CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio, June 12, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Verb Ballets returns to Evans Amphitheater at Cain Park, Cleveland Heights, on Friday, July 21, 2006 with a program of four exciting dances, including: a major revival of choreographer Heinz Poll's Bolero; a restaging of Artistic Director Hernando Cortez' modern ballet Bang; Speed Racer, a modern version of the Icarus tale; and Six Easy Pieces, set to solo piano music by Jonathan Sheffer, Artistic Director of Red (an orchestra).
Advance tickets are $20/ $18/ $16 lawn; day of show $25/ $23/ $21. For sale at Cain Park at 216.371.3000 and at Ticketmaster outlets, www.Ticketmaster.com.
-- Bolero blends Indian and modern dance styles set to the legendary
Maurice Ravel score with its drive, propulsion and intensity.
This revival of Heinz Poll's choreography is a Verb Ballets
premiere staged by Amy Miller, currently with Groundworks Dance
Theater.
-- Bang, set to original music by David Lang and Bang on a Can, is a
major revival of a work by Cortez. Slick, color-block unitards by
Gino Ventura enhance the steely, intimidating glares of the
dancers; the music drives them like machinery in a factory,
prodding them into space with utilitarian boldness. Movements
alternate between virtuosic and simple soft motion, with an
eruptive, intensity that boils below a deliberately cool
exterior.
-- Speed Racer, an audience favorite of the Verb Ballets repertory,
where Speedy returns to Cain Park to once again challenge the
fates. Set to music by DJOkee.
-- Six Easy Pieces, a newcomer to the Verb repertory, is a lyrical
ballet poem for six couples set to solo piano compositions by
Jonathan Sheffer, Artistic Director of Red (an orchestra)
About Verb Ballets. Verb Ballets begins its fifth season under the leadership of Artistic Director Hernando Cortez and Executive Director Dr. Margaret Carlson, supported by its energetic staff and board of trustees, who have established it as Cleveland's premiere contemporary dance repertory company. Verb has been named as one of "25 to Watch in 2004" by Dance Magazine, the country's leading news magazine covering dance. Verb Ballets discovers, collects, interprets and stages choreography that matters to the region and to the world of dance. As a curator of expressive movement that is globally connected and nationally respected, Verb Ballets has a mandate to support and foster emerging talent, present excellence in contemporary choreographers, and revive and honor modern dance classics. Additional information may be found at www.verbballets.org.
The Company:
Marcela Alvarez, Danielle Brickman, Kallie Marie Bokal, Erin Conway, Katie Gnagy, Jason Ignacio, Catherine Meredith, Christopher Morgan, Deann Petruschke, Anna Roberts, Mark Tomasic, Tracy Vogt.
Verb Ballets' Cain Park 2006 Sponsors are:
DANSKIN(tm), Silver Screen Media, Clear Channel Communications, PrimeZone Media Network, Levy Media Group, JAKPRINTS.COM.
Major Support: AHS Foundation, Abington Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, The George Gund Foundation, The Cleveland Foundation, The Kulas Foundation, Ohio Arts Council, The Laub Foundation, Lubrizol Foundation, Eva L. and Joseph M. Bruening Foundation, Kulas Foundation, The John P. Murphy Foundation, Charles and Sandy Abookire, Millie L. Carlson, Chuck and Ann Ennis, Norma and Jeffrey Glazer, Aldona Titus.