As International Ballet Festival of Miami Unfolds, Dancers Reflect on Milestones

Mayuko Nihei and Erick Rodríguez—principal dancers with Mexico’s National Dance Company, the foreign troupe that has performed at the festival more times than any other and is returning this year—participated in the 2023 IBFM. (Photo by Simon Soong, courtesy of Miami Hispanic Ballet/International Ballet Festival of Miami).

The 31st International Ballet Festival of Miami (IBFM) is in full swing on stages across South Florida. The festival, now a summer tradition, which culminates with its Grand Classical Gala and Closing Gala at the Fillmore Miami Beach, offers audiences a chance to see dancers and companies that rarely perform in South Florida.

For many of the performers, it has meant sharing in experiences, a launching pad for careers, a place where artistic connections are made and lasting memories linger.

Marize Fumero and Arionel Vargas, dancers with the Milwaukee Ballet—one of the companies participating in the 31st International Ballet Festival of Miami 2026. (Photo by Simon Soong, courtesy of Miami Hispanic Ballet/International Ballet Festival of Miami).

Dance NOW! Miami co-founder and co-director Hannah Baumgarten remembers waiting backstage before a 1998 performance with Momentum Dance Company when she watched a young Tamara Rojo dance with the English National Ballet.

“The young woman performing was spectacular and had a special spark in her eyes,” Baumgarten recalled.

Rojo is now artistic director of San Francisco Ballet.

“It is those moments,” Baumgarten said, “that make international festivals so valuable: sharing with immense talents, feeling the respect shown for our work around the world and following the paths of those who area (headed) toward magnificent lives careers.”

For Colombian principal dancer José Manuel Ghiso and his wife, Chilean principal dancer Natalia Berrios, the festival became an important part of their international careers. Ghiso first performed at the festival in 1999, Berrios made her debut in 2001. They returned together in 2011 and 2016 as a partnership from the Ballet de Santiago before dancing the “Onegin” pas de deux as their farewell festival performance in 2019.

“As performers, the festival was a vitally important international platform for our professional careers, as it allowed us to remain relevant and hold our own alongside the invited international stars.”

Jennifer Kronenberg and Carlos Guerra also credit the festival with helping strengthen artistic relationships. The pair debuted at the festival in 2004 while principal dancers with Miami City Ballet and later returned representing their own company, Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami, which they founded in 2016.

“Participating in the IBFM has been an immense honor for DDTM,” Kronenberg said, adding that the opportunities to connect with artistic directors, choreographers and dancers from around the world has been invaluable.

Dancers in the Stars Gala of the 25th IBFM (2020), held without an audience due to restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by @patriciasphotography)

Since moving to the United States in 2016, Cuban dancer Mayrel Martínez said she has performed at the festival on several occasions: first with the Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami and later representing DDTM.

While there were career milestones, there was one experience that she said was memorable due to the extraordinary circumstances.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire festival was livestreamed—with no audience in the theater—and the feeling was very strange. Performing in an empty theater served as a reminder of just how much the audience is part of every performance, and that we dance not only to execute choreography but also to communicate and connect with others,” Martínez said.

Remina Tanaka made his debut with the IBFM before officially beginning his first season with the Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida (ABTF). (Photo by @patriciasphotography)

For Japanese dancer Remina Tanaka of the Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida (ABTF), participating in his first festival was especially unforgettable. “It took place in August 2021, just weeks before I officially began my first season with ABTF, so it was my first performance in Miami.”

A year later, he found himself sharing the program with dancers he had admired since he was a teen.

“In 2022, I had the honor of meeting Martina Arduino and Marco Agostino, principal dancers with the Teatro alla Scala Ballet. They were two dancers I had admired since my teenage years—watching their performances on YouTube and later on Instagram while dreaming of becoming a professional ballet dancer myself. Sharing the bill with them was an almost surreal experience.”

The IBFM also marked the first opportunity for freelance Cuban dancers Beatriz García and Armando Bryson to perform in the United States after they emigrated in 2022; both say they are “immensely grateful” to IBFM director Eriberto Jiménez for what they describe as “a genuine welcoming embrace.”

Among their favorite memories was dancing during a free performance on Lincoln Road, where passersby stopped to watch and later attended one of the festival’s theater performances.

Beatriz García and Armando Brydson in “To Zero Point” during the Contemporary Performance II show at the 27th IBFM, on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022, at the Miami Theater Center. (Photo by Simon Soong)

“After one of the main theater performances, a group of people waited for us to say they had decided to come see the show after having watched us dance on the street.”

The festival has also created lasting memories for Venezuelan dancer Mary Carmen Catoya, who in 2023 both performed Vladimir Issaev’s “Vertigo” and accepted the festival’s “A Life for Dance” award on behalf of the Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida founder while he recovered from COVID-19 in Hong Kong.

“The wonderful thing about a festival like this is that every company, choreographer and dancer brings a part of themselves to the stage,” Catoya said.

While dancers remain at the heart of the festival, an IBFM initiative also recognizes those who document and preserve the art form.

Since 2007, the festival has presented its “Criticism & Culture of Ballet” Award to journalists and scholars whose work has advanced dance criticism and education. This year’s recipient is Christine Jowers, founder and editor of the digital magazine “The Dance Enthusiast.”

“At a time when serious journalism faces enormous challenges,” explains Jiménez, “the immediacy of social media has transformed how information is consumed, making it more important than ever to recognize professionals committed to rigor, research, and quality in their work,” festival founder and director Eriberto Jiménez said.

Previous recipients say the honor has helped raise their international profile.

Uriel García, director of La Casa de la Danza in Logroño, La Rioja (Spain), who received the honor in 2024, said it has been a significant boost to outreach efforts.

“This award is a tremendous tribute to the effort, perseverance, and love with which we at La Casa de la Danza in Logroño work every day to preserve, promote, and elevate the art of dance.”

Eriberto Jiménez presents the “Criticism and Culture of Ballet” award to Rosario Manzanos at the Stars Closing Gala of the 28th International Ballet Festival of Miami on August 13, 2023. (Photograph by Simon Soong, courtesy of Miami Hispanic Ballet/International Ballet Festival of Miami).

For Mexican journalist Rosario Manzanos—a columnist for the newspaper Excélsior and a 2023 award recipient — said the award connected her with a lineage of respected dance critics she has long admired.

“It still amazes me to have met the learned (New York Times critic) Clive Barnes and to have interviewed my friend Anna Kisselgoff (New York Times dance critic). So, it was with great joy that I reunited with my mentor Orlando Taquechel. It is deeply significant that, just like Clive and Anna, we have both received the same distinction from the IBFM,” concludes Manzanos.

Jiménez believes those connections remain one of the festival’s defining strengths.

“After 31 years, we continue to believe that dance is a universal language capable of uniting cultures, inspiring new generations and enriching the lives of our community,” he said.

WHAT: The 31st International Ballet Festival of Miami

WHEN and WHERE: Contemporary Performances: 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6, Euclid Oval, Lincoln Road, 660 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach (free); 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7, Manuel Artime Theater, 900 SW 1st St., Miami; 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8, Dennis C. Moss Cultural Arts Center, 10950 SW 211 St., Cutler Bay; 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9, Amaturo Theater, Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW 5th Ave., Fort Lauderdale.

Classical Ballet Performances: 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 15, Grand Classical Gala, The Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater, 1700 Washington Ave., Miami Beach; 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 16, Closing Gala of the Stars, The Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater, 1700 Washington Ave., Miami Beach.

COST: Lincoln Road (free). $45, contemporary performances. $40 to $70, classical performances.

INFORMATION: (786) 747-1877 and internationalballetfestival.org

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