[NEohioPAL] PRESS RELEASE: Verb Ballets returns to CPT's DanceWorks

[Dan Kilbane]

Carmen:  Story of Passion 
Verb Ballets at CPT’s DanceWorks
April 19 - 28, 2012    7:00 p.m.
Dances Tell Our Stories 
 
March 19, 2012, Cleveland,
OH – We are drawn to stories that are full of passion and emotion, dramas
of romance and obsession, power plays and big reveals.  Whether it is on the stage, on the
screen, or on the boob tube, we get lost in the escape and exhilaration that
these stories offer.  
 
Perhaps you have seen an
opera or dance version of Carmen:  full of desire, lust, and passionate
frenzy; the beauty as well as the dark underside of humanity.  This beloved and celebrated work,
originally a 19th century opera, is a universal tale that still stops an
audience member in his or her tracks.  Coming this spring, Northeast Ohioans have not seen it like this before,
when Verb Ballets lays it bare.
 
Join Northeast Ohio’s
Contemporary Dance Company as they continue the season-long theme of “Dances
tell our stories,”  weaving
together the amazing journeys of heroes, tribes, rebels, choreographers, and
dancers.  During a six-night stand
at Cleveland Public Theatre, Verb performs Carmen:  Story of Passion. 
Conceived as theatre-in-the-round, and full of drama, simplicity, and pathos,
choreographer Richard Dickinson (Ohio Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago,
Boston Ballet) creates a contemporary production that is sure to generate
heat.  Utilizing Bizet’s famous
music (for percussion and string, in an arrangement by Shchedrin), join Verb as
they return to Cleveland Public Theatre’s DanceWorks series for a tale of
obsession that will leave you wanting more!
 
Special ringside premium
seating is available.  The James
Levin Theatre will be configured for theatre-in-the round, and a limited number
of seats will put patrons up front, ringside for the athletic choreography and
passionate story.  
 
Generous support for Carmen:  Story of Passionhas been provided by Shah Capital Management.
 
The Verb Board of Trustees
and Director Dr. Margaret Carlson are pleased to return to Cleveland Public
Theatre for this year’s DanceWorks series.  Tickets are $10 General Admission and $15 Ringside Premium
Seating for Thursday performances; and $25 General Admission and $30 Ringside
Premium Seating for Fridays and Saturdays.  All performances are at 7:00 p.m.  A new tradition at CPT continues with Free Beer Fridays; mix
and mingle with the dancers post-show and enjoy a complimentary beer or glass
of wine.  Tickets are available by
calling the CPT box office at 216-631-2727 ext. 501, or by visiting www.cptonline.org.  
 
The Plain Dealerhas called the company’s work “a performance of
striking concentration and volatility by the Verb ensemble….models of fervent
refinement…and the company gave subtle impetus to…shimmering vision….alluring
vibrancy…. bold….poetic…. bursts of passion.”  Dance Magazine,
in 2008, named Verb one of 5 “Great Tiny Troupes” in America. 
 
Verb will perform Carmen:  Story of Passion at CPT’s James Levin Theatre.  The address is 6415 Detroit Ave.,
Cleveland, OH, 44102.  Performance
dates and times are as follows:
 
Thursday, April 19, 2012                                7:00
p.m.
Friday, April 20, 2012                                     7:00
p.m.
Saturday, April 21, 2012                                 7:00
p.m.
Thursday, April 26, 2012                                7:00
p.m.
Friday, April 27, 2012                                     7:00
p.m.
Saturday, April 28, 2012                                 7:00
p.m.
 
Biographies
Richard Dickinson
(Choreographer)A former dancer with
Ohio Ballet in Akron, OH, Dickinson’s association with that company began in
1988.  He later became ballet
master and director of company touring.  Richard has served as Artistic Associate for Hubbard Street Dance
Chicago.  He currently is an
adjunct professor at Youngstown State University; co-director of State Street
Ballet’s Summer Intensive (located in Santa Barbara, CA), and Artistic Director
of Ballet Western Reserve, also located in Youngstown, OH.  He was most recently the Artistic
Director of Great Lakes Festival Ballet (Warren, OH), and Dickinson has also
directed Boston Ballet II and was 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 an
extensive dance career, including principal and soloist roles with Ohio Ballet,
Boston Ballet, Honolulu City Ballet, various regional companies and Chamber
Dance Theatre in Milwaukee, where he was Artistic Director, Dickinson has
adjudicated four Regional Dance America festivals held throughout the United
States.  He received his Master of
Fine Arts degree in Contemporary Dance from Case Western Reserve University in
2005.  Dickinson also serves as
Verb’s Rehearsal Director.
 
Dr. Margaret Carlson
(Director)has international
expertise in performing, teaching, choreographing, and working in a variety of settings.  Dr. Carlson was an original member of
the Cleveland Ballet, serving as a Principal dancer from 1972-1983.  Also a member of Actors Equity, she
performed in numerous musical theatre tours throughout the 1970's, including Sweet
Charity, Ballroom, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Brigadoon,
Mame, Hello Dolly! andThe Merry
Widow.  For many years, she choreographed for the Cleveland
Opera.  Dr. Carlson served as
Director of the School of Dance at the University of Akron from 1985-1993.  In 1993, she became Dean of the School
of Dance at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, until she returned to
Cleveland in 1999.  She then served
as the Development and Education Director for the Cleveland San Jose Ballet.
She consulted both nationally and locally through her company, Carlson
Consulting Group, Inc., with groups that have included The American Dance
Guild, Chinese Performing Artists of America, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte
Carlo, Ohio Ballet, Dancing Wheels, Ohio Youth Ballet, Ohio Conservatory of
Dance, Tom and Susana Evert Dance Theatre, and White Cloud Studios.  Dr. Carlson founded the American
Alliance of Dance Artists and served as its first President.  She has served as a Board member and
officer for Kids on Broadway, DANCECleveland, the Cleveland Ballet Council, the
American Dance Guild, the Council of Dance Administrators, the Hong Kong
Ballet, the Hong Kong Dance Company and The Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and
Dance Fund.  She served as the
secretary of the International Organization for Transition for Professional
Dancers, a sub-committee of UNESCO, based in Switzerland from 1998-2006, and
was Treasurer and Board member of the American Dance Guild in NYC and was its
vice-president for 10 years.  She
is known for her work as the regisseur for the works of Ian (Ernie)
Horvath.  She received her
doctorate from Durham University in the United Kingdom.
 
About Verb Ballets
Verb Ballets, Northeast
Ohio’s contemporary dance company, and its “best in class” professional
dancers, under the leadership of Director Dr. Margaret Carlson, is a nationally
recognized leader in performing dance works of the highest caliber; a catalyst
to promote learning, nurture wellness and encourage dialogue about the dance
art form.  The company strives to
be a thought leader in cultivating dance appreciation and support, and serves
to help make Northeast Ohio a national destination for the arts.  Verb’s
mission is to ignite audience passion and participation in contemporary dance
through performance, outreach programs and community engagement.  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.  The Plain Dealerrecently hailed Verb Ballets as “vibrant…bold…poetic…
bursts of passion…”  For more
information about Verb Ballets please call our office in Shaker Heights, Ohio,
at 216.397.3757 or visit our website at www.verbballets.org.  
 
The Verb Ballets company
includes Danielle Brickman, Ashley Cohen, Erin Conway Lewis*, Katie Gnagy,
Stephanie Krise, Kara Madden, Leslie Miller, Rebecca Nicklos, Brian Murphy,
Arthur Prettyman, Or Sagi, Jarrod Sickles and Jason Wang*.  The Director
is Dr. Margaret Carlson, and the Rehearsal Director is Richard Dickinson. 
*on leave of absence
 
Generous support: 
Major sponsors of Verb
Ballets includes AHS Foundation, The Bascom Little Fund, The Eva L. and Joseph
M. Bruening Foundation, Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, The City of Shaker Heights,
Cleveland Bikes, The Cleveland Foundation, The Gay Endowment Fund of the Akron
Community Foundation, The George Gund Foundation, Kulas Foundation, The Laub
Foundation, Lubrizol Foundation, The McGregor Foundation, John P. Murphy
Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Ohio Arts Council, and
Shah Capital Management. 
 
Individual sponsors include
Millie Carlson, Jeri Chaikin, Chuck and Ann Ennis, Kenneth Milder, David R.
Pierce, Alan Miles Ruben, and Robert M. Shwab. 
 
Additional sponsors:  Baumgarten & Company, LLP; Cedar
Hill Communications; FITWORKS; WCLV; and WCPN/Ideastream.
 
The Ohio Arts Council helped
fund this organization with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth,
educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.
 
Verb Ballets is generously
funded by Cuyahoga County residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.
 
About Cleveland Public
Theatre:Cleveland Public Theatre's mission is to
raise consciousness and nurture compassion through groundbreaking performances
and life changing educational programs.  CPT develops new, adventurous work; and nurtures Northeastern Ohio artists
-- particularly those whose work is inventive, intelligent, and socially
conscious.  CPT's acclaimed
education programs engage underserved communities in devising new works that
speak to contemporary issues, and empower participants to work for positive
change in our community. 
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