AKRON, Ohio – The city of Akron is hosting the Heinz Poll Summer Dance Festival from July 25 through Aug. 13 at several city parks.

It’s the 48th year for the festival, which features free professional dance performances on Friday and Saturday evenings and dance experience opportunities for University of Akron dance students and community members. This year’s event features Pilobolus, an internationally recognized dance company, and Northeast Ohio dance companies Verb Ballets and GroundWorks Dance Theater.

“It is part of our mission to present our audiences with dance that may be familiar as well as the new and unexpected. We strive to offer something for everyone,” festival director Jane Startzman said in a news release.

Featured dance companies and programs include:

July 29-30 at 8:45 p.m., Forest Lodge Park, 260 Greenwood Ave.

Verb Ballets will open the festival with an all-classical ballet program featuring the Heinz Poll revival of “Rococo Variations.” This program highlights the technical ability of the dancers and is accompanied by cello and piano music.

The performance also features “Pas De Dix” from “Raymonda” by Marius Petipa, staged by Robert Carter and set to the score by Alexander Glazounov.

The program concludes with a new work and world premiere by Associate Artistic Director Richard Dickinson set to the music of Franz Schubert.

Aug. 5-6 at 8:45 p.m., Firestone Park, 1480 Girard St.

The second weekend lineup features GroundWorks Dance Theater’s world-premiere works by Rena Butler and longtime GroundWorks dancer Nicole Hennington in her final performances with the company.

The performance also includes a reprise of Executive Director David Shimotakahara’s “Aperture.” The work was created as part of a two-year collaboration with the Akron Art Museum in response to pieces in the museum’s permanent collection.

Aug. 12-13 at 8:45 p.m., Goodyear Heights Metro Park, 2077 Newton St.

The final weekend of the festival will feature performances by Pilobolus, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The dance theater company’s Big Five-Oh! tour includes works ranging from “the vintage and visionary to the fresh and electrifying,” according to a news release.

Expanded outreach

The festival’s outreach programming has been expanded for 2022. The three companies will offer master classes for advanced dance students at the University of Akron. Registration is required.

The dance festival will offer an interactive performance event each week during the festival in three Akron neighborhoods. The performances, which feature works by Inlet Dance Theatre and the Djapo Cultural Arts Institute, are scheduled at 1 p.m. at the following Akron community center locations: Joy Park (July 25), Patterson Park (Aug. 3) and Summit Lake (Aug. 10).

Inlet Dance Theatre and Djapo will also teach free young children’s beginner dance classes at city community centers in Firestone Park (July 26-28), Reservoir Park (Aug. 2-4) and Northwest (Aug. 9-11).

The University of Akron is the dance festival’s residency partner. Through the partnership, the university provides studio space and residency activity support for all artists and young dancers who attend the master classes. The Dance Institute is also presented by the University of Akron, in collaboration with ArtSparks. The Dance Institute offers a pre-show interactive program that allows young children to learn some dance and have the experience of being on stage.

Summit DD and Direction Home have partnered with the festival to improve accessibility to the performances and improve inclusivity by supplying sensory bags, information and large-print programs.

The Heinz Poll Summer Dance Festival is sponsored by the city of Akron, the Akron Community Foundation, Peg’s Foundation, the Ohio Arts Council and the Hilton Garden Inn.

To view the full festival schedule, visit akrondancefestival.org.

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