About the Presenter:

The ballet company, City Ballet of Cleveland (CBC) resides at the CCD studios located at Shaker Square. The pre-professional dancers audition annually in the spring to participate. The audition is open to area students ages 10-21. These students must take additional classes in ballet, jazz, and modern, schedule time to rehearse choreography throughout the year, and participate in outreach programs and local and national festivals including, Regional Dance America. The dancers are divided into Apprentice and Company levels. Artistic and Executive Director, Courtney Laves-Mearini, along with Ballet Master Mark Otloski, steer the direction of the ensemble toward continual growth. In 2013 the Company became a member of the prestigious Regional Dance America, Northeast. The City Ballet of Cleveland (CBC) has long and deep roots in the city of Cleveland. Starting in 1965 Alex Martin founded a dance school named Cleveland City Dance (CCD). Several owners followed and in 2004 Courtney J. Laves-Mearini became the owner of CCD. In 2008, the company and school (CCD) moved to the revitalized Shaker Square. The ballet company name was changed to the Cleveland City Dance Company (CCDC). In 2013 the name of the company changed to the City Ballet of Cleveland to reflect that its focus on classical ballet. The studio name remains Cleveland City Dance. The City Ballet of Cleveland tour 10 area schools in the Spring performing "Carnival of the Animals with the Lion King introducing students to the jungle with original prose to accompany the dancing in Carnival of the Animals. Other ballets are rotated every year for the schools including "Peter & the Wolf", " Dr. Coppelia's Workshop" and "Alice in Wonderland" The children are introduced to the art of ballet showing them how accessible ballet is for all children. These outreach performances allow our company members to serve as ambassadors of dance always taking the time to answer the audience questions at the end of the performance.

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