Miami City Ballet opens its 2026-27 season with American Rhythms, an exhilarating mixed-repertory program that launches Artistic Director Gonzalo Garcia’s first fully programmed season. Three ballets bring together three generations of American creativity: a world premiere by Tony Award-winning choreographer and Miami native Patricia Delgado, created with award-winning Miami artist Emily Estefan; the company premiere of Jerome Robbins’ N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz with new costumes by GapStudio and Zac Posen; and George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante.
Performances: October 24-25 at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale. Tickets are available at MiamiCityBallet.org or by calling 305.929.7010.
A Miami premiere: Push the Buttons of the Civilized
At the heart of the program is Push the Buttons of the Civilized, the first work Patricia Delgado has created specifically for a ballet company. A former Miami City Ballet Principal Dancer, Delgado won a Tony Award for her choreography of Buena Vista Social Club, which recently launched its national tour in Miami at the Adrienne Arsht Center. Now she returns to the company where her own career began.
She teams with Emily Estefan, the award-winning Miami artist. Together, the two Miami-born artists create what Miami City Ballet calls one of the most anticipated new works of the season, and a distinctly Miami centerpiece for Garcia’s first year.
N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz, with a new look
Jerome Robbins’ N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz makes its Miami City Ballet premiere. Created in 1958, the groundbreaking “ballet in sneakers” traded pointe shoes for sneakers and blended ballet with jazz, capturing the energy, attitude and swagger of a new generation.
For this production, GapStudio, led by celebrated fashion designer Zac Posen, created new costumes that meld Posen’s fashion sensibility with Robbins’ youthful vision. Vogue took notice, calling the production “the first real glimpse of where Gonzalo Garcia intends to take the company.”
Allegro Brillante
Completing the program is George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, a virtuoso burst of speed, precision and musical brilliance. It connects the evening’s fresh creative energy to the Balanchine legacy at the heart of Miami City Ballet.
The season ahead
After American Rhythms, the 2026-27 season continues with Balanchine’s The Nutcracker (December 11-27, Miami); the company premiere of Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (February 25-March 21, 2027); Icons & Innovators, a mixed program with a world premiere by Tiler Peck (March 26-April 18, 2027); and Alexei Ratmansky’s Swan Lake presented by Oceania Cruises (April 29-May 23, 2027).
For tickets and complete performance information, visit MiamiCityBallet.org.
Photos: REN Media and Danielle Levitt, courtesy of Miami City Ballet. Source: Miami City Ballet press materials.
Contact Us