Verb Ballets Becomes Artist in Residence at The Breen Center for the Performing Arts

Verb Ballets and Saint Ignatius High School have announced the naming of Verb Ballets as Artist in Residence at The Breen Center for Performing Arts. The partnership was officially announced at the Verb Ballets performance on February 23, 2013 at The Breen Center.

Verb Ballets, northeast Ohio's contemporary dance company, strives to support and foster emerging talent, to present excellence in contemporary choreographers, and to revive and honor modern dance classics. Verb's mission is to ignite audience passion and participation in contemporary dance.

Verb Ballets has performed at The Breen Center there every year since it opened in 2009. This state-of-the-art performance venue has attracted national attention for its design and uncompromising commitment to the fine and performing arts. The faculty and staff of Saint Ignatius understand that the arts in education matter greatly and the addition of The Breen Center to the Saint Ignatius campus furthers the mission of the school. Mary Jane and Jack Breen, whose vision and generosity made the facility possible, have made the arts easily accessible, not just to Saint Ignatius students, but to the Ohio City neighborhood and to Northeast Ohio.

After utilizing the state of the art facilities including The Rohr Stage area which totals 3,000 square feet, Verb has been able to restage classic works with sets including Martha Graham's, Appalachian Spring and to commission new choreography that integrates video and lighting such as, Otra Luna choreographed by Troy McCarty. The sprung floor absorbs shock that is beneficial for the dancers. "We are excited to partner with the Breen Center for the Performing Arts and thereby expand Verb Ballets' presence in the growing arts and business community of Ohio City," said Dr. Margaret Carlson, Verb Ballets Director.

"We are honored to work with Verb Ballets as an artist in residence. Verb Ballets' commitment to dance education ties into our mission and the fine arts curriculum to cultivate students' personal expression as a part of their academic development," said Art Thomas, Saint Ignatius High School Fine Arts teacher and facility manager for The Breen Center.

Verb Ballets looks forward to developing its presence in Ohio City and will be offering pop-up performances at various locations over the course of the next several months. The first mini performance will be at the new west side gallery, Transformer Station, on March 7, 2013 at 6pm. Verb Ballets will present a mini-performance of an excerpt from Cleveland Flats Symphony, an original ballet choreographed by Diane Gray to the music of Rich Rinehart and video by Jay Horowitz. Both Rinehart and Horowitz work at the NASA Glenn Research Center. This short performance will be staged in the historic Crane Gallery at the Transformer Station where Bridging Cleveland, a show of images of the bridges over the Flats is currently on view. Admission to this intimate performance will be free. For more information on Verb Ballets, visit www.verbballets.org.