DanceWorks 2014 to Feature Verb Ballets, 5/1-3

Cleveland Public Theatre's DanceWorks 2014 presents Verb Ballets running May 1-3, 2014. "Verb is honored to participate in DanceWorks because it supports the vision both organizations to support and foster emerging talent. The opportunity to focus on experimental work and push the boundaries of dance is vital to Verb's mission to expand audience passion in contemporary dance. In closing the season the choreographers on the program will explore the fusion of dance and art," said Director, Dr. Margaret Carlson.

This show will feature the work of Vietnamese Creative Fusion Artist-in-Residence, Ngo Thanh Phuong. The Cleveland Foundation's Creative Fusion artist residency program partners international artists with local arts organizations with a goal of maximizing the cultural exchange between the artists and the community. Ms. Ngo will be working with Verb Ballets during a three-month residency to develop new work and share a 21st century view of Vietnamese culture with the company and community. Ngo graduated from Hochiminh City Dance School in Vietnam and went on to Folkwang Hochschule in Germany. Her new contemporary group work will focus on the connection of people and feelings that bring us together. Using an original music score composed by Dao Duy Tung it will combine voices, rock and roll and elements of traditional Vietnamese music to express the movement through feelings that are common cultural paradigm. Ngo will also use video projections as installation art with the dancers that pushes the boundaries of conventional dance.

Also on the program is the world premiere by the contemporary choreographer, Sara Whale. Her new work is inspired by Gustav Klimt, the renowned painter of the "Golden Period" of Austrian art. She will explore symbolic meanings of the dual role of women as inspiration in the struggle for modern identity. Whale is a resident teacher with Verb Ballets and on faculty at Baldwin Wallace University. Her style is innovative and uniquely original while rooted in elements of contemporary dance.

Verb Ballets will perform in DanceWorks '14 May 1-3, 2014 in the Cleveland Public Theatre's Gordon Square Theatre. Performances take place at 7:30 p.m. Single tickets on Fridays and Saturdays are $28 for general admission, $26 for students and seniors and $12 for all tickets on Thursdays. You can purchase seats by calling 216-631-2727 ext. 501, online at www.cptonline.org or buy in person at the Cleveland Public Theatre box office, located at 6415 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44102. For more information on the DanceWorks '14 series and to purchase tickets, visit www.cptonline.org. For more info on Verb Ballets, visit www.verbballets.org.