Miami City Ballet, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga, New York, August 21-22, 1998.

MIAMI CITY BALLET SARATOGA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, SARATOGA, NEW YORK AUGUST 21-22, 1998 REVIEWED BY KATE MATTINGLY

Thirty-two years ago Edward Villella helped to christen the stage at Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) as a member of New York City Ballet. Since then SPAC has become the exclusive summer home of NYCB, and Villella the director of Miami City Ballet. August reunited Villella and SPAC when the Floridians brought choreography by George Balanchine, Paul Taylor, and Jimmy Gamonet De Los Heros to the amphitheater.

It's about time: Miami City Ballet has peaked at forty-seven members--up from seventeen at its 1986 inception--and they race through repertory like the thoroughbreds that put Saratoga on the map--fast, muscular, energetic. Villella admits that he's "very hands-on" with Miami's Balanchine repertory, and it shows. Stars and Stripes, acquired this year, dazzled with spunk and precision. Thirteen men close the "Third Campaign" with a series of four double tours en l'air in unison. The equine steps as the corps pawed the ground, marched, and pranced in altitude position brought the Saratoga crowd to a roaring standing ovation.

The grassy outdoor venue suits the Miami dancers' style, which tends to be more playful and robust than their Giacomettiesque equivalents up north. (Many company members cite the School of American Ballet in program biographies.) The corps--especially Serena Orloff--brought a natural freshness to Balanchine's pinup poses in Who Cares? Soloists Deanna Seay and Iliana Lopez sparkled. Eric Quillere matched their energy, dancing so musically that his landings appeared to trigger Gershwin's notes.

Taylor, like Balanchine, is a score-sensitive choreographer, and the company excelled in his works. Native Floridian Kenneth Easter stood out in the "Oh Johnny" section of Company B and the "I Am Woman" section of Funny Papers. If Gamonet's contributions were not as refined as these masters', the audience didn't seem to mind. In Nous Sommes, Lopez and Franklin Gamero made the most of the choreographer's sensual but cliched movement. Though Villella admires the strength of the men who trained in France, Venezuela, Mexico, and Cuba--the company represents six nations--Miami's men exude an "all-American" affability. The women look tan and wholesome. All are masters of speed and clarity; only occasional adagio sections in Balanchine's choreography expose their Achilles' heels.

It's no wonder that Miami City Ballet was SPAC's first choice once it was given the opportunity to invite another ballet company to its amphitheater (NYCB tours other upstate New York sites this fall as part of its fiftieth-anniversary season, freeing SPAC from its contract). Taking their cue from Villella, who bops and grooves as he teaches company class, the Miami dancers make every move sing.