Sports Spectacular At BalletMet

Kicking off this season's Family Series, the all-star lineup includes three lively repertory favorites and two world premieres. Three Sports Spectacular choreographers were also featured this August in BalletMet's incredibly successful 30th anniversary event, 30x30, which sold out every performance and was dubbed "a treasure chest of intriguing, often innovative ballets" by The Columbus Dispatch's Barbara Zuck. Their works for Sports Spectacular are:

• Harrison McEldowney's Dance Sport, a witty satire on competitive sports and professional dance complete with hilarious play-by-play commentary,

• The Ohio State University Professor Susan Hadley's Across the Field (Second Down) a reinvented tribute to OSU and American traditions, set to OSU Marching Band favorites including the OSU fight song, and

• A world premiere work by BalletMet Company dancer Adam Hundt set to a mix of music by Radiohead.

Rounding out the bill are:

• Badinage, a playful and athletic piece by former BalletMet Artistic Director John McFall, and

• Big League Dream, a world premiere work by choreographer Maria Glimcher.

Get the entire family in the game with Sports Spectacular!

DANCE SPORT-HARRISON MCELDOWNEY

DANCE SPORT is a fun, rollicking satire on competitive sports and the marathon aspects of professional dance. Last performed by BalletMet in 2002, Dance Sport comes equipped with athletic uniforms, referees, instant replays, slow motion, and hilarious play-by-play commentary. Two sections added to the original work for BalletMet focus on the style and grace of synchronized swimming and the most popular Olympic sport, curling. The Chicago Sun-Times called Dance Sport "an irresistible exercise in clowning and technical prowess."

HARRISON MCELDOWNEY'S works have received much enthusiasm from BalletMet audiences including Between My Legs (in 2007's 30x30), Group Therapy Part Deux, Jazz Me, Call It Off, Group Therapy and Dance Sport. His contributions to BalletMet's Jazz Moves thrilled audiences. McEldowney has created works for such companies as Hubbard Street and Louisville Ballet, presented large-scale productions at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics Closing Ceremonies and Carnegie Hall's Celebration of 125 Years of Musical Theatre, and contributed to the Sam Mendes film Road to Perdition and CBS's Early Edition. He is the Creative Director for Concentrix Corp, where he creates and directs shows for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.

ACROSS THE FIELD (SECOND DOWN)-SUSAN HADLEY

ACROSS THE FIELD (SECOND DOWN), looks at traditions at OSU and in American culture at large. The work celebrates the pluralism, tolerance, and rich diversity that are the greatest strengths of The Ohio State University and of our nation. The spirited work features familiar OSU Marching Band tunes that incite Buckeye Fever including the OSU fight song Across the Field, Carmen Ohio, America the Beautiful and more.

SUSAN HADLEY was a principal dancer with the Mark Morris Dance Group and danced such works as L'Allegro and Mythologies. She was Rehearsal Director for White Oak Dance Project, Mark Morris' The Office and Platee. Hadley has created for companies including Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Ballet Memphis and OSU Dance and Drums Downtown. Her works with BalletMet include Fallen (in 2007's 30x30), Whodunit?, Commonplace, Evening Air and Trail of Broken Hearts. A GCAC Artistic Excellence award finalist, Hadley is a Professor in The Ohio State University Dance Department and received the 2002 Colleges of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teaching Award and the 2006 OSU Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching.

BADINAGE-JOHN MCFALL

Premiered on the San Francisco Ballet in 1982, BADINAGE is a tongue-in-cheek competition between men and women. The athletic work, which combines modern dance styles and gestures, is set to the powerful music of Igor Stravinsky. Of BalletMet's reprise of Badinage in 1990, Barbara Zuck of The Columbus Dispatch said the choreography was "taut, direct and witty." JOHN MCFALL took the helm as BalletMet's second Artistic Director from 1986 to 1994; during his tenure, he added 14 of his own ballets to the repertoire, including Telia, Underbelly and Jook. Before coming to BalletMet, McFall created works for American Ballet Theatre, The National Ballet of Canada, Hubbard Street Dance Company, Atlanta Ballet and the Dance Theatre of Harlem. McFall has led the Atlanta Ballet as Artistic Director for 13 years.

WORLD PREMIERE: BIG LEAGUE DREAM-MARIA GLIMCHER

BIG LEAGUE DREAM chronicles a little boy's dream of becoming a major league baseball player and is set to well-loved music from the inspiring film Rocky. Sharing the starring role in the contemporary work are BalletMet dancers Lynorris Evans and James Pierce, III, while students of the BalletMet Dance Academy will also perform.

MARIA GLIMCHER returns with her third work for BalletMet, following From the Essence of My Being and Heart Strings. Glimcher teaches at The Ohio State University, Otterbein College, and the BalletMet Dance Academy, where she is the Artistic Director of YouthMet. Born in Baku, Azerbaijan and a graduate of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Glimcher danced with Syncopated Inc., Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Ballet Hispanico, and Columbus Dance Theatre and was a guest with BalletMet. As well as working with such choreographers as Dwight Rhoden, Donald McKayle and Ron Brown, Glimcher has choreographed for companies including Dayton Contemporary Dance Company II, Columbus Dance Theatre, YouthMet and OSU Drums Downtown.

WORLD PREMIERE: KID A-O.K.-ADAM HUNDT

Adam Hundt's world premiere work KID A-O.K. is driven by the compelling lyrics of the English band, Radiohead, whose unique fusion of rock and electronic music has earned global popularity for more than a decade. With a cast of five men and one woman, Hundt's piece examines on several levels the relationships of men with one another and with women. Deeply introspective, the work studies the American culture through the athleticism of dance. Now in his fourth season with BalletMet, ADAM HUNDT has danced with Ballet Pacifica, American Repertory Ballet, and Hubbard Street 2, and as a guest with the Dominic Walsh Dance Theater. A native of Dayton, Hundt has choreographed for Ballet Pacifica and received a fellowship from the Columbus Choreography Project in 2006. In 2007 Hundt received a Fellowship Initiative Grant from the New York Choreographic Institute. He has taught for the Lou Conte Dance Studio, Princeton Ballet School, BalletMet and the International Contemporary Dance Festival. Hundt was a featured choreographer in BalletMet's successful 30x30. -- www.balletmet.org