Verb Tours to Chicago to Join the Arpino Centennial Celebration

The dance world eagerly awaits the Arpino Centennial Celebration in Chicago on September 22-23, 2023. This will be a grand event presented by the Gerald Arpino Foundation to honor one of the 20th century's most influential artists, Gerald Arpino. Arpino was an American choreographer and co-founder of Joffrey Ballet. The festival encapsulates lectures, masterclasses, and performances of Arpino ballets on several American dance companies. Verb, “Ohio Contemporary Ballet” is privileged to have been selected to participate in the Centennial Celebration.
 
Verb, "Ohio Contemporary Ballet" is honored to have been selected by the foundation to mount his work, Celebration. This ballet is a high voltage bravura ballet set to a dynamic Shostakovich score. Verb, “Ohio Contemporary Ballet” is the first company to ever license and perform the work outside of Joffrey Ballet. Celebration was initially created for Joffrey Ballet's 25th Anniversary National Tour and was revived for Joffrey Ballet's 50th Anniversary Season in Chicago.  Repetiteur Cameron Basden set the ballet on the company last January. She was a muse for Gerald Arpino, performing in several of his ballets as well as those of many other choreographers. She joined Joffrey Ballet in 1993 and moved to Chicago with the company in 1995. Basden became ballet master and served as co-associate director until her departure in 2008.

Verb, "Ohio Contemporary Ballet" is proud to open the festival on Saturday and share the company's technical brilliance and virtuosity with the national dance community. Ballet aficionados can expect to witness performances from renowned companies such as The Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, Ballet West, Eugene Ballet, and Complexions Contemporary Ballet. Each company will bring to life Arpino's legendary choreography, showcasing works that have left an enduring impact on American ballet.
 

Verb, “Ohio Contemporary Ballet” is a professional contemporary ballet company that commissions choreographers reflective of our times, while upholding the deep roots of the ballet-based companies that preceded it in the Great Lakes region. Today, the company vision is led by Dr. Margaret Carlson, former principal dancer for the original Cleveland Ballet, and Richard Dickinson, MFA, former Ohio Ballet dancer.

 
Verb, “Ohio Contemporary Ballet” performances are made possible through the generous support of The Cleveland Foundation, The George Gund Foundation, Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, Ohio Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts, The Carlson Trust, Peg's Foundation, The Akron Community Foundation, John P. Murphy Foundation, Kenneth Milder, Marian and Eric Klieber, James D. Graham & David M. Dusek, The Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland Cliffs, Shah Capital, Marius Pharmaceuticals, GLAM, Benesch, Jones Day, Leslie Kaufman & Scott Cowen, Vocon, Lubrizol, JP Farley Corporation, Koehler Fitzgerald LLC, I.M. Wong and Associates, Laub Foundation, St. Ignatius, and Wasted Talent Media.