Verb Ballets 2016-17 Season Kicks Off 30th Anniversary Company Celebration

Verb Ballets, under the direction of Dr. Margaret Carlson, Producing Artistic Director, and Richard Dickinson, MFA, Associate Director, presents dynamic programming for the 2016-17 season through bold artistry, unique style, and technical excellence. Verb Ballets begins its 30th Anniversary Celebration in 2017. The company has an exciting line-up of main-stage performances throughout Northeast Ohio and continues the Ballet Up-Close in-studio series to engage audiences in the creative process.

For the second year, Ohio Dance Theatre in collaboration with Verb Ballets presents The Nutcracker at Stocker Auditorium, Lorain, Ohio. Verb Ballets continues the legacy of Heinz Poll at the Akron Civic Theatre, featuring new ballets inspired by Poll's choreography as well as restagings of his classic works. The company begins its 30th Anniversary Celebration, which will continue through 2017, with a performance at the Breen Center, highlighting audience favorites and premieres. In April, the company tours to Taiwan for the Mix + Multi Arts Festival.

The season culminates May 11-13 when the company teams up with the Taiwanese company Expression Dance Theater (Body EDT) for a shared program at Cleveland Public Theatre. The 2016-17 season reflects Verb Ballets' mission to present the passion that drives the energy, beauty, and athleticism of dance.

2016-17 Verb Ballets Performance Dates

July 16, 2016: Akron Art Museum Bud and Susie Rogers Garden Opening

July 29-30, 2016: Heinz Poll Summer Dance Festival at Hardesty Park

August 13, 2016 (Raindate August 14, 2016): Tremont Arts in August at Lincoln Park

September 9, 2016: Dance Showcase at Playhouse Square

October 14, 2016: Ballet Up-Close in Studio

December 16-18, 2016: The Nutcracker presented by Ohio Dance Theatre in collaboration with
Verb Ballets at Stocker Arts Center

February 17, 2017 Continuing the Legacy of Heinz Poll at Akron Civic Theatre

February 19, 2017: Carnival of the Animals at The Akron Civic

March 25, 2017: 30th Anniversary Celebration at The Breen Center for the Performing Arts

March 17, 2017: NEOSonicFest Verb Ballets & Cleveland Chamber Symphony at Baldwin Wallace University

April 28-30, 2017: Mix + Multi Arts Festival in Taiwan

May 11-13, 2017: Cleveland Public Theatre DanceWorks'17

May 19, 2017: Ballet Up-Close in Studio
All programs are subject to change.

New Company Premieres and Commissions for 2016-2017

World Premiere choreographed by Anthony Krutzkamp
Anthony Krutzkamp will be in studio with Verb Ballets September 19-23, 2016.
Anthony Krutzkamp returns to Verb Ballets to create a new company ballet. Krutzkamp danced as a principal dancer with Cincinnati Ballet and Kansas City Ballet and is now the co-artistic director of Kansas City Dance Festival. As a choreographer, he has created works on Kansas City Dance Festival, Concert Nova, Kansas City Ballet's Second Company and for Kansas City Ballet's New Moves.

3:00am choreographed by AnDrew Carroll
AnDrew Carroll will be in studio with Verb Ballets January 23-25, 2017.
AnDrew Carroll returns to Ohio to set a company premiere of a duet 3:00am. Carroll has an extensive background in the performing arts, which includes performing nationally and internationally for nine years as a soloist with the Pennsylvania Ballet Company in Philadelphia, and a principal with the Ohio Ballet prior to that. His career spanned performing throughout the United States, including The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and The Joyce Theatre, The Spoleto Festival in Italy, as well as appearing throughout South America, China and Europe. In 2010, Carroll joined University of South Florida, where he now teaches all levels of ballet, history and partnering.

World Premiere choreographed by Michael Hinton
Michael Hinton will be in studio with Verb Ballets January 9-13, 2017.
Verb Ballets dancer Michael Hinton will create a new company work inspired by a Heinz Poll. Hinton studied at The School of American Ballet for three years before accepting his contract with Verb Ballets.

Aposiopesis choreographed by Charles Anderson
Charles Anderson was in studio with Verb Ballets June 27-July 1, 2016.
San Francisco choreographer Charles Anderson set the company premiere of his striking ballet Aposiopesis. This contemporary full ensemble ballet visually sweeps the stage to reveal expansive arches and broad curveS. Anderson's work reflects a blend of classical and contemporary influences and is included in the repertories of professional dance companies throughout the country. Anderson began choreographing ballets while still a dancer with the New York City Ballet, and he co-founded and acted as artistic director for Ballet, Inc. in New York, where he choreographed many of his early works. He later founded Company C Contemporary Ballet in 2002, where he currently serves as Artistic Director.

at your feet choreographed by Roger C. Jeffrey
Roger C. Jeffrey was in studio with Verb Ballets July 5-9, 2016.
This newly commissioned contemporary ballet, at your feet, by New York choreographer Roger C. Jeffrey was inspired by Kahlil Gibran's 1912 poetic novel Broken Wings. Jeffrey has most recently worked with The Metropolitan Opera Ballet Company and Lar Lubovitch Dance Company. Jeffrey has performed in the companies of Bernice Johnson, Kevin Iega Jeff, Twyla Tharp, Zvi Gotheiner, Martial Roumain, and with Mikhail Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Project. He has created works for national companies including Ballet X, Philadanco!, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Company, Orlando Ballet and Washington Ballet.

About Verb Ballets

Verb Ballets, a contemporary ballet company, presents dynamic programming through bold artistry, unique styles and technical excellence that captivates a broad audience. Under the direction of Dr. Margaret Carlson, Producing Artistic Director and Richard Dickinson, MFA, Associate Director, the company will present a season that ignites passion in the energy, beauty and athleticism of dance. Critics have hailed Verb Ballets as, "Dashes preconceptions ...with keen dramatic power." -The Plain Dealer, "(Verb) is dance magnifique." - The Examiner, "confident and polished, Verb's dancers shone" - Dance International Magazine. Verb Ballets cultivates dance appreciation and nurtures wellness through movement in community dance classes, school residencies, senior outreach, library programs, master classes and college course partnerships. Verb Ballets has also been named one of Five Great Tiny Troupes in America by Dance Magazine and was one of the 25 dance companies in America to watch. Additional information can be found at www.verbballets.org.

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