By Steve Sucato

Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio-based Ballet Excel Ohio, formerly Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet, is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this weekend with the world premiere of choreographer Erich Yetter’s Aladdin at Akron Civic Theatre. 

Founded in 1975 by the late Nan Klinger, the pre-professional ballet troupe grew out of Klinger’s widely respected Excellence in Dance Studio. Now led by Artistic Director Mia Klinger, Nan’s daughter, the organization continues her legacy of superior dance training and performance opportunities for its students. 

Aladdin is the latest of the company’s many original ballets, and one that Klinger says she had been talking with choreographer Yetter about for some time. 

“Our performances are geared towards children,” says Klinger.“ I love the action of the Aladdin tale and how it can engage an audience. I felt an Aladdin ballet could also provide us with the opportunity to showcase some really interesting and fun costuming.”

Yetter, a former principal dancer with the Irish National Ballet, has created several story ballet productions for Ballet Excel, including 2018’s Magic Flute.  

“I love his storytelling,” says Klinger. “I find that skill really hard to find in a choreographer. He has a clear vision for what he wants and is very detail-oriented, even down to creating all the costumes and set drawings for a ballet.”

For Aladdin, Yetter choreographed a two-act, family-friendly, 75-minute ballet set to a collection of music sourced from other popular ballet scores. It tells the story of Aladdin, a poor street urchin portrayed by 8th-grader Carmelo Felding in his first leading role at Ballet Excel Ohio. 

In it, Aladdin falls in love with a Princess (Isabel Ibanez Banig), the daughter of the Sultan, whom he meets on the streets of Akrabah after stealing a piece of fruit, but is too lowly to marry her. His fortunes then change when he meets a beggar who enlists him to help retrieve an old lamp hidden in the Cave of Wonders, promising him riches to do so. Aladdin recovers the lamp, but circumstances lead him to keep it. He then discovers a powerful genie (Wendy Moreno-Garcia) trapped within, who grants him three wishes that allow him to pose as a prince to win the princess’s heart. 

An evil peddler, portrayed by Callahan Conley, a guest dancer from Canton Ballet, then complicates matters by deceiving the Princess into trading for the magic lamp so he may command the genie to turn him into an all-powerful sorcerer and rule the Sultan’s kingdom. 

The story’s action takes Aladdin from the bustling streets of Akrabah to the Sultan’s palace and the sparkling Cave of Wonders. A cast of over forty performers, including handmaidens, royal guards, and genie mini-me attendants, along with a bevy of colorful costumes, props, and set elements, bring this entertaining story to life. 

In addition to two performances of Aladdin this weekend, on March 14 at 7 p.m. only, Ballet Excel will present 50 Years of Inspiration, a celebration of the company’s golden anniversary, that includes a performance of Aladdin plus a retrospective film, and guest appearances by New York City Ballet principal dancer Daniel Ulbricht, and corps de ballet dancer Shelby Mann (granddaughter of Jacques d’Amboise) in a pas de deux choreographed by Ulbricht’s wife Danielle Diniz. Also appearing will be Ballet Excel alumnus Dustin True, a company member with Switzerland’s Ballet Zurich, in a special solo, and dancer, singer, actor, and model Ashley Klinger, who will perform the Cassie solo from A Chorus Line.

Ballet Excel Ohio presents Aladdin, 2 p.m., Saturday, March 14, and Sunday, March 15, 2026, and 50 Years of Inspiration, 7 p.m., March 14, 2026, at Akron Civic Theatre, 182 S Main St, Akron, Ohio. Tickets for Aladdin range from $27.25-$48.80, and for 50 Years of Inspiration range from $36.30-$48.80, and are available online at akroncivic.com or in person at the Akron Civic Theatre box office.