PERFORMANCES
HANSEL & GRETEL March 11 & 12th, Akron Civic Theatre
This two-act ballet is a lively re-telling of the well-known fairytale about a brother and sister who wander into a forest where they are captured by a witch in a fantastic gingerbread house. In a classic good-triumphs-over-evil plot, the spunky youngsters defeat the witch, free other children she had baked into gingerbread, and are reunited with their loving parents in the happily-ever-after finale. The ballet incorporates the exquisite music of Engelbert Humperdinck, including his “Fourteen Angels” bedtime prayer. Appropriate for ages 5 & up.
VIRTUAL PERFORMANCE
HAPPY POP-UP PERFORMANCE
Please Enjoy a Free Virtual Performance of “I Love Shapes”
This virtual performance was made possible by a collaboration between Ballet Excel Ohio and the wonderful people at the City of Cuyahoga Falls Parks & Recreation Department. Both the City of Cuyahoga Falls and Ballet Excel Ohio are striving to find ways to safely bring art and entertainment to the community in these uncertain times. Please enjoy the show!
Choreographed by Ohio native and world renowned choreographer Tom Evert, “I LOVE SHAPES” celebrates the elementary forms of lines, circles, triangles, and squares in a dynamic modern dance. This imaginative and innovative ballet brings basic shapes to life through a visually stunning performance. It was conceived as a means of introducing young audiences and classically trained young dancers to the concepts of modern dance which tend to be more abstract, through the use of basic shapes familiar to them. Rather than tell a story as a traditional ballet might, it paints a visual picture using the shapes which the dancer’s movements create. Through interweaving and juxtaposing the basic shapes, a multilayered, three-dimensional texture emerges. The dancers create levels of energy from tranquility to frenzy through their movements as set to the mood ranges of the music.
“I LOVE SHAPES” was the first modern work to be added to the repertoire of Ballet Excel Ohio, formerly the Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet, and the first commissioned for a youth ballet.
Choreographed by Tom Evert
An Original Modern Ballet
World Premiere: March 10-11, 1989
(Akron Civic Theatre, Akron, Ohio)
Reprise: August, 18 2020
( Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio)
Original Score by Sebastian Anthony Birch