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Ballet Etudes Miami presents "Ballet on South Beach"


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Today I passed by the Colony Theater (South Beach) and saw the following ad.

BALLET ETUDES CO. PRESENTS:

"BALLET ON SOUTH BEACH"

PROGRAMME:

PAQUITA

SYLVIA

LA FILLE MAL GARDEE

COLONY 1040 LINCOLN RD MB

SAT AUG 9 2008 8:00PM

So, needless to say, i'm in...

Here's some info on this Company:

Ballet Etudes Maintains Tradition

by Richard Phillips

"Ballet Etudes, the Company founded by Susana Prieto in 1975, is continuing in the tradition of the world's great classical ballet companies. Still, Prieto remains true to her Cuban heritage. Prieto took her first ballet classes in Cuba, which has a rich history of the ballet. From that cultural legacy, Susana continued her ballet training in Miami with Sonia Diaz and Martha del Pino. Prieto was a soloist with Ballet Concerto Company, but answered the call to teach and direct her own company. She struck out on her own and founded Ballet Etudes, her ballet school, in the City of Hialeah. Not long after, the Company was born. From the earliest, Prieto and Ballet Etudes Company danced at various venues in Miami-Dade County. As Director, Prieto gained valuable experience in direction, staging and lighting as well as business expertise in running a ballet company. Ballet Etudes Company focused on the classic ballets, Giselle, Sylphides, and The Nutcracker. As the company grew, the repertoire expanded to take on full-length productions of Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and Coppelia. Ballet Etudes Company’s performances are full-length productions, complete with a live orchestra. During the early days, Prieto danced in her company’s performances in Dade County Auditorium. In 1984 Susana Prieto made two momentous decisions. Both carried tremendous risk. The first was to move Ballet Etudes Company to The Jackie Gleason Theater, which had hosted American Ballet Theatre for two week engagements as well as Broadway touring companies. Susana Prieto became the first Cuban-American woman promoter at the Jackie Gleason Theater. Prieto’s next move was to invite soloists from American Ballet Theatre to dance with Ballet Etudes Company. Alina Hernandez, Yoko Ichino, Janet Shibata, Ethan Brown, David Cuevas, Peter Fonseca, Robert La Fosse, David Loring and Roger Van Fleteren were the first to dance with Ballet Etudes, once they learned of the quality of professionalism and production values of the company’s performances. Friendships were forged, and soon other stars came to dance with the company. Merrill Ashley, Cynthia Gregory, Amanda McKerrow, Magali Messac, Marianna Tcherkassky, Gil Boggs, Michael Cusumano, Joaquin de Luz, Marcelo Gomes, John Gardner, Robert Hill and Johan Renvall have appeared with Ballet Etudes Company. Another milestone in Ballet Etudes’ history came when Rudolf Nureyev, one of the greatest danseurs of the twentieth century, appeared with Ballet Etudes Company in Giselle. Cheryl Yeager and Wes Chapman starred in several engagements for with the company. Charles Askegard, principal dancer from New York City Ballet, has performed frequently with Ballet Etudes in recent years, first with Dagmar Moradillos and in the past two seasons with New York City Ballet co-stars Maria Kowroski, Sofiane Sylve and Darci Kistler. With attention to every detail from big name stars, demanding choreography, lavish costumes, spectacular scenery, to the thrill of live music from a full orchestra, Ballet Etudes Company’s productions are memorable. What does the future hold for Prieto and Ballet Etudes Company? The answer is in the classics. Prieto and Rodolfo Rogriguez, Ballet Etudes Company’s Artistic Advisor want to stage other famous ballets. The company has the talent and the people to do so".

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