Devon Carney is tired, but somehow he doesn't look the part. The associate artistic director for Cincinnati Ballet has been putting in roughly 16-hour days recently. All these efforts go toward the company's upcoming production — ironically, 'Sleeping Beauty.' When I playfully suggest he'd be a sleeping beauty when this is over, Carney chuckles and replies, "Boy, you are not kidding! Oh my word …"  

Sometimes aging is no laughing matter, but growing older requires a sense of humor. For this installment of the eclectic mixed-media Performance and Time Arts series, modern dance choreographer and CCM Dance Division faculty member Judith Mikita has created "Working in a Dead Woman's Kitchen and Other Stories," a new work revolving around a trio of true stories of older adults. Performed Friday-Saturday at College Hill Town Hall.  

It's time for Cincinnati Ballet's annual 'New Works' mixed repertory program, kicking off the company's 2010-11 season. The sensuality and inner workings of a handful of various local, national and international choreographers' new — and mostly contemporary — pieces are on display. "It isn't just movement for movement's sake," says Exhale Dance Tribe's Missy Lay Zimmer, who choreographed a piece with husband Andrew Hubbard again this year. Through Sept. 19.  

I'm always sad to see summer go, but fall is around the corner and that means dance and so much more returns to local stages. Once again, Cincinnati Ballet kicks off the season with its ever-evolving 'New Works' production featuring, well, new works from local, national and international choreographers. Cin City Burlesque, Performance and Time Arts Series and Contemporary Dance Theater also have new offerings.  

Galas mean celebrations and this year's ninth annual Gala of International Dance Stars brings not only a thrilling evening of dance for the audience but also excitement for the classically trained professional performers. Presented by ballet tech cincinnati at the Aronoff Center, the Gala offers a powerhouse pack of extraordinary dancers hand-picked from top companies from around the country and beyond.  

Galas mean celebrations, and this year's ninth annual Gala of International Dance Stars brings not only a thrilling evening of dance for the audience but also excitement for the classically trained professional performers. Presented by ballet tech cincinnati at the Aronoff Center, the Gala offers a powerhouse pack of extraordinary dancers hand-picked from top companies from around the country and beyond.  

Houston-based Psophonia Dance Company has proven itself again to be a thoroughly modern dance ensemble in every sense of the word. In their returning Cincy Fringe appearance, the ensemble once again addresses contemporary issues with fun, flair and plenty of enjoyable dancing.  

If movement serves as language, then the Space Movement Project, a Chicago-based modern dance collective, displays fluency in its Cincy Fringe debut. The six women dance a lot throughout the piece, and their movement vocabulary proved extensive; I recall only a few recurring motifs.   

Combining black-and-white video interview segments of many diverse people responding to questions about dance with live-action spoken word, choreographed movement and some audience interaction, Pones Inc. raises questions about personal early memories of dance, what dance means culturally, why more people don't go see dance and in general why more people don't dance.  

Find out what others think about dance — and maybe shift your own perceptions — at the third Fringe production from locally based performance art group Pones Inc. Laboratory of Movement.