Miami City Ballet Miami City Ballet Miami City Ballet is an American ballet company based in Miami Beach, Florida, led by artistic director Lourdes Lopez. MCB was founded in 1985 by Toby Lerner Ansin, a Miami philanthropist. Ansin and the founding board hired Edward Villella, former New York City Ballet principal dancer to be the founding artistic director. A bulk of the company's repertoire is made up of the work of George Balanchine, though the company also performs works by Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp, Trey McIntyre, Mark Morris, Jimmy Gamonet, who was the company's founding Resident Choreographer and Ballet Master from 1986 to
Kansas City Ballet of the 1969-70 season, Solov returned to Kansas City to create and present three world premiere ballets with the KCB: The World I Knew (set to Massenet's Scenes Alsaciennes), Zygosis, and Divertissement. Lead roles in the first piece were danced by New York City Ballet guest artists Jacques d'Amboise and Melissa Hayden. For the spring 1970 performance, the KCB presented the ballet Laurencia, staged by guest artists. In 1970, the mayor of Kansas City, Ilus Winfield Davis proclaimed a special “Civic Ballet Week." During the 1970-1971 season, the company name changed back to Kansas City Ballet. In the spring of