Media Contact: Samantha Franco Zakarin Martinez Public Relations samantha@zm‐pr.com 305.372.2502
Miami City Ballet Announces New Dancers and Promotions Advancing Three and Hiring Three Dancers, Two from Miami City Ballet School Featured on Teen Vogue’s “Strictly Ballet”
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – For its landmark 30th Anniversary Season, Miami City Ballet announces the promotions of dancers Jennifer Lauren, Emily Bromberg and Jovani Furlan, as well as the additions to the company roster of Simone Messmer, Ella Titus and Mayumi Enokibara.
Two of the new additions, Ella Titus and Mayumi Enokibara, will join the corps de ballet as recent graduates of Miami City Ballet School and the stars of Teen Vogue’s “Strictly Ballet,” a hit web series that followed the students’ journeys to becoming ballet dancers at a professional company.
“We are thrilled to be promoting these wonderful, deserving artists,” said MCB Artistic Director Lourdes Lopez. “And we are so pleased to be adding three new members to our family just in time for the company’s 30th anniversary, including two recent graduates from Miami City Ballet School. Our audiences are really in for a treat this coming season.”
Miami City Ballet is pleased to announce the appointment of Simone Messmer to the company, joining the ranks as Principal. Messmer began her professional career with ABT in 2003, rising to the rank of Soloist in 2010; and joined San Francisco Ballet in 2013 performing principal roles. Messmer trained at the HARID Conservatory in Boca Raton, Fla., Ballet Arts Minnesota and American Ballet Theatre, and was awarded the Leonore Annenberg Arts Fellowship in 2010.
Promoted to Principal Soloist for the 2015‐2016 season, Jennifer Lauren was named one of Dance Magazine’s “Top 25 to Watch” in 2014 and has been featured in principal and soloist roles, including the lead, Kitri, in Don Quixote, and this past season the ballerina in George Balanchine’s, Raymonda Variations. She joined Miami City Ballet in 2007 as a member of the corps de ballet and was promoted to Soloist in 2011. She is a native of Tuscaloosa, Ala., and danced for Alabama Ballet prior to joining MCB.
Emily Bromberg has been promoted to Soloist, following her breakout role as Juliet in John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet during the 2014‐2015 season, as well as numerous principal and soloist roles since joining the corps in 2010. A Boston native, Bromberg studied at Boston Ballet School and the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, D.C., and has performed with Colorado Ballet, Boston Ballet and Festival Ballet Providence.
Jovani Furlan has also been promoted to Soloist, and danced the role of Romeo opposite Bromberg in Romeo and Juliet. Furlan has continued to impress with his growing repertoire of principal and soloist roles, including the lead in MCB’s premiere of Richard Alston’s Carmen. In the 2013‐2014 season, his featured roles included Tony in West Side Story Suite and the rarely performed Paul Taylor solo in George Balanchine’s Episodes. Originally from Joinville, Brazil, Furlan trained full‐time as a scholarship student at MCB School and received the Toby Lerner Ansin Scholarship Award in 2011, given every year to one of the school’s most promising dancers.
Ella Titus, hailing from Clearwater, Fla., danced with the company in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker™ and Symphony in Three Movements as an apprentice. She trained at Miami City Ballet School and joins the corps de ballet for the 2015‐16 season.
Mayumi Enokibara, born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, received the Toby Lerner Ansin Scholarship Award in 2015 and also danced as an apprentice in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker™ and Symphony in Three Movements as well as in Don Quixote. She trained at Miami City Ballet School and joins the corps de ballet for the 2015‐16 season.
“One of our goals at the School is to fully prepare students to seamlessly join the ranks of the corps de ballet at Miami City Ballet and to handle the demands of an incredibly versatile and eclectic repertoire,” said Darleen Callaghan, Director of Miami City Ballet School. “Ella and Mayumi are fully prepared to do this and it will be our joy to watch them grow and mature as professional dancers now, right here in our own company.”
The new season opens this October with performances in its MCB’s home theaters in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Naples and West Palm Beach. Tickets are on sale now and start at $20. For more information on Miami City Ballet or to purchase tickets, call 305.929.7010, toll‐free 877.929.7010 or visit miamicityballet.org.
About Miami City Ballet: Hailed by The New York Times as “one of America’s most beloved dance companies,” Miami City Ballet is led by Artistic Director Lourdes Lopez. The Company has 51 dancers and a repertoire of over 100 ballets. The Company performs for 120,000 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. Among the Company’s notable achievements have been critically acclaimed seasons in Paris and New York City and the nationally televised PBS THIRTEEN special: Great Performances ‐ Dance In America: Miami City Ballet Dances Balanchine and Tharp.
Miami City Ballet School, the official school of Miami City Ballet, is an elite pre‐professional ballet training academy with a vibrant community division serving 1,500 students and granting $750,000 in scholarships annually. Miami City Ballet is headquartered in Miami Beach, Fla., at the Ophelia & Juan Js. Roca Center, a facility designed by renowned architectural firm Arquitectonica.
MEDIA CONTACT: Samantha Franco / samantha@zm‐pr.com Zakarin Martinez Public Relations / 305.372.2502
Major funding for Miami City Ballet is provided by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and by the Ford Foundation. MCB performances, outreach and education activities are made possible by the generous support of The Rockefeller Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts: Artworks, The Shubert Foundation, Louis B. Mayer Foundation, B Carlin Foundation, and The Miami Foundation.
The Company is sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture. Miami‐Dade County support is provided by Miami‐Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami‐Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners with additional support provided by the City of Miami Beach, Cultural Affairs program, and the Cultural Arts Council. Palm Beach County support is provided in part by the Board of County Commissioners, the Tourist Development Council and the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County. Broward County funding is provided in part by the Broward County Board of County Commissioners as recommended by the Broward Cultural Council and Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau. Miami City Ballet is a registered trademark of Miami City Ballet, Inc.