[NEohioPAL] Verb Ballets goes Mad Scientist @ CPT's DanceWorks Series!

[Dan Kilbane]

For Immediate Release

Contacts:

At Verb Ballets:                                                For Media: 

Margaret Carlson                                              Dan Kilbane

216.397.3757, ext. 3                                       216.513.3654

mcarlson at verbballets.org                                  kilbanedan at yahoo.com

www.verbballets.org

A Cleveland All-Stars Performance as Verb Ballets Goes Mad Scientist at Cleveland Public Theatre’s DanceWorks 09

April 16 - 19, 2009

 
March 13, 2009 Cleveland, OH -- Verb Ballets, Cleveland’s National Repertory Dance Company, continues a season of collaborations with their return to Cleveland Public Theatre in “Cleveland All-Stars” as part of the DanceWorks 09 series.  From April 16 to 19, Verb Ballets opens up the DanceWorks series by going into the lab like a group of mad scientists.  Just as visual artists make sketches before setting paint to canvas, nine choreographers will turn the germ of an idea into new works for Verb Ballets’ annual Fresh Inventions series.  Featuring the Verb Ballets company of dancers, the company’s emphasis on collaboration includes choreographers Lynn Deering from CSU; Anteaus Dance’s Joan Meggitt; MorrisonDance’s Sarah Morrison; Michael Medcalf, founder of Cleveland Contemporary Dance Theater; Lisa Lock; Troy McCarty; Verb Ballets dancer Catherine Meredith Lambert; and former Verb Ballets company members Mark Tomasic and Robert Wesner;
 along with light designer Trad A Burns.  The audience will get a close-up take on what is spinning around in these choreographers’ heads.
 
The Board of Trustees and Chief Executive & Artistic Officer Dr. Margaret Carlson are pleased to return to CPT to open up this year’s DanceWorks series.  Tickets are $10 for the Thursday, April 16 performance, and $20 for the April 17, 18 and 19 performances.  Tickets are available by calling the CPT box office at 216-631-2727 ext. 501, or by visiting www.cptonline.org. 
 
“We are so excited at the prospect of working with so many of Cleveland’s finest dance professionals.  For the invited choreographers, they will be put to the test of thinking ‘on the spot’.  Using this technique allows the imagination to flow without internal censorship. In this ‘think tank’ setting, innovative ideas will emerge.  What the viewer will see are seminal movement ideas, akin to the sketches that a visual artist might do before creating the work on oil.  This will provide a fascinating look inside the creator’s mind,” said Margaret Carlson.
 
Verb Ballets was hailed by The Plain Dealer for the company’s “expansive classicism and Broadway-style vibrancy"; and "sleek and fun to watch" by The Akron Beacon Journal.  Verb Ballets’ company of dancers includes Danielle Brickman, Ashley Cohen, Katie Gnagy, Michael Medcalf, Catherine Meredith Lambert, Erin Conway Lewis, Brian Murphy, and Anna Roberts.
 
The company will perform at CPT’s Gordon Square Theatre, Northeast Ohio’s longest standing theatre.  The address is 6415 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, OH  44102.  Performance dates and times are as follows:
 
Thursday, April 16, 2009        8:00 p.m.
Friday, April 17, 2009              8:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 18, 2009         8:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 19, 2009            3:00 p.m.
 
Verb Ballets also understands that these are troubling economic times.  The Board of Trustees, dancers and staff believe that patrons should not be restricted from enjoying a performance if they cannot afford to attend.  With this in mind, the company continues (and in line with CPT’s policy) its “pay-what-you-can-afford” policy.  Verb Ballets offers first-come-first-serve-tickets at whichever price patrons want to pay.  And, if a patron feels that they can afford to pay more than the asking ticket price, they can also pay more and receive a tax deduction.  For the CPT (as well as the upcoming Cleveland Play House FusionFest performances, a limited number of pay-what-you-can tickets are available only in person at the box office.

 
About Cleveland Public Theatre
Cleveland Public Theatre's mission is to raise consciousness and nurture compassion through ground-breaking performances and life changing educational programs.  CPT is an alternative performance company with a commitment to help develop original theatre artists from Northeastern Ohio -- particularly those whose work is experimental in form and/or challenging in content.  The company is known as one of the nation's leading experimental & political performance venues, sponsoring much dance, music, poetry and performance art as well as theatre.  CPT sponsors several multi-cultural ensembles and functions as an artistic home for scores of self-producing artists.  The company's intent is to utilize the performing arts to make the Cleveland public a more conscious and compassionate community.
 
About Verb Ballets
The Verb Ballets organization has established the company as Cleveland’s premiere national dance repertory company.  Verb Ballets was named one of “25 to Watch in 2004” by Dance Magazine, the country’s leading news magazine covering dance, and recently the magazine bestowed more kudos on the company by naming Verb Ballets one of 5 “Great Tiny Troupes” in America.  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.
 
Verb Ballets’ seventh season continues under the theme “Verb All-Stars,” highlighting collaborations with other arts organizations.  This series of performances takes place in Northeast Ohio as well as without:  Florida Big Arts Theatre in Sanibel Island, FL; Ohio Northern University, premiering a work set on their students, by Verb Ballets dancer, Catherine Meredith Lambert; Chagrin Falls’ Winter Arts Series; Cleveland Public Theatre’s DanceWorks series, highlighting local choreographers; and on May 1 and 2, 2009, the company makes its fourth appearance at the Cleveland Play House’s FusionFest in a collaboration with Dianne McIntyre and live musicians.
 
Choreographers’ Biographies:
Lynn Deering, Professor, Cleveland State University, is Director of the CSU Dance Program and Artistic Director of the CSU Dance Company. A recipient of the Ohio Arts Council Individual Artist Award, Lynn is an active performer/choreographer with The Dance/Theater Collective, a cooperative group of Northeast Ohio dancers. She enjoys combining gesture and full-bodied contemporary movement vocabulary to explore the many aspects of human interactions.  Her works have been commissioned by dance companies/programs The Repertory Project, Groundworks Dance Theater, BGSU, Oberlin College, LEC, Canton Ballet, H.B. Moving Company and the Cleveland Museum of Art Northeast Ohio Exhibit. She is the recipient of the Northern Ohio Live Achievement Award in Dance and CSU Distinguished Faculty Award. Her recent works have been selected for Cleveland Public Theater’s DanceWorks, Playhouse Square Foundation’s Inaugural “Launch Program,” and the Ingenuity Fest.

Troy McCarty, an international ballet master, trained under some of the East Coast's most prominent teachers.  He appeared as a dancer in the national tours of Barnum and Woman of the Year.  Troy was director and principal choreographer of the Vancouver City Ballet for four years.  Subsequently, he was a faculty member of the Hong Kong Academy of the Performing Arts, where he restaged Paquita.  Troy has taught for Ballet British Columbia, Alberta, Cincinnati Ballet, Dancing Wheels and was master teacher for the Regional Dance Companies of America in 2006.  Troy entered a couple in the International Ballet Competition in Paris where they received an honorable mention.  He is the owner and director of White Cloud Studios, a Cleveland-based Pilates studios that is in its 16th year of promoting strength, flexibility, and endurance for Cleveland bodies.  www.whitecloudstudios.com

In 1998, native Clevelander and Cleveland School of the Arts alumni Michael Medcalf established Cleveland Contemporary Dance Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio.  Over the next nine years as the artistic director and resident choreographer, he developed the company into a viable community based arts organization known for its innovative artistic programming, broad outreach approaches and dynamic collaborations.  As a choreographer, Medcalf has received numerous commissions, awards and fellowships for his work in concert dance, musical theater, opera and film.  One of his many highlights as a choreographer, dancer and arts administrator includes the 2007 Northern Ohio Live Magazine Award of Achievement in the Dance Category.  He was honored to receive this award on behalf of his contributions to the Northeast Ohio dance community.

Catherine Meredith Lambert began her dance training under the direction of Kenneth Lipitz and Shelley Ziebel at the New England Dance Conservatory.  She went on to study on scholarship at SUNY Purchase, Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, Richmond Ballet, and the London Contemporary Dance School.  In 1997, Catherine joined Cortez & Co. Contemporary/Ballet under the Artistic Direction of Hernando Cortez.  Along with performing principal roles in the company, she also served as rehearsal associate.  Other performing credits include Latin Sol, Sands Hotel Copa Room; Where’s Charley? Directed by Nicholas Martin, Williamstown Theater Festival; “Arabian” in Albano Ballet’s Nutcracker; and as a featured dancer in the film Kate and Leopold.  She joined Verb Ballets in July 2005, where she has been featured in works by Paul Taylor, Heinz Poll, Ulysses Dove, and Martha Graham.  Her first work “please” premiered at The Natural History Museum in 2007. 
 Since then, Catherine has choreographed for the dance department at the University of Akron and most recently for the students at Ohio Northern University.
 
Lisa K. Lock holds a Ballet Diploma from the Grande Ecole de Danse in Bern, Switzerland and a BFA and MFA Degree from the California Institute of the Arts.  In 2006, Lisa relocated to Cleveland from Los Angeles, where she continues to choreograph and perform locally, nationally and internationally.  She was awarded an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award for 2009.  Lisa also was voted best female dancer of the year 2004 by the Beverly Hills Outlook, and in 2002 she received a Lester Horton Award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography in Los Angeles.  Her solo work has been showcased in Cleveland, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Honolulu, and San Francisco.  She performed in Switzerland and Lithuania, as well as in major European cities like Vienna, Paris, Madrid, and Edinburgh, and Latin America showcases include Guatemala City and Antigua in Guatemala.  Since her move to Cleveland, Lisa has presented two evening long works at Cleveland
 Public Theater, and has been a featured artist in Cleveland’s Ingenuity Fest.  She also had a great opportunity to work with Opera Cleveland on several productions, both as a choreographer and performer.  Lisa also created original works both for Cleveland Contemporary Dance Theater and Dancing Wheels.

Joan Meggitt is the Founding Director of Antaeus Dance.  She launched the Company in 2001 with an ambitious tour of Estonia and followed it up with a world-premiere evening-length performance in Cleveland.  Meggitt’s impressive repertory of over 45 dance works explores the intersection of individual expression and collective experience, and has been performed by Antaeus Dance and numerous other dance artists and companies, both nationally and abroad.  Meggitt earned her M.F.A. in Dance from Case Western Reserve University, under the instruction of Kathryn Karipides and Kelly Holt.  Active in the field of dance education, Meggitt is currently Visiting Professor in the Dance Division at Kent State University, directs the annual Allegheny Summer Dance Intensive, and has been a guest artist at universities throughout the United States and abroad. 
Sarah Morrison is a 2009 recipient of the Ohio Arts Council Award for Individual Excellence. She started choreographing when her preschool dance teacher at Lee Harper and Dancer’s brought out a box of scarves, and she has never stopped. She began her professional dance career as a teenager in Atlanta, and moved to Cleveland upon receiving a scholarship for her choreography to attend Case Western Reserve University. She continued her study of dance under the direction of Kathryn Karipides and Kelly Holt, and received her M.A. in Psychology during her time at CWRU. Over the past 15 years, Cleveland has become her home, and home to MorrisonDance, a performing company recognized for its unique exploration and presentation of dance, often combined with science, nature, or other artistic media. Her work with MorrisonDance has included collaborations with NASA, BrainMaster, and with internationally recognized artists Scott Radke and Jim Bonney. In addition to
 over 25 original dances created and presented in Cleveland, Morrison’s choreography has been seen in Atlanta, Chicago, Italy and Mexico, and has been presented at the Joyce SoHo and Joe’s Pub at Public Theatre in New York City.

A Cleveland native, Mark Tomasic danced with Verb Ballets from 2002 to 2007, performing leading roles in the works of Martha Graham, Paul Taylor, David Parsons, Antony Tudor, Sean Curran, Heinz Poll, and Hernando Cortez.  Mark is honored to create his fourth piece for Verb Ballets for the DanceWorks performances at Cleveland Public Theatre. Mark’s previous works for the Company include The Memory Room, Before the Time After and Luis (commissioned by Hiram College). Mark has also been privileged to create works for Dancing Wheels’ first and second companies as well as Ancestral Voices for MN² Productions which toured Ohio, Toronto Canada, and New York City.

Robert Wesner  Bobby started Neos Dance Theatre in 2004.  He is a native of Ohio, trained under scholarship at Opus II Dance Studio, School of Cleveland Ballet, School of Ballet Arizona, and the School of Milwaukee Ballet.  He performed for Ballet Arizona, Verb Ballets, Momix, Ballet Theatre of Ohio, Neos Dance Theatre and many other regional ballet companies. Robert enjoyed a six year stay with Ballet Arizona under the direction of both Michael Uthoff and Ib Anderson. During that time Robert danced many masterpieces of our time. Contemporary dance credits include works by Dwight Rhoden, Kevin O'Day, Pilobolus, Danny Ezralow, Moses Pendleton, and David Parsons. Robert has choreographed works commissioned by the Ashland University Theatre Department, Belhaven College, Ballet Arizona, Verb Ballets, Dancing Wheels, Richland Performing Arts, Ashland Regional Ballet, Ad Deum Dance, Semaphore Dance, and Neos Dance Theatre.  Robert assisted Moses Pendleton in
 the choreography of Momix’s Opus Cactus and Discman. He choreographed for Phoenix Symphony Orchestra’s Pops Concerts for eight years and now choreographs Pops Concerts for symphonies all over the country. These include Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Winston Salem Symphony, Cleveland Pops, Ashland Symphony Orchestra, Mansfield Symphony Orchestra, and Portland Symphony Orchestra. Robert and his wife Brooke live in Ashland, Ohio on a family farm.
 
Major sponsors of Verb Ballets include AHS Foundation; Akron Community Foundation; The Bascom Little Fund; Millie L. Carlson; Change for Charity; The Cleveland Foundation; Cuyahoga Arts and Culture; The George Gund Foundation; Kulas Foundation; The Laub Foundation; Lubrizol Foundation; The McGregor Foundation; Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation; John P. Murphy Foundation; the National Endowment for the Arts; and the Ohio Arts Council.  Additional individual sponsors include Chuck & Ann Ennis; Norma & Jeffrey Glazer; David R. Pierce; and Robert M. Shwab.   Additional Verb sponsors include Baumgarten & Company, LLP; Cedar Hill Communications; Citadel Communications & Data; Danskin; FITWORKS; GlobeNewswire, Inc.; WCLV 104.9 FM; WVIZ/WCPN Ideastream; and Wireless Village.