Cleveland Ballet dances under the stars in Vermilion for 9th year

VERMILION — Imagine a summer night in a small lakeside town, the end of the season winding down and right at the edge of the village green is an outdoor performance of a renowned ballet company. It sounds like a movie set but it's become a staple here with the collaboration of the storied Cleveland Ballet and its summer residency at the Harbourtown Fine Arts Center in historic downtown Vermilion. The Cleveland Ballet will premiere its ninth season with "Dancing … Under the Stars," performing excerpts of its upcoming fall schedule at 7 p.m. Saturday at Harbourtown. The evening will start with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres inside the historic former opera house and town hall, followed by the outdoor performance. Under the artistic direction of Gladisa Guadalupe, the company will perform "Pas de Dix" from the grand ballet, "Raymonda"; a new and inspiring "Nocturne" to classic Frederic Chopin; and the timeless "Carmen" of Georges Bizet. The company will perform its full schedule in September at its permanent home in Playhouse Square. Famed prima ballerina Valentina Kozlova, who is recognized as one of the best interpreters of "Raymonda," will attend to speak about her experience of defecting from her native Russia, where she was a principal dancer before defecting while the company was on tour in Los Angeles in 1979. "I am excited to hear her story myself," said Jim Chapple, president of HFAC. Kozlova, whose career exploded in the United States after she fled to seek asylum, became a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, directs at her own school and founded the Valentina Kozlova International Ballet Competition. She is the Cleveland Ballet's artistic adviser. Tickets for the event are $95 for adults and $45 for children ages 14 and younger. The food and wine reception begins at 6 p.m., with the performance to follow. Tickets are limited and can be ordered by calling (216) 320-9000, ext. 115, or by visiting clevelandballet.org/on-tour. A rain date is set for Sunday (Aug. 27). "It's really exciting that people in Vermilion are going to see the first touches of this season. The people of Vermilion are elated we have this relationship with the Cleveland Ballet. It's a really big honor. There are a number of people who follow the ballet — it draws a lot of people from Cleveland, Sandusky, Huron, this whole area to our town to see it. When you hear the music, and the lights are out there, and the costumes and we're stationed out there in front of the village green and it's such a magical way to see this. People stop in the middle of the street and just stare," he said. Contact Rini Jeffers @rinijeffers@gmail.com