Now We're Dancing
Dance is alive and well in Cleveland

Dance... whether it's street dancing, classical ballet, or salsa . . . is the body in artistic, sensual motion, and it's magnificent to behold. Unfortunately, it's a treasure that we often miss. I used to think that dance performances would be boring, and dance classes were for those with beautiful bodies and lots of ambition. I was missing out.

For many of us in Cleveland, our first experience with dance performance was a once-a-year special evening at Playhouse Square to see the Cleveland Ballet perform The Nutcracker or Swan Lake. Many of us have experienced the wonder of our bodies learning to flow with music in local dance studios.

My first experience with dance was appreciating The Nutcracker performed at Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh when I was 19. We were sitting three rows from the stage and I could see every rippling muscle and experience the height of every jump. I was mesmerized by the beauty and strength of the dancers' bodies and the creativity and precision of the choreography. I wasn't just mesmerized, I was blown away.

Even though the Cleveland Ballet has made its home elsewhere, we're dancing in Cleveland, and not just in dance clubs. Dance Cleveland (www.dancecleveland.org), a modern dance nonprofit organization, makes sure we have dance in Cleveland. Their annual series of dance programming at various locations throughout Cleveland brings dance into our lives. Those who are doubtful that they would enjoy classical ballet may want to see the upcoming presentation of Pilobulus at the Palace Theater on May 8, which promises to be edgy and inventive with dance moves similar to gymnastics.

Anyone who thinks they cannot dance should see The Dancing Wheels Company & School (www.dancingwheels.org), which provides accessible classes and programs and performs. Dancing Wheels celebrates the spirit of dance. Catch this fearless group at the "And All That's Jazz! At Playhouse Square on May 1 or out in Oberlin on May 15, for the 2010 OhioDance Showcase and Festival where they will be part of a workshop in the morning and will showcase their dancing abilities at 7:30 p.m.

Starting from the ground with new composers and choreographers, GroundWorks Dancetheater (www.groundworksdance.org) is committed to developing new artists and presenting original work. The Troupe will perform during the Cleveland Orchestra's rendition of A Soldier's Tale by Igor Stravinsky, re-imagined by Kurt Vonnegut and Catch and Release by Essa-Pekka Salonen from April 22 through April 25, 2010, at The Cleveland Play House. The six-member dance company was voted "One of 25 to Watch" by Dance Magazine.

DanceWorks 10 brings more stage magic to Cleveland. MegLouise Dance presents its new dance work Outside the Lines at the Cleveland Public Theatre April 1-4. Their website makes it sound inspiring: "Enter a place of vibrantly saturated living that leaves no empty spaces for fear or fatigue to tarnish. Listen to the inspired voices of reason urging us, with singular clarity, to abandon all numbing distractions. Charge forward with purpose and be bold in your experience."

DanceWorks 10 quickly brings another dance phenomenon to the stage when Verbs Ballet, Cleveland's National Repertory Dance Company, performs Fresh Investions! From April 8-11 and features the creativity and talent of the area's best composers and choreographers at the Cleveland Public Theatre at Gordon Square. That same weekend, at the James Levin Theatre, the Inlet Dance Theater, an athletic and theatrical troope, will perform Create and Beauty in Tension.

Don't get danced out. Save some passion for MorrisonDance as it presents Mysterious April 15-18. The dancers will celebrate the Etruscan culsture with the heat and soul of Roma dancing. You will be challenged to imagine cone creatures and know the thrill and edginess of communicating through movement. While MorrisonDance is on one Cleveland Public Theatre stage, others can enjoy the premiere dance performance from Anteaeus Dance and Travesty Dance Group, featuring excerpts from a lengthier dancework and a 50-minute contemporary dance-theater project. Both groups will incorporate film and Travesty Dance Group's Dawning will also include music.

You'll become connected, just like in that Modern Dance class you took when you were twenty or the Rumba Class you and your partner are taking on Saturday nights. Yes, there are lots of possibilities for experiencing the passion of art in motion, the human body in all its beauty, in Cleveland this spring. Now we're dancing!


Aurora Marie Grenig, Age 12, Mary Kay Manning Dance Studio

From Cool Cleveland contributor Claudia Taller, whose passion for words has led to creation of the Lakeside Word Lover’s Retreats, an outgrowth of her work with Skyline Writers.

Her favorite foods are red wine, salmon, ice cream, and chocolate. She loves to read, write, tour wineries, ride her bike, ease into yoga, and cook gourmet meals for friends. Find her at http://www.claudiatallermusings.blogspot.com.