Miami ballet’s stylish efforts

Looking better in pieces with plots than in those that were abstract, Miami City Ballet opened a two-day run Friday at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts with an engaging but challenging Balanchine program.

The company began the evening with “Rubies,” the central section of the three-part plotless ballet “Jewels,” dancing with diligence but understandable caution, given the driving, relentless taped accompaniment used throughout the program.

Jennifer Kronenberg and Renato Penteado were the virtuosic central couple. Andrea Spiridonakos was the spunky soloist.

All of them had exciting moments, and the steps were all there, but not necessarily filled out or invested with individuality.

The corps dancers were crisp and secure, but they too seemed hemmed in by the taped music.

Mid-performance

Two short ballets formed the central part of the evening. In “Glinka Pas de Trois,” Callye Robinson was airy, generous and lyrical.

Mary Carmen Catoya was more energetically compact, but spacious and steady in long-held balances. Mikhail Ilyin partnered strongly and offered seemingly effortless flights into the air that always terminated in feathery-light landings.

In “Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux,” Deanna Seay managed to stay secure, sweet and radiant, despite some very rough partnering by Carlos Guerra, who was more secure in his solos. Maybe he was having a bad night.

The company looked most free, playful and insouciant in “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue,” which closed the program. Created originally for the 1936 Broadway musical “On Your Toes,” the ballet subsequently took on a life of its own, even spoofing the genre.

Michelle Merrell was a saucy but vulnerable Strip Tease. John Hall was the suave Hoofer who won her heart -- to one of Richard Rodgers’ most haunting melodies -- and inadvertently caused her death at the hands of her brawny, jealous husband (Guerra).

Edward Villella, the company’s director and an acclaimed former New York City Ballet star, had a cameo as the Gangster hired to kill the Hoofer. His entrance was marked by affectionate applause.