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The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

Miami City Ballet: A Midsummer Night's Dream Copy

Dancers from Miami City Ballet performing in George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Nov 2–3, 2024
201 SW 5th Ave, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312

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. In 2016, the Miami City Ballet made Midsummer its own when it placed Balanchine’s vision in a world underwater. Instead of flocks of fairies, schools of fish. Instead of hounds, sea horses. The new sets and costumes are by the Miami-based artist and author Michele Oka Doner. The choreography, however, is unchanged—witty, compassionate, eloquent. —Laura Jacobs