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]

World Premiere Ballet to Janáček’s Moving ‘From the Street’ Highlights OCB’s ‘Ballet Unbound’ in Cleveland [PREVIEW]

By Steve Sucato Premiered in February in Akron, Ohio Contemporary Ballet’s Ballet Unbound now moves to Cleveland at Playhouse Square’s Mimi Ohio Theatre on March 28, 2026. The diverse mixed repertory program of works by Paul Taylor, Heinz Poll, and Nycole Ray will now include the world premiere of Gordon Peirce Schmidt’s timely “From the Street.”  Set to a piano sonata of the same name … Continue reading World Premiere Ballet to Janáček’s Moving ‘From the Street’ Highlights OCB’s ‘Ballet Unbound’ in Cleveland [PREVIEW]

Premieres and Recent Works Feature in Ohio Contemporary Ballet’s ‘Ballet Unbound’ in Akron [PREVIEW]

By Steve Sucato Primed to chase away the winter doldrums, Ohio Contemporary Ballet (OCB) returns to the University of Akron’s E. J. Thomas Hall on Saturday, February 28, 2026, with Ballet Unbound*. The mixed repertory program will showcase four diverse dance works, including two premieres.   Choreographer Avree Walker’s commissioned work for OCB, “Eternal,” is a world premiere danced to music by Johann Sebastian Bach, including … Continue reading Premieres and Recent Works Feature in Ohio Contemporary Ballet’s ‘Ballet Unbound’ in Akron [PREVIEW]