George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1962) is beloved, not least for its set by David Hays and costumes by Karinska. The production has the shimmer of Botticelli, a feeling of woodland zephyrs and fairy wings. Miami City Ballet made Midsummer its own in 2016, when it placed Balanchine’s beauty in a world underwater. Instead of flocks of fairies, schools of fish. Instead of hounds, sea horses. The choreography, however, is unchanged—witty, compassionate, eloquent. And now viewable from home. —L.J.
The Arts Intel Report
A Midsummer Night's Dream
When
Oct 14–31, 2021
Where
Etc
Jordan-Elizabeth Long in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust. Photo © Alexander Iziliaev.