National Opera of Ukraine |
| Stanislav Olshanskyi | Kyiv State Choreographic School | Ukraine | 2022 | N/A, Joined as Principal | National Opera of Ukraine |
| Alexander Peters | United States | Allegheny Ballet Academy School of American Ballet Royal Danish Ballet | 2017 | 2019 | Kansas City Ballet Pennsylvania Ballet |
| Chase Swatosh | United States | Retter's Academy of Dance Joffrey Ballet School School of American Ballet | 2010 | 2023 | |

### Soloists

| Name | Nationality | Training | Joined MCB | Promoted to Soloist | Soloist Rank |
| Jordan-Elizabeth Long | United States | Southwest Virginia Ballet | 2014 | N/A, Joined as Soloist | Principal Soloist |
| Taylor Naturkas | United States | Crooked Tree Arts Center School of Ballet Miami City Ballet School | 2020 | 2022 | Principal Soloist |
| Damian Zamorano | Cuba | Provincial School of Ballet "Alejo Carpentier" Escuela Nacional De Danza Clasica y Contemporanea Miami City Ballet School | 2013 | 2021 | Principal Soloist |
| Adrienne Carter | United States | Impact Dance of Atlanta Miami City Ballet School | 2010 | 2022 | Soloist |
| Cameron Catazaro | United States | School of Canton Ballet Ballet Academy East Miami City Ballet School | 2019 | 2023 | Soloist |
| Satoki Habuchi | Japan | Naomi Funatsuki Ballet Studio Tazuru Ichiyanagi Ballet School Miami City Ballet School | 2017 | 2024 | Soloist |
| Brooks Landegger | United States | School of American Ballet | 2022 | 2024 | Soloist |
| Ariel Rose | United States | Ballet Academy East Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School | 2013 | 2022 | Soloist |
| Nicole Stalker | United States | Cheryl Lee Studio of Dance The Chautauqua Institute The Rock School for Dance Education | 2008 | 2023 | Soloist |

### Corps de ballet

* SarahAnne Perel

### Former dancers

* Patricia Delgado
* Jovani Furlan
* Jennifer Lauren
* Kathryn Morgan
* Daniel Sarabia
* Rolando Sarabia