The Weekender in the Columbus Dispatch reminds me to remind you of this weekend performances by Ballet Met in the Ohio Theater. Ballet Met has made a dance fan out of me, so don't miss this weekend's collaboration with the Cincinnati Ballet. Friday and Saturday at 8 PM and Sunday at 2 in the Ohio Theater. Edwaard Liang is Ballet Met's artistic director. Edwaard's been with us less than year,  but he's already left his -fantastic-mark on the company and the many in our community who love Ballet Met. Wunderland is Edwaard's own choreography having its local premiere. The premise is the world imagined through a snow globe. Be it Siberia, where Edward was working when this ballet was conceived, or a Currier and Ives print, a winter beautiful or a winter severe, as in Russia, Wunderland is a sexy and in some ways moving ballet. It is one of Edward Liang's many creations and this weekend is our first dance to experience it on our and his home turf. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4HZultsPIA George Balanchine is to ballet what God is to everything else.  This weekend's program includes Balanchine's Symphony in C. This was choreographed for the Paris Opera Ballet in 1947. The music is Georges Bizet's Symphony in C. You know Bizet for his opera Carmen. There the similarities end. Bizet was a 17 year old finding his way when he wrote this symphony, which was not performed in his lifetime. Balanchine was already dance's greatest figure in 1947-it was he who introduced Bizet (who died in 1875) not the other way around. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaj52uT4P78 These performances in the Ohio Theater are a collaboration with the Cincinnati Ballet. Why? Symphony in C is a large ballet . It has all of Balanchine's light, air and sex but it needs more dancers.  If you want more (and you should) the program also includes Ravel's Bolero in Victoria Morgan's choreography for Cincinnati Ballet. Both companies are on stage this weekend in the Ohio Theater. It's a lot to love. Love it. Go.
Christopher Purdy is Classical 101's early morning host, 7-10 a.m. weekdays. He is host and producer of Front Row Center – Classical 101’s weekly celebration of Opera and more – as well as Music in Mid-Ohio, Concerts at Ohio State, and the Columbus Symphony broadcast series. He is the regular pre-concert speaker for Columbus Symphony performances in the Ohio Theater.