Midway through their French debut, Miami City Ballet brings some Americana to Parisian audiences. Dancer Rebecca King continues to give us the backstage view:
“I am sad to say that we have surpassed our half-way point here in Paris. We only have a little more than a week left, but we know that when we reach the end of this road, we will have left our mark here in Paris. As the tour continues, we have been living on cloud-nine; never coming down. Night after night we pull our hair back in tight buns, put on our make-up, adorn our costumes, and step out into the light of the Théâtre du Châtelet stage. And each night we are thrilled to feel the warm reception of the Parisian audience.
This week marked our French premier of multiple ballets from the Miami City Ballet repertoire. The French audience responded positively to our most modern piece we brought over seas, Paul Taylor’s “Promethean Fire,” which the company premiered at the Arsht Center for the Performing Arts last season. Among the other works stepping out onto the Châtelet stage for the first time were Jerome Robbins’ “In The Night”, and George Balanchine’s “Theme and Variations” and “Western Symphony.” The company decided to bring the latter work as an homage to our American roots. This ballet’s score encompasses numerous classic western songs, with energetic and stylized steps to match.
Top image: The company's last performance of George Balanchine's "La Valse" in Paris. Above: Maestro Gary Sheldon joining the dancers on stage after George Balanchine's "Symphony in 3 Movements."
We closed the show on Saturday night with “Western” to a rousing applause from the audience. This ballet is always a crowd pleaser, but we never could have expected this response. Adding to the excitement of this performance was the orchestra, “L’Orchestre Promethee”. This talented group is similar to Miami’s “New World Symphony” and is led by our resident conductor, Maestro Gary Sheldon. Sheldon was telling me after the show on Wednesday that the orchestra had a wonderful time playing the entertaining score for the first performance. They weren’t the only ones enjoying themselves. All the dancers commented on the show saying that was the most fun we had ever had in “Western.”
So it seems that not only are the dancers having the times of their lives, but the orchestra and the audience as well.
