Playhouse Square's Dance Showcase Returns Next Month

The spotlight will shine once again on an evening of dance featuring some of Northeast Ohio's finest local companies as Playhouse Square's Dance Showcase presented by Sheldon and Terry Adelman returns September 16. Guests will enjoy a variety of styles from ballet and flamenco to hip hop and classic Indian dance, plus a special appearance by dancers from RIVERDANCE. The local companies performing are ABREPASO flamenco, ELEVĀTED, GroundWorks DanceTheater, Inlet Dance Theatre, Shri Kalaa Mandir Center for Indian Performing Arts and Verb Ballets: Ohio. Contemporary. Ballet.

Free Dance Showcase tickets are available online at playhousesquare.org.

Dance Showcase Repertoire

ABREPASO flamenco

Caminando & Salsita

"Caminando" and "Salsita" are two pieces of a triptych created through collaboration between Carolina Borja and Alice Blumenfeld. "Caminando" draws from the layers of rhythm and movement in an urban surrounding and one's search for understanding and peace. "Salsita" showcases the Afro-Latino influence in flamenco and flamenco's more festive side. Blumenfeld combines flamenco with contemporary movement, playing off the cello layers by Borja.

ELEVĀTED

Church

"Church" is piece that takes you through a variety of emotions ultimately portraying perseverance. The crew performs this tribute routine for their late dance brother, Michael Smart who passed away just days after the crew won 1st Place at World of Dance Chicago. ELEVĀTED Crew was created on a foundation to "rise above doubt" and continues to instill that motto in their everyday lives as well as through their movement-dancing. "Church" is an incredible demonstration of rising above doubt.

GroundWorks DanceTheater

As I Am

"As I Am" showcases the juxtaposition between extreme natures of humanity, finding fluidity between mania, depression, and the balance between them.

Inlet Dance Theatre

Let Go

We live in a culture of anxiety and perceived scarcity where the vicious cycle of survival mode mindset leaves people clamoring for a better life while resulting in longing, panic, fear, brokenness, and depression. Our planet is covered with genocide, dictatorships, and other forms of brutality. And yet there is hope. It is possible to leap above the noise if we dig deep, pull out our root issues, and let go.

Shri Kalaa Mandir-Center for Indian Performing Arts

Vivarta-Transformations

The world we live in today has changed so much from the world we came into. Our effect on the environment is causing change at such a rapid pace, that even quantifying that change is sometimes tricky. "Vivarta" explores our relationship with Mother Earth and tells a story of beneficence, abuse, redemption, and triumph. It calls us to action - to be responsible, caring, and thoughtful in our future actions towards our planet. "Vivarta" shows the importance of preserving the bounty of mother earth, lest we find ourselves caught in the irreversible well of scarcity and helplessness.

Verb Ballets: Ohio. Contemporary. Ballet

Anti/gone

"Anti/gone" reimagines a classic Greek tragedy through contemporaneous world-building, urging us to confront the inherency of our competing obligations to family and community. "Anti/gone" explores another possibility, begging us to use unrelenting confrontation to find a resolve even in the face of impending doom. A young woman driven by her beliefs and convictions challenges a chain of authoritative command. A king insisting on imposing the laws of the land as he sees fit. What are the stakes when your own agency hangs in the balance? How do you move when you are consumed by the sacrifices? How far are you willing to go? I took these ancient archetypes and put them in the contemporary world, ultimately challenging the status quo.

RIVERDANCE

The international Irish dance phenomenon. Experienced live by more than 28 million people worldwide across six continents and boasting a worldwide television audience in excess of 3 billion people - RIVERDANCE is a truly global phenomenon. An innovative and exciting fusion of Irish and international dance, RIVERDANCE propels traditional dance and music into the present day, capturing the imagination of audiences across all ages and cultures.

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