Already looking forward to the weekend? We are! Not least because there are two exciting dance programs happening, both with Cleveland Foundation connections.

CLExHAV at Verb Ballets

On Friday, Verb Ballets presents Ballet UpClose Series: Dianne McIntyre. 2016 Doris Duke Artist Award recipient and multi-award winning artist Dianne McIntyre, whose career spans four decades with choreography for dance, theatre, television and film, is a local collaborator in our Creative Fusion: Cuba Edition cohort. While in Cuba earlier this year with other members of the Creative Fusion group, McIntyre collected stories from three Cuban citizens and has reinterpreted them through choreography. These works will be presented at Friday’s event, which begins at 7 p.m. at Verb Ballets’ studios (3445 Warrensville Center Road, Shaker Heights) and tickets are $15. Learn more here.

Tri-C’s Creative Arts Dance Academy Presents “Hidden”

Both Friday and Saturday, Tri-C’s Creative Arts Dance Academy will present their 2017 Spring Dance Concert, titled “Hidden.” The Creative Arts Dance Academy is a year-round dance program for students ages 4 – 17, and it’s quickly becoming a premier center for dance education in Greater Cleveland. We’re thrilled to have supported the expansion of the dance academy’s programming with a $300,000 grant earlier this year. We previewed ‘Hidden” at our Annual Meeting on May 10. This weekend, the students will present the work in its entirety – and you won’t want to miss it! The performance is inspired by Margot Lee Shetterly’s book “Hidden Figures,” which happens to be our 2017 Anisfield-Wolf Award winner for nonfiction!

This weekend’s performances begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Tri-C Theatre (11000 Pleasant Valley Rd, Cleveland, Ohio 44130). Tickets are $20 presale and $25 on the day of the performance. Details and tickets are available here.