Miami City Ballet will bring 'Fresh & Fierce' program to the Kravis this week

Ideas are contagious, and in this case, rooting work in and reflecting the culture of a dance company's hometown is a trend that is perhaps based in the hopes of garnering support, filling seats, and creating a sense of ownership of the art produced.

There also is a trend of presenting mixed gender pairings, including gay romantic relationships not often seen on the professional, proscenium stage before the last decade. It now seems ballet companies are commissioning work to explore both. This is a good thing: the idea that the professional ballet world is realizing that new work can, in fact, represent its community.

With this in mind, Miami City Ballet returns to the Kravis Center on Friday with its third program of the season, “Fresh & Fierce,” a triple bill, including George Balanchine’s 1956 Mozart-exalted “Divertimento No. 15;” Jerome Robbins’ Broadway-borrowed “West Side Story Suite;” and young Durante Verzola’s anticipated world premiere “Sentimiento.”

It is the green voice of Verzola that embodies the “fresh” part of this program, and in speaking with him at the dress rehearsal, it is evident he is on a choreographic path of discovery.

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After joining the school of MCB at age 16, Verzola caught the eye of Lourdes Lopez, MCB’s artistic director, when he choreographed a student work as part of a choreography class. He recognizes this moment as the beginning of his creative journey, which continues to be mentored by Lopez and tethered to MCB.

During the pandemic, Lopez commissioned Verzola’s “A Dance for Heroes,” a filmed ballet for Facebook. Last year, Verzola returned to MCB in a dual role: officially joining the school faculty of MCB and as a commissioned artist for the company for both this season and next.

“I get to now train the next generation of dancers at the school where I really learned to be a dancer. I now lead that choreography class that I was in as a student,” explained Verzola. “That's why it's so full circle now — to have my first big main stage premiere with Miami City Ballet. Lourdes has been a great mentor through all of it and really supported me and believed in my talent.”

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For his milestone work, according to Verzola, he wanted to use a Latin composer to pay homage to Miami. At that time, Lopez directed him to Ernesto Lecuona, a prolific Cuban musician, known as the "Gershwin of Cuba," who died in exile in 1963.

Verzola, 27, chose nine of Lecuona’s pieces, arranged by renowned pianist Francisco Rennó, who has been with MCB since 1999 and will be accompanying the dancers for all performances. During the dress rehearsal, the piano playing and musical compositions were magical and moving, transporting those of us who were watching to another place and time.

“I would say my inspiration first and foremost always comes from the music. I found his music to be very expressive, and it also took me to Miami,” Verzola said. “It captures that feeling you have when you are in Miami: that magical mystery, an air of romance, the tropical breeze, the neon lights on Ocean Drive, the sunlight that is so specific to Miami. I wanted to capture the essence of all these things within the ballet.”

For costuming, Lopez connected Verzola with Esteban Cortázar, Miami native and fashion industry icon, who has dressed celebrities such as Beyoncé and Rihanna, and whose designs have been featured on "Sex and the City" and "The Devil Wears Prada." From a black-feathered tutu to pink sparkly flamingo-like dresses; a bell-bottomed unitard to palm tree “tattooed” backs, these costumes push the boundaries of ballet. Risky and fun, although not all together cohesive, perhaps vibes more runway than ballet.

“Sentimiento” (meaning feeling in Spanish) is organized into vignettes, utilizing a cast of 16 dancers and culminating in an ensemble finale.

Verzola points to the first scene as one of his favorites: “When the curtain comes up, you see a quartet, and I think those are the most colorful costumes of the ballet. I really wanted to set the tone. In the music, you can feel the Latin rhythms and the dancers are moving with lots of energy, joyfulness, brightness, which I feel also describes the style of Miami City Ballet. I feel like they have this kind of exuberant energy that you don't always see (in other companies).”

As the ballet progresses, a series of duets portray various kinds of love, including a dance for two men: “I really wanted to show that kind of love as well, because it's very important for me, as a gay choreographer, to show that in a classical ballet. I never got to see that growing up. I never saw that kind of representation and I see it as a responsibility to present that in a thoughtful and beautiful way up on stage.”

Safely positioned within the sphere of classical ballet, the young dance maker is ever so gently trying something new, in pointe shoes.

If you go

What: Miami City Ballet's "Fresh & Fierce

Where: Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 1 p.m. Sunday

Tickets: kravis.org; 561-832-7469

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Miami City Ballet to debut world premiere by one of its own at Kravis Center