Guillermo Perez | Artburst Miami

Through his art, George Balanchine — a Russian immigrant to the United States called the father of American ballet — was happy upon occasion to pay tribute to the red, white, and blue. But in “Jewels,” his 1967 masterwork for New York City Ballet, recognized as the first full-length plotless ballet, the palette changes to green, red, and white in reference to the hues of precious stones.

It was 1985 when Toby Lerner Ansin, an arts advocate and divorced mother of three, set out to secure a professional ballet company in South Florida. For her mission, she would enlist dance world-luminary Edward Villella as artistic director and the backing of kindred spirits.

What seems like fable is in fact autobiography, now being told in a multi-art performance by South Florida dancer-choreographer-director Pioneer Winter alongside special members of his collective. It's called “In the Belly of the Bird/Godmother.”

Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami closes its performing season with contrasting examples of this fluid sum among the four works of “Summer Dances,” coming to the Moss Center Main Stage on Saturday, July 12.

Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami's Salon Series has been running since 2017, providing a platform for new dance pieces to be showcased before their official premiere. This year's edition will feature four works by women choreographers, including three by company insiders.

Jennifer Lauren, a principal ballerina with Miami City Ballet, is retiring from the company after 27 seasons. She will be performing the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy in the company's production of “George Balanchine’s ‘The Nutcracker,'" for the last time.

MCB’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” returns with a unique, wondrously subtropical setting when it opens at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami

This year, there are eight participating companies from abroad ranging from Uruguay and Brazil to Serbia and Romania. Compañía Nacional de Danza de México, on the roster since the start of the festival, will also return.