Director's Choice

Verb Ballets returns to Cain Park Evans Amphitheatre on Friday, June 29, 2018 for a free performance as a gift to the community! Sponsored by Cleveland Heights residents and Verb Ballets’ board members, James Graham and David M. Dusek, the program will delight audiences with both classical selections and bold adventures works. Entitled Director’s Choice, Verb’s Directors Dr. Margaret Carlson and Richard Dickinson, MFA have chosen their favorite works from the 17-18 as the final performance celebrating Verb’s 30th anniversary.

Classical music enthusiasts will enjoy the choreographic inventiveness in Heinz Poll’s, Schubert Waltzes noted as, “catapults ordinary waltz steps into a delightful combination of classicism and wit”. Verb Ballets’ dancers will dazzle in a display of classical technique full of speed and high spirits in Tarantella, staged by former Cleveland Ballet dancer, Pamela Pribisco. Also featured is Dark Matter, an intense physical contemporary work by award winning Philadelphia choreographer Tommie-Waheed Evans, described by critics as, “sleek encounters that brim with contrasting patterns and connections”. Verb Ballets’ dancer and choreographer, Michael Escovedo, remounts Broken Bridges to tell a family story of struggle with mental illness set to the haunting music of Shostakovich. International dance critics have reviewed Verb Ballets’ performances as, “classical ballet with a dash of American modern dance”. Don’t miss this performance to kick off the summer season and celebrate the arts in our community.