Cleveland Loses Showcase for Touring Ballet Companies

The series, created in 2002 to "temporarily fill a ballet void" left by the collapse of Cleveland San Jose Ballet, featured performances by touring companies, including the American Ballet Theatre, Kirov Ballet, and Ballet de Monte-Carlo.

In the letter, which was provided to PlaybillArts, Playhouse Square president Art Falco said that ballet was too expensive to present, given stagnant audience growth and dwindling donations.

"Each performance was accompanied by local musicians, as we believed these extraordinary companies should only be presented with the beautiful sounds of a live orchestra," he wrote. "But our commitment to this expensive art form over these four years has been a large financial burden for Playhouse Square Foundation."

"Despite this development," he added, "a variety of extraordinary dance performances will continue to appear on our schedule."

Playhouse Square will continue to present modern dance companies in collaboration with DanceCleveland, and it has scheduled a Cincinnati Ballet production of The Nutcracker for December. The center also hosts the Cleveland performances of Akron's Ohio Ballet, but that company is struggling financially and has canceled all of its performances since December.