Category

Performances

Celebrations

By Performances, News

Celebrations

February 18, 2023 7:30pm

Celebrations

Verb, “Ohio Contemporary Ballet” returns to the Breen Center for the Performing Arts on February 18, 2023, at 7:30pm. The program will highlight a range of talent with the restaging of Celebration by Gerald Arpino, Joffrey Ballet Co-Founder and Former Artistic Director and a new commission by choreographer Levi Marsman, former dancer with Ailey II. Gerald Arpino’s Celebration, is staged as part of the Centennial to honor what would have been the American choreographer’s and co-founder of Joffrey Ballet, 100th birthday. Marsman will create a new ballet utilizing his expressive unique style. The evening will also showcase Verb’s Associate Artistic Director, Richard Dickinson’s, Four Last Songs from 2013. This well-crafted contemporary ballet depicts the sorrow of loss to the beautiful sound of a mezzo-soprano singing the lush poetry of Hermann Hesse and Joseph von Eichendorff.

For question about seating call 216-397-3757 ext 2.

The performance of “Celebration”, an Arpino ballet, is presented with the permission of The Gerald Arpino Foundation and has been produced in accordance with the Foundation service standards established and provided by the Foundation.

SHOW DETAILS

February 18, 2023 7:30pm

Breen Center for the Performing Arts
St. Ignatius High School
2008 West 30th St
Cleveland, OH 44113 (Map)

TICKETS

$35 Preferred Seating
$28 Center Seating
$25 Side Seating
$10 Seating

Ticketing fees apply

If you need assistance placing an order or accessible seating call 216-397-3757 ext 2.

GET TICKETS

Purchase Tickets

To pick specific seats click “Buy on Map” button below the theatre seating. If you select a number you will be a assigned best seats available.

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The Akron Nutcracker

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The Akron Nutcracker

December 22 & 23, 2022 7:30pm

The Dance Institute at The University of Akron presents The Akron Nutcracker in collaboration with Verb “Ohio Contemporary Ballet” and the Akron Symphony on December 22 & 23, 2022 at E.J. Thomas Hall. This local twist on the traditional Nutcracker reflects Akron’s history and celebrates the city’s cultural diversity. The production, now in its second year, features stunning sets of Akron landmarks in the 1930’s created by community artists and video projections inspired by sights around the world. Maestro Christopher Wilkins brings to life Tchaikovsky’s magical score as the story unfolds at Stan Hywet, the home of the Seiblerling family on Christmas eve. This holiday tradition will bring families the joy of The Nutcracker with iconic Akron nostalgia.

The artistic vision for this production is led by Dr. Margaret Carlson and is produced by the Dance Institute at The University of Akron.

Performance in collaboration with:

SHOW DETAILS

December 22 , 2022 7:30PM

December 23, 2022 – Cancelled due to inclement weather

THEATRE

E.J. Thomas Hall
198 Hill St
Akron, OH 44325

TICKETS

$23 – $43
Ticket fees apply

Call the E. J. Box Office at 330-972-7570
10AM – 4PM Monday-Friday

Order online through Ticketmaster, fees apply

TICKETS

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Schubert Melodies

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Schubert Melodies

October 15, 2022 7:30pm

Schubert Melodies

The company will present Schubert Melodies, an evening of dance celebrating Franz Schubert, on October 15, 2022 at 7:30pm. Commissioned by Verb supporters, Marian and Eric Klieber, the program will feature Franz Schubert’s Octet in F Major played by musicians from the BlueWater Chamber Orchestra. Co-choreographed by Kay Eichman and Richard Dickinson, this one-hour work is set in the 1820’s, when it was written. The evening will also showcase the work of Heinz Poll with a performance of his Schubert Waltzes (1974) played live by pianist, Adam Whiting. This delicate, beautiful ballet features three sets of couples that exhibit a combination of classicism and wit.

For question about seating call 216-397-3757 ext 2.

SHOW DETAILS

October 15, 2022 7:30pm

Breen Center for the Performing Arts
St. Ignatius High School
2008 West 30th St
Cleveland, OH 44113 (Map)

TICKETS

$35 Preferred Seating
$28 Center Seating
$25 Side Seating
$10 Seating

Ticketing fees apply

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Arts in August 2022

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Arts in August

August 13, 2022 7:00pm

Arts in August

Tremont’s Arts in August presents Verb, “Ohio Contemporary Ballet,” at Lincoln Park in this signature parks performance. The performance series is through the collaboration of Tremont West Development Corporation, LAND Studio, Cleveland Public Theatre and Ward 3. This event is fun for the whole family and welcomes creativity. Guests are invited to bring blankets and/or a chair.

Anti/gone, by award-wining choreographer, Tommie-Waheed Evans return for one last time this summer. This contemporary ballet situates ancient archetypes between action and fate, bringing the story to life with an electrifying, original score by composer Greg Smith and costumes created by runway designer Philista Marie Mills.

The performance is FREE. No tickets are required. Registration is encouraged to anticipate the guests.

SHOW DETAILS

August 13, 2022 7:00pm

Lincoln Park
W. 14th and Starkweather
Cleveland, OH 44113

TICKETS

FREE tickets

TICKETS

Register for FREE Tickets

Tommie-Waheed Evans

Choreographer

2021 Guggenheim Fellow Tommie-Waheed Evans is a queer black dance maker, born and raised in Los Angeles, California, amidst racial divide, gang warfare, and earthquakes. His work explores blackness, spirituality, queerness and liberation. He began his formal training with Karen McDonald before receiving a fellowship at the Ailey School, and a Master of Fine Arts in Choreography from Jacksonville University. He has toured and performed nationally and internationally as a company member of Lula Washington Dance Theater, Complexions Contemporary Ballet and Philadanco. Since 2004, he has created more than 50 original dance works that range widely in scope, length, tone and subject matter. waheedworks, his Philadelphia based dance company, is the primary vehicle for his creative research. The company’s mission is to create a radically collaborative body of work that speaks to the human condition. His work brings together urban street dance styles and contemporary dance vocabulary through bold and raw movements propelled by gospel music and polyrhythmic sounds.

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Lakeside Chautauqua 2022

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Lakeside Chautauqua

August 5, 2022 7:30pm

Lakeside Chautauqua

Verb performs with the Lakeside Symphony Orchestra led by Music Director and Conductor Daniel Meyer at Lakeside Chautauqua in Hoover Auditorium on Saturday, August 5, 2022. The performance will bring together top talent in the region on stage for the community to enjoy. The show is free with a day pass to Lakeside Chautauqua. Day passes are $23.50 for adults. Admission is free for kids under 12 and guests over age 90.

SHOW DETAILS

August 5, 2022 7:30pm

THEATRE

Lakeside Chautauqua
Hoover Auditorium
119 W 3rd St.
Lakeside Marblehead, OH 43440

TICKETS

The show is free with a day pass to Lakeside Chautauqua
Day passes are $23.50 for adults

TICKETS

Lakeside Chautauqua
Hoover Auditorium
119 W 3rd St.
Lakeside Marblehead, OH 43440

GET DIRECTIONS

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Heinz Poll Summer Dance Festival 2022

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Heinz Poll Summer Dance Festival

July 29 & 30, 2022 8:45pm

Heinz Poll Summer Dance Festival

The Heinz Poll Summer Dance Festival presents Verb, “Ohio Contemporary Ballet” at Forest Lodge Park in Akron on July 29 & 30, 2022. This program will feature Heinz Poll’s exquisite Rococo Variations—the only classical ballet the Ohio Ballet founder ever choreographed. The company will also perform Raymonda Pas de Dix last act celebrating the nuptials, for the first time live. Plus an excerpt of a new commission debuting this fall. Guests are invited to bring blankets and/or a chair. On stage children’s dance activities led by The University of Akron Dance Institute start at 7:45pm.

Masterclass with Verbs Ballets
July 30, 2022 at 11:00am

University of Akron Guzzetta Hall, Albrecht Dance Studio
139 E. Buchtel Ave. Akron

Each class limited to 25 participants – high intermediate or higher level of technique. $10 fee/class, due at time of class. To sign up for a master class, please complete the form that can be found HERE. Have questions or want more information? Please contact Jane Startzman at email.

SHOW DETAILS

July 29 & 30, 2022 8:45pm
Children’s preshow 7:45pm

THEATRE

Forest Lodge Park
260 Greenwood Ave
Akron, OH 44313

TICKETS

FREE
Help us know how many fans are attending by registering

TICKETS

Forest Lodge Park

260 Greenwood Ave
Akron, OH 44313

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Cain Park

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June 25, 2022

For over 15 years, Verb Ballets has brought the beauty of dance to the Cain Park stage hosting this special annual tradition for residents. The performance is free as a gift to the community from Cleveland Heights residents and Verb Ballets’ board members, James D. Graham and David M. Dusek.

Verb presents a powerful new work, Anti/gone, by award-wining choreographer, Tommie-Waheed Evans. This contemporary ballet situates ancient archetypes between action and fate, bringing the story to life with an electrifying, original score by composer Greg Smith and costumes created by runway designer Philista Marie Mills.

The performance is FREE. No tickets are required for entrance. Registration is encouraged to anticipate the guests. Gates will open at 7:00pm and seating is general admission. Entrances are located at Superior, Lee and Taylor Rd.

SHOW DETAILS

June 25, 2022 8:00pm
Cain Park
14591 Superior Road
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118

TICKETS

FREE tickets
All seating is general admission

TICKETS

Register for FREE Tickets

Tommie-Waheed Evans

Choreographer

2021 Guggenheim Fellow Tommie-Waheed Evans is a queer black dance maker, born and raised in Los Angeles, California, amidst racial divide, gang warfare, and earthquakes. His work explores blackness, spirituality, queerness and liberation. He began his formal training with Karen McDonald before receiving a fellowship at the Ailey School, and a Master of Fine Arts in Choreography from Jacksonville University. He has toured and performed nationally and internationally as a company member of Lula Washington Dance Theater, Complexions Contemporary Ballet and Philadanco. Since 2004, he has created more than 50 original dance works that range widely in scope, length, tone and subject matter. waheedworks, his Philadelphia based dance company, is the primary vehicle for his creative research. The company’s mission is to create a radically collaborative body of work that speaks to the human condition. His work brings together urban street dance styles and contemporary dance vocabulary through bold and raw movements propelled by gospel music and polyrhythmic sounds.

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New Music for Spring

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New Music for Spring

April 22, 2022

The Cleveland Chamber Symphony conducted by Music Director Steven Smith presents a free concert, New Music for Spring. The Verb dancers will join the symphony on stage with a new work choreographed by Kate Webb. Webb worked with the score “Martian Dances” composed by Matthew Saunders in 2004 and expanded for chamber orchestra in 2018. This premiere performance of the new version of “Martian Dances” with Cleveland Chamber Symphony will continue the long-established partnership between the two organizations. Students in the dance department at Cleveland School of the Arts will also perform in the concert.

Choreographer, Kate Webb Artistic Statement

I am abstracting various elements of the rocky terrain of Mars—its canyons, volcanoes, dry lake beds, craters, ice caps, and the clouds of dust that surround it all. The movement is an exploration of the postmodern era with influences from the iconic Pilobolus and Momix dance companies, along with modern kinesiology.

SHOW DETAILS

April 22, 2022 7:00pm
Baldwin Wallace University
Gamble Auditorium
96 Front St.
Berea, OH 44017

TICKETS

Free
Will also be streamed online

VIEW STREAM HERE
Choreographer

Kate Webb

Kate Webb grew up in Richmond, Virginia where she danced both as a student and as a trainee with Richmond Ballet. Upon graduating from Appomattox Regional Governor’s School for the Arts, she attended Butler University on both dance and academic scholarships. While dancing with Butler Ballet, she performed in Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. After fulfilling her degree in three years, she graduated magna cum laude in May of 2015 with a BS in Dance-Arts Administration and high departmental honors. Kate joined Verb Ballets in 2015 and has been featured in several works, such as Aposiopesis and Eight by Benny Goodman. This is the 6th work she has choreographed on the company.

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Meet Tommie-Waheed Evans

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2021 Guggenheim Fellow Tommie-Waheed Evans is a queer black dance maker, born and raised in Los Angeles, California, amidst racial divide, gang warfare, and earthquakes. His work explores blackness, spirituality, queerness and liberation. He began his formal training with Karen McDonald before receiving a fellowship at the Ailey School, and a Master of Fine Arts in Choreography from Jacksonville University. He has toured and performed nationally and internationally as a company member of Lula Washington Dance Theater, Complexions Contemporary Ballet and Philadanco. Since 2004, he has created more than 50 original dance works that range widely in scope, length, tone and subject matter. waheedworks, his Philadelphia based dance company, is the primary vehicle for his creative research. The company’s mission is to create a radically collaborative body of work that speaks to the human condition. His work brings together urban street dance styles and contemporary dance vocabulary through bold and raw movements propelled by gospel music and polyrhythmic sounds.

THE INTERVIEW

When did you start dancing?
I started dancing at 15 years old at a small family studio called Dance Connection in Los Angeles. A couple months later I joined the dance department at Alexander Hamilton High School.

How did your experience dancing at PHILADANCO! impact your journey to be a choreographer?
My time at PHILADANCO! was very important because I got to work with so many choreographers—learning about process, composition, structure, and coaching. Every year we would have a weekend of shows called “Danco onDanco” where we would get the chance to choreograph.After one particular year, the founder, Joan Myers Brown,told me I had a great future as a choreographer and encouraged me to take it more seriously. Having that space and such high-quality dancers who believed in me was invaluable.

In three words describe your choreographic style:
Driving, Physical, Moving, Emotional, Freeing, Spiritual. I said more than three!

What was the first work of art that really mattered to you?
My first self-produced concert for my company Waheedworks, Meetings Along the Edge.

How many pieces have you choreographed for the company?
This production will be the fourth I have created on the of Verb.

Every morning I have to _________ before I start my day:
Listen to music loudly and have a cup of coffee or tea.

What community do you call home?
Of course, my family in Los Angeles. But also all the organizations I work with regularly including University of the Arts, PHILADANCO!, and Verb.

Who are some of your major influences?
Alonzo King, Rennie Harris, Dwight Rhoden, Ronald K. Brown, Kanye West, Carrie Mae Weems, and Anne Teresa de Keersmaker.

What is your favorite book or magazine?
All About Love by Bell Hooks and Last Night on Earth by Bill T. Jones.

Live@Noon

Friday, April 1, 2022 12:00pm ET
$15 Tickets
In-studio or Livestream

Surge. Capacity. Force. (2017)
Choreographed by Tommie-Waheed Evans

Dark Matter (2013)
Choreographed by Tommie-Waheed Evans

Anti/gone (World Premiere)

Verb presents a powerful new work based on the Ancient Greek tragedy Antigone with choreography by Philadelphia-based artist Tommie-Waheed Evans. Evans, an award-winning choreographer, was recently selected as a 2021 Guggenheim Fellow in choreography and is a recipient of a Princess Grace Foundation Award. Using his driving urban contemporary ballet movement aesthetic, Evans will synthesize the current political climate with the classical world of Antigone. The new work, entitled Anti/gone, will situate these ancient archetypes in the contemporary world, ultimately challenging the status quo. The tension between action and fate will come to life with an electrifying, original score by composer Greg Smith, and complemented by costumes created by runway designer Philista Mills.

SHOW DETAILS

April 9, 2022 7:00pm
LaSalle Theatre
823 E. 185th St. Cleveland, OH 44119

$35 VIP Seating (Include a drink ticket)
$20 First Balcony / $10 Second Balcony
All seating is general admission

TICKETS

Ticket Levels

$35 VIP Seating (Include a drink ticket)
$20 First Balcony
$10 Second Balcony
All seating is general admission

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Spring Gala 2022

By Performances, News

Spring Gala 2022

Friday, April 8, 2022

Join us for Verb’s Spring Gala and experience the world premiere of award-winning choreographer Tommie-Waheed Evans’ new work Anti/gone accompanied by a commissioned music score. The performance will be followed by dinner by Trifles Catering and a Raise-the-Paddle fundraiser. Enjoy mingling with the choreographer and dancers. Verb’s annual Spring Gala provides vital support necessary to maintain the company’s high level of artistic performance, general operations, and educational programming.

Although proof of vaccinations is not required, Verb asks all unvaccinated guests to wear masks during the benefit when not actively eating or drinking.

Events of the Evening

6:00PM: Cocktails & Hors d’oeuvres

7:00PM: World​ Premiere of Anti/gone by Tommie-Waheed Evans

8:00PM: Raise-the-Paddle for Verb

8:15PM: Dinner by Trifles Catering

GALA DETAILS

April 8, 2022

VENUE

LaSalle Theatre
823 E. 185th St.
Cleveland OH 44119
Complimentary Valet Parking

TICKETS

Gala Guest $150
Gala Benefactor $250 ($100 tax deductible)

RSVP

Sponsorship

Is a great way to help sustain Verb in a highly visible way for your company, organization or family foundation.

passionate, wild... she hasn't learned to bend before adversity

Antigone

If you wish to send a check for gala tickets please send to Verb Ballets 3558 Lee Rd. Shaker Heights, OH 44120.

LaSalle Theatre

823 E. 185th St.
Cleveland OH 44119

Complimentary Valet Parking