Cincinnati Ballet Pride Night 8 p.m.-midnight June 16 Cincinnati Ballet is hosting a Pride Night event — an afterparty Pride celebration at Somerset in Over-the-Rhine — during their Bold Moves Festival. Everyone attending will receive a free copy of the Cincinnati Ballet’s Rainbow Legs poster. Don’t want the fun to stop? Try out the ballet’s signature Pride cocktail courtesy of Somerset. 8 p.m.-midnight June 16. Aronoff Center for the Arts, 650 Walnut Street, Downtown, cincinnatipride.org. Photo: facebook.com/cincinnatiballet

The Cincinnati Ballet crew and Fitton Center for Creative Arts technical staff are currently setting up the grand stage and studio space at the Fitton Center in Hamilton to prepare for a weekend of stunning, mixed repertory productions and dance tutorials.

The Fitton Center’s executive director, Ian McKenzie-Thurley, calls the experience with Cincinnati Ballet a remarkable opportunity to see some of the best dancers “on the planet” up close as instructors and performers.

“We are thrilled to host such a prestigious company at the Fitton,” McKenzie-Thurley said in a press release. “We have had the ballet here before for our Fitton Family Friday shows – and they’ve been amazing – but making an entire weekend of it is a first for this area.”

Dancers from both the Otto M. Budig Professional Training Division and Cincinnati Ballet’s Second Company (CB2) are set to participate throughout the weekend, executing elegant performances Friday and Saturday nights and leading instructional classes during the day Saturday.

Cincinnati Ballet’s Professional Training Division is a training program designed to support the transition from student to professional dancer; CB2 is 14 up-and-coming dancers who train with the company for two years. In recent years, CB2 alumni have been regularly invited to join Cincinnati Ballet’s Main Company, according to Cincinnati Ballet’s website.

Friday marks the initial performance of the weekend, when the Professional Training Division will dance through dramatic rivalries from The Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, Swan Lake and Alice in Wonderland. (This performance is sold out).

Tickets to the CB2 show are still available. The dancers take the stage March 18 for Classical & Contemporary. This performance will showcase the young and talented dancers in a variety of powerful pieces.

The Cincinnati Ballet Dance Discovery team will offer four different Saturday classes for young dancers at any level of experience. Tickets for the classes are $5 and come with a discounted rate to the mainstage shows.

See more information about show and class times and registration here. The Fitton Center for Creative Arts is located at 101 S. Monument Ave., downtown Hamilton, Ohio.

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This article appears in Mar 8-21, 2023.

Katie Griffith is CityBeat’s arts and culture reporter. She proudly hails from the West Side of Cincinnati and studied journalism at the University of Cincinnati. After freelancing for CityBeat for many...