An Up-Close Stellar Performance
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THE SANCTUARY GOES ALL OUT, BRINGING THE MIAMI BALLET ORCHESTRA TO DOWNTOWN CORAL GABLES
Over the past four years, the Sanctuary of the Arts has staged more than 100 elegant dance and musical performances in downtown Coral Gables, directly across the street from City Hall.
It has become one of the city’s key cultural destinations, on par with the Miracle Theatre and the Art Cinema. By bringing classical music and modern dance to the intimate 365-seat theater, founder Mike Eidson has fulfilled his vision of making culture – including music from Cuba and Latin America – more accessible for the residents of his city.
Now Eidson is putting on what he considers his most important event ever – a 34-piece orchestra that will play some of the most memorable ballet music ever composed in a program entitled “Ballet Classics Under the Stars.” The music will be performed by the Miami Ballet Orchestra, which plays for every Miami Ballet performance in South Florida. It is no slacker of an orchestra, performing alongside what is considered one the top ballet companies in the nation. “But it’s always played in the shadows, in the pits,” says Eidson.
“What is extra exciting about this performance is that the Miami City Ballet Orchestra will be performing on-stage for the first time ever,” says Maestro Gary Sheldon. “For the past 15 years, we’ve had at least a couple hundred performances with them [the ballet company], but the orchestra is so deserving of the opportunity to present this program in their own right.”
Included in the night’s lineup will be some of ballet’s greatest hits, musically speaking, though “they all have a strong ballet underpinning,” says conductor Sheldon. These will include the polonaise from Tchaikovsky’s “Sleeping Beauty,” Bizet’s “Carmen Fantasy,” the balcony scene from Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet,” and Baber’s “Adagio for Strings.”
Of particular note will be Brazilian pianist Francisco Renno’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s “Piano Concerto No. 3” and violinist (and concert master) Mei Mei Luo’s performance of “Carmen Fantasy.” Two of the pieces will be accompanied by ballet dancers, including one co-choreographed by the Sanctuary’s Principal Managing Director (and dance master), Rafi Maldonado.
When the orchestra does take the stage at the end of May, they will dominate it, barely fitting in the space. They will be right on top of the audience; because the Sanctuary is a former church, there is no distance separating the stage from the first row. In places like UM’s Gusman Hall or Downtown Miami’s Arsht Center, the musicians are 20 to 30-feet away from the first row, and seats in the back are fairly distant. Here, the audience is right up next to the stage and the back row isn’t far away. “It will be like an immersive experience,” says Eidson. “You will feel like you’re part of the orchestra.”
As it is, Maestro Sheldon had to cut his 50-member orchestra to 34 to fit the stage. “I think that is right for that space. It will be a glorious sound, for sure.” As for the up-close nature of the performance, “It’s just one of the unique possibilities one has in this hall. It involves and integrates the audience in a very visceral manner.”
The program will take place May 29, 30, and 31, and is called “Ballet Classics Under the Stars,” with the idea that the Sanctuary’s dome be festooned with stars. Eidson is also inviting 300 students who will come to hear one of the rehearsals.
Sheldon says that he and Eidson have discussed the idea of putting the orchestra on-stage ever since they met in 2010, when Eidson was chair of the Ballet Orchestra, an idea that has finally come to pass. “Mike is someone who can make almost anything happen. His passion for the arts and ballet is palpable.”