In between a Balanchine classic and the world premiere of a new work, Miami City Ballet's season opener offers up a bit of a POW! — as the Jets would say.
It's Jerome Robbins’ NY Export: Opus Jazz - choreographed for the stage in 1958 - nearly one year after West Side Story hit Broadway.
Often called a 'ballet in sneakers,' Robbins' piece trades in sequined doublets and tutus for t-shirts and blue jeans.
Set to a jazzy score by composer Robert Prince, NY Export: Opus Jazz features the exuberant energy, swagger and finger-snapping familiar to West Side Story fans.
The mixed bill — titled 'American Rhythms' — kicks off the first fully programmed season for artistic director Gonzalo Garcia, who assumed the role in the summer of 2025.
Garcia, a former principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet and the New York City Ballet, retired from performing in 2022.
He's only the third artistic director in MCB's 41-year history, succeeding founder Edward Villella and Lourdes Lopez.
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Garcia says he was carefully interviewed for the job — a process that took about three and a half months.
"And once that celebration started, it quickly was sort of taken over by the reality and the responsibility of the role and the desire to make this new chapter for the company an incredible one," he says.
Many ballet companies often have to strike a careful balance between doing the classic crowd pleasers and the risky move of presenting works by new choreographers.
Garcia acknowledges that it's a daunting task but admits he follows no particular formula in crafting a season.
"You never know what the audience is going to like," he says. "One of the important things for me is narrative works. Productions that — traditional or not traditional — bring a storytelling, which I think people are more and more interested in."
'American Rhythms' opens with George Balanchine's Allegro Brillante, set to the music of one of Tchaikovsky's piano concertos.
It ends with he world premiere of Push the Buttons of the Civilized, a collaboration of two Miami natives — choreographer and former MCB principal dancer Patricia Delgado and musician Emily Estefan.
With 'American Rhythms,' which Garcia says examines all aspects of dance, the company is entering what he calls "an exciting new chapter."
"Miami is a melting pot of cultures of all sorts, and you can really experience all kinds of unique experiences here," he says. "And in a way at the ballet it's sort of the same conversation, which allows me to dream big, I think."
Miami City Ballet
'American Rhythms'
Oct 16 - Oct 25, 2026
'Allegro Brillante' (Choreographer: George Balanchine /Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky)
'N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz' (Jerome Robbins /Robert Prince)
'Push the Buttons of the Civilized' (Patricia Delgado/Emily Estefan)
Adrienne Arsht Center
1300 Biscayne Boulevard
Miami, FL 33132
Friday, October 16, 2026 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 17, 2026 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 18, 2026 1:00 p.m.
Broward Center for the Performing Arts
Au-Rene Theater
201 SW Fifth Avenue
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312
Saturday, October 24, 2026 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 25, 2026 1:00 p.m.
Sunday, October 25, 2026 6:30 p.m.
For more information: miamicityballet.org
