Founding Artistic Director Edward Villella was one of America’s most celebrated male dancers during his career with New York City Ballet (1957-1975). Mr. Villella's vision and style for MCB is based on the neoclassical 20th-century aesthetic established by choreographer George Balanchine. In 1997, Mr. Villella received the highest and most prestigious cultural honor that can be bestowed upon an artist by the United States, the National Medal of Arts, presented by President Clinton. In 1997, he was named a Kennedy Center Honoree and was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Dancers’ Hall of Fame at the National Museum of Dance in Saratoga in 2004. In 2003 Miami City Ballet premiered Mr. Villella’s four-act ballet, The Neighborhood Ballroom. The Company's repertoire has 88 ballets, including 9 world premieres. It includes: George Balanchine's masterworks, most notably Prodigal Son, Apollo, Agon, The Four Temperaments, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Symphony in C, Ballet Imperial and the full-length Jewels and works by later choreographers such as Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp, Jerome Robbins, Christopher Wheeldon and Trey McIntyre. Ballets by Frederick Ashton, Marius Petipa, August Bournonville and others also highlight the repertoire. The Company performs classical works such as Giselle, Coppélia and Don Quixote. Approximately 11,000 season subscribers are joined by about 19,000 single-ticket buyers to enjoy the Company in regular series from October through March. Annually, nearly 20,000 view MCB's million-dollar holiday spectacular, George Balanchine's The Nutcracker™ performed in Florida. The dancers of Miami City Ballet are an international mix. They come to MCB from Boston Ballet, National Ballet of Caracas, National Ballet of Cuba, Deutsche Oper Berlin, American Ballet Theatre, Paris Opera Ballet, and the National Ballet of China from world-famous training facilities such as the School of American Ballet, North Carolina School of the Arts, and the schools of the Paris Opera Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, San Francisco Ballet and Miami City Ballet School, among others. Miami City Ballet has toured all over the United States and with this season's touring included, will have danced in more than 100 U.S. cities. National performances include the Kennedy Center, the 1996 Olympic Arts Festival in Atlanta, Wolf Trap Farm Park, Orange County (CA) Performing Arts Center, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, the Shubert Theater (CT), McCarter Theater (NJ), SUNY at Purchase (NY), Tilles Center (NY), ArtPark, the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts, Detroit Opera House, Cleveland Playhouse, the Los Angeles Music Center, New York City Center, and this season at the Chicago Auditorium Theatre. North American festival appearances include Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Spoleto Festival U.S.A., DanceAspen, the Ravinia Festival, the Chautauqua Festival, The Madison Festival of the Lakes, and this season at the Vail International Dance Festival (CO). Internationally, MCB has performed in Europe, Great Britain, South America, Central America, and Israel, including the 1994 & 1995 Edinburgh International Festivals (Scotland), the 1990 Lyon Biennale Internationale de la Danse (France), the Festival Internacionel de Cultura Paiz (Guatemala), and a two-week engagement at TorinoDanza 2000 (Italy). The Company performed in March 2003 as one of six companies participating in the Kennedy Center’s International Ballet Festival with the Bolshoi, Kirov, Royal Danish Ballet, Adam Cooper and Company and American Ballet Theatre. In January 2000, Miami City Ballet took occupancy of its Miami Beach headquarters. The 63,000 square foot facility houses eight rehearsal studios (two of which combine to create a 200-seat theatre), increased school facilities, wardrobe department and costume shop, a fully-equipped therapy room, and greater administrative space. The building is a design of the award-winning architect, Bernardo Fort-Brescia of ARQUITECTONICA. The Miami City Ballet School, which opened in Miami Beach in January 1993, trains students for a professional career in ballet. The School has an enrollment of more than 350 students, and no child of talent is turned away for lack of funds. In June 1997, Miami City Ballet accepted the first School graduate for a professional position with the Company. The School launched the Miami City Ballet School Summer Intensive Program in July 2001. The Summer Program draws approximately 200 students from around the world. Linda Carbonetto Villella, MCB School Director, was a Canadian National Figure Skating Champion and an Olympic and World competitor. She worked with Rose Kennedy on the first Special Olympics for handicapped individuals. When she retired from competitive skating, she toured internationally as a star of the Ice Capades and later worked as choreographer for televised specials starring skater Dorothy Hamill. Her career accomplishments as a figure skater placed her in the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame in May 1990. The Company's Education program is experienced by thousands of young people annually, who are treated to lecture demonstrations narrated by Edward Villella or a member of the Artistic Staff. Pre-performance talks by Villella or one of the Artistic Staff are held prior to each main stage repertory performance. Miami City Ballet artists are rehearsed to perform not only with great speed, energy and technical clarity, but also with the combination of force and delicacy needed to interpret musical scores from Bach to Stravinsky. Miami City Ballet has a 40+-member Board of Trustees, who represent the Company's home counties of Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach. Toby Lerner Ansin, the Miami arts advocate who helped to create Miami City Ballet, received the 1997 Florida Arts Recognition Award in recognition of her initiative, leadership, and excellence in supporting the arts and culture in Florida. Miami City Ballet's inaugural performance was on October 17, 1986, at Miami's Gusman Center for the Performing Arts.