Today I had the opportunity to see MCB's matinee performance. On todays program was Agon, Villela's new ballet Waltz, and Raymonda Variations.
In the first pas de trois in Agon, Erin Tyron, Joan Latham, and Jared Redick danced with precise musicality. Jared especially stood out in his solo. The second pas de trois was danced by Jeremy Cox, Renato Penteado, and Deanna Seay. Jeremy and Renato danced with great conviction and clearity. Deanna seemed to effortlessly hold her balance in attitude in the opening of the pas de trois. She had so much charisma and style in her castanet variation. Jennifer Kronenberg and Eric Quillere had a really cool quality in the pas de deux. Nothing was wacked and out of control. She seemed to be speaking to her partner with her movements. As a whole this ballet looked great. The wide varity of dancers and the different qualities that each dancer gave, made this ballet very intresting to watch and added texture.
Edwards new ballet Waltz took you into a different era. Its sets were very nice and gave you the setting of a 1920s dance hall. It showed that the company could do something besides the usual Balanchine rep. and offered a very relaxing mood.
Raymonda Variations closed todays performance. This ballet was such a joy to watch. Mary Carmen Catoya and Luis Serrano lead this ballet with such excitement. They technically mastered the pas and the challenging variations. Mary Carmen seems unreal. She seems almost possesed when she dances. I have never seen anyone like her before. She is just a natural. She tore through her variations as if they were nothing and finished with the greatest confidence. Luis showed great bravura and offered his all in the demanding pas. He seemed not to be all about the tricks and more about the presentation. He is a great dancer and a great asset to this company. The five soloists danced each of their variations very well. Joan Latham in the first variation made the difficult hops on pointe in arabesque seem to glide effortlessly across the stage. Tricia Albertson showed a very sharp and crystalline style in the 2nd variation. Michelle Merrell in the 3rd variation showed great musicality and commanded every step. She was almost a little bit too dramatic for such a calm and quiet variation. Callye Robinson was very bright and bubbly in her variation, but her loud shoes kind of spoiled the effect. Shannon Parsley in the fifth variation was very pretty and did a nice job with this variation. The corps de ballet was very together and seemed to have fun. A highlight of the performane was when Callye Robinson bit the dust in the finale. The audience gasped with terror, but she recovered and continued to dance as if nothing happened.
Miami City Ballet is a great company with a lot of great dancers who seem to enjoy what they are doing. I can't wait to see them do the full length Giselle. That should be very interesting!!