Verb Ballets unveils plans to relocate to The Dealership in Shaker Heights
”"We have been exploring how we can elevate the company and expand our programs to the community,"
Dr. Carlrson CarlsonProducing Artistic Director
CLEVELAND, Ohio -In keeping with its active name, Cleveland’s Verb Ballets is moving.
Earlier this week, the troupe headed by Margaret Carlson announced that it is relocating a few blocks west and entering The Dealership, a cooperative workspace in a former automobile outlet and repair shop on Lee Rd. near Chagrin Blvd.
“Shaker Heights is a cross section of all walks of life similar to the styles of dance that Verb Ballets presents,” said Carlson, in a written statement. “[B]y establishing ourselves at [The Dealership] we position ourselves in a place for inclusion and connection.”
The new space affords the company significantly more room and outreach opportunity than its current home of nearly 10 years, the lower level of Christ Episcopal Church, Carlson said.
In addition to space for rehearsal, the new 6,000-square foot studio includes dressing, storage, reception, and office space. The new space also will allow the company to present work on site, instead of renting space for performances, and launch a series of classes in dance, creative movement, and wellness.
John Gordon Ross (Conductor) – Ross has led the Western Piedmont Symphony in Hickory, N.C. since 1991, and their current season is his 27th and final year as Music Director and Conductor. In 2018, Ross will serve as Interim Music Director of the Lakeside Symphony Orchestra, where he has played 2nd Trombone since 1978. Lakeside is the place where he met his wife of 37 years, Sarah Rocco Ross, who has also performed with the orchestra for more than 42 years. He serves as a faculty member at Lenoir-Rhyne University where he teaches music history and instrumental conducting. From 1981-1991, he was Music Director and Conductor of the Kingsport (TN) Symphony Orchestra (now known as Symphony of the Mountains) including the Symphony Chorus and Youth Orchestra. He also served in a variety of conducting capacities with the Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra, and guest conducting engagements include the Cleveland Philharmonic and Johnson City Symphony (TN).
A former dancer with Ohio Ballet Dickinson’s association with that company began in 1988. He later became ballet master and director of company touring. Dickinson was also a soloist with Boston Ballet for eight years. At age fifteen, he joined the Pasadena Dance Theatre and was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Emerging Choreographer Award for a work premiered by the same company. He performed in the PBS television production of “Frankie and Johnny” with the Chicago Ballet. and danced principal roles in Asian, European and American tours with Rudolf Nureyev and the Boston Ballet. In addition to his professional work, Dickinson had an extensive dance career including principal and soloist roles at Chicago Ballet, Honolulu City Ballet and various regional companies. Previously, he served as Artistic Associate for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and the Artistic Director of Ballet Western Reserve, Great Lakes Festival Ballet, Chamber Dance Theatre. He has also directed Boston Ballet II and has a Master of Fine Arts degree in Contemporary Dance from Case Western Reserve University.
Charles Anderson (Choreographer) danced with the New York City Ballet from 1985 – 1993, where he worked with Jerome Robbins, Peter Martins and many other notable choreographers. Anderson began studying dance at an early age and later trained at and received full scholarships to the San Francisco Ballet School, the Joffrey Ballet School, the American Ballet Theatre School, and the School of American Ballet. He began his choreographic career while still a dancer with the New York City Ballet. In 1990 he co- founded Ballet, Inc. in New York with long time friends Patrick Corbin and John Selya. He later co-founded Company C Contemporary Ballet in 2002 with Elizabeth Reed, and served as Artistic Director. Anderson’s works are included in the repertories of professional dance companies throughout the country. He has been a prominent ballet teacher in the Bay area and has been a guest teacher for Smuin Ballet, Matthew Bourne, Oakland Ballet, Twyla Tharp Dance, Hubbard Street Dance, the North Carolina School of the Arts, and the Henny Jurriëns Foundation in Amsterdam. In addition to his work as a dancer, choreographer and teacher, Anderson has served on the board of governors for the American Guild of Musical Artists, created costumes for the New York City Ballet’s Diamond Project, been an adjudicator and instructor for the Bob Fosse Scholarship Program, and served as a panelist for the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Grant. He is the recipient of the 2014 Live Blessay Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2015 Izzie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Restaging/Revival/Reconstruction.
