Starring
Natalia Osipova, The Royal Ballet, Christine Shevchenko and Aran Bell, ABT Ludmila Pagliero and Mathieu Ganio, Paris Opera Ballet Mira Nadon and Peter Walker, NYC Ballet Xin Ying and Lloyd Knight, Martha Graham Dance Company Jason Kittelberger, Bloom Dance Project Francesco Cuoccio and Orin Zvulun, Israel’s Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Breeanna Palmer and Alexander Marmolejos, Joffrey Ballet School NYC
December 29 – 30, 2023 | Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami
Ballet dancers from around the world will ascend on Miami’s Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, December 29 and 30, for Holiday Season with Ballet Stars. The evening is presented by Ballet Support Foundation (BSF), a non-profit based in NY, founded by producer Lola Abigail Koch (former ballerina), as part of their mission to support dancers and dance projects internationally. Koch said, “Ballet is an international language of love, peace, and friendship; this program, with dancers from around the world, is a testament to that.” The evening will begin with an award ceremony where the dancers will each be honored for their contributions in dance.
Prima Ballerina Natalia Osipova, a principal celebrating her 10th year at The Royal Ballet (born in Russia, she is a British citizen), will perform a world premiere choreographed by her husband and co-founder of Bloom Dance Project, Jason Kittelberger. Together they will also perform Ashes. “Human life is the most valuable, each person is the whole world”, Osipova told The Mirror (UK).
Ukrainian born Christine Shevchenko, a principal with American Ballet Theatre, will dance White Swan and Summer Pas by Alexei Ratmansky with her fellow ABT principal Aran Bell. Through social media Shevchenko has shared, “Human suffering, the violence of war, it’s all too painful to deal with… Let’s spread some love and peace through art”.
Israel’s Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company presents Until We Find Our Place and Upon Arrival by artistic director Rami Be’er, starring Orin Zvulun and Francesco Cuoccio. The company wrote that “the quest for a place that is identified as home is part of the human existential experience.”
“Ballet is an an art that has the power to take us for a few hours into another reality”, said Argentinian Ludmila Pagliero as she prepares to perform, with her Paris Opera Ballet dancer partner Mathieu Ganio, Manon by Kenneth MacMillan and Le Parc by Angelin Preljocaj.
New York City Ballet’s Mira Nadon and Peter Walker will perform George Balanchine’s festive holiday Nutcracker and Rodeo by Justin Peck.
Xin Ying and Lloyd Knight from Martha Graham Contemporary Dance Company will dance Conversation of Lovers. They will also dance solos; Ying will perform, Rebirth, and Knight will perform Lucifer, originally created by Matha Graham for Rudolf Nureyev.
Joffrey Ballet School NYC scholarship students, 14-year-old Breeanna Palmer, and Alexander Marmolejos will dance the duet Reflections by Andrey Jouravlev.
Tickets range from $43 to $224 and can be purchased by visiting www.arshtcenter.org
