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Lourdes Lopez, the longtime artistic director of Miami City Ballet, who championed new ballets and helped to elevate the company\u2019s artistic profile, will step down from her post at the end of this season, two years before her contract expires, the company announced on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Lopez, 66, who joined the company in 2012, was originally scheduled to leave at the end of the 2026-27 season.<\/p>\n
The departure of Lopez, a high-profile cultural figure who rose to fame dancing under George Balanchine<\/a> at New York City Ballet, came as a surprise to Miami City Ballet\u2019s dancers, staff and some board members.<\/p>\n Lopez said she was leaving early because she had grown passionate about another project: exploring ways for Miami arts institutions to collaborate more closely.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThis has nothing to do with Miami City Ballet,\u201d she said in an interview. \u201cThis is really about Lourdes.\u201d<\/p>\n While Lopez said she had been thinking about a change for more than a year, she did not make a final decision until Monday, and the news was hastily announced on Wednesday. She said she was ready for a new challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cI have a lot of energy, I have ideas, I have vitality, I have urgency,\u201d she said. \u201cBalanchine taught us you do it now, or you don\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n Jeff Davis, the chair of Miami City Ballet\u2019s board, said the company, with a budget of about $25 million, hoped to name a successor to Lopez before the start of the 2025-26 season in October. The board recently outlined a series of goals, including expanding the company\u2019s audiences and building its endowment, which is valued at about $4 million, relatively small for a company of its size.<\/p>\n Lopez had helped raise artistic standards at the organization, Davis said.<\/p>\n \u201cHer legacy is wanting to have a high-quality product that inspires a diverse crowd,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n During her tenure Lopez championed contemporary choreographers, and added important works to the repertory, including Alexei Ratmansky\u2019s \u201cSwan Lake,\u201d<\/a> which had its North American premiere in Miami in 2022 to positive reviews. In April, the company will present the world premiere<\/a> of \u201cCarmen\u201d by the Belgian-Colombian choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa.<\/p>\n Lopez also faced challenges. She helped guide Miami City Ballet through the uncertainty of the pandemic, when the company lost millions in anticipated ticket revenue.<\/p>\n And she was at the helm last year when tensions erupted over a proposal by a group of dancers to form a union. The American Guild of Musical Artists, the union supporting the dancers, at one point accused<\/a> Miami City Ballet\u2019s leaders of leading an \u201caggressive, coordinated union-busting campaign.\u201d The dancers ultimately voted not to unionize.<\/p>\n Lopez said that in her next chapter she would work to help promote the Miami cultural scene. Too often, she said, arts groups are competing against each other. She noted that the week before Miami City Ballet\u2019s \u201cCarmen\u201d in April, Florida Grand Opera is performing its own \u201cCarmen\u201d at the same theater.<\/p>\n In a time of financial uncertainty for many arts groups, Lopez said it was important to bring institutions together \u201cunderneath one roof.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf you look into the future, what do you create that really protects, that cushions, the arts here in Miami?\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019m trying to figure out.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n