Miami City Ballet presents Justin Peck’s WynwoodInspired Heatscape

Miami City Ballet presents Justin Peck’s WynwoodInspired Heatscape

Program Also Features Balanchine’s Duo Concertant with music of Stravinsky and The Four Temperaments

Ballet To Bring Performances To Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, FL

MIAMI BEACH — Miami City Ballet’s (MCB) highly anticipated program features the return of Justin Peck’s Wynwood-inspired Heatscape, accompanied by two George Balanchine works: Duo Concertant and The Four Temperaments, and August Bournonville’s The Flower Festival in Genzano Pas de Deux. This year, the Wynwood Business Improvement District (BID) is sponsoring Heatscape as part of a 2019 season partnership with MCB, in an effort to expose new audiences to the art that inspires and is inspired by the Wynwood Arts District. Miami City Ballet will perform in Miami at the Adrienne Arsht Center Feb. 22-24; at the Broward Center March 9-10; and in West Palm Beach at the Kravis Center March 15-17.

In Heatscape, Tony Award-winning choreographer Justin Peck and celebrated visual artist Shepard Fairey beautifully merge ballet and guerilla street art to create a stunning collaboration inspired by Miami’s vibrant Wynwood Arts District. Commissioned exclusively for Miami City Ballet, Peck’s work calls for an impressive cast of dancers and scenery made by the popular street artist Fairey — best known for his work on the Obama Hope poster and his large murals adorning local streets and establishments such as the iconic Wynwood Walls.

Together, Peck and Fairey’s contributions work harmoniously to create a sense of energy and ease in Heatscape set to a musical score by Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu. Much like Fairey’s most recognizable street art, Peck incorporates the use of patterns and symmetry into the dance, paying close attention to how Fairey works from the center outward.

Coming off the helm of recent successes, including his 2018 Tony Award for Carousel, choreographing Steven Spielberg's upcoming West Side Story remake, as well as The National’s “Dark Side of The Gym” featured on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Peck’s influence crossed beyond the performing arts space into Broadway Musicals and now pop culture.

Finally, this program treats audiences to Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments and the spirited Duo Concertant with music of Stravinsky, which invites the pianist and violinist onstage playing an integral role with the dancers. Rounding out the program is Danish 19th century August Bournonville’s joyous and romantic The Flower Festival in Genzano Pas de Deux. Through the interplay between street art and ballet that Heatscape represents, renowned Brazilian street artist Kobra recently completed a mural on the exterior of the Arsht Center’s Carnival Tower depicting a Brazilian-American dancer Itzkan Barbosa from Miami City Ballet School. The 30-foot masterpiece represents young artists around the world and serves as a welcome symbolic visual representation of the Miami City Ballet and Wynwood BID’s partnership. Click here to view a time-lapse of the completed mural.

In anticipation for Peck’s Heatscape, MCB and the Wynwood BID partnered to present Poetry in Motion, featuring newly choreographed works by Miami City Ballet School’s Pre-Professional dancers and alumni. This was the company's first-ever performance in Miami’s thriving urban arts district, which took place on January 31 at the intimate Light Box at Goldman Warehouse in Wynwood. The activation is part of a broader partnership between MCB and the Wynwood BID that includes cultural programming for Wynwood-area school students, as well as the BID’s sponsorship of Heatscape’s opening night reception on February 22 at the Arsht Center.

Tickets to Heatscape start at $29 and are available at the box office, by calling 305.929.7010 or 877.929.7010 (Monday – Friday, 10 am – 5 pm) or online at miamicityballet.org. Students can purchase $15 tickets for select performances up to two weeks prior to the show online or day of the show at theater box offices. Valid student ID required. For more information, please visit https://www.miamicityballet.org/studentdiscount.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:

JUSTIN PECK’S HEATSCAPE & BALANCHINE

February 22-24 | Miami | Adrienne Arsht Center

March 9-10 | Fort Lauderdale| Broward Center

March 15-17 | West Palm Beach | Kravis Center

Inspired by Miami’s vibrant Wynwood Arts District, Heatscape audibly elicited “ooohhh” from the audience when it debuted. 2018 Tony Award-winning choreographer Justin Peck and celebrated visual artist Shepard Fairey of (Obama HOPE poster fame) beautifully merge ballet and guerilla street art in this stunning collaboration created for Miami City Ballet. Includes Bournonville’s The Flower Festival in Genzano Pas de Deux, along with two Balanchine works: Duo Concertant and The Four Temperaments.

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ABOUT MIAMI CITY BALLET Miami City Ballet (MCB), now in its 33rd season, was founded in 1985 by Miami philanthropist Toby Lerner Ansin and Founding Artistic Director Edward Villella. The Company has 52 dancers and a repertoire of more than 100 ballets. MCB performs for nearly 100,000 patrons annually during its South Florida home season in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Naples, and tours to top theaters domestically and internationally, including recent visits to New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. An upcoming performance at Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will take place in spring 2019. Miami City Ballet School, the official school of Miami City Ballet, is one of the most respected ballet training academies in America. The School’s renowned faculty, challenging syllabus, and affiliation with Miami City Ballet make it a place where all students — from children to adults — can receive comprehensive dance training. The School trains approximately 400 students, ages 3-18, in its yearround program and 400 students during its summer programs, granting nearly $500,000 in scholarships annually. More than 500 adults participate in a vibrant community division. The Company is led by Executive Director Tania Castroverde Moskalenko and Artistic Director Lourdes Lopez. Lopez was recently named one of “The Most Influential People in Dance Today” by Dance Magazine and is on The Ford Foundation Board of Trustees. Miami City Ballet is headquartered in Miami Beach, Fla., at the Ophelia & Juan Js. Roca Center, a facility designed by renowned architectural firm, Arquitectonica.

ABOUT THE WYNWOOD BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT (BID) The Wynwood BID is a municipal board of the City of Miami representing more than 400 property owners that comprise the 50-city-block Wynwood Arts District. Run by a Board of Directors who themselves are property owners from the community, the BID works to enhance security and sanitation services in the neighborhood, advocate for the betterment of the area, raise awareness of advancements being made, and plan for the future of Wynwood. For more information about the BID, visit: https://wynwoodmiami.com

ABOUT JUSTIN PECK Justin Peck is the Resident Choreographer and soloist dancer with the New York City Ballet. He began choreographing in 2009 at the New York Choreographic Institute. In 2014, after the creation of his acclaimed ballet Everywhere We Go, he was appointed as Resident Choreographer of New York City Ballet. He is the second person in the institution’s history to hold this title. Peck joined New York City Ballet as a dancer in 2006. As a performer, Peck has danced a vast repertoire of works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Peter Martins, Alexei Ratmansky, Benjamin Millepied, Christopher Wheeldon, and many others. In 2013, Peck was promoted to the rank of Soloist. Justin has created over 30 ballets-- 16 of those for New York City Ballet. His works have been performed by Paris Opera Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, LA Dance Project, Dutch National Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Houston Ballet, and Pennsylvania Ballet, to name a few. His collaborators include composers Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner (The National), Dan Deacon; visual artists Shepard Fairey, Marcel Dzama, John Baldessari, and Jules de Balincourt; and fashion designers Mary Katrantzou, Humberto Leon (Kenzo, Opening Ceremony), Tsumori Chisato, and Dries Van Noten. In 2014, Peck was the subject of the documentary Ballet 422, which followed him for two months as he created NYCB’s 422nd original dance, Paz de la Jolla. In 2015, his ballet Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes won the Bessie Award for Outstanding Production. Peck choreographed the 2018 Broadway revival of Carousel. The production was directed by Jack O'Brien and stars Jesse Meuller, Joshua Henry, & Renée Fleming. Peck choreographed and consulted on the 20th Century Fox feature film Red Sparrow, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Joel Edgerton. The movie was directed by Francis Lawrence.

ABOUT SHEPARD FAIREY Shepard Fairey was born in Charleston, South Carolina. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1989, he created the “Andre the Giant has a Posse” sticker that transformed into the OBEY GIANT art campaign, with imagery that has changed the way people see art and the urban landscape. After almost 30 years, his work has evolved into an acclaimed body of art, which includes the 2008 "Hope" portrait of Barack Obama, found at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. The artist collaborated with Amplifier in 2017 to create the We The People series recognizable during the Women’s Marches and other rallies around the world in defense of national and global social justice issues. Just recently Fairey teamed up with Amplifier again to launch We The Future, a campaign featuring young leaders from social change movements, working to address important issues and get art and supporting education tools into more than 20,000 classrooms. Fairey’s stickers, guerilla street art presence, and more than 90 public murals are recognizable worldwide. His works are in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and many others. The artist’s 2017 “Damaged” body of work was his largest-ever solo fine art exhibition and set record attendance figures. With the help of VRT Ventures, Fairey created the “Damaged” app showcasing the art show in a VR/AR experience for personal devices and VR headsets, available on iTunes, Google Play, Oculus, Samsung Gear, and Steam. “Force Majeure,” Fairey’s most recent solo museum exhibition, showcased 400 artworks from throughout the artist’s career at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art in Fall 2018. Shepard Fairey is currently working on shows and murals globally and planning for the 30-year anniversary of the OBEY GIANT art campaign. For more information, visit www.OBEYGIANT.com.