{"id":260086,"date":"2026-05-06T02:27:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T02:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/260086\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T02:27:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T02:27:09","slug":"miami-dance-companies-embrace-new-venues-this-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/260086\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami dance companies embrace new venues this spring"},"content":{"rendered":"

Staging new works or expanding into a new venue can bring a fresh view of a performing arts company and, with this, a confirmation of continuing vigor. For two of South Florida\u2019s steadfast dance organizations these signs of one more forward-moving spring are about to brighten the calendar.<\/p>\n

Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami will be at Pinecrest Gardens\u2019 geodesic-dome amphitheater for the first time on Saturday, May 9, reviving favorites that fit, as if made for it, the natural setting. And Dance NOW! Miami will unveil co-artistic director Hannah Baumgarten\u2019s \u201cLove-less: Dance of the Last Moho Braccatus,\u201d alongside repertory standards and \u201cTraces,\u201d a world premiere by company co-director Diego Salterini, on Friday, May 8 at Lauderhill Performing Arts Center and on Saturday, May 9 at Aventura Arts & Cultural Center.<\/p>\n

\"Emily Emily Bromberg and Eric Paz in Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami\u2019s \u201cIn Bloom,\u201d choreography by Yanis Eric Pikieris. (Photo by Simon Soong, courtesy of DDTM) <\/p>\n

\u201cPerforming at Pinecrest Gardens\u2019 Banyan Bowl feels incredibly meaningful for us,\u201d says Jennifer Kronenberg, projecting a vision she and Carlos Guerra hold as DDTM co-artistic directors. \u201cOur company is always looking for ways to make ballet accessible. We aim to meet audiences where they are. With this show we go further letting the environment become part of an overall experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the DDTM offerings are not site-specific, the dancers will still stake their art on the surroundings. \u201cThere\u2019s something very special about stepping outside of a traditional theater to perform in tandem with nature,\u201d says Kronenberg. \u201cHere the lush greenery allows each ballet to breathe in a different way and transcend boundaries.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an additional asset that DDTM has ballets at hand which, developed throughout a decade, reveal reverence for the natural world through inspiration, mood, and imagery.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis bouquet of works visually and emotionally resonates with the site\u2019s openness and botanical backdrop,\u201d explains Kronenberg.<\/p>\n

\"Emily Emily Bromberg with Alex Sokolov, Ariel Morill and Maikel Hernandez in DDTM\u2019s \u201cPhases.\u201d (Photo by Simon Soong, courtesy of DDTM) <\/p>\n

Excerpts from company artist-in-residence Yanis Pikieris\u2019s \u201cFour Seasons,\u201d first restaged for Dimensions in 2021, move\u2014with the changing color of phrases, the temperature of emotions rise and fall\u2014to Antonio Vivaldi\u2019s same-named, weather-wise set of violin concertos.<\/p>\n

Pikieris\u2019s son Yanis Eric, the company\u2019s other artist-in-residence, contributes \u201cIn Bloom,\u201d an ensemble work from 2025. His selections from Oliver Davis\u2019s album \u201cDance\u201d pulse with enough vitality to keep contemporary classicism in the pink.<\/p>\n

When DDTM performed Ariel Rose\u2019s \u201cVow\u201d outdoors at Jacob\u2019s Pillow Dance Festival in 2018, this duet\u2019s intimacies\u2014searching to clinging, to Icelandic composer \u00d3lafur Arnalds\u2019s \u201c1953\u201d\u2014grew in proportion to a view of Jacob\u2019s Pillow\u2019s home in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts. Now it trades that woodland for a hovering subtropical verdure letting the dancers reinvigorate their ardor.<\/p>\n

\"Harmonizing Harmonizing with nature, each pose is part of a pact between dancers true to their hearts in Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami\u2019s \u201cVow.\u201d Pictured, dancers Mayrel Martinez and Maikel Hernandez. (Photo by Jennifer Kronenberg, courtesy of DDTM) <\/p>\n

Frequent performances of Ben Needham-Wood\u2019s \u201cApollo and Daphne,\u201d with a score by Arvo P\u00e4rt, have become a DDTM calling card. At Pinecrest Gardens every vine and curve of bark will seem to conspire with this myth of a nymph who, resisting the god\u2019s advances, turns into a laurel tree.<\/p>\n

Rafael Ruiz del Vizo, a DDTM company dancer, presents his \u201cPhases,\u201d to Beethoven\u2019s \u201cMoonlight Sonata,\u201d telescoping into lunar cycles for Emily Bromberg\u2014alongside Maikel Hernandez, Alexander Sokolov, and Ariel Morilla\u2014to orbit through glow and shadows.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re fortunate to have close relationships with these choreographers,\u201d says Kronenberg. \u201cTrust and understanding allow us to transfer their works to a new space while honoring their original intent. That said, performing outdoors requires adjusting to unique parameters. This isn\u2019t a bad thing. Details barely noticed on a traditional stage may look more pronounced, and dancers can connect un-hemmed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dancers\u2019 Dancers\u2019 lines and design find parallels in the style of Art Deco in Dance NOW! Miam\u2019s \u201cDeco-De.\u201d (Photo by Simon Soong, courtesy of Dance NOW! Miami) <\/p>\n

Dance NOW! Miami\u2019s third program this season, \u201cLove, Lost & Found,\u201d will also reference nature and what\u2019s natural to the human heart. \u201cThe evening\u2019s pieces complement each other reflecting that theme,\u201d says DNM\u2019s co-artistic director Hannah Baumgarten, who points out how premieres and significant re-stagings have bolstered the company into its third decade.<\/p>\n

\u201cForest Dreams\u201d is by Tandy Beal, a West Coast wonder-wooing choreographer whose roots reach back to the \u201970\u2019s and the incomparable productions of Alwin Nikolais Dance Theatre. \u201cFrom the 1980s, this is a beautifully crafted abstract-dance journey through the California redwoods,\u201d says Baumgarten. \u201cWe first presented it in 2011 in our \u2018Masterpiece in Motion\u2019 series.\u201d<\/p>\n

An excerpt from last year\u2019s \u201cBlue Pencil,\u201d a resonant indictment of censorship during Portugal\u2019s Salazar regime, also returns. \u201cThis solo\u2014danced with passion by David Harris\u2014depicts someone being stripped of their identity yet struggling to regain agency,\u201d says Baumgarten, who hopes it elicits timely reflection.<\/p>\n

Commissioned by Miami Design Preservation League for Art Deco Weekend 2026, Salterini\u2019s \u201cDeco-de\u201d\u2014to George Gershwin\u2019s \u201cLullaby\u201d\u2014is a trio that extols the sleek geometries of a style the choreographer admires.<\/p>\n

His premiere, \u201cTraces,\u201d brings a more intimate tribute. This came about, according to Baumgarten, when Julia Faris, long a pillar of the company, announced her retirement. \u201cDiego threads together works she\u2019s danced in to create a loose narrative about her journey\u2014from uncertainty to connection through the love that\u2019ll take her to the next chapter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Julia Julia Faris tall at the center of her own journey in rehearsal for \u201cTraces.\u201d (Photo by Sophia Pfitzenmaier, courtesy of Dance NOW! Miami) <\/p>\n

Baumgarten, too, had specific dancers in mind\u2014lanky and fleet Austin Duclos and Kirsten Velasco\u2014when she turned to choreographing \u201cLove-less . . . ,\u201c a duet, based on an environmental calamity, which had been stirring in her since she came upon Sam Green\u2019s documentary \u201c32 Sounds,\u201d a Live Arts Miami\/Miami Film Festival event at the Perez Art Museum.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe director referred to a library of recordings in London where a librarian confessed her favorite sound was the last-known recording of the Hawaiian songbird Moho braccatus. I whipped out my notebook and hurriedly jot down the story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Already reduced to one breeding pair by climate change and other threats, the birds became extinct after a hurricane killed the female, leaving the male to call out\u2014\u201ca haunting, hollow sound,\u201d says Baumgarten\u2014for his mate. The choreographer seized upon this \u201cfor an allegory of our frailty and unpreparedness for the loss of those we\u2019re bound to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kirsten Kirsten Velasco and Austin Duclos striking avian poses in rehearsal for Dance NOW! Miam\u2019s \u201cLove-less.\u201d (Photo by Sophia Pfitzenmaier, courtesy of Dance NOW! Miami) <\/p>\n

The scenario in four movements avoids strict literalness, its more subtle esthetic upheld in the costumes by Hayd\u00e9e and Maria Morales and the lighting and set design by Bruce F. Brown. Federico Bonacossa, whose score Baumgarten considers \u201cparamount,\u201d uses birdsong as a springboard for his eclectic musical progressions.<\/p>\n

For Baumgarten, all these creations reveal DNM\u2019s sustaining love for their artistic species. Kronenberg shares that sentiment regarding DDTM, saying, \u201cCarlos and I adore revisiting the gifts of dancers and choreographers. They keep our art not just alive but evolving.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you go:<\/p>\n

WHAT: Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami, Ballet in the Gardens<\/p>\n

WHEN: 8 p.m., Saturday, May 9<\/p>\n

WHERE: Banyan Bowl, Pinecrest Gardens, 11000 Red Road, Pinecrest<\/p>\n

COST: $34.50, $42.50<\/p>\n

INFORMATION: (305) 669-6990 and dimensionsdancemia.com\/<\/p>\n

WHAT: Dance NOW! Miami Program III: \u201cLove, Lost & Found\u201d<\/p>\n

WHEN: 8 p.m., Saturday, May 9<\/p>\n

WHERE: Aventura Arts & Cultural Center, 3385 NE 188th St., Aventura<\/p>\n

ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCE: 8 p.m., Friday, May 8, Lauderhill Performing Arts Center, 3800 NW 11th Place, Lauderhill<\/p>\n

COST: $25.96, $37.76, $49.56 at Aventura; $20, $30, $40 at Lauderhill.<\/p>\n

INFORMATION: (305) 975-8489 and at dancenowmiami.org\/<\/p>\n

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music, and more. Don\u2019t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Staging new works or expanding into a new venue can bring a fresh view of a performing arts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":260087,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-260086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260086\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}