Presenting "one of America's most beloved dance companies" (New York Times)

Miami City Ballet, hailed by The New York Times as “an exceptional troupe, by Balanchine standards, anywhere in the world,” returns to the Harris Theater stage with a mixed rep program of works spanning more than 70 years.

PROGRAM:Concerto Barocco George Balanchine (1941)Brahms/Handel Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp (1984)One Line Drawn Brian Brooks (2018)

Concerto BaroccoGeorge Balanchine (premiered 1941, School of American Ballet)Music: Concerto in D minor for Two Violins, B.W.V., by Johann Sebastian Bach

Concerto Barocco had its beginnings as a School of American Ballet exercise and was first performed for the Latin American tour of the American Ballet Caravan in 1941. When it entered the repertory of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1945, the dancers were dressed in practice clothes, probably the first appearance of what has come to be regarded as the modern ballet costume pioneered by Balanchine. Concerto Barocco was presented on the first performance of New York City Ballet in 1948, along with Balanchine’s Orpheus and Symphony in C. It is considered the quintessential Balanchine ballet of its period, its manner entirely pure, its choreography no more, and no less, than an ideal response to its score, Bach’s Double Violin Concerto in D Minor. About the ballet, the critic Clive Barnes wrote, “The three hallmarks of the American classic style are poetry, athleticism, and musicality, and these three graces are exquisitely exploited by Concerto Barocco."

Brahms/HandelJerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp (premiered 1984, New York City Ballet)Music: Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24 (1861), orchestrated by Edmund Rubbra

Choreographed by modern masters Twyla Tharp and Jerome Robbins, with costumes by Oscar de la Renta and lighting by Jennifer Tipton, Brahms/Handel draws from the powerful romantic music of Johannes Brahms’ Handel variations, Op. 24.

One Line DrawnBrian Brooks (2018)Music: new original score by Michael Gordon

Known for his contemporary work in dance and theater, choreographer Brian Brooks expands his adventurous collaborations with classically trained dancers in his first piece for Miami City Ballet. This new work, One Line Drawn, is conceived and choreographed by Brooks, Inaugural Choreographer in Residence at Chicago’s Harris Theater for Music and Dance, with a commissioned score by Michael Gordon, American composer and co-founder of Bang on a Can.