Heading back to its roots, the Miami City Ballet has transformed a vacant retail venue into a pop-up residency on Miami Beach’s Lincoln Road.
Honoring its 35th anniversary, the ballet organization is offering dancers a studio in which to train and perform before the public as they watch outside on pre-marked social-distancing stars to ensure a safe viewing experience.
This residency is a collaborative effort between the Miami City Ballet, the Lincoln Road Business Improvement District and the Comras Co., which have taken a vacant space at 744 Lincoln Road and repurposing it, giving it new life as an artistic enclave and pop-up theater that benefits the community at large, said Tim Schmand, the Lincoln Road BID’s executive director.
“Since the ’90s, the beauty of Lincoln Road is to explore the arts and culture, and this just another opportunity,” he said.
Miami City Ballet at Lincoln Road is also aided by a $12,000 grant received by the City of Miami Beach in January. The grant was awarded as part of an agreement in which the company would offer a series of cultural arts activations on Lincoln Road, Mr. Schmand said, the culmination of culture, retail, dining and entertainment has created a winning formula for Lincoln Road.
“The BID gave an extra $3,000 to make this residence possible and maintain our commitment to bring the joy of dance to our Miami Beach community, which will be a very interesting way to celebrate our new normal for the arts,” he explained.
Miami City Ballet residency showcase runs through Sept. 10, Monday to Friday 1-3 p.m. and 5-7 p.m. No more than six dancers will occupy the space at a time. Visitors will be able to witness the dancers as they practice and train along with displays of costumes from some of their most seminal productions. Ballet-inspired music will also stream outdoors during every practice.
“This is going to be a great gift for our dancers to actually practice and get back to shape. As we slowly get through this pandemic, we might be able to increase up to ten dancers performing safely and then there’s a possibility to do more,” said Lourdes Lopez, the Miami City Ballet’s artistic director.
With 50 local dancers, the performing arts organization had to get creative for all its performers to have their time at the pop-up studio. Recently, the dancers were meeting through Zoom classes, but were limited and restricted at their homes, Ms. Lopez added.
“As dancers get into shape,” she said, “we might have some surprise outdoor performances and classes throughout Lincoln Road.”
credit: miamitodaynews
