A Midsummer Night's Dream
Choreography
George BalanchineMusic
Felix MendelssohnTo celebrate MCB’s 30th anniversary season, in 2016 the company mounted a new production of Balanchine’s sumptuous, wildly acclaimed new production of, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare’s timeless tale of love, illusion and reconciliation.
With a fairytale cast, Felix Mendelssohn’s glorious music, twenty-four children and six vocalists, spectacular new sets and costumes, and Miami City Ballet’s breathtaking dancers, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a dazzling spectacle for families and audiences of all ages. Reimagined by two international artists with ties to Miami -- dramatic direction by Tarell Alvin McCraney and original sets and costumes by the celebrated artist Michele Oka Doner -- this new Dream takes its inspiration from South Florida’s surrounding waterways while always remaining true to Shakespeare, Mendelssohn and Balanchine.
All Shakespeare’s famous characters are here: Oberon and Titania, the feuding King and Queen of the Fairies; the two pairs of muddled lovers; poor confused Bottom, who is magically transformed into an ass (in our version, a manatee); Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, who comes through the forest accompanied by her hounds (in our version, seahorses) to marry Theseus, ruler of nearby Athens; and of course the mischievous sprite Puck, who presides over the confusions and resolutions of the fiendishly intricate plot – Puck, who in the play speaks the famous line that perhaps most clearly reflects Shakespeare’s view of the characters he has brought to life, “What fools these mortals be.”
With so much of Balanchine’s great reputation based on his abstract (or black-and-white) ballets – The Four Temperaments, Agon, Episodes, Symphony in Three Movements – it’s easy to forget that he was also a supreme storyteller (just think of his Nutcracker). Somehow he makes this ultra-complicated story crystal clear – you're never for a moment at a loss as he unfolds this infinitely touching, charming and hilarious drama. And then, following the long first act, he gives us an elegant divertissement, with Theseus’ court becoming the setting for a formal exhibition of classical dance (it opens with Mendelssohn’s famous “Wedding March”) and at the heart of which is one of Balanchine’s most subtle and persuasive pas de deux.
Brilliant choreography, vivid performance. The dancers seem like darting fish in the dark depths... cinematic.
Experience This Ballet
Pointe of Interest
In the original production of A Midsummer Night’ Dream, the central role of Oberon was created on our Founding Artistic Director, Edward Villella, and during her twenty-four years at New York City Ballet, our current Artistic Director, Lourdes Lopez, danced Helena, the Act II pas de deux, and – early on – one of Hippolyta’s hounds!
Synopsis
Synopsis
The Story of A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Act I: An Estuary And Under The Sea
Hermia is engaged to wed Lysander. Demetrius seeks Hermia’s affection. But Helena is madly in love with Demetrius.
In the ocean lies King Oberon and Queen Titania, rulers of the fairies. King Oberon enjoys mischief. He orders his sprite, Puck to create all sorts of romantic havoc within the mortal and fairy worlds. With the dust of a magic flower, Puck and Oberon cast spells on the lovers, making many follies and fumbles along the way.
Puck accidentally sprinkles the flower dust on Lysander, who falls in love with Helena. This distresses Helena. She only has eyes for Demetrius. Now Hermia is also heartbroken.
Titania is lulled to sleep, and the spell is cast upon her, as Bottom (a wayward artisan whose head has been changed into that of a manatee) is brought to her chamber.
She wakes up and finds herself hysterically smitten with Bottom, whose only interest is to eat seagrass.
In the meantime, Demetrius and Lysander engage in an intense battle over the women.
Hippolyta, the fierce Queen of the Amazons leads a charge of warrior seahorses into the Court of Athens. The King of Athens, Theseus, is impressed by her prowess and the two are engaged to be wed.
Oberon and Puck set out to reverse the spells. The lovers are placed together while they slumber – Lysander with Hermia, and Demetrius with Helena. When they awake, they are in love with their intended partners and a triple wedding is planned.
Act II: At the Court of Athens (the Coral Castle)
A grand wedding between Theseus and Hippolyta, Hermia and Lysander, and Helena and Demetrius ensues in a display of grand pageantry, dancing, and merriment. Meanwhile in fairyland the spell on Titania is reversed, and King and Queen of the Fairies are in love once again.
As Puck leaves us to embrace the magic of love.
“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.” – William Shakespeare
Production Credits
Production Credits
Choreography
George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust
Music
Felix Mendelssohn, Overture and Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night's Dream, op. 21 and 61 (1826, 1842); Overtures to Athalie, op. 74 (1845), The Fair Melusine op. 32 (1833), The First Walpurgis Night, op. 60; Symphony No. 9 for strings; Overture to Son and Stranger, op. 89 (1829)
Company Premiere (Reimagined)
March 18, 2016
Costume Designs
Karinska (original production)
Michele Oka Doner (current production)
Set Design
Michele Oka Doner (current production)
Lighting
Ronald Bates (original production)
John Hall (current production)
Projection Designs
Wendall Harrington
Dramaturgy
Tarell Alvin McCraney
Additional Production Notes
Additional Production Notes
Opening image: Port of Miami underwater, 2014
Coral Castle, Act II, reimagined from a vintage photograph taken by Hans Hannau, early 1940s.
Located in South Dade County, Coral Castle has become a part of Miami's mythic landscape.
Costume Design Liaison Carole Divet Harting
Act I: Euro Co Costumes
John Kristiansen New York Inc.
Tricorne, Inc.
Fairies, Titania, Helena, Hermia and Butterfly headpieces by Maria Morales
Act II: Halsey Onstage
Additional Costume Design by Travis Halsey and Rachel Coyle
Corps, Divertissement, Helena and Hermia headpieces by Maria Morales
Wild and adventurous, the ocean is our forest.
Pointe of Interest
Costume designs and sets are based on the extraordinary archive of marine specimens at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School. Housed in the Marine Invertebrate Museum, almost a million creatures are cared for and investigated by Professor Nancy Voss, who kindly gave her permission for their use.