Two weeks into his new role as Miami City Ballet’s new artistic director, Gonzalo Garcia sits in his office reflecting on what it means to lead the company in its fortieth year.
“Sometimes anniversaries are an opportunity to celebrate, but also to move forward,” says Garcia, a former principal dancer for the New York City Ballet and San Francisco Ballet. “We can’t forget how we got here, but we also want to be around for another 40 years.”
Garcia understands that new chapters require new narratives. Pretty ballets don’t always sell tickets. The Nutcracker is not the only family-friendly performance. Tradition is wonderful, but there are plenty of new, groundbreaking choreographers whose work needs to be seen.
“I want to explore stories like Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and Don Quixote and see how new generations bring new life to them,” says the Spanish-born Garcia, who has devoted himself to studying both classical and contemporary choreography since his hyperactive youth. “But also, what are the other stories that new generations of choreographers want to tell, and what are the old stories that haven’t been told?”
In seeking out these stories, Garcia hopes to draw broader audiences and fresh financial support to Miami City Ballet (MCB), which has become one of the premier dance troupes in the country, if not the world. Plucky since its humble beginnings in 1985, MCB has done more with less funding than its counterparts in cities like New York, Moscow, or Paris, while weathering challenges such as economic downturns, changing audience demographics, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m not saying fundraising will be easy, especially right now,” Garcia notes. “But I know the potential is there, the money is there, if there is desire for culture. If there is no desire for culture, then how do we change that? Or what kind of culture is needed? I think Miami City Ballet has a big part to play in that.”
Forty years ago, Miami was known more for the crime drama Miami Vice than for having its own professional dance company. Local philanthropist and dance enthusiast Toby Lerner Ansin—who would go on to found Miami City Ballet—was determined to change that. Friends connected her with former New York City Ballet dancer Edward Villella, one of George Balanchine’s most celebrated performers.
After a four-hour meeting with Villella, Ansin was convinced that the 305 could become a ballet mecca, with Villella as founding artistic director. With Villella committed, Ansin sold the idea to the community, courting much-needed donors along the way. MCB’s first performance took place in 1986, and from the start, the goal was to build a global touring company supported by a school that trained the next generation of greats.
“When I got involved in 2012, the ballet already had a 28-year history,” says Jeff Davis, chairperson of the board. “It had a solid foundation from Edward Villella, and Lourdes Lopez had just been announced as the new artistic director. She was the first female artistic director of a national ballet company. [She] had been with the New York City Ballet and a Balanchine dancer, and [had] worked for the George Balanchine Foundation, so she understood the nonprofit world, too. She had also been in media, so she understood the importance of media relations.”
There were still challenges, however. “When I came on board, the artistic side of the house was fairly strong,” says Davis. “We had the talent, the product, the school, and the community service. But we weren’t an overcapitalized company. There was no executive director, no chief marketing officer. When I got involved, we immediately went into a capital campaign to solidify the company as an institution.”
Currently, MCB has a $20 to $25 million budget, Davis notes. In comparison, the New York City Ballet’s budget is about four times that. At MCB, about 50 to 60 percent of its funds come from fundraising. Davis says the goal is to switch that dynamic so that 50 to 60 percent of the budget comes from earned revenue such as ticket sales, paid tours, and dance school tuition.
“I think everybody who works in nonprofit arts will tell you that fundraising in today’s environment is more challenging than ever,” Davis notes. “We’re trying to make sure our product resonates with our community and that we’re good stewards of representing Miami and pursuing excellence. Luckily, we have a product that people want to see.”
After Lopez’s departure at the end of the 2024-2025 season, Davis wanted to ensure the next artistic director was not only a good steward of what had been built, but had the vision to do things differently. MCB surveyed the board, dancers, rehearsal directors, school staff, and civic leaders about what the ballet needed in its new leader.
“People wanted the same excellent pedigree that Edward and Lourdes had,” says Davis. “We also wanted someone who was culturally curious, but willing to look at things a little differently. Five hours after the announcement about Lourdes’ departure went out, I had plenty of letters of interest in my inbox.”
The ballet compiled a list of 70 candidates from around the world and whittled them down to four names. At the end of the process, Garcia rose to the top.
“Garcia grew up in Spain, so he had that European background, which is ballet’s home, if you will,” Davis says. “Then he became a principal with San Francisco Ballet. Then he transferred over to New York City Ballet, where he was a principal. When he retired a couple years ago, he was teaching other people the New York City Ballet canon and also was an instructor at the School of American Ballet. He was very well-respected in the arts world as someone who was warm, collaborative, inviting, and engaging.”
Change isn’t always easy, but right now MCB seems to be delighting in it—and its new artistic director. As Miami has grown, so has its ballet. The city is more international and diverse, with more residents accustomed to seeing ballets in New York and Boston.
“When I look back [at] what’s happened over 40 years, I’m just amazed at how people have come together,” Davis says. “When I look at today’s challenges, I’m like, ‘You know what? There will always be challenges.’ You have to navigate the best way you can. Maybe that means you shrink sometimes. Maybe that means you do this differently or whatever, but you’ve got to keep going.”
A Dancer’s Journey: Jordan-Elizabeth Long
Jordan-Elizabeth Long’s parents enrolled her in cello lessons when she was a little girl. But she didn’t want to play music—she wanted to be the music. That realization launched her path toward ballet.
“I’m from a very small town in Virginia—Blacksburg,” Long says. “It’s where Virginia Tech is, but that’s about all there is there. My mom had to drive me an hour to Roanoke for classes basically every day. And then in high school, I moved down here to South Florida, where I studied with a Cuban teacher in Pompano Beach. Dancers from the National Ballet of Cuba were constantly defecting, and she was a safe space for them while they got the papers they needed to join a company here.”
After high school, Long was offered a position with the Dutch National Ballet and moved to Amsterdam at 18. It wasn’t the right fit, so the following year she relocated to Stockholm and joined the Royal Swedish Ballet.
“I was promoted to soloist in Stockholm,” she explains. “But I missed my family, and I knew I didn’t want to live in Europe forever, so I auditioned for Lourdes. I think it was her second season here, and she hired me as a soloist. So, I moved back to South Florida, and she promoted me to principal soloist in 2023.”
A Dancer’s Journey: Steven Loch
Growing up in Denton, Texas, Steven Loch danced around the house to his mother’s dance videos. “She was a dance teacher, and she saw my passion for it, so she knew what to do,” Loch recalls. “She started me in classes when I was 3 years old at the school where she taught. Later, I went to the Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton because there wasn’t a male teacher at my school.”
After high school, Loch danced with the Pacific Northwest Ballet for 12 years before moving to Miami four years ago to become a principal dancer with Miami City Ballet.
“As a dancer and an artist, I need to be connected with the people I’m working with, and aligned in artistry and work ethic,” he says. “That’s what really resonates with me about this company—the people I get to dance with every day. That’s what makes this place special.”
Story Credits:
Shot by Aventura on location at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County
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