Ohio Contemporary Ballet’s Kelly Korfhage To Take Her Final Bow After a Decade with the Company [INTERVIEW/PREVIEW]

By Steve Sucato Celebrated as Ohio Contemporary Ballet’s (OCB) quintessential ballerina and featured in many of the company’s most memorable pas de deux over the past several years, dancer Kelly Korfhage will take her final bow with the company this Saturday, August 1, 2026. OCB’s free outdoor concert Celebrating a Decade of Grace at Lincoln Park in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood will honor the company star … Continue reading Ohio Contemporary Ballet’s Kelly Korfhage To Take Her Final Bow After a Decade with the Company [INTERVIEW/PREVIEW]

Performers Shine in 2026 Chautauqua Institution ‘All-Star Dance Gala’ [REVIEW]

All-Star Dance GalaChautauqua Institution AmphitheaterChautauqua, NYJuly 8, 2026 By Steve Sucato The eagerly anticipated kickoff to the Chautauqua Institution’s annual summer dance season, the All-Star Dance Gala at the Institution’s Amphitheater, lived up to its billing, delivering a stellar evening of dance. Curated by Sasha Janes, the Bonnefoux McBride Artistic Director of Chautauqua School of Dance, this summer’s Gala featured top-flight dancers (most alumni of … Continue reading Performers Shine in 2026 Chautauqua Institution ‘All-Star Dance Gala’ [REVIEW]

Ohio Contemporary Ballet to Open 2026 Heinz Poll Summer Dance Festival with Mixed Repertory Program [PREVIEW]

By Steve Sucato  Cleveland’s Ohio Contemporary Ballet (OCB) will open the 52nd Heinz Poll Summer Dance Festival this weekend at Akron, Ohio’s Forest Lodge Park with a stylistically diverse mixed repertory program including a tango-inspired world premiere. The free outdoor performances will also be area audiences’ first look at new company dancer Bethany Montalvo, a native of Modesto, California who majored in Ballet Performance at … Continue reading Ohio Contemporary Ballet to Open 2026 Heinz Poll Summer Dance Festival with Mixed Repertory Program [PREVIEW]

Back to the Future: Inlet Dance Theatre Celebrates its 25th Anniversary in Two Dynamic Summer Dance Programs [PREVIEW]

By Steve Sucato Inlet Dance Theatre’s performances at Cleveland Heights’ Cain Park and Akron’s Heinz Poll Summer Dance Festival last summer gave audiences a preview of the company’s 25th-anniversary season and featured works from its rich repertoire. This summer, now officially celebrating the company’s 25th anniversary, Inlet returns to Cain Park on July 25 and to the Heinz Poll Summer Dance Festival on August 7-8, … Continue reading Back to the Future: Inlet Dance Theatre Celebrates its 25th Anniversary in Two Dynamic Summer Dance Programs [PREVIEW]

Chamber Dance Project’s ‘Iconic Works’ a Fitting Tribute to Retiring Company Founder [REVIEW]

Chamber Dance Project – Iconic WorksWoolly Mammoth Theatre CompanyWashington, D.C.June 27, 2026 By Steve SucatoFor her final production as Artistic Director of Washington, D.C.-based Chamber Dance Project (CDP), Diane Coburn Bruning chose to pair a few of her signature contemporary ballets with others from CDP’s rich repertory, along with a world premiere ballet by up-and-coming choreographer William Moore.  The seasonal company’s stylistically diverse Iconic Works … Continue reading Chamber Dance Project’s ‘Iconic Works’ a Fitting Tribute to Retiring Company Founder [REVIEW]

Chamber Dance Project Honors Departing Founder-Director with ‘Iconic Works’ Program [PREVIEW/INTERVIEW]

By Steve Sucato From its founding in 2000 in New York City to its relocation to Washington, D.C. in 2014, and up until now, a few things have remained constant with the contemporary ballet company, Chamber Dance Project (CDP): Its bringing together of soloist-level professional ballet dancers during their lay-off periods from major professional companies and partnering them with equally talented musicians and boundary pushing … Continue reading Chamber Dance Project Honors Departing Founder-Director with ‘Iconic Works’ Program [PREVIEW/INTERVIEW]

Ajayi Dance’s ‘Half the Sky’ to Explore Themes of Masculinity, Identity, Injustice, and the Female Condition [PREVIEW]

By Steve Sucato Dancer-choreographer Melissa Ajayi’s interest in creating her own dance works came at a young age in her hometown dance studio in New Philadelphia, Ohio. It only grew stronger over the years as a dance major at Kent State University and as a freelance dance artist living in New York City and Lexington, Kentucky. So, forming her own eponymous project-based dance company in … Continue reading Ajayi Dance’s ‘Half the Sky’ to Explore Themes of Masculinity, Identity, Injustice, and the Female Condition [PREVIEW]

Female ’80s Music Stars Provide the Soundtrack to Dancing Wheels’ 45th Anniversary Gala Benefit Celebration [PREVIEW]

By Steve Sucato Cleveland’s Dancing Wheels Company goes back to the future for its upcoming 45th Anniversary Gala Benefit Production, Ladies of the ’80s.  Founded in 1980 by Mary Verdi-Fletcher, America’s oldest physically integrated dance troupe revisits the era’s music by highlighting several female artists who helped define the period, in a program of new contemporary dance works celebrating the company’s 45th Anniversary. The Gala … Continue reading Female ’80s Music Stars Provide the Soundtrack to Dancing Wheels’ 45th Anniversary Gala Benefit Celebration [PREVIEW]

Third Annual ‘ChoreoLab’ Shines the Spotlight on Cleveland Ballet Dancers’ Creativity [PREVIEW]

By Steve Sucato Cleveland Ballet’s company dancers will stretch their choreographic wings once again in the third annual ChoreoLab, an evening of dance for and by the dancers.  The stylistically diverse program, featuring 13 works by 10+ choreographers, performed by 31 dancers, will take place this Friday, June 5, at Near West Theatre in the Gordon Square Arts District. ChoreoLab stands apart from Cleveland Ballet’s … Continue reading Third Annual ‘ChoreoLab’ Shines the Spotlight on Cleveland Ballet Dancers’ Creativity [PREVIEW]

AI Theme is at the Center of Maria Caruso’s ‘Counterpoint of Chaos’ Premiering in London’s West End [PREVIEW]

By Steve Sucato Humanity’s evolving relationship with artificial intelligence in our lives and the growing fears surrounding it are the themes of dancer, choreographer, and actress Maria Caruso’s latest evening-length solo work, Counterpoint of Chaos. Following the London successes of the Pittsburgh-native’s one-woman productions Metamorphosis in 2023 and Incarnation in 2024, which were inspired by events in her life, Caruso returns to London’s West End … Continue reading AI Theme is at the Center of Maria Caruso’s ‘Counterpoint of Chaos’ Premiering in London’s West End [PREVIEW]